A dramatic day of action in a phenomenal nine bracelet events saw three champions awarded gold, while the $50,000-entry Poker Players Championship saw Brazilian online poker pro Yuri Dzivielevski build a strong lead after the money bubble burst on Day 3 of the high-profile event.
Hizer Claims Colossus Win After Overhauling Chip Leader
British player Paul Hizer has been playing poker since the 2000s and until today had never won a heads-up in a ranking tournament. That all changed as he took down the $400-entry Colossus, with victory against the overnight leader Sam Laskowitz heads-up giving him the win and his first bracelet.
In his poker career to date, Hizer came second a total of four times, but today’s win marked not only his first ranking title but his biggest win too as he banked $414,490 from a $400 entry, a remarkable return on his investment. Play at the final table started seven-handed but it wasn’t long before only six remained. Anthony Ruttler busted in seventh for $66,670 when his 
started and finished his final hand well behind Luong Quach’s 
.
Next to go was Jeff Loiacono, who cashed for $86,160 in sixth place when he lost with queen-ten too. Busting to the overwhelming chip leader Laskowitz, the latter now had double anyone else’s chips, so when Jordan Pelon busted Quach with eight-deuce against Quach’s ten-seven, the field was down to four and Pelon was on the rise again.
James Scott left in fourth place, and in an unfortunate manner, too. His 
was ahead of Hizer’s 
pre-flop, but the board of 
gave Hizer a pair of kings on the turn. Scott busted for $146,680 and he was followed from the felt by Pelon, who fell to Laskowitz when his couldn’t overcome the chip leader’s 
.
Heads-up, Laskowitz held 412 million chips to Hizer’s comparatively short stack of 131.5 million. Hizer had just 13 big blinds, but they were to prove lucky rather than unlucky, as a short time after the duel began, Hizer bullied his way into a marginal lead. Picking off a bluff a while later, Hizer went 3:1 up in chips and got it all-in good with 
against Laskowitz’ 
. The board of 
saw Hizer win to raucous celebrations from his rail.
The British player won $414,490, while Laskowitz took home the $256,170 runner-up prize.
WSOP 2022 Event #51 $400 Colossus Final Table Results:
- Paul Hizer – $414,490
- Sam Laskowitz – $256,170
- Jordan Pelon – $193,240
- James Scott – $146,680
- Luong Quach – $112,060
- Jeff Loiacono – $86,160
- Anthony Ruttler – $66,670
- William Gian – $51,930
- Sean Shah – $40,710
Todd Wins Warriors Event for Six-Figure Score
James Todd won the $500-entry Salute to Warriors event as he dominated the final table and captured the $161,256 top prize along with his first-ever bracelet. Todd, who beat fellow American Brett Coltman heads-up, took home the largest share of the $1.3 million prize pool from the event that sees players pay tribute to veterans everywhere.
Zyad Qasem busted to bring about the official nine-handed final table, whereupon El Salvador’s Maximo Martinez busted with pocket queens against Patrick Pilko’s pocket kings. Minutes later, the field was down to seven when Elias Neto busted with pocket sixes, Rigoberto Rodriguez hitting a ten on the river when he held ace-ten in his hand.
Down to seven players, Todd Saffron lost out with 
, Todd’s hitting on the board of 
to see Saffron bust out for $26,574. Randy Levin and Nicholas Sena-Hopkins busted either side of Rrodriguez himself losing his stack, leaving a clash between Pilko, Coltman and Todd for the gold.
Pilko lost out in third place when his couldn’t beat Todd’s 
and that gave Todd a huge lead heads-up of better than 3:1. Just three hands later, it was all-over, as Todd’s triumphed against Brett Coltman’s to see the former win his first major title and the $161,256 top prize.
WSOP 2022 Event #54 $500 Salute to Warriors Final Table Results:
- James Todd – $161,256
- Brett Coltman – $99,676
- Patrick Pilko – $75,486
- Randy Levin – $57,554
- Rigoberto Rodriguez – $44,180
- Nicholas Sena-Hopkins – $34,146
- Todd Saffron – $26,574
- Elias Neto – $20,824
- Maximo Martinez – $16,433
Yuri Dzivielevski Leads from Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates in PPC
The latest day of action in the $50,000-entry Poker Players Championship saw Brazilian online poker pro Yuri Dzivielevski bank the biggest pile of chips as just 13 players remain from the 41 who started the third day of this star-studded event.
