Dan Smith achieved a lifelong goal as he claimed his first-ever World Series of Poker bracelet at Bally’s casino in Las Vegas last night. Winning the $25,000-entry Heads Up Championship for over $509,000 the charismatic Smith overcame German high roller regular Christoph Vogelsang to claim his maiden bracelet victory in a career laden with success.
In the opening round, Kevin Rabichow was unable to get the better of Christopher Vogelsang after the German high roller regular prevailed in their semifinal. After moving into a slight lead, Vogelsang applied maximum pressure to get into a 2:1 lead before the final hand. Holding queen-seven, the German bet all three streets having hit his queen on the turn. Rabichow, who held pocket sevens and called off his tournament life on the river, had been correct about Vogelsang bluffing the flop but he had hit the turn and send Rabichow to the rail as a result.
In the other semifinal, Dan Smith got through against Italian Dario Sammartino. The 2019 WSOP Main Event runner-up was behind for much of the battle but having doubled up to get to a chit deficit of 1:2, managed to get all his chips into the middle ahead with ace-six against Smith’s ace-four. Smith, known as the cowboy, was in danger of falling behind, but hit a four on the flop to go with an ace on the turn to make two pair and head to the final showdown.
The final began with Vogelsang moving into an early lead. Taking a lot of time on each hand, the German was infuriating some fans, but Dan Smith kept his head and after getting himself level, managed to move into the lead with two pair. Winning hand after hand without going to showdown, Smith moved into a near 2:1 lead, but the situation was immediately reversed with a runner-runner flush for the German to move into a big lead.
Smith needed a double and managed one with his 
triumphing over Vogelsang’s 
as all the chips went in pre-flop and the board ran out 
to double up the American professional. Moments later, it was all over. Smith three-bet all-in with 
and was in trouble when Vogelsang snap-called with 
. The flop of 
was salvation for Smith, however, catapulting him into the lead and after the 
turn, meant he would only need to fade three tens for the title. The river of 
saw Smith crowned champion and Vogelsang had to be content with the runner-up prize of $315,029.
WSOP 2022 Event #6 $25,000 Heads Up Championship Final Day Results:
- Dan Smith – $509,717
- Christoph Vogelsang – $315,029
=3. Dario Sammartino – $193,537
=3. Kevin Rabichow – $193,537
=5. Sean Winter – $75,045
=5. Jonathan Jaffe – $75,045
=5. Chance Kornuth – $75,045
=5. Dylan Destefano – $75,045
Reixach Leads Stacked $25,000 High Roller Field
Spanish player Sergi Reixach, who earlier this year faced down accusations of impropriety in his poker career, bagged the most chips in the $25,000-entry High Roller Event #8. With 229 entries being narrowed down to just 93 survivors, players will still have a chance to take their seats again or anew as registration is permitted until the first deal of Day 2. Reixach’s stack of 1,418,000 was some way clear of his closest rivals David Miscikowski (1,062,000) and Justin Young (1,018,000), with no other players eclipsing the million-dollar mark.
Others to feature in the top ten include Sam Grafton (884,000), Cary Katz (727,000) and the 2021 WSOP Player of the Year, Josh Arieh, who bagged up 510,000 by the close of play to the delight of anyone who had staked the 2021 WSOP Player of the Year via the Pocket Fives staking platform.
Not everyone who entered managed to make the Day 2 cut, however, with Daniel Negreanu and Mario Ho two players who both busted to the impressive Byron Kaverman. First Kaverman’s pocket eights were good enough to call Kid Poker’s river bluff with just king high. Then, a little while later, Kaverman crushed Ho’s snowmen with pocket tens to scoop another well-known scalp on his way to bagging up 447,000 chips.
Others to fall included Jonathan Jaffe, Chance Kornuth and Dario Samnartino, although all of those players will have the option of a Day 2 re/entry. Those with no need to do so included former WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen (469,000), Event #2 winner David Peters (448,000), and 2009 world champion Joe Cada (310,000).
WSOP 2022 Event #8 $25,000 High Roller Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Sergi Reixach – 1,418,000
- David Miscikowski – 1,062,000
- Justin Young – 1,018,000
- Sam Grafton – 884,000
- Martin Stausholm – 854,000
- Michael Moncek – 831,000
- Brek Schutten – 818,000
- Bertrand Grospellier – 750,000
- Reagan Silber – 728,000
- Cary Katz – 727,000
The Housewarming Breaks $5 million Guarantee with One Day1 Remaining
Three more events took place on Day 5, with the busiest by far the guarantee-smashing The Housewarming event. Costing $500 to play, an amazing 5,526 entries took part and just 249 players survived the day. With Day 1a and Day 1b’s players, that makes 560 Day 2 players already with one more Day 1 flight to come (Day 1d) tomorrow.
Leading the way on Day 1c was Tony Degon (4,665,000) with others in the top 10 including Jason Johnson (3,575,000), Jeffrey Rogers (3,035,000) and William Givens (2,920,000) present. Other big names such as bracelet winner Kevin Song (1,990,000), $25k Fantasy Draft favorite Dan Zack (1,610,00) and Women in Poker Hall of Famer Kathy Liebert (925,000) all made the cut too.
