Day 27 of the 53rd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) was possibly the busiest one so far, with nine events on the tap and four played down to a winner.
One of the four events drawing to a close, Event #49: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em saw three ‘desi’ players crossing the finish line. Nathan Rao posted the deepest run among the trio, finishing 20th for a career-best $18,930 (~₹14.84 Lakhs) – picking up his maiden score at the WSOP! Young Gun Neel Joshi (58th for $9,190 – ₹7.19 Lakhs) and bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer (156th for $4,355 – ₹3.40 Lakhs) added to the team’s tally. Bulgaria’s Simeon Spasov championed the event, capturing his first-ever WSOP bracelet and a career-best $527,944.
Nathan Rao
The online grinder from New York and WSOP rookie KT Park took down his maiden gold bracelet in Event #52: $2,500 Nine Game Mix 6-Handed, which was the second-ever live bracelet event he played for a personal-best $219,799. PokerStars Ambassador Andre Akkari finished runner-up for $135,848.
KT Park
While Akkari missed claiming his career-second bracelet, his fellow countryman Joao Simao bagged his second gold bracelet in Event #53: $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha for $686,242.
The fourth bracelet of the day was awarded in [Online] $600 Deepstack Championship, with William “swaggyb” Corvino taking down the event for $149,319. India’s Yudhishter “yud10” Jaswal was one of the nine players on the FT and finished fifth for $36,415 (~₹28.59 Lakhs), recording his first score in the ongoing series. This was his 18th WSOP cash, improving his WSOP tally to $186,301.
Yudhishter Jaswal
Among the five events running alongside these four, the one of most interest for the Indian rail was Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors. The 2018 WSOP Closer runner-up finisher Paawan Bansal bagged the 14th largest stack of 842,000. Muskan Sethi (340,000) and Jaydeep Dawer (120,000) have also made Day 2. Aryan Oliveira (1,328,000) emerged as the end-of-day chip leader and will headline the 498 survivors from a starting field of 3,226 entries to Day 2 on Monday.
Another event that saw Indians in action was Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team. A total of 913 teams registered for the event, and 183 advanced to Day 2. The former Tag Team champion, Team Nikita Luther (20,500), was among the advancing teams; however, they will need to turn things around fast on Monday, when they start with the fourth-shortest stack. Team Phan (Peter Phan and Jeffrey Trina) bagged the most giant stack of 435,500.
Day 2 of Event #51: $400 Colossus had 1,695 returning players, but only 68 progressed to Day 3. Jordan Pelon (30,350,000) emerged as the end-of-day chip leader.
The 198-player starting field was trimmed down to the final five on Day 4 of Event #47: $1,000 Seniors Championship. Ben Sarnoff (55,000,000) will headline the remaining players on Day 5.
Sunday also marked the start of one of the most anticipated events of the series, Event #56: $50,000 Poker Players Championship. The event locked in 91 entries, and 11 players fell out throughout the six levels of play. Luke Schwartz (893,000) leads the 86 contenders to Day 2. Late registration is open for another five levels on Monday.
Event #47: $1,000 Seniors Championship – Day 4
After four days of grilling action among some of the most experienced poker pros, Event #47: $1,000 Seniors Championship is about to conclude.
Down to the final five, the event witnessed a flurry of quick eliminations on Day 4 that saw a starting field of 18 returning players cut down to just five. By the end of the day, Ben Sarnoff managed a run-away chip lead with almost one-third of the chips in play (55,000,000). Sarnoff boasts an illustrious poker resume with over $434,000 in career earnings and will be looking to convert his chip lead to a maiden WSOP gold bracelet.
A distant second behind Sarnoff is Eric Smidinger (32,800,000), followed by Women Poker Hall of Famer Kathy Liebert (29,100,000) in third. Liebert is the only player amongst the final five to have won a WSOP gold bracelet in the past, apart from her numerous other impressive six-figure cashes. Biagio Morciano (19,000,000) and Charles Mitchell (7,900,000) are the other two seniors in contention for the bracelet.
Starting with Valerii Luebents, who busted on the second hand of the day, the first level saw as many as seven eliminations. The action got intense when six players were remaining. Jan Petterson was down to just four big blinds and shortly after that ran into the ace-queen of Smidinger on a queen-high flop to leave the tournament as the unfortunate sixth-place elimination.
The final five players are already guaranteed at least $186,541, but with high pay jumps in-store, all eyes will be on the $694,909 top prize and the WSOP gold bracelet.
