The 2022 World Series of Poker is half over, as Event 43’s conclusion marked the halfway mark of the 88-tournament live schedule.
Things are only going to get more exciting in the coming weeks. The Colossus is on tap, and the Main Event is less than two weeks away. More players are coming to Las Vegas from outside of the United States because they can stay through to the Main Event.
Stay tuned. There is so much more to come.
Event 44: $10K HORSE Championship
Andrew Yeh and Philip Long led the final five players who returned to Bally’s to play for the win. It took well over an hour, but the first elimination involved Yeh eliminating Racener in a Stud-8 hand. Yeh then had a big lead and kept increasing it as Craig Chait eliminated Bryce Yockey. During three-handed play, all players were able to get a taste of the top chip position. Hours passed as they all exchanged the lead.
It took a key Stud-8 hand for Yeh to make his comeback and then a regular Stud hand eliminate Long in third place. Yeh took more than 9M chips into heads-up, with Chait holding fewer than 3.4M. The two battled for a long time, Chait taking his turn in the lead but Yeh taking it back with a vengeance. An Omaha-8 hand decided the matter.
Yeh captured his first WSOP gold bracelet after 3am but did it all on the PokerGO livestream.
Ten players started the final day of PLO, but Kao Saechao busted in tenth and Dylan Smith in ninth to set the official final table. Shane Nardiello busted both of them and took the chip lead into eight-handed play. David Prociak gave it a little time but Send Dylan Weisman home in eighth while Nardiello gave Paul Fehlig a seventh-place finish.
David Prociak began to dominate, taking the chip lead from Nardiello. But it was Phil Hui who busted David Williams in sixth place. Prociak eliminated Nardiello in fifth, but Daniel Tordjman then surged, busting Charles Coultas in fourth and taking a huge pot from Prociak. Hui eliminated Prociak in third.
Tordjman had the lead going into heads-up and extended that lead, but Hui finally found a double and began his climb. Ultimately, Tordjman tried his hand at a double and failed, pushing him out in second place. Hui won his third WSOP bracelet.
“I have a good life,” he said. “I’m happy with everything.” He also joked that he now has more bracelets than his wife, Loni Hui (formerly Loni Harwood).
What started with 46 players saw most of them hit the payout desk, including late bustouts like Robert Mizrachi, Anthony Spinella, and Shawn Daniels. When seven players finally gathered at one table. It was Ezequiel Waigel who busted in seventh place on the official final table bubble.
Event 46: Day 3 of 4
$5K buy-in
NLHE 6-Handed (1 RE)
Total entries:
928
(815 in 2019, 604 in 2021)
Players remaining:
6
Total prize pool:
$4,243,500
Players paid:
138
Minimum payout:
$8,053
Winner payout:
$771,765
Top chip counts:
#1
Stephen Song (USA) 15.3M
#2
Elio Fox (USA) 8.2M
#3
Tamer Alkamli (Canada) 7.7M
#4
Jonathan Pastore (France) 5.25M
#5
Patrick Sekinger (UK) 3M
#6
Paraskevas Tsokaridis (Greece) 1.7M
Event 47: $1K Seniors NLHE Championship
The final tally of entries in this year’s Seniors event was 7,188. That number is far beyond the 5,404 of last year or even the 5,916 of 2019. Day 1B played down on Thursday, and the number of survivors for both days totaled 1,439. They will all gather today.
Event 47: Day 1B of 5
$1K buy-in
Seniors NLHE Championship (1 RE/Flight)
Total entries:
7,188
(5916 in 2019, 5404 in 2021)
Players remaining:
1,439
Total prize pool:
$6,397,320
Players paid:
1,079
Minimum payout:
$1,600
Winner payout:
$694,909
Top chip counts:
#1
James Kennedy (USA) 452,000
#2
Seongsu Kong (S.Korea) 365,000
#3
Ken O'Malley (USA) 363,500
#4
Allyn Shulman (USA) 361,500
#5
Orlando Barrera (USA) 358,500
Event 48: $1,500 Eight-Game Mix 6-Handed
This field played down from 200 to just 16 on its second day. Those 16 will return to several tables on Friday to play for the win.
Event 48: Day 2 of 3
$1,500 buy-in
Eight-Game Mix 6-Handed (1 RE)
Total entries:
695
(612 in 2019, 484 in 2021)
Players remaining:
16
Total prize pool:
$927,825
Players paid:
105
Minimum payout:
$2,403
Winner payout:
$180,783
Top chip counts:
#1
Jason Stockfish (USA) 2,540,000
#2
Jake Liebeskind (USA) 1,692,000
#3
Eric Buchman (USA) 1,461,000
#4
Ryan Roeder (USA) 1,376,000
#5
Robert Wells (UK) 1,309,000
Event 49: $2K NLHE
This was a new event on the WSOP lineup this year. And it proved popular with nearly 2K entries and a prize pool of more than $3.5M. The night ended with 311 players still holding on to the dream.
Event 49: Day 1 of 3
$2K buy-in
NLHE (1 RE)
Total entries:
1,977
(new)
Players remaining:
311
Total prize pool:
$3,519,060
Players paid:
297
Minimum payout:
$3,205
Winner payout:
$527,944
Top chip counts:
#1
Faraz Jaka (USA) 735,000
#2
Dan Colpoys (USA) 730,000
#3
John Perry (Australia) 729,000
#4
Tommy Kivela (USA) 669,000
#5
Daniel Custodio (Portugal) 540,000
Event 50: $250K NLHE Super High Roller
It was just a little $250,000 entry for the high-stakes players at this WSOP, and for those who didn’t do well, they could reenter…but only once. It brought in 52 entries, though registration remained open through the start of Day 2.
Event 50: Day 1 of 3
$250K buy-in
NLHE Super High Roller (1 RE)
Total entries:
52 (not final)
(33 in 2021)
Players remaining:
30
Total prize pool:
TBD
Players paid:
TBD
Minimum payout:
TBD
Winner payout:
TBD
Top chip counts:
#1
Adrian Mateos (Spain) 9,745,000
#2
Phil Ivey (USA) 6,830,000
#3
Dario Sammartino (Italy) 4,835,000
#4
Nick Petrangelo (USA) 4,500,000
#5
Dan Zack (USA) 4,445,000
Today’s Poker Menu
Event 46 will play the rest of its final table.
Event 47 will bring all Day 1 survivors together to play into the money.
Event 48 will play to and through its final table.
Event 49 will try to find its final table.
Event 50 will close registration and try to play to its final table.
Event 51 will kick off the Colossus with the first of two flights.
Event 52 will start the six-handed Nine-Game Mix.
