Jeffrey Farnes holds a narrow lead with just 35 players remaining in the WSOP Main Event.

It was moving day at the World Series of Poker, as the Main Event continued to roll on with Day 6 action bringing the field down to a scant few tables. Meanwhile, seven other bracelet events were on tap for players looking for one last chance to score a gold bracelet before the series comes to a close next week.

 

Field Shrinks to 35 During Main Event Day 6

 

It was already going to be hard to top the absolute roller coaster that was Day 5 of the WSOP Main Event, but a constant stream of dramatic action was in store for poker aficionados, albeit at the cost of many of the rising stars who had built a name for themselves in the previous few days. The 123 players that started play for Day 6 were reduced down to just 35, with Jeffrey Farnes (37,825,000) returning with a narrow chip lead over Brian Kim (33,875,000). The only other players over the 30 million chip barrier include Philippe Souki (32,475,000), Karim Rebei (31,475,000) and Espen Jorstad (31,175,000).

Dan Smith was one of the first casualties of the day, first losing a flip with sevens to be reduced down to under four big blinds, then running ace-queen into ace-king to fall in 121st place. Smith shared a special moment that occurred after the elimination that may have helped soften the sting of his Main Event run coming to an end.

 

 

Zilong Zhang was the talk of the tournament, both figuratively and literally, leading up to Day 6, but the fairy tale would come to a close a few days short of a Main Event Final Table berth. Zhang opened with 7h6d and flopped an open-ended straight draw on a 5c4cJs flop, and called a check-raise from Cedrric Trevino to see the 6c fall on the turn. Trevino set Zhang in for his last 20 big blinds, and Zhang chose to call it off. Trevino held AdJc for top pair and the flush draw, and a brick Kd river left the entertaining Zhang out the door in 117th.

 

 

 

Two women managed to make it to Day 6, but only Efthymia Litsou will return for Day 7, as Shelby Wells couldn’t continue her short stack magic and fell in 97th. The defending champ, Koray Aldemir, had the same problem, and couldn’t get his nines to hold up against the ace-queen of Brian Kim to end a remarkable run in two straight Main Events, following up his victory with a 75th place performance. This leaves Damian Salas (5,800,000) as the only former WSOP Main Event champ left in the field.

 

 

 

Trevino’s Main Event run came to a shocking close shortly after. The “Poker Traveler” found himself all-in and at risk for just over 26 big blinds with kings against the jacks of Michael Duek on a 6h2h6c flop. The brutal Js fell on the turn, and no king fell on the river to leave a crestfallen Trevino out in 66th.

Alejandro Lococo, who made an all-timer of a bluff in yesterday’s Day 5, was one of the last players to fall as play concluded, as he got his last 7,050,000 in with AcQd against the TsTd of Farnes. There would be no drama on a clean board for Farnes, and Lococo has to settle for two deep runs of his own, finishing 39th this year after making it all the way to seventh place during last year’s Main Event.

 

 

 

WSOP Main Event Day 6 Top Ten Chip Counts

 

  1. Jeffrey Farnes – 37,825,000
  2. Brian Kim – 33,875,000
  3. Philippe Souki – 32,475,000
  4. Karim Rebei – 31,475,000
  5. Espen Jorstad – 31,175,000
  6. Matija Dobric – 29,550,000
  7. Adrian Attenborough – 28,625,000
  8. Andy Taylor – 23,900,000
  9. Michael Duek – 22,575,000
  10. John Eames – 22,450,000

 

Riess Looks to Beast Up Another Bracelet in One Drop

 

Only three players out of the forty-one that returned for Day 4 action in Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop managed to bag up for the final day of play, with Mike Allis bringing back a monster stack of 142,700,000, good for over ninety-five big blinds. Basel Chaura sits in third with a still comfortable stack of 38,600,000, but the most notable player left of the trio is 2013 WSOP Main Event Champ Ryan Riess, who holds 46,700,000 in chips in his quest for his second career WSOP gold bracelet.