The overnight leader Bryn Kenney failed to cash as he went from hero to zero on a day where the overnight lead counted for nothing. Kenney crashed out in 25th place but plenty of other big names missed the money too, with Anthony Zinno, Daniel Negreanu and Erik Seidel all failing to make a profit despite having won 19 WSOP bracelets between them.
Dzivielevski (5,645,000) has the chip lead then, but he is followed closely by last year’s event champion, the inimitable Dan Cates. ‘Jungleman’ piled up 4,995,000 chips as he worked his way to second in chips, with others such as Koray Aldemir (3,205,000), Matthew Ashton (2,250,000) and Benny Glaser (1,210,000) all thriving in the rarefied atmosphere of one of the toughest tournaments any poker player can ever hope to win.
WSOP 2022 Event #56 $50,000 Poker Players Championship Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Yuri Dzivielevski – 5,645,000
- Dan Cates – 4,995,000
- Johannes Becker – 3,990,000
- Taylor Paur – 3,290,000
- Koray Aldemir – 3,205,000
- Naoya Kihara – 2,830,000
- Matthew Ashton – 2,250,000
- Daniel Weinman – 1,805,000
- Lou Garza – 1,660,000
- Benny Glaser – 1,210,000
Kerstetter and Paggeot Lead Tag Team Finale
A tense penultimate day in the $1,000-entry Tag Team Event #55 saw Jamie Kerstetter and her Tag Team partner Corey Paggeot bag the biggest stack as they totalled just under 8 million chips by the close of play on the penultimate day of this fun event. With that chip stacks representing just 55 big blinds, the stacks are shallow at the final table, with third-placed duo Patrick Leonard and Espen Jørstad holding 2.2 million, the equivalent of just 15 big blinds.
WSOP 2022 Event #55 $1,000 Tag Team Final Table Chipcounts:
- Corey Paggeot & Jamie Kerstetter – 7,975,000
- Yutaro Tsugaru & Taichi Ichikawa – 4,900,000
- Patrick Leonard & Espen Jørstad – 2,235,000
- Franco Spitale & Martin Pochat – 1,850,000
- Mackenzie Kraemer & Jon Schiller – 1,250,000
Deepstack Event Down to 60 Players
After a flurry of late eliminations, Event #57, the $600-entry Deepstack event concluded with just 60 players still in seats. Of those, the chip leader is John Ypma (6,660,000) who leads by a little from John Ciccarelli (6,635,000), and with stars such as Nick Marchington (4,415,000) and Jon Van Fleet (4,100,000) both still in the hunt for glory, there is every chance of a dramatic Day 3 at the felt where the field will be whittled down to five final table players.
A little further back in the chipcounts, former bracelet winners Jeremy Ausmus (2,850,000) and Craig McCorkell (2,430,000) both remain a threat to the players at the top of the chipcounts, meaning it could be a big result for $25k Fantasy players or for Ausmus himself in the WSOP Player of the Year race.
WSOP 2022 Event #57 $600 Deepstack NLHE Top 10 Chipcounts:
- John Ypma – 6,660,000
- John Ciccarelli – 6,635,000
- Mike Vanier – 6,085,000
- Jonathan Hyatt – 5,200,000
- Yota Mitsui – 4,775,000
- Nick Marchington – 4,415,000
- Patrick Truong – 4,330,000
- Abdullah Alshanti – 4,135,000
- Jon Van Fleet – 4,100,000
- Brett Manlove – 3,690,000
Jerry Odeen and Jacob Ferro Challenging in PLO Event
Just 14 players remain in the $1,500 buy-in Event #58, as players battled in Pot Limit Omaha to reach the final day. It was Richard Crooks (6,440,000) who topped the field at the close of play, with Peter Neff (6,110,000) and Stuart Easton (4,325,000) the closest challengers. Behind that trio, however, no-one has half the chip leader’s stack.
A bit further down the top 10, Jerry Odeen (1,935,000) and Jacob Ferro (1,300,000) are very much in the hunt for glory and will be hoping that their experience counts for plenty when it comes to the final chase for gold. Along with Joey Couden (2,675,000), those two players are joined by fellow bracelet winner Jared Jaffee (875,000) in racing down to a winner.
