A huge day of action in the 2022 World Series of Poker saw Alex Foxen win his first-ever WSOP bracelet as he outlasted a table of superstars to claim the $4.5 million top prize. In five other events, play got closer to final tables, with gold bracelets and millions of dollars on the line.
Foxen Claims Gold as Ivey, Zack and Mateos Miss Out
There was drama all the way in the $250,000 Super High Roller Event #50, with Alex Foxen reigning supreme to win $4.5 million and his first WSOP gold bracelet. The action kicked off at the final table with eight players remaining, thanks to Henrick Hecklen’s elimination last night. Eight began, but it didn’t take long for WSOP Player of the Year leader Dan Zack to bust for $488,095.
Zack moved all-in pre-flop with 
and was called by the initial raiser in the hand, Alex Foxen, with 
. The flop of 
would put Zack ahead, and the 
kept him there, but it gave Foxen straight outs and one fell on the 
river.
Phil Ivey was the next player to bust, with his 
all-in dominated and defeated by 
, with the board of 
playing out to see the 10-time WSOP winner eliminated. Czech player Martin Kabrhel was the next to go, busting in sixth place for $759,362 when his 
fell to Brandon Steven’s 
.
Sam Soverel had started the day short, but laddered all the way to fifth place, busting for just over a million dollars. He was unlucky to do so, too, with 
losing out to Brandon Steven’s 
when the board came 
and Soverel saw Steven hit his ace on the flop.
Adrian Mateos was the next man out, as he finally fell to relinquish the opportunity to win the biggest event of the WSOP in back-to-back years. Mateos was all-in and at risk with and lost out to 
, a six coming on the flop and an ace on the turn meaning Mateos was drawing to just three queens on the river. That came a three and the Spaniard crashed out for $1,367,206.
Three-handed, Chis Hunichen was the short stack with 14.5 million, less than half Steven’s 30 million and Foxen’s 39.3 million. ‘Big Huni’ busted for $1.9 million when he shoved, declaring “All right, let’s go!” as he had 
against Foxen’s 
. The board of 
saw Foxen win on the turn, and by that point Steven had lost a couple of pots.
Foxen went to heads-up with a massive lead of 8:1 in chips and sealed the deal quickly with beating Steven’s 
after the money went in a flop of 
. The turn was a 
keeping Steven ahead, but the dramatic river saw Foxen claim gold and his rail celebrated wildly.
WSOP 2022 Event #50 $250,000 Super High Roller Final Table Results:
- Alex Foxen – $4,563,700
- Brandon Steven – $2,820,581
- Chris Hunichen – $1,931,718
- Adrian Mateos – $1,367,206
- Sam Soverel – $1,001,142
- Martin Kabrhel – $759,362
- Phil Ivey – $597,381
- Dan Zack – $488,095
- Henrik Hecklen – $414,815
Kathy Liebert Leads Seniors Championship with 18 Remaining
With just 18 players still in the hunt, it is legendary female poker player Kathy Liebert who has made the running on Day 3 of the $1,000 buy-in Seniors Championship. Liebert, who has one WSOP bracelet that she won back in 2004 in the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout event for $110,000, will be favorite to make the final table in good shape on Day 4 as 18 play down to just five finalists. Elsewhere in the top 10 chipcounts, overnight chip leader Ben Sarnoff and Eric Smidinger both piled up 15.5 million chips, with Andres Korn a little further back on 10,550,000 in the top five.
With the day reducing 198 players to just 18 players, over 90% of the players who started the day lost their chips, with former bracelet winners Ken Aldridge, Carol Fuchs, Larry Wright, Jeff Lisandro and Dieter Dechant all lost their stacks.
WSOP 2022 Event #47 $1,000 Seniors Championship Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Kathy Liebert – 21,000,000
- Ben Sarnoff – 15,500,000
- Eric Smidinger – 15,500,000
- Alexander Hill – 12,500,000
- Andres Korn – 10,550,000
- Jan Pettersson – 10,550,000
- Mark Pett – 8,675,000
- Steven Himebaugh – 7,02,000
- Patrick Martorella – 7,000,000
- Domenico Scalamogna – 6,350,000
Mike Watson Leads Final Table in $2k NLHE Event
Just seven players remain in Event #49, with Mike ‘Sir Watts’ Watson leading the field. Watson (14,775,000) has a slim lead heading into the final day, with Daniel Custodio (14,425,000) in second place on the leaderboard.
