The world’s most biggest poker festival, World Series of Poker (WSOP), is now running full steam at its new home Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas Casino. Since its start on 31st May, the 53rd annual series has been all the rage with players flocking from all across the world to join the high-octane action.
The series is expected to attract bigger turnout than its predecessor with Covid-19 restrictions now lifted. Opening events of the festival saw the first eight of 88 bracelets claimed. Kate Kopp shipped the series-opener with David Peters winning the second event of the series and Scott Seiver taking the down the third event at the series. Among the recent bracelet winners crowned at the series were the likes of Brad Ruben, Dan Smith, Amnon Filippi, Chad Eveslage & Alex Livingston.
Team India’s campaign got off to a good start with WSOP veteran Aditya Agarwal making a 9th-place finish in Event #3: $2,500 Freezeout NLHE worth $23,634 (INR 18.36 Lac) and registering Team India’s first cash at this year’s series. India’s Neel Joshi became the second Indian to cash out at the series as he made it to Day 2 in Event #5: $500 The Housewarming among the 899 survivors with a stack of 945,000. However, he could not advance to Day 3 as he fell out in 572nd place for $2,365.
Event 4: Dealers Choice 6-Handed – Brad Ruben Wins It For $126,288 & His 4th Bracelet
Several players have won their career fourth bracelets at the series so far. Another poker pro winning his career fourth bracelet at the ongoing series was USA’s Brad Ruben who took down the 2022 WSOP Event #4: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice after defeating the defending champion Jaswinder Lally (runner-up for $78,048 in heads-up to win $126,288 and his career fourth gold bracelet.
- Buy in: $1,500
- Entries: 430
- Prize pool: $574,050
- Placed Paid: 65
The final table was a star-studded affair and included four bracelet winners. Four-time bracelet winner USA’s Ben Yu finished fourth, Japan’s Naoya Kihara was third, and Canada’s Jaswinder Lally was runner up. With the latest victory, Ruben took his live tournament earnings to over $ 800K.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Brad Ruben $126,288
- Jaswinder Lally $78,048
- Naoya Kihara $52,282
- Ben Yu $35,793
- Jorge Walker $25,056
- Charles Bransford $17,944
- Alfred Atamian $13,153
Event #6: Heads Up NLH Championship – Dan Smith Wins It For $ 509,717 & His 1st Bracelet
Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship was a memorable event for the 33-year-old American poker pro Dan Smith. He is the highest-earning tournament player on the earth but was without a WSOP bracelet before entering this event. The man got the monkey off his back in a thundering fashion, defeating the star-studded 64-entry field to claim his career-first bracelet along with $509,717. Germany’s Christoph Vogelsang settled for second place, winning $315,029.
- Buy-in: $25,000
- Entries: 64
- Prizepool: $1,512,000
- Places Paid: 8
Running from 2nd to 4th June, the event had a capped field of 64 to build a prize pool of $1,512,000 that was shared by the top 8 finishers.The final four was set at the end of Day 2, with Sean Winter (5th), Jonathan Jaffe (6th ), recent WPT Choctaw Main Event champion Chance Kornuth (7th), and Dylan Destefano (8th) all being knocked out. They each earned $75,045 for their deep runs.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Dan Smith – $509,717
- Christoph Vogelsang – $315,029
- Dario Sammartino – $193,537
- Kevin Rabichow – $193,537
- Sean Winter – $75,045
- Jonathan Jaffe – $75,045
- Chance Kornuth – $75,045
- Dylan Destefano – $75,045
Event #7: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better – Amnon Filippi Ships It For $252,718 & 1st Bracelet
Another USA player capturing his maiden bracelet was Amnon Filippi who overcame a large field of 1,086 in Event #7: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better that took place from 3rd to 5th June. He eventually outlasted Matt Vengrin (runner-up for $156,198), taking home $252,718 and his first WSOP bracelet.
