It was another jam-packed day on the felt during Day 7 of the 2022 WSOP at Bally’s and Paris in the Vegas heat, and while one High Roller event reached a conclusion, an even bigger $50,000 buy-in High Roller kicked off, and the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice continued on through Day 2. Even with those three large buy-in events on the docket, five more bracelet events were on tap for players to sink their teeth into as the action continued to build at the WSOP.
Eveslage Denies Schindler to Win $25,000 High Roller for $1.4m
Fifteen players returned for Day 3 action in Event #8: $25,000 High Roller, with five WSOP bracelet winners, the reigning WSOP Main Event champion, and a vast array of poker talent on display among their ranks. A nine-hour final day eventually saw Chad Eveslage, who came into Day 3 second in chips, overcome the talented field to pick up his first WSOP gold bracelet and a career high $1,415,610 payday for his efforts.
After Justin Young (15th) and Calvin Lee (14th) both busted for $65,511 during the first level of play, Taylor von Kriegenbergh got his aces cracked by the kings of Reagan Silber on the river in a brutal cooler to bust in 13th for $77,056. Silber also took out Jesse Lonis (12th) with Big Slick to continue gaining traction, but after Byron Kaverman fell in 11th, Silber would be the next to fall, jamming for thirteen big blinds on an 
board with 
and running into the 
of start of the day chip leader Chris Brewer. No help came for Silber on the river, and he was left with $92,725 for his tenth-place performance.
Dan Colpoys was the final player to miss the official final table when his fives couldn’t crack Josh Arieh’s kings to leave him with a $114,094 consolation prize. After short stacks Ognyan Dimov and Antonio Lievano fell in eighth and seventh, Eveslage put his foot on the gas and took control of the final table. First, he flopped a set of fives on Brewer, who flopped top pair, and Eveslage managed to get three streets of value.
Then, in one of the most dramatic hands of the final table, Eveslage jammed on the button with 
, and Koray Aldemir called off his last six big blinds with 
. Brek Schutten woke up with in the big blind, and elected to call off his last seventeen big blinds as well. Eveslage picked up a flush draw with the 
flop, but made a straight instead with the 
turn and 
river to bust both players in one hand and take a commanding chip lead with just four players remaining.
Brewer would lose a flip a short time later to Arieh to bust in fourth, but Arieh’s resurgence would be short-lived, as Arieh made fours-full but embattled poker star Jake Schindler made fives-full to take all but five big blinds from Arieh, who busted a few hands later. Eveslage started heads-up play with a slight chip lead over Schindler, but that would be as close as Schindler would get to taking the lead through a ninety-minute heads-up battle.
Eveslage took a number of small pots to whittle Schindler’s stack down, and on the final hand of the tournament at 200,000/400,000/400,000, Schindler limped with 
, and Eveslage checked his option with 
. Both players checked a 
flop that paired both players, and the 
fell on the turn, improving Eveslage to kings-up and giving Schindler a flush draw to go with his pair. Eveslage led for 800,000 and Schindler called. The 
river gave Schindler an inferior two pair, and after Eveslage jammed for 3,900,000 effective, Schindler called off his stack and had to settle for runner-up, while Eveslage was able to earn his first WSOP gold bracelet.
WSOP 2022 Event #8: $25,000 High Roller Final Table Results:
- Chad Eveslage – $1,415,610
- Jake Schindler – $874,915
- Josh Arieh – $616,047
- Chris Brewer – $442,213
- Brek Schutten – $323,730
- Koray Aldemir – $241,791
- Antonio Lievano – $184,324
- Ognyan Dimov – $143,480
Alex Livingston Goes Wire-To-Wire to Win First Bracelet
In a dominating performance, 2019 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Alex Livingston took his final table chip lead and never relinquished it in storming his way to his first WSOP gold bracelet, besting a tough final table that included Brad Ruben, fresh off of winning his fourth bracelet earlier in the week in Event #4: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice, and two other WSOP bracelet winners in Kenny Hsiung and former WSOP November Niner John Racener.
Despite the myriad of poker talent surrounding him, Livingston’s chip lead never seemed threatened during the five hours of play in Day 3. After short-stacked John Evans busted in eighth, Livingston was able to dispatch both Ruben and Racener in the same hand early on with kings and sixes to leap to over half of the chips in play with just five players remaining. From there, Hsiung, Hojeong Lee and Thomas Taylor all fell in quick succession to leave Livingston heads-up with a multi-tabling Daniel Weinman, who also had a healthy stack in the Homecoming.
Livingston started heads-up play with 6.7 million of the just over 8.2 million chips in play, and Weinman wasn’t able to make much ground up over the first few hands. A large pot then played out where Livingston made three nines and was able to get two bets in on seventh street after Weinman led out. Livingston raised, and Weinman made a crying call and was left with just 3.5 big bets. Those last few chips evaporated a few hands later, and Livingston captured his first WSOP gold bracelet.