End of Day 4 Chip Counts
Ben Sarnoff – 55,000,000
Eric Smidinger – 32,800,000
Kathy Liebert – 29,100,000
Biagio Morciano – 19,000,000
Charles Mitchell – 7,900,000
Event #51: $400 Colossus – Day 2
After an action-packed 12 hours of play on Sunday, Day 2 of Event #51: $400 Colossus is now in the books. The 1,695 returning players from Day 1A and Day 1B took their seats, and by the end of the day’s play, only 68 were left standing.
Jordan Pelon (30,350,000) bagged an overwhelming chip lead for Day 3, with Francklin Flory (17,375,000), Ari Oxman (17,200,000), Raymond Downing (17,025,000) and Frank Jamrow (15,975,000) next on the day-end chip counts list.
A host of notables fell by the wayside on Day 2, including Joseph “JoeytheMush” Straub (107th for $3,180), Day 1 chip leader Kao “Flexx” Saechao (132nd for $3,180), PokerGO’s Donnie Peters (235th for $2,390), Joseph Cheong (807th for $1,020) and Alejandro “Papa MC” Lococo (1,345th for $800).
All remaining players are assured at least $6,150, while all eyes will be on the $414,490 top prize and the alluring WSOP bracelet. Day 3 starts at 10 AM (PDT) on June 27.
Top 10 Chips Counts at the End of Day 2
Jordan Pelon – 30,350,000
Francklin Flory – 17,375,000
Ari Oxman – 17,200,000
Raymond Downing – 17,025,000
Frank Jamrow – 15,975,000
Alon Butcher Guttman – 14,800,000
Hartt Stearns – 14,125,000
Anthony Ruttler – 13,850,000
Gabriel Andrade – 13,525,000
Jeffrey Loiacono – 13,175,000
Event #54: $500 SALUTE to Warriors – No-Limit Hold ’em – Day 1
Event #54: $500 SALUTE to Warriors – No-Limit Hold ’em drew 3,226 players on Day 1, and after 17 levels of play, 498 survived the day’s onslaught.
A trio of Indians made it to Day 2, led by Paawan Bansal, who bagged a massive stack of 842,000, putting him 14th in chips among the 498 survivors. Muskan Sethi is 175th in the chips with 340,000, and Jaydeep Dawer is 433rd with 120,000.
Paawan Bansal
The 2018 WSOP The Closer runner-up finisher Paawan Bansal has already cashed at two events in the series – 359th in Event #37: $ 1,500 No-Limit Hold ’em – Millionaire Maker for $5,165 (~₹4.04 Lakhs) and 1,374th in Event #51: $ 400 No-Limit Hold ’em – Colossus for $700 (~₹54,888). Having made Day 2, Bansal has almost assured himself his third ITM finish at the 2022 WSOP. However, the Indian rail hopes Bansal secures his first WSOP bracelet and puts India on the WSOP 2022 bracelet winners list.
Muskan Sethi is another Indian with three ITM finishes in the ongoing series – 676th in Event #21: $ 1,500 No-Limit Hold’em – Monster Stack for $2,625 (~₹2,05,831), 1,083rd in Event #37: $ 1,500 No-Limit Hold’em – Millionaire Maker for $2,400 (~₹1,88,188) and 2,748th in Event #5: $ 500 No-Limit Hold’em – The Housewarming for $800 (~₹62,729). She will not only be looking to make her fourth cash of the series but will also try to sneak into the final table.
Muskan Sethi
Jaydeep Dawer is yet to open his scorecard at the series and is in the hunt for the first cash at the 2022 WSOP.
Jaydeep Dawyer
Aryan Oliveira (1,328,000) bagged the overnight chip lead, with Jackson Traub (1,077,000), Patrick Pilko (1,057,000), Gerry Harris (1,024,000), and Susan Faber (990,000) rounding out the top five stacks of the day.
Manuel Machado (800,000), Sonia-Veronika Shashikhina (660,000), Perry Friedman (364,000), Barry Greenstein (299,000), Jeff Madsen (290,000), and Yueqi Zhu (234,000) are among the notables who bagged a stack for Day 2.
Notables who fell out on Day 1 include Paulina’ Poker Bunny’ Loeliger, Anson Tsang, WSOP Player of the Year contenders Dan Zack and Daniel Weinman.
The $500 buy-in event created a $1,315,690 prize pool, and the top 482 places are assured a min-cash of $800. The eventual champion will take home $161,256 and the gold bracelet.
With the money bubble looming, the action will intensify on Day 3, where 498 survivors will return to the Bally’s Ballroom at noon (PDT) on June 27.
Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1
Aryan Oliveira – 1,328,000
Jackson Traub – 1,077,000
Patrick Pilko – 1,057,000
Gerry Harris – 1,024,000
Susan Faber – 990,000
Samitti Eksarunchai – 987,000
Manuel Machado – 930,000
Robert Fauver – 904,000
Wilbert Chun – 886,000
Austin Srur 883,000
Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team – Day 1
Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team had 913 teams signing up to play, with just 183 advancing to Day 2. The Team Phan (Peter Phan and Jeffrey Trina) bagged the end-of-day chip lead with 435,500. Team Yunis (Nick Yunis and Reynel Hernandez) are second with 268,000, while Team Toms (Dennis Toms and Jose Giordani) locked in the #3 spot in the day-end chip counts with 246,500.
Other notable teams who advanced to Day 2 included Team Nguyen (Brandon Nguyen and Ben Spragg) with 152,000, Team Baker (David ‘ODB’ Baker and Lance ‘Cord’ Garcia) with 143,000, and Team McCabe (Linda McCabe and Christian Soto) with 66,500.
The Tag Team event has always been a favorite for Team India, and we have two Indian players who have won this event in the past. And one of them, Spartan Poker Team Pro Nikita Luther, who won the Tag Team bracelet in 2018 with partner Guiseppe Pantaleo, has an outside shot at repeating the feat. She made it through to Day 2 (although we do not know who her partner is) with 20,500 in chips – making her team the fourth shortest stack in the field.
Nikita Luther
The 183 teams will return for Day 2 at noon (PDT) on June 27.
Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1
Peter Phan – 435,500
Samuel Whalin – 376,500
Darren Attebery – 286,000
Alain Medesan – 280,500
Nick Yunis – 268,000
Henrik Brun – 262,000
Steve Yea – 253,500
Dennis Toms – 246,500
Hwany Lee – 240,000
Zachary Vankeuren – 232,000
Event #56: $50,000 Poker Players Championship
The 2022 WSOP is picking up the pace, and how! Even as the $10,000 Main Event is fast approaching, the next biggest highlight of the series, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, kicked off action at the Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas on Sunday. Before divulging into the Day 1 action that wrapped up today, let’s first understand what the event is all about and what makes it so remarkable.
Considered a prodigious event for all the mixed game specialists, its history makes it extremely special. Chip Resse won the first edition of the event back in 2006. But post his untimely demise in 2008, the trophy was named the Chip Resse Memorial Trophy as a tribute. Many poker legends have received the honor of getting their name engraved on the trophy, with the last being Dan Cates in 2021. Not to forget the only player to join the elite club of winners three times – Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, which is undoubtedly a big feat and goes down as one of the most notable achievements in the history of WSOP. Besides Mizrachi, only Brian Rast has won the title more than once after he triumphed in 2011 and 2016, respectively.
The renowned event is currently played in a nine-game format that rotates evenly between No-Limit Hold ’em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Razz, Pot-Limit Omaha, Limit Hold ’em, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw, and 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw.
Adding to this year’s record-breaking numbers, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship surpassed last year’s mark, with 91 players logging on Day 1. With late registrations open for another five levels on Day 2, it is sure to set a new record of more than 100 entries for the first time since 2014.
With eight former WSOP champions, six Poker Hall of Famers, and five WSOP Players of the Year, the list of participants included a host of notable names from the poker world.
The day lasted for six levels of 100 minutes each, with 80 players from the original field surviving the day, thanks to the slow and deep stacked format the game follows. Luke Schwartz (893,000) bagged the chip lead, closely followed by alleged cheater Bryn Kenny (802,000) in second place and Shaun Debb (718,500) in third.
Grabbing most of the attention on Day 1 was the defending champion Dan Cates, who walked in dressed like Randy “Macho Man” Savage and even talked like him. Cates bagged a decent 617,000 to carry forward his shenanigans to Day 2.
Dan Cates
The illustrious list of players making Day 2 includes Koray Aldemir, Phil Ivey, Brian Hastings, and Daniel Negreanu, among others.
Some unfortunate players who couldn’t see the light of day include Jens Lakemeier, Eli Elezra, Felipe Ramos, David Prociak, and Ben Diebold.
The remaining players will resume the much-anticipated action at 2 PM (PDT) on June 27.
Luke Schwartz
Top Ten Chip Counts at the End of Day 1
Luke Schwartz – 893,000
Bryn Kenney – 802,000
Shaun Deeb – 718,500
Bryce Yockey – 715,000
Aaron Katz – 695,500
David Benyamine – 651,000
Daniel Cates – 617,000
Ben Yu – 601,000
Andrew Kelsall – 583,000
Benny Glaser – 547,000
Content & Images Courtesy: PokerGO, PokerNews & WSOP
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