Poker players exhibit a variety of reactions when they win a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Some run to the rail and high-five and hug friends. Most smile, and some even cry. It is a moment that hits every player just a bit differently.
When Mike Jukich won the Monster Stack tournament on Day 15, he literally jumped up on to the poker table. It was wildly effortless, just straight up and onto the table. And then, after some a brief roar with his rail, he hugged the dealer.
That’s rare. Perhaps it shouldn’t be.
Event 21: $1,500 NLHE Monster Stack
The final day of this long tournament brought 39 players to the tables with the goal of finding one winner. The eventual elimination of Romain Lotti in tenth place set the final nine at one table with Anthony Spinella and Mike Jukich holding the vast majority of the chips.
Jukich immediately took control and grabbed chips from Spinella, though Francis Anderson took some of those. Spinella busted Ricardo Caridade in ninth, and Jukich busted Jessica Teusl in eighth and Yoshiya Agata in seventh. Chips flew around the table for awhile before Joao Simao busted David Zarrin and Anderson ousted Spinella. Mateusz Moolhuizen took out Simao in fourth and then Anderson in third.
Heads-up began with Moolhuizen holding 227M chips to the 98M of Jukich, but the latter chipped up and took a big double to grab the lead. Moolhuizen moved all-in on the very next hand with K-Q, but the A-8 of Jukich held for the victory.
The final table began with a rude exit from David Litt in ninth place, courtesy of Joey Couden. Chipleader Chad Eveslage busted Amir Shayesteh in eighth, and Couden took care of Matt Woodward in seventh. Kyle Dischneider had climbed into the top spot on the leaderboard as Eveslage battled back and forth with Matthew Schreiber. Jonathan Cohen ultimately busted Eveslage in sixth place, and Couden fell from the top to hit the rail in fifth place.
Just after the dinner break, Dilschneider eliminated Gonzales in fourth, and the three played on until Cohen finally ousted Schreiber in third. Cohen took a chip advantage into heads-up, but Dilschneider took over the lead shortly thereafter. The two eventually agreed to stop for the night and play the rest of the tournament the next day.
Event 26: Day 3 of 4
$10K buy-in
Limit Hold'em Championship
Total entries:
92
(92 in 2021, 118 in 2019)
Players remaining:
2
Total prize pool:
$857,900
Players paid:
14
Minimum payout:
$16,920
Final table results:
#1
Kyle Dilschneider (USA) 3M chips
#2
Jonathan Cohen (USA) 2.5M chips
3rd place:
Matthew Schreiber (USA) $107,978
4th place:
Matthew Gonzalez (USA) $78,435
5th place:
Joey Couden (USA) $58,226
6th place:
Chad Eveslage (USA) $44,194
7th place:
Matt Woodward (USA) $34,314
8th place:
Amir Shayesteh (USA) $27,269
9th place:
David Litt (USA) $22,192
Event 27: $1,500 NLHE Shootout
Ten tables of ten players each started on Tuesday in true shootout format. One by one, each table declared its winner. Those ten players have virtually identical chip stacks and will play the final SNG for the win on Wednesday.
Event 27: Day 2 of 3
$1,500 buy-in
NLHE Shootout
Total entries:
1,000
(800 in 2021, 917 in 2019)
Players remaining:
10
Total prize pool:
$1,335,000
Players paid:
100
Minimum payout:
$5,835
Winner payout:
$240,480
Final table counts:
Ravi Raghavan (USA) 2,475,000
Roongsak Griffeth (USA) 2,480,000
Derek Sudell (USA) 2,475,000
David Yonnotti (USA) 2,475,000
Michael Simhai (USA) 2,500,000
Ariant Patel (USA) 2,475,000
Kevin Song (USA) 2,495,000
Timothy McDermott (USA) 2,480,000
Austin Peck (USA) 2,475,000
David Dowdy (USA) 2,480,000
Event 28: $50K PLO High Roller
The money bubble burst in this event later in the evening of Day 2, courtesy of Dash Dudley busting Andjelko Andrejevic. He then busted AP Garza. James Park followed Garza to the payout cage, as did Chance Kornuth, Duarte Baptista, James Cavanaugh, and Michael Heritsch. Jared Bleznick sent Joni Jouhkimainen out in tenth to set the final table.
Veselin Karakitukov led the group, but Robert Cowen and Bleznick were not far behind. Ben Lamb ousted Aaron Mermelstein in ninth and Scott Seiver in eighth. Much later, Karakitukov took out Aaron Katz in seventh, while Lamb sent Jason Mercier packing in sixth.
The final five bagged their chips and will play on Wednesday at the featured table.
Event 28: Day 2 of 3
$50K buy-in
PLO High Roller (2 RE)
Total entries:
106
(85 in 2021)
Players remaining:
5
Total prize pool:
$5,074,750
Players paid:
16
Minimum payout:
$83,960
Winner payout:
$1,393,816
Final chip counts:
#1
Veselin Karakitukov (Bulgaria) 9,755,000
#2
Ben Lamb (USA) 8,215,000
#3
Robert Cowen (UK) 7,935,000
#4
Dash Dudley (USA) 4,185,000
#5
Jared Bleznick (USA) 1,690,000
6th place:
Jason Mercier (USA) $260,819
7th place:
Aaron Katz (USA) $202,103
8th place:
Scott Seiver (USA) $159,464
Event 29: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw
Lowball fans gathered to play their $1,500 event, but hundreds of players dwindled down to just 19 of them by night’s end.
Event 29: Day 2 of 3
$1,500 buy-in
NL 2-7 Lowball Draw (2 RE)
Total entries:
437
(272 in 2021, 296 in 2019)
Players remaining:
19
Total prize pool:
$583,395
Players paid:
66
Minimum payout:
$2,417
Winner payout:
$127,809
Top chip counts:
#1
Yuri Dzivielevski (Brazil) 1,110,000
#2
Jonathan McGowan (USA) 1,110,000
#3
Roland Israelashvili (USA) 1,105,000
#4
Maxx Coleman (USA) 970,000
#5
Yosif Nawabi (USA) 960,000
Event 30: $1K PLO 8-Handed
No one really needs proof that Omaha is a consistently growing game. But the fact that the $1K buy-in PLO delivered 1,891 entries proved it anyway. The night ended with 108 players still in.
The championship-level Lowball brought in more than 100 players, though registration remained open. Only 43 players made it through the day, but a few more may join at the beginning of Day 2.
Event 31: Day 1 of 3
$10K buy-in
Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship
Total entries:
102 (not final)
(90 in 2021, 100 in 2019)
Players remaining:
43
Total prize pool:
TBD
Players paid:
TBD
Minimum payout:
TBD
Winner payout:
TBD
Top chip counts:
#1
Oscar Johansson (Sweden) 293,000
#2
Brian Hastings (USA) 292,000
#3
Shaun Deeb (USA) 286,000
#4
Jeremy Ausmus (USA) 250,000
#5
Matthew Edgar (USA) 248,000
Today’s Poker Menu
Event 26 will play its final heads-up match.
Event 27 will play its ten-handed final table.
Event 28 has five players remaining to play on a televised livestream.
Event 29 has just 19 players left and will try to find one winner..
Event 30 will attempt to find a PLO final table.
Event 31 will close registration and try to reach a Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw final table.
Event 32 will kick off the $1,500 HORSE event at 11am.
Event 33 will offer a $3K NLHE 6-Handed event starting at 3pm.
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