Others were not so lucky, with David Pham, Howard Mash, Daniel Needleman, Ryan Depaulo and Melanie Weisner among those to fall.
WSOP 2022 Event #5 Day 1c $500 The Housewarming Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Tony Degon – 4,665,000
- Jason Johnson – 3,575,000
- Jack Najjar – 3,290,000
- Jeffrey Rogers – 3,035,000
- Benjamin Mccoy – 3,025,000
- Gurunagaraju Salla – 2,935,000
- Jean-Francois Alexandre – 2,920,000
- Will Givens – 2,920,000
- Spencer Tep – 2,800,000
- Yohann Sagot – 2,750,000
Matt Glantz Fourth of Final 26 in Event #7
Matt Glantz is one of several players chasing their first bracelets in Event #7, the $1,500-entry Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Event. Amnon Filippi had the chip lead at the close of play with 3,000,000 chips. Paul Zappulla (2,090,000) and James Chen (1,820,000) weren’t far behind, with Glantz bagging up 1,675,000 behind them.
Van Law totalled 1,630,000, with multiple WSOP bracelet winner Shaun Deeb one of his many victims. Others to stack up chips at the close of play included but weren’t limited to Mel Judah (1,135,000), Kosei Ichinose (955,000) and David Funkhouser (685,000).
Plenty of notables fell by the wayside on Day 2 of the popular event, with David Benyamine, Mike Matusow and John Monnette joined on the rail by Daniel Ospina, John Esposito and Ryan Hughes among others.
WSOP 2022 Event #7 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Amnon Filippi – 3,000,000
- Paul Zappulla – 2,090,000
- James Chen – 1,820,000
- Matt Glantz – 1,675,000
- Van Law – 1,630,000
- Brian Nichols – 1,600,000
- Rami Boukai – 1,305,000
- Ronan Nally – 1,295,000
- Bradley Smith – 1,175,000
- Andrew Brown – 1,175,000
Opening Day of Seven Card Stud Event Sees Weinman Close to Lead
A massive 329 players took to the felt in the $1,500-entry Seven Card Stud Event #9, a record for the event on the WSOP schedule. With just 97 players still in seats as the final hand finished, it was Spanish player Manuel Labandeira who grabbed the most with 281,500 chips.
Others to star in the format included Daniel Weinman (233,000), Kenny Hsiung (204,500) and Andy Bloch (161,000), with well-known players such as Tamon Nakamura (139,500), John Racener (129,000), Kevin MacPhee (104,000) and Rafael Lebron (87,500) all bagging up.
Lebron in particular will wish to be successful in taking the title, as it was he who did so in this event last year. Since then he has already won another bracelet, but winning back-to-back in the same event has not been done so far, with Jaswinder Lally falling just short in yesterday’s action.
Players to exit this event at the earliest stage included but weren’t limited to: Scott Bohlman, Barbara Enright, Todd Witteles, David Benyamine, Jeff Madsen, Brandon Shack-Harris, Andrew Barber, Nick Guagenti, Jake Schwartz and Frank Kassela.
WSOP 2022 Event #9 $1,500 Seven Card Stud Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Manuel Labandeira – 281,500
- Daniel Weinman – 233,000
- Kenny Hsiung – 204,500
- Jude Arena – 203,500
- James Paluszek – 175,500
- Timothy McBride – 166,000
- Oxana Cummings – 165,000
- Andy Bloch – 161,000
- Edward Sass – 156,500
- David Singer – 156,500
On Poker Twitter, players were not happy with Christoph Vogelsang’s tanking on the live stream of Event #6. Scott Seiver did not hold back with his condemnation of the purported tactic.
what Vogelsang is doing in this (and every) tournament is at a minimum angleshooting (exploiting loopholes in rules for unethical gain) and every player every tournament should make sure a floor has a personal clock on him after 5 seconds, one that lasts 5 seconds too.
— Scott Seiver (@scott_seiver) June 5, 2022
Brent Hanks admitted live on the PokerGO stream that he wouldn’t be able to take being Vogelsang’s opponent and Johnnie ‘Vibes’ Moreno was one of the many who was in agreement.
.@BuffaloHanks is giving Vogelsang the business for his excessive tanking on @PokerGO. I’m here for it. pic.twitter.com/F5Qkxgi2Zn
— Johnnie VIBΞS (@JohnnieVibes) June 5, 2022
Dan Zack alleged that should Vogelsang have been playing in another event, that he would be responsible for much worse a reaction for his opponent.
What would happen if Christoph entered the homecoming? Seems likely he’d instigate a brawl https://t.co/j8ilEEqIai
— Daniel Zack (@Dan__Zack) June 5, 2022
It was all about ‘The Cowboy’ riding into the sunset and after many long years of trying, the man himself was… relieved!
About fucking time, eh?!?? pic.twitter.com/I2qDyfOJnq
— Dan Smith (@DanSmithHolla) June 5, 2022
Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
