The 2022 World Series of Poker officially began on Tuesday, May 31. But on Thursday, June 2, it got real.
Event 5 is the Housewarming event, the one to welcome everyone to the new venue with a $500 buy-in and a $5M guarantee. And the players came out in droves for it. This was the first day that Paris and Bally’s were packed with players, with walkways becoming almost impassable during break times. Restaurants and bars were thriving. And one could hear bad beat stories around every corner.
This is the time for the WSOP to shine.
Of course, there are complaints. Someone on the live reporting team misrepresented a hand. The registration lines were long. There are few food options at Bally’s. Parking is not great for everyone. Got it. But most players are trying to focus on the positive. It was only Day 3 of the 51-day series. Everyone knew that parking would be a bear. Players were told for MONTHS to find a way to register online or during off hours to avoid lines. Each reporter or staff member is trying to make this an amazing series.
https://twitter.com/JonShoreman/status/1532432773427826688?s=20&t=HLmiav4cKtoldFVrdZZzmQ
Event 2: $100K NLHE High Roller Bounty
The final five returned on Day 3 of the series to play for more than $1M and the first open event bracelet – albeit a prohibitively expensive one for most players – of this summer. Chance Kornuth was the chipleader and just coming off of a WPT Main Event victory. But none of his competitors could be under estimated.
This diverse final table brought four countries into the mix. But Germany Koray Aldemir busted first, followed by Ali Imsirovic of Bosnia and Herzogovina. Dario Sammartino then exited in third, leaving the two American players to battle it out. They did just that, with David Peters taking the win and his fourth career bracelet.
Everyone started the second day of this tournament in the money, so the first round of eliminations went quickly. Everything slowed considerably later in the day, especially after the dinner break. As two tables needed to be reduced to one, Scott Seiver did his part to eliminate Dylan Linde in 13th place, Jan Bednar in 12th, and Shawn Daniels in 11th.
Play then stopped with 10 players at an unofficial final table.
With 19 games in the mix, action was exciting (and confusing for some of us!) from the start. But players had to make it through half the field to get into the money. Nathan Gamble was the first to do just that for a min-cash several hours into the day. Only 35 players remained at the dinner break.
Play decelerated as the night went on, though, and the field still showed 14 players holding chips at the end of the requisite number of levels. Big names remain, including WSOP commentator Norman Chad and defending champion Jaswinder Lally.
Event 4: Day 2 of 3
$1,500 buy-in
Dealer's Choice 6-Handed (1 RE)
Total entries:
430
(307 in 2021, 470 in 2019)
Players remaining:
14
Total prize pool:
$574,040
Players paid:
65
Minimum payout:
$2,417
Winner payout:
$126,288
Top chip counts:
#1
Brad Ruben (USA) 2,102,000
#2
Jorge Walker (USA) 1,420,000
#3
Alfred Atamian (USA) 1,004,000
#4
Ben Yu (USA) 848,000
#5
Naoya Kihara (Japan) 808,000
Event 5: $500 NLHE Housewarming
This is the one that brought the masses to Bally’s and Paris today. This was the first event that had to utilize tables in both casinos to handle all of the players in the first of four flights. When registration closed at the dinner break, they announced that there were 3,373 entries for the day. And since payouts will happen on each of the flights, the WSOP announced that the top 506 players for the day will receive payments of at least $801.
The money bubble burst in the middle of the evening and whittled the field down to just 147 players.
Event 5: Day 1A of 6
$500 buy-in
NLHE Housewarming (1 RE)
Total 1A entries:
3,373
(506 paid minimum of $801)
Total players:
TBD
(12,973 in 2021 Reunion)
Players remaining:
147
Total prize pool:
TBD
Players paid:
TBD
Minimum payout:
$801
Winner payout:
TBD
($5M GTD)
Top chip counts:
#1
Justin Liberto (USA) 4,255,000
#2
Jordan Hufty (USA) 3,765,000
#3
Maury Barrett (USA) 2,920,000
#4
Larry Serebryany (USA) 2,750,000
#5
Alexandre Vuilleumier (Switzerland) 2,700,000
Event 6: $25K NLHE Heads-Up Championship
This event had a 64-player cap, and it did make it to 64 players. The first rounds were tough and left a lot of players out quickly. The second round left players like Cary Katz, Isaac Kempton, Christ Brewer, Faraz Jaka, Darren Elias, Jeremy Ausmus, and Chino Rheem out of the tournament.
Round 3 will kick off the day and bring the final eight players into the money. Round 4 will then determine the final two players.
Event 3 will play to and through its NLHE final table.
Event 4 will play to and through its Dealer’s Choice final table.
Event 5 will kick off its second of four NLHE Housewarming starting flights at 10am.
Event 6 will resume with 16 player (8 matches) in the $25K buy-in Heads-Up Championship.
Event 7 will introduce the first Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better event into the mix with a $1,500 buy-in, starting at 3pm.
https://twitter.com/GarryGates/status/1532481094028697600?s=20&t=g15jass3QsMAqG94ULlXZw
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