Day 19 of the WSOP was a triple-header on the bracelet front, as three vastly different realms of poker each awarded a WSOP gold bracelet, while the second and final flight of the Millionaire Maker kicked off, along with action in three other bracelet events at Bally’s and Paris casinos in Las Vegas.
Mixed Game Maven Ali Eslami Captures Stud Hi-Lo Crown
In the early part of the last decade, Ali Eslami was a constant presence in the WSOP, with twelve cashes between 2011 and 2014, including a third-place finish in a $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event for $199,623. Despite a long layoff, with just a pair of cashes in the 2019 WSOP in the last eight years, Eslami capped off his third cash of the 2022 WSOP with a bang, topping a field of 471 entrants to earn his first WSOP bracelet in Event #36: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, along with $135,260.
The field was raring to go at the start, as evidenced by John Holley:
Day 3 WSOP STUD8 4th in chips at the table with all the chips and my Greek buddy Chris from the STUD8 home game pic.twitter.com/PpXl6iKZJ6
— john holley (@hohnjolley) June 18, 2022
Fifteen players returned for Day 3 action, and it took just ninety minutes to reduce down to the unofficial final table of nine. John Bunch made a four-flush and a pair of eights on fifth street and got his short stack in, but despite improving to kings-up on sixth, mixed game pro Kenny Hsuing held aces-up to eliminate Bunch in ninth. After David Arganian fell in eighth, Holley got scooped in a big pot by four-time WSOP bracelet winner Jeff Madsen, and lost his crumbs on the next hand to fall in seventh.
Hsuing busted next, his flush bested by the full house of Eslami. Thomas Taylor followed him out the door just after, and it took just over an hour for Scott Lake to bust, chopped up in a three-way clash against Madsen and Chris Papastratis. Eslami started three-handed play at a significant chip disadvantage, but managed to string together some wins to ascend to the chip lead. Madsen’s fortunes weren’t as bright, and he too was chopped up by Eslami and Papastratis to bust in third.
From there, Eslami put the pedal to the floor, starting with a 2:1 chip lead and never looking back, eventually getting Papastratis to commit his final chips on sixth street. Eslami had a wheel after fifth street, and Papastratis was drawing dead with just a pair of kings.
WSOP Event #36: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final Table Results
- Ali Eslami – $135,260
- Chris Papastratis – $83,598
- Jeff Madsen – $58,537
- Scott Lake – $41,693
- Thomas Taylor – $30,215
- Kenny Hsuing – $22,287
- John Holley – $16,737
- David Arganian – $12,801
- John Bunch – $9,975
Justin Pechie Chills Out, Earns Second Bracelet in Freezeout
The final table of Event #34: $1,500 Freezeout No Limit Hold’em had an interesting dichotomy at the start; a trio of French players, two of whom were neck and neck for the chip lead, three WSOP bracelet winners in the hunt, and some talented players that have yet to taste WSOP gold. Justin Pechie, who won his first bracelet in 2011 in a $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout, was able to rise to the top and notch his second WSOP bracelet, along with a career-best score of $364,899.
Orson Young started the day as the short stack, and wouldn’t stage a comeback, his 
busting to Maxime Parys’s 
in a classic flip. Pechie would wake up with the ladies a short time later, and his queens would hold up to take both Dwayne Sullivan and Jeremy Wien out in the same hand, giving him a big boost up the counts. Once the final seven got under the lights of the PokerGo stream, action slowed down a bit, with nearly two hours ticking by before Michel Leibgorin busting next.
David Dibernardi then attempted a bold bluff, jamming his last ten big blinds on the river with just ace-high. Samuel Bifarella sniffed it out and called with top pair, ousting Dibernardi in sixth. Former Mayfair Club regular and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Steve Zolotow busted next in a pre-flop all-in confrontation, when his 
got bad beat by the 
of Pechie on a 
board. After Kenny Robbins fell in fourth, Pechie doubled into a massive chip lead, turning the nut straight against the two-pair of Parys, who couldn’t find the fold. Parys busted a short time later, leaving Pechie with a nearly 3:1 chip lead over Bifarella.
Bifarella never made much traction, and finally got his last eighteen big blinds in on a 
flop with 
for a combo draw. Pechie’s 
got a scare when the 
turn gave Bifarella more outs with top pair, but the river left Pechie’s sixes-up in front for the victory.