William Koenig (41st – $15,238) was the first to depart on the day, and he was joined on the rail by Lily Kiletto (39th – $15,238), Vinny Pahuja (33rd – $18,468), Barry Hutter (28th – $18,468), Joon Kim (20th – $22,554), and Christina Gollins (11th – $42,980) before the final table was reached. Boris Akopov and Niklas Warlich both had short stays at the final table, while Rio Fujita lost back-to-back hands to Mohammed Jaafar to fall in eighth. Short stacks Andrew Robinson, Salah Nimer and Leonardo De Souza all busted swiftly after that, and Jaafar would be the last elimination of the night, his As5d unable to catch up to the AcQs of Allis to leave the final three to fight for the bracelet on Wednesday.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop Final Table Chip Counts/Payouts

 

  1. Mike Allis – 142,700,000
  2. Ryan Riess – 46,700,000
  3. Basel Chaura – 38,600,000
  4. Mohammed Jaafar – $190,363
  5. Leonardo De Souza – $145,892
  6. Salah Nimer – $112,612
  7. Andrew Robinson – $87,551
  8. Rio Fujita – $68,562
  9. Niklas Warlich – $54,085
  10. Boris Akopov – $42,980

 

Hong’s a Natural; Ships Poker Hall of Fame Bounty

 

Two days were not enough for the final seven players in Event #76: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty, and despite no remaining bounties in the field, plenty of cash was at stake for the remaining field, which included two former WSOP bracelet winners. Jinho Hong, a former professional gamer from South Korea, managed to take his start of the day chip lead and turn it into $276,067 after a lightning-fast ninety minutes of play.

 

With just 130 big blinds left in play at the start, the first major confrontation saw two players hit the rail in the same hand; George Rotariu in seventh and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski in sixth, both at the hands of Hong. Pavel Spirins and WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Weinman would bust shortly after, each holding ace-nine as their final hand of the tournament. Jakob Miegel then ran tens into the kings of Punnat Punsri to bring play to heads-up, with both Hong and Punsri now sitting with healthy stacks and Punsri with a slight lead to begin.

Hong was able to earn a double shortly after the second level of play began, with his AhQd outkicking the KdQs of Punsri on a queen-high flop. All the money got in on a brick turn, and no king fell on the river to leave Punsri with crumbs. Punsri managed one double, but got his aces cracked by Hong’s ace-four when the board ran out with four spades, and Hong’s ace of spades netted him his first WSOP gold bracelet.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #76: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty Final Table Results

 

  1. Jinho Hong – $276,067
  2. Punnat Punsri – $170,615
  3. Jakob Miegel – $120,756
  4. Daniel Weinman – $86,730
  5. Pavel Spirins – $63,225
  6. Yuri Dzivielevski – $46,791
  7. George Rotariu – $35,164

 

Salazar in Command as 11 Remain in Mixed Hold’em/Omaha

 

A field of 151 hopefuls in Event #77: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha was whittled down to just 11 by the end of Day 2, and Aden Salazar sits well atop the counts, with his 9,140,000 in chips worth more than triple the average stack, and double his closest competitor in Noah Bronstein (4,200,000). Salazar’s ascent to the top was boosted greatly by knocking out none other than Daniel Negreanu in 18th in a two million chip pot in Omaha, when Negreanu had his aces cracked by the top two pair of Salazar.

 

Notable players who fell short of the final day of play include Michael Wang, Dan Shak, Christian Harder, Connor Drinan, Scott Davies, and Nick Schwarmann.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #77: $1,500 Mixed NLHE/PLO Day 3 Chip Counts

 

  1. Aden Salazar – 9,140,000
  2. Noah Bronstein – 4,200,000
  3. Vincent Lam – 3,810,000
  4. Vegard Andreassen – 3,500,000
  5. Daniel Chuprun – 2,040,000
  6. Robert Topham – 1,805,000
  7. Richard Kellett – 1,580,000
  8. Esther Taylor – 1,385,000
  9. Sandeep Pulusani – 1,210,000
  10. William Leffingwell – 1,130,000
  11. Jordan Kaplan – 1,000,000