- Buy-in: $1,500
- Prizepool: $1,449,810
- Entries: 1,086
- Places Paid: 164
After play was halted in the early morning, the final two players returned to the Bally’s Event Center to play down to a winner. Filippi began as chip leader, but Vengrin started in style by winning the first pot of the day. Another surge saw him move ahead but Filippi flopped a set to regain the lead.
On the final hand, Vengrin pitted his As Qh 3h 2s against Filippi’s 9s 8d 7c 6s and the board ran out Kc 9h Kh 4c 10d. Filippi scooped the pot with two pairs and Vengrin was forced to settle for second place.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Amnon Filippi – $252,718
- Matt Vengrin – $156,198
- Paul Zappulla – $111,501
- Murilo Figueredo – $80,671
- Matt Glantz – $59,166
- David Funkhouser – $43,997
- Rami Boukai – $33,178
- Mel Judah – $25,377
Event #8: High Roller No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed – Chad Eveslage Wins It For $1,415,610 & His 1st Bracelet
Yet another USA player to claim his maiden WSOP bracelet was the 30-year-old pro Chad Eveslage who emerged victorious in Event #8: High Roller No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed that ran from 4th to 6th June. He earned a whopping $1,415,610 along with his maiden WSOP gold bracelet. With the win, he is now both a WSOP and WPT champion, having won the WPT Venetian last summer for $910,370.
- Buy-in: $25,000
- Entries: 251
- Prizepool: $5,929,875
- Places Paid: 38
Eveslage was one of 251 entries in this event. The large turnout resulted in a $5,929,875 prize pool, the biggest chunk of which went to Eveslage. Given the stakes, the tourney attracted some of the biggest names, including 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey (34th for $40,648), 4-time bracelet winner and recent $100K bounty champion David Peters (27th for $50,810), 5-time bracelet winner Brian Rast (19th for $57,009), & 2015 Main Event champion Joseph McKeehen (18th for $57,009).
Just 15 players returned for Day 3. WPT champion Justin Young (15th for $65,511), WPT champion Taylor von Kriegenbergh (13th for $77,056), Jesse Lonis (12th for $77,056), bracelet winner Byron Kaverman (11th for $92,725), and Daniel Colpoys (9th for $114,094) fell before the official FT was set.
The notables on the final table included the likes of defending WSOP Player of the Year Josh Arieh (3rd for $616,047) and 2021 WSOP Main Event winner Koray Aldemir (6th for $241,791). The heads-up play began with Eveslage sitting on 19,650,000, while Schindler had climbed to 18,025,000. The final hand of the event saw Schindler with 10c 6h and Eveslage with Kh 3d. The board ran out Kc 6c 9s 3c 10h, giving the title to Eveslage. Schindler was forced to settle for $874,915 as the runner-up!
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Chad Eveslage – $1,415,610
- Jake Schindler – $874,915
- Josh Arieh – $616,047
- Chris Brewer – $442,213
- Brek Schutten – $323,730
- Koray Aldemir – $241,791
- Antonio Lievano – $184,324
- Ognyan Dimov – $143,480
Event #9: $1,500 Seven Card Stud – Alex Livingston Wins It For $103,282 & His 1st Bracelet!
The 2019 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Alex Livingston from Canada was the last player standing in Event #9: $1,500 Seven Card Stud where he overcame a field of 329 entries to win $103,282 and his first bracelet. He entered the final table as a chip leader and never relinquished it, besting players like Brad Ruben, fresh off of winning his fourth bracelet earlier in Event #4: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice, and two other WSOP bracelet winners in Kenny Hsiung and Niner John Racener.
- Buy-in: $1,500
- Entries: 329
- Prizepool: $439,215
- Places Paid: 50
Livingston began heads-up as a massive chip leader with 6.7 million, and USA’s Weinman wasn’t able to make much ground in the heads-up and had to settle for a runner-up payout worth $63,835.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Alex Livingston – $103,282
- Daniel Weinman – $63,835
- Thomas Taylor – $44,112
- Hojeong Lee – $31,083
- Kenny Hsiung – $22,344
- John Racener – $16,391
- Brad Ruben – $12,276
- John Evans – $9,391
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