WSOP 2022 Event #9 $1,500 Seven Card Stud Final Table Results:
- Alex Livingston – $103,282
- Daniel Weinman – $63,835
- Thomas Taylor – $44,112
- Hojeong Lee – $31,083
- Kenny Hsiung – $22,344
- John Racener – $16,391
- Brad Ruben – $12,276
- John Evans – $9,391
Filippi Latest to Break Through for First Bracelet
Just one day after Dan Smith finally took his name off the top of the “best without a bracelet” list, Amnon Filippi took his turn at knocking the monkey off his back as well, besting Matt Vengrin in a fourth day of play in Event #7: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better.
Filippi’s closest run to a WSOP gold bracelet came all the way back in 2007, when he finished fourth in the $50,000 HORSE Championship won by Freddy Deeb. Filippi had a few deep runs in last year’s fall WSOP series before today’s win, which saw him best a total field of 1,086 entrants.
With the limits already at 250,000/500,000 at the start of Day 4 play, the swings came quickly, as Vengrin won most of the early pots to open a 3:1 chip lead over Filippi. It didn’t take long for Filippi to storm back, and on the last hand of the tournament, Vengrin got his crumbs in with 
on a flop. Filippi had him at risk with 
, and somehow faded Vengrin’s many outs on a benign 
turn and 
river to send Filippi his first WSOP gold bracelet.
WSOP 2022 Event #7 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final Table Results:
- Amnon Filippi – $252,718
- Matt Vengrin – $156,198
- Paul Zappulla – $111,501
- Murilo Figueredo – $80,671
- Matt Glantz – $59,166
- David Funkhouser – $43,997
- Rami Boukai – $33,178
- Mel Judah – $25,377
Smith Hunting Second High Roller Title of the Series
Day 1 of the latest High Roller event in the WSOP, Event #12: $50,000 High Roller, saw a total of 83 entrants pony up the big buy-in to duke it out with some of the elite minds of the poker realm. Only 23 of those players would bag up chips for Day 2 action, with Dan Smith, who finally notched his first career WSOP gold bracelet a few days earlier, leading the pack with 2,035,000 in chips, just notching Michael Rocco’s 1,990,000 in chips for the lead. An absolutely stacked field remains, with a total of 26 WSOP gold bracelets among them, including David Peters, Chance Kornuth, Erik Seidel, Elio Fox, Dan Shak, Justin Bonomo and Christoph Vogelsang.
Nearly three-quarters of the field were eliminated in Day 1, and Bill Klein, Sam Grafton, Koray Aldemir, Nick Petrangelo, Daniel Negreanu, Ryan Riess and Jeremy Ausmus were just some of those that took their shot at finding High Roller glory, but none of them were able to advance on Day 1. Any of the aforementioned players who haven’t already used their single re-entry could jump back in tomorrow before Day 2 play kicks off, along with any new entrants, meaning the prize pool is expected to grow slightly before being finalized tomorrow.
WSOP 2022 Event #12: $50,000 High Roller Top 10 Chip Counts:
- Dan Smith – 2,035,000
- Michael Rocco – 1,990,000
- David Peters – 1,910,000
- Dario Sammartino – 1,890,000
- Mikita Badziakouski – 1,780,000
- Chance Kornuth – 1,545,000
- Chris Hunichen – 1,400,000
- Andrew Lichtenberger – 1,200,000
- Erik Seidel – 1,200,000
- Brekstyn Schutten – 1,190,000
Ohel Atop Stacked Field in Dealer’s Choice
With the addition of ten new entries at the start of Day 2, Event #10: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice turned out to be the biggest edition of the event ever held with 123 entrants, barely edging out the 122 players from 2019. From 61 players at the start of the day, just 15 bagged up for Day 3 action, with Randy Ohel at the top of the counts with the only seven-figure stack, clocking in with 1,101,000 chips. Fellow WSOP bracelet winners Naoya Kihara and Nick Schulman are the only other stacks above 900,000, then a big gap separates the trio from the rest of the field.
Eli Elezra, Matt Glantz, Anthony Zinno, Phil Hellmuth, Shaun Deeb and David Benyamine were some notable names unable to squeak into the money, and the final name to fall without a payday was none other than Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, who was left with dust after losing a Badeucey hand and couldn’t spin it up shortly after in Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo to exit the tournament as the bubble boy.
From there Nacho Barbero (19th), Nick Guagenti (18th), Ian O’Hara (17th) and Jean-Robert Bellande (16th) all earned a $16,264 payday before play concluded for the evening.
WSOP 2022 Event #10: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Top Ten Chip Counts:
- Randy Ohel – 1,101,000
- Naoya Kihara – 927,000
- Nick Schulman – 904,000
- Tuan Le – 635,000
- Brian Rast – 574,000
- Jeff Madsen – 573,000
- Christopher Claassen – 521,000
- Joao Vieira – 440,000
- Greg Mueller – 377,000
- Ben Diebold – 325,000
Taylor Tops Day 2 of the Housewarming
From a starting field of 20,080 over the four Day 1 flights, just 899 returned for Day 2 of Event #5: $500 The Housewarming No Limit Hold’em. After a lengthy fourteen-hour day on the felt, just 12 players will return to crown a winner, with Christian Taylor leading the pack with 221,300,000 in chips. Sridhar Sangannagari and WSOP bracelet winner Jordan Hufty managed to survive to the final day with modest stacks, while Erik Carvalho will have his work cut out for him with just three big blinds to bring back.
