Five WSOP bracelet events were in action on Day 3 of the 2022 World Series of Poker as David Peters claimed his fourth bracelet at the expense of chip leader Chance Kornuth, while in the $25,000 Heads Up Championship, there was an early exit for Daniel Negreanu but progress to Day 2 for Phil Ivey. With three other events getting closer to final tables, it was a busy day of action at Bally’s and Paris in Las Vegas.
Peters Conquers Kornuth in Hour-Long Final
One of the quickest final tables in recent WSOP history played out in the $100,000-entry high Roller Bounty event as David Peters beat Chance Kornuth heads-up to win his fourth WSOP bracelet. Kornuth, who came into the day’s play as a huge chip leader, failed in his attempt to win his own fourth bracelet in the process.
The eliminations began in the very first hand, as 2021 WSOP Main Event world champion Koray Aldemir took no time at all to get his short stack into the middle, calling off his tournament life with 
from the big blind after Kornuth had raised from the button with 
. The flop of 
immediately put the American into the lead and both the 
turn and 
river could do nothing to improve the German’s lot, as he left in fifth place for $249,693.
Not long after Aldemir’s exit, another player was on the rail as Ali Imsirovic crashed out in fourth for a score of $350,158. The Bosnian three-bet for most of his stack then moved all-in on the flop of 
with just 
. David Peters held 
, however, and made a simple call before skittling his opponent when the turn of and river of 
completed the board.
Three-handed was a pivotal stage of the action, as first Dario Sammartino doubled up through Peters then busted to him. In the middle of those two all-in confrontations, Peters grabbed the chip lead from Kornuth and when Sammartino shoved for 2.6 million chips with 
, Peters called the Italian with 
. The board of 
brought no help to the 2019 WSOP Main Event runner-up and he busted in third for $498,696.
Heads up began with Peters holding a lead of 16.8 million chips to Kornuth’s 10.9 million, but while both men had deep stacks, the duel was over almost immediately. Kornuth four-bet shoved with 
only to be quickly called by Peters with 
as the two pairs went to the river with Peters on the edge of victory.
The flop of 
gave Kornuth genuine hope of a miracle as straight cards were added to the remaining two eights as outs to salvation. But it was a false dawn, and after the 
turn and river landed, Kornuth had to congratulate Peters on winning a fourth gold bracelet when it had looked to be his to lose overnight.
For Kornuth, the score of $721,144 will be some comfort, and he jumped right into the $25,000-entry Heads Up Championship, but Peters won the $1,166,810 top prize, the largest of the 2022 WSOP so far.
WSOP 2022 Event #2 $100,000 High Roller Bounty Final Table Results:
- David Peters – $1,166,810
- Chance Kornuth – $721,144
- Dario Sammartino – $498,686
- Ali Imsirovic – $350,158
- Koray Aldemir – $249,693
- Matthew Steinberg – $180,872
- Phil Ivey – $133,127
Ivey, Foxen and Aldemir All Make Day 2 of Heads Up Championship
The $25,000-entry Heads-Up Championship takes place very early on the schedule this year and there was no shortage of entertainment as the 64-player cap was reached for the kick-off of the world-famous event. Bragging rights are as valuable as the money in heads-up poker and some of the greatest players in the game took each other for a place on Day 2 of the event. With 16 players surviving, only eight players will be paid, so play paused on the bubble as the field was chopped down on a dramatic day at the felt.
The opening rounds of action saw the exits of several favorites, with Daniel Negreanu chief among them. Kid Poker was ahead against Kevin Rabichow but couldn’t stay that way after two pair on the flop was bettered by Rabichow’s top two pair. Falling behind, Negreanu was all-in with against Rabichow’s 
and was still ahead after the 
flop. But the turn card of 
gave Negreanu’s opponent a shot at a runner-runner flush and that came in on the 
river to send the Canadian poker legend to the rail at the earliest opportunity.
Rabichow made it through both Round 1 and Round 2 after getting the better of Masato Yokosawa and will face 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey in Round 3 to fight for the money places. Ivey made it past Henri Puustinen in the opening round before a titanic battle with fellow crowd favorite Jeremy Ausmus went in his favor.
Koray Aldemir may have busted the final of Event #2 in double-quick time, but he was hanging around in Event #6 as his Heads Up Championship journey went into the next day. After busting Rok Gostisa in Round 1, Aldemir was all-in with 
against Belarussian player Mikita Badziakouski’s 
and it was the German who held through the 
to advance to a mouthwatering Round 3 clash with fellow countryman Christoph Vogelsang.
Others to make the cut included four-time WSOP winner Anthony Zinno, who will kick off Day 2 against Jonathan Jaffe. Alex Foxen will play Dan Smith for profit after the pair of Americans survived showdowns against Isaac Kempton and Jake Daniels respectively. There was a place in Round 3 for Chance Kornuth too, who put the disappointment of missing out on his fourth bracelet behind him, beating Felipe Ramos and Marius Gierse to book a showdown with Patrick Kennedy. With Dario Sammartino, Sean Winter and John Smith among the other survivors, it will be a thrilling second day at the felt.
Scott Seiver on Top in Freezeout Event
With just 10 players remaining from the 752 total players, Event #3, the $2,500-entry freezeout ended Day 2 with the three-time WSOP champion Scott Seiver in command. With just one day’s play left, Seiver has a chip leading stack of 6,150,000, some way ahead of his closest rival, David Goodman (3,900,000). With two fellow bracelet winners still involved in Steve Zolotow (3,125,000) and Nick Schulman (1,415,000), there will be no shortage of competition for Seiver tomorrow as he bids to win his fourth WSOP title and the top prize of $320,059.