 

Hastings and Negreanu Bag Heaps in Razz Championship

 

A total of 125 players hit the felt during Day 1 of Event #79: $10,000 Razz Championship, all in hopes of making plenty of wheels on their way to securing a bag for Day 2. William Kakon heads into tomorrow’s action with the chip lead over the remaining 59 players, but very close behind are a pair of six-time WSOP bracelet winners in Brian Hastings and Daniel Negreanu. In fact, a who’s who of big names and bracelet winners litter the chip counts, including this year’s winner of the $1,500 version of this event, Daniel Strelitz, and the defending champ Benny Glaser.

Despite the slow pace of play on the opening day, a number of big names were unable to break through to Day 2, including Scott Seiver, Nick Guagenti, Chino Rheem, Maria Ho, Ben Lamb, and Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, who shared some of his misfortunes with his Twitter followers. Registration remains open through the start of play tomorrow, so the field may inch even further up before plays resumes.

 

 

WSOP 2022 Event #79: $10,000 Razz Championship Top Ten Chip Counts

 

  1. William Kakon – 308,000
  2. Hal Rotholz – 299,000
  3. Brian Hastings – 263,000
  4. Kyle Dilschneider – 247,000
  5. Daniel Negreanu – 240,000
  6. Amir Nematinia – 228,500
  7. Perry Friedman – 228,000
  8. Adam Friedman – 214,000
  9. David Bach – 210,500
  10.  Yueqi Zhu – 198,500

 

Berkey Cruising in Search of $2,500 NLHE Gold

 

A total of 257 players returned for Day 2 of Event #78: $2,500 No Limit Hold’em, with only 205 set to earn a payday. Just 22 will return for Day 3 action, with Solve for Why founder Matt Berkey holding a comfortable chip lead over the remaining field. A pair of WSOP bracelet winners in Ran Koller and James Gilbert also survived the day, as did Kenny Hallaert.

After three players busted on the same hand to burst the bubble, the payout desk was inundated with big names claiming some cash, including Upeshka De Silva, Scott Seiver, Jack Sinclair and David Peters, as well as former WSOP Main Event champs Joe Cada and Martin Jacobson.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #78: $2,500 NLHE Top Ten Chip Counts

 

  1. Matt Berkey – 5,430,000
  2. Thomas MacDonaldd – 3,935,000
  3. Sebastien Aube – 3,130,000
  4. Axel Hallay – 3,100,000
  5. Luke Martinelli – 2,955,000
  6. Santiago Plante – 2,920,000
  7. Ran Koller – 2,270,000
  8. Julien Loire – 2,060,000
  9. Alexander Farahi – 1,905,000
  10. Nicholas Vayssieres – 1,745,000

 

Ye Leads Final Flight of Lucky Sevens

 

Another 4,017 players joined the fray in Event #75: $777 Lucky Sevens for the third and final Day 1 flight, bringing the total number of entrants to 6,903 over all three flights. Alon Messica leads the field with 3,050,000 chips, while James “mig.com” Mackey, Barry Greenstein, and Joe Serock all managed to survive the wild and frenetic action that the fast-paced structure of the Lucky Sevens tourney provides.

Kathy Liebert managed to squeak into the money before running into kings, while Jake Schwartz and Dannah Kamp both also earned a payday before the final cards were dealt on Day 1. The three flights will combine for Day 2 action tomorrow, and the remaining field will play down to the final five tomorrow, all gunning for a top prize guaranteed to be $777,777.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #75: $777 Lucky Sevens Top Ten Chip Counts

 

  1. Alon Messica – 3,050,000
  2. Joseph Elpayaa – 2,875,000
  3. Xinli Ye – 2,800,000
  4. 4Artem Metalidi – 2,680,000
  5. Rodney Turvin – 2,600,000
  6. Mike Takayama – 2,455,000
  7. Michael Leanos – 2,070,000
  8. Yita Choong – 2