WSOP Event #34: $1,500 Freezeout No Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
- Justin Pechie – $364,899
- Samuel Bifarella – $225,506
- Maxime Parys – $164,469
- Kenny Robbins – $121,224
- Steve Zolotow – $90,306
- David Dibernardi – $68,002
- Michel Leibgorin – $51,766
- Jeremy Wien – $39,843
- Dwayne Sullivan – $31,009
- Orson Young – $24,407
Lok Chan Locks Up Big Bet Bracelet
From a starting field of 281 entrants, just 17 returned for the final day of action in WSOP Event #35: $2,500 Big Bet Mix. Hong Kong’s Lok Chan was able to overcome start-of-the-day chip leader Drew Scott to take down his first WSOP gold bracelet, along with $144,388 for navigating an eclectic mix of big action games.
Andrew Robl (17th – $7,657) and Schuyler Thornton (16th – $7,657) made hasty exits at the start of play, and Keith Lehr (13th – $7,657), Richard Ashby (11th – $9,758), and Patrick Leonard (9th – $12,675) all failed to reach the seven-handed final table. Chan went into the final table with a healthy chip lead, but WSOP bracelet winner Galen Hall was lurking in second place.
Aaron Kupin would be the first final tablist to fall, with his eighty-seven draw unable to come in against the made queen-eight of two-time WSOP bracelet winner Rami Boukai in NL 2-7 Single Draw. Despite starting second in chips, Hall was next to go, losing his last few big blinds in PLO-8 to the wheel of Scott. Christopher Smith, who started the final table as the short stack, laddered up a few spots before succumbing in fifth to Chan’s pat ninety-six in PL 2-7 Triple Draw.
Tennessee native Michael Trivett then got his last chips in with 
in PLO-8, but Scott was waiting with a monster in 
, and Trivett failed to improve to bust in fourth. Boukai then whiffed on an open-ended straight draw in Five Card Draw against Scott, and the heads-up match between Chan and Scott was on, with Chan starting with a 2:1 lead. The final hand was, fittingly enough, No Limit Hold’em, and Scott got it in well with 
against the 
of Chan. Despite a completely dry flop, Chan hit the 
turn and 
river to make trip tens and send the bracelet back to Hong Kong.
WSOP 2022 Event #35: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Final Table Results
- Lok Chan – $144,388
- Drew Scott – $89,206
- Rami Boukai – $61,675
- Michael Trivett – $43,378
- Christopher Smith – $31,045
- Galen Hall – $22,617
- Aaron Kupin – $16,777
The Milly Maker Marches On
Day 1b of Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No Limit Hold’em brought another massive field of 4,429 entrants to the felt, which combined with the 3,546 from yesterday’s Day 1a flight, brings the total field to 7,975 entrants, all playing for a prize pool of over $10 million, with a guaranteed top prize of $1 million. Out of the 963 players who advanced, Steve Yea checks in as the Day 1b chip leader, with a 444,500 chip bag to take to Day 2, just behind Day 1a chip leader Rick Alvarado’s 466,500 stack.
Kenny Hallaert (258,000), James Calderaro (220,000), Kathy Liebert (75,500) and Kitty Kuo (60,500) all managed to survive the monster field, while Mustapha Kanit, Guillaume Diaz, and Denise Pratt were all felted before the end of play.
WSOP 2022: Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker NLHE Day 1b Chip Leaders
- Steve Yea – 444,500
- Christopher Gu – 420,500
- Alain Bauer – 390,500
- Nada Siddick – 390,400
- Paul Berger – 382,000
- Tyler Gaston – 379,500
- Joe Eckford – 347,000
- Ryan Law – 334,000
- Jeffrey Tanouye – 332,500
- Dong Ji – 331,500
Wheels Turning For Scott Seiver In 2-7 Single Draw Championship
Day 2 of Event #38: $10,000 No Limit 2-7 Single Draw Championship brought back 41 players from Day 1, plus an additional 11 entrants before the start of the day to bring the field up to a total of 121 entrants. Only 14 players would bag up for Day 3 action, with four-time WSOP bracelet winner Scott Seiver leading the pack with the only seven-figure stack of 1,014,000. Defending champ Farzad Bonyadi sits in third, while a trio of multiple bracelet winners (Phil Hellmuth, Eli Elezra and Yuri Dzivielevski) sit in the middle of the pack. Cary Katz, Alex Livingston, and Day 1 chip leader Mark Johns also managed to make it through to Day 3.