From those top two, there is a chunky gap to Greek player Ioannis Angelou Konstas (9,375,000), with everyone else at the final table having a lot less than half of the chip leaders, with Chris Frank (6.6m), Walter Ripper (5.3 million), Simeon Spasov (5.2m) and Evan Sandberg (3.8m) all needing to start the final table by increasing their stacks to have a chance of victory.
WSOP 2022 Event #49 $2,000 NLHE Final Table Chipcounts:
- Mike Watson – 14,775,000
- Daniel Custodio – 14,425,000
- Ioannis Angelou Konstas – 9,375,000
- Christopher Frank – 6,640,000
- Walter Ripper – 5,300,000
- Simeon Spasov – 5,200,000
- Evan Sandberg – 3,825,000
David Bach Leads Nine Game with Negreanu Chasing
David Bach (1,591,000) leads the way in Event #52, the Nine-Game Mix with the three-time WSOP bracelet winner being chased down by Nick Guagenti (1,584,000) and Mike Gorodinsky (1,546,000) not far behind. Others still in the field after 25 were left from 191 entries include Daniel Negreanu (817,000), Scott Seiver (790,000), Andre Akkari (768,000) and 16-time WSOP bracelet record-holder Phil Hellmuth, who has 124,000 and a dream as one of two players who represent the official shortest stack.
With others to make the money but bust including Felipe Ramos (68th), Chance Kornuth (60th), Shannon Shorr (48th) and Max Pescatori (43th), tomorrow will see some of the biggest names in poker battle to get to the bracelet and $219,799 top prize.
WSOP 2022 Event #52 $2,500 Nine-Game Top 10 Chipcounts:
- David Bach – 1,591,000
- Nick Guagenti – 1,584,000
- Mike Gorodinsky – 1,546,000
- Sampo Ryynanen – 1,008,000
- Warwick Mirzikinian – 1,000,000
- Kijoon Park – 838,000
- Daniel Negreanu – 817,000
- Scott Bohlman – 804,000
- Scott Seiver – 790,000
- Andre Akkari – 768,000
Two More Events Finish Up on the Day
In the $5,000-entry Mixed NLHE Event #53, Joao Simao (1,705,000) led the surviving 72 players from a record-breaking 788-player field. With record numbers in this specific event, others to thrive included Frank Lagodich (1,530,000), Daniel Hachem (1,090,000), Joni Jouhkimainen (1, 015,000), Bryce Yockey (820,000), David Pham (695,000), and David Williams (695,000).
Plenty of players left the field, with Rainer Kempe, Sylvain Loosli, Anthony Zinno, Nacho Barbero, Chris Moorman and Thomas Muehloecker all crashing out.
In the Colossus’s Day1b field, a mammoth 7,704 overall entries saw just 1,000 of those make the Day 2 field. With a combined Day 1a and b total of 13,573 entrants, this incredible event saw legends such as
Bruno Politano (1,016,000) one of the biggest stacks in the room behind Kou Vang (1,084,000), with Ryan Laplante (755,000), Donnie Peters (597,000), Steve Watts (400,000), Ryan Leng (280,000) and Joseph Cheong (275,000) all cruising through to the next day, while others such as Womens Hall of Famer JJ Liu, former Sunday Million winner Vanessa Kade and the 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer all busted.
Dan Smith called out in his ‘fellow Dan’ as POY leader Dan Zack for putting his chips into a suspicious shape.
Is @Dan__Zack disrespecting the game by stacking his chips in a dick formation???? pic.twitter.com/iuc8lsmeNz
— Dan Smith (@DanSmithHolla) June 26, 2022
Isaac Haxton put out a think tank on the Daniel Negreanu hand from yesterday’s action.
Here’s a fun thought:
If, rather than smashing and throwing things, Daniel sat at the table and had a quiet little cry for 30 seconds before going on his way, would we being seeing a bunch of tweets praising the passion and emotion he brings to the game?
— Isaac Haxton (@ikepoker) June 25, 2022
Chance Kornuth praised his friend Alex Foxen for dominating a tough final table in the $250,000 Super High Roller.
Is what @WAFoxen doing in the 250k real right now?
— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) June 26, 2022
Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