With a staggering number of players knocked out in Day 2 action, many notables found themselves at the payout desk throughout the day, such as Kathy Liebert, Scott Baumstein, Ryan Depaulo, Mike Sowers, Pat Lyons, Will “the Thrill” Failla, and Mark Seif. Brandon Cantu tried to hang on and make the final day, but called off his last ten big blinds with on the last level of the day and couldn’t hang on against Sridhar Sangannagari’s 
to bust in 13th place for $43,515.
WSOP 2022 Event #5: $500 The Housewarming NLHE Top Ten Chip Counts:
- Christian Taylor – 221,300,000
- Isidro Martinez – 155,000,000
- Orez Mokedi – 125,450,000
- Henry Acain – 108,425,000
- Darnell White – 76,975,000
- Jen-Yue Chiang – 74,775,000
- Yavine Brewer – 70,325,000
- Sridhar Sangannagari – 67,875,000
- Jordan Hufty – 42,925,000
- Jared Kingery – 30,825,000
Fashakin Fashions up a Monster Stack in the Deepstack
A huge field of 5,720 players fired in Event #11: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack, which gave players oodles of chips to start with, but with 22 levels of thirty minutes on the docket, the field quickly shed down to a final tally of 289 survivors by night’s end. The current chip leader Femi Fashakin is no stranger to tackling big field events, as he owns a WSOP gold bracelet via taking down the BIG 50 event with 28,371 entrants at the 2019 WSOP for a cool $1,147,449. Others that managed to bag up chips include Vanessa Kade, Ankush Mandavia, and Yuri Dzivielevski.
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi couldn’t wade through the huge field and found himself on the rail shortly after registration closed, and others who failed to earn a cash include Kathy Liebert, DJ Alexander, Aaron Massey, and Daniel Lazrus. The remaining field will return tomorrow and play all the way down to a winner in this speedy two-day event.
WSOP 2022 Event #11: $600 NLHE Deepstack Top 10 Chip Counts:
- Femi Fashakin – 3,215,000
- Roberto Bendeck – 2,230,000
- Todd Carlson – 1,800,000
- Kfir Nahum – 1,555,000
- Erik Cajelais – 1,400,000
- Nicole Limo Greene – 1,355,000
- Will Tinoco – 1,305,000
- Sasa Ikac – 1,300,000
- Trey Brabham – 1,250,000
- Michael Lim – 1,195,000
Hsiung Looking For Second Limit Bracelet
Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold’em brought out 522 players content with keeping the action constrained to a limit instead of the more wild no-limit variety of hold’em. The limit wasn’t held on the number of entrants, however, as 522 players joined the fray in hopes of accruing enough big bets to survive to Day 2. 160 players bagged up chips, with Kenny Hsiung bagging up the chip lead with 248,500 in chips, good for just over 31 big bets for tomorrow. Hsiung is no stranger to Limit Hold’em success, with his lone bracelet coming in 2012 in Event #48: $3,000 Limit Hold’em for $165,205.
Yuval Bronshtein, the defending champion of this event, managed a small bag, while Robert Campbell, Kevin Song, and Brandon Shack-Harris all also advanced to Day 2 action. Meanwhile, Ronnie Bardah, Daniel Negreanu, Eli Elezra, J.J. Liu, and David “Bakes” Baker all failed to survive, along with Adam Friedman, Ben Yu and Barry Greenstein.
WSOP 2022: Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold’em Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Kenny Hsiung – 248,500
- Venkata Tayi – 238,000
- Jesse Lonis – 208,000
- Wendy Freedman – 164,000
- Ben Ross – 150,500
- Jacob Ferro – 141,500
- Alexander Mazzola – 121,500
- Michael Lipiner – 119,500
- Chip Jett – 110,500
- Robert Campbell – 100,500
Dan Smith is basking in the rays of what may well turn out to be quite the World Series season for him.
Chipleader after day 1 of the 50k NL #SummerOfDan
— Dan Smith (@DanSmithHolla) June 7, 2022
There’s no shame in coming third, however, especially when it translates to a massive first week of profit for the Player of the Year.
I have friends texting me condolences about my 3rd place finish, thinking I’m upset…..LOL, I’m estatic! I won $600k week 1 of @wsop in NL Holdem of all games. Wait til we have to play a game I actually know how to play! 🙂
— Joshua Arieh (@golferjosh) June 7, 2022
Possibly the best-named poker player in the game, Nathan Gamble, points out something you don’t see a lot at a WSOP final table heads-up match – pure fun!
The best heads up matches at @WSOP are always between friends.
Currently watching the $1,500 Stud match between @rumnchess and @notontilt09 as they laugh, chat, and play props. It’s pretty pure to witness
— Nathan Gamble (@GambleOnPoker) June 7, 2022
Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