While the final ten made the last day, the action started with 113 players in seats, leading to plenty of big names busting. Shaun Deeb left the party early, busting in 108th place for a return of $4,027, an amount also claimed by 2009 WSOP world champion Joe Cada (105th), Dejuante Alexander (103rd) and Kenny Hallaert (102nd), who spoke on Twitter of his pride at making another deep run.
Had to settle for 15th place yesterday. But already locked up another cash and day 2 in the $2500. It's gonna be a great summer! pic.twitter.com/tTJiK3BxC3
— Kenny Hallaert (@SpaceyFCB) June 2, 2022
WSOP 2022 Event #3 $2,500 NLHE Freezeout Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Scott Seiver – 6,150,000
- David Goodman – 3,900,000
- Steve Zolotow – 3,125,000
- Alexander Farahi – 2,615,000
- Sergio Aido – 2,570,000
- Chris Hunichen – 2,410,000
- Aditya Agarwal – 1,870,000
- Lewis Spencer – 1,465,000
- Nick Schulman – 1,415,000
- Shawn Hood – 890,000
Two Other Events Reach Late Stages
The field of 430 players has been trimmed to just 14 hopefuls in the $1,500-entry Dealer’s Choice Event #4, with Jaswinder Lally aiming for back-to-back wins in the event. Leading the way is Brad Ruben (2,102,000), who is some way clear of his two closest challengers, Jorge Walker (1,420,000) and Alfred Atamian (1,004,000). Ben Yu is a little further back on 848,000, while WSOP co-commentator Norman Chad (526,000) will be hoping he can entertain his many fans with an appearance under the lights at the final table.
With multiple bracelet winners Marco Johnson (521,000) and Brian Rast (466,000) aiming to win a third and sixth WSOP bracelet respectively, tomorrow will see someone walk away with the bracelet and $126,288 top prize.
WSOP 2022 Event #4 $1,500 Dealer’s Choice Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Brad Ruben – 2,102,000
- Jorge Walker – 1,420,000
- Alfred Atamian – 1,004,000
- Ben Yu – 848,000
- Naoya Kihara – 808,000
- Charles Bransford – 650,000
- Jaswinder Lally – 565,000
- Christoper Roman – 552,000
- Dean Joe – 539,000
- Norman Chad – 526,000
The final event of the day to bag and tag was Event #5, the $500-entry multi-table tournament invitingly called The Housewarming. With an incredible 3,376 entries taking part in the action, just 147 players remained at the close of a fast-paced Day 1. When the chips were in bags, it was former WSOP bracelet winner Justin Liberto (4,255,000) who had built an impressive lead, with Jordan Hufty (3,750,000) his nearest challenger.
Plenty of big names made the money but not the final hand, with Allen Kessler, Event #1 winner Katie Kopp and Ryan Laplante all failing to end the day with chips. The top 10 chipcounts are some way ahead of the chasing pack, but players such as Anthony Marquez (1,810,000), Kevin Gerhart (855,000) and Michael Wang (730,000) will all hope that their previous experience of winning a fabled WSOP gold bracelet will stand them in good stead for a run to the final table at the very least.
WSOP 2022 Event #5 $500 The Housewarming Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Justin Liberto – 4,225,000
- Jordan Hufty – 3,765,000
- Maury Barrett – 2,920,000
- Larry Serebryany – 2,750,000
- Alexandre Vuilleumier – 2,700,000
- Frederick Brown – 2,615,000
- Gregory Snyder – 2,400,000
- Clifford Conners – 2,375,000
- Jonathan Williams – 2,375,000
- Jen-Yue Chiang – 2,320,000
Daniel Negreanu may have bricked both high ticket events that he’s played so far and had to do without his usual souped-up mobile home, but as he was reminded, he’s come a long way from his first accommodation.
This was my old “RV” at Binions https://t.co/xYuqtkRhGh
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 30, 2022
Many players have talked about the recent cheating allegations surrounding several prominent poker players, but Dietrich Fast has gone one step further. The German is donating some of his WSOP profits to the victims of three players he was all too happy to name.
The @wsop is starting today! Exciting times for the poker world. I’ll be donating 50% of my profits in all WSOP tournaments with buy-ins of 25k and over to the victims of Jake, Ali and Bryn! Will keep the tally updated on my IG. Follow along & hope I run hot enough to donate ⛰$ pic.twitter.com/wJLyM0GVIt
— Dietrich Fast (@2pacnrw16) June 1, 2022
The 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Josh Arieh has been eulogising about the new location of the World Series of Poker. It’s clear from the interaction he’s had that the poker world very much agrees.
The new home of the @wsop is amazing! I really had my doubts, but I was def wrong.
Make sure you see the really good looking guy on the wall as you walk in!
— Joshua Arieh (@golferjosh) June 2, 2022
Finally, it’s always nice to see former WSOP Players of the Year honored by their flag being displayed in the venue for this year’s World Series. As former WSOP Main Event final table player Garry Gates remarked, however, some banner placements are better than others.
Observation: Chris Ferguson’s #WSOP banner got set up in a side hallway where the only foot traffic is Bally’s employees, across from a few utility closets. ? pic.twitter.com/VAhYqgX46J
— GG (@GarryGates) June 2, 2022
Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