Ben Yu, Daniel Alaei, Brian Hastings and Phil Ivey all fell short of the money, reserved for the final 19 players. Jeremy Ausmus would get coolered to bust the bubble, running his ninety-six into the eight-perfect of Bonyadi to be the last player to leave without a cash. Chino Rheem (18th – $16,000) and Ian O’Hara (15th – $17,500) were two of the five players who earned a payday before play ended for the day.
WSOP 2022: Event #38: $10,000 NL 2-7 Single Draw Top Ten Chip Counts
- Scott Seiver – 1,014,000
- Pedro Bromfman – 977,000
- Farzad Bonyadi – 917,000
- Jerry Wong – 801,000
- Phil Hellmuth – 591,000
- Eli Elezra – 557,000
- Yuri Dzivielevski – 510,000
- Cary Katz – 480,000
- Andrew Kelsall – 395,000
- Alex Livingston – 346,000
Gelencer On Top After First Day of Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship
127 entrants ponied up a five-figure sum to get their split pot stud action on, as Day 1 of Event #40: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship got underway. Hungary’s Peter Gelencser bagged the overnight chip lead, with 371,500 in the bag for the 2010 $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw bracelet winner. Poker Hall of Famer and renowned face incinerator Todd Brunson (209,500) also bagged a healthy stack, as did John Monnette (196,000), Daniel Negreanu (159,500) and Brandon Shack-Harris (147,500). Dan Zack managed to bag 180,000 by spinning it up the hard way:
Just went 4k —> 123k in 6 hands dealt of full ring stud8 ?
— Daniel Zack (@Dan__Zack) June 19, 2022
Jeff Madsen was looking to make another strong run after finishing third in the $1,500 version of this event today, but Negreanu took him out just before the end of play. Others who failed to advance to Day 2 include Joe Hachem, Chip Jett, Mike Matusow, and Matt Savage.
WSOP 2022: Event #40: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship Top Ten Chip Counts
- Peter Gelencser – 371,500
- Eric Kurtzman – 359,500
- Jason Gola – 288,000
- Per Hildebrand – 218,500
- Ziya Rahim – 213,000
- Todd Brunson – 209,500
- John Monnette – 196,000
- Perry Friedman – 186,000
- Chris Tryba – 184,000
- Dan Zack – 180,000
PLO 6-Max Field Led by Oxman
A game characterized by action was amplified even further at the WSOP today, as Day 1 of Event #39: $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Handed saw 719 entrants go to war at a short-handed version of the great game of Omaha. Ari Oxman was able to secure a massive bag of 753,000 chips to secure the Day 1 chip lead over a field of 168 advancing players, but a very talented field of pros and bracelet winners will be joining the New York native in Day 2, including Nacho Barbero (169,000), Matt Waxman (161,500), Sasha Liu (154,000), Christian Harder (107,000), and a short-stacked Dash Dudley (29,000), who just finished runner-up in the $50,000 PLO High Roller earlier this week.
JC Tran, Shaun Deeb, Chance Kornuth, and Chino Rheem were a few of the victims of the volatile game, and won’t be returning to Day 2 action tomorrow.
WSOP 2022: Event #39: $3,000 PLO 6-Handed Top Ten Chip Counts
- Ari Oxman – 753,000
- Ajmera Anik – 661,500
- David Levy – 553,500
- Krystof Magott – 493,500
- Julian Galvan – 492,500
- Joe Ratledge – 461,500
- Benedikt Eberle – 447,500
- Abul Amer – 327,000
- Jan-Peter Jachtmann – 264,000
- Jeffrey Hakim – 194,000
You’ve heard of multi-tabling while playing online (and even seen Shaun Deeb live multi-table in this series) but this may be a new one: multi-tabling on multiple phones!
How is this allowed at the table ?
— Joey Ingram ? (@Joeingram1) June 18, 2022
A state of affairs from David Williams, who’s had a pretty lucrative WSOP so far:
2022 WSOP 3 Week Summary
Events played: 12
Total Entries: 17
Buy-ins: 58,000
Cashes: 4
Unofficial final tables: 2
Final tables: 0
Winning: 140,780
Profit: 82,280
(Didn’t include flip n go because LOL, but would call it one event for -2660)— David Williams (@dwpoker) June 18, 2022
Everyone’s gotta learn how to bag and tag sometime, as Joseph Cheong found out:
This is def the text i want to receive from a piece i bought pic.twitter.com/1eJW6q6ofi
— Joseph Cheong (@subiime) June 18, 2022
Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