WSOP 2022 Event #58 $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Richard Crooks – 6,440,000
- Peter Neff – 6,110,000
- Stuart Easton – 4,325,000
- Lawrence Brandt – 2,980,000
- Joey Couden – 2,675,000
- Jerry Odeen – 1,935,000
- Robert Tanita – 1,670,000
- Jacob Ferro – 1,300,000
- Frank Salese – 1,145,000
- Alexander Orlov – 1,100,000
Super Seniors Sees Bumper Turn Out on Day 1
A total of 2,669 entries were whittled down to just 727 players by the close of Day 1 in the $1,000 buy-in Event #59, the Super Seniors event. With players needing to be above 60 years old, a prize pool of over $2.3 million will be battled for over the next two days.
Of the remaining players, it is Angelita Grayer (312,500) who leads the field, with Jean-Luc Adam (126,000) PT Hayes (280,300), Jeff Bond (110,000), Eric Vanderburg (145,000), Kent Buckingham (99,000), Everett Carlton (106,000), Dennis Phillips (79,400), Dan Shak (79,000) and Jack McClelland (37,000) also making the Day 2 cut.
WSOP 2022 Event #59 $1,000 Super Seniors Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Angelita Grayer – 312,500
- PT Hayes – 289,500
- Laurette Thurber – 258,000
- Yanki Koppel – 258,000
- Yin Guo – 252,500
- Michael Rice – 247,500
- Gregory Genge – 239,500
- Kathleen Gliva – 230,000
- Patrick Bermingham – 222,500
- Massoud Eskandari – 221,000
Short Deck Championship Sees 102 Entries
The last tournament to conclude on a bumper Day 29 was Event #60, the $10,000 Short Deck Championship event. Just 37 players survived Day 1, with two British players at the top of the counts in the form of 2017 Pokers Players Championship winner Elior Sion (372,000) and Stephen Chidwick (352,000) both at the top with others such as Ben Yu (314,100), Chance Kornuth (196,700) and Daniel Negreanu (97,500) surviving the day. Others such as Felipe Ramos, Dario Sammartino, Justin Bonomo, Shaun Deeb and Scott Seiver all dropped out on the day.
WSOP 2022 Event #60 $10,000 Short Deck NLHE Top 10 Chipcounts:
- Elior Sion – 372,000
- Stephen Chidwick – 352,000
- Leroy Fan – 335,200
- Ben Yu – 314,100
- Michael Watson – 298,200
- Philip Marsico – 288,300
- Anson Tsang – 281,500
- Seongsu Kong – 280,200
- Jonathan Depa – 272,600
- Todd Ivens – 260,800
Online Event Sees Madsen Go Close
The latest WSOP Online bracelet event saw Martin Stoyanov win gold as he took down the title beating Arkadiy Tsinis heads-up for the gold and $132,783 top prize.
WSOP 2022 Online Event
- Martin ‘115FTW’ Stoyanov – $132,783
- Arkadiy ‘WBGTour’ Tsinis – $81,870
- ‘Fakeazn’ – $58,928
- ‘Harut_G’ – $42,821
- Nino ‘elnino’ Jabbes – $31,507
- Gary ‘goumesss’ Hasson – $23,414
- Gabriel ‘SmurfyShaq’ Tileff – $17,600
- Jeff ‘NedrudRelyt’ Madsen – $13,357
- Benjamin “Vibrato” Craig – $10,293
Erik Seidel wondered out loud if the ‘Poker Gods’ would be on his side as he neared the money bubble in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
They hate me
— Erik Seidel (@Erik_Seidel) June 29, 2022
Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates threw caution to the wind ahead of Day 3 of the PPC when he called out chip leader Bryn Kenney. Kenney failed to cash, the defending champion Cates is second in chips.
Yo @BrynKenney I heard u tryin to win the Poker Players Championship. U gonna have to go face to face w MACHO MAN DAN if you think u gonna win all DAT
— Daniel Cates ?? ? (@junglemandan) June 28, 2022
And finally, imagine travelling the breadth of the United States to Las Vegas to meet your ultimate poker hero… then this happens.
I travel 1800 miles to meet this guy, then I blink. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/7Hv40vGQ4B
— Matt Kiefer (@2littlemice) June 29, 2022
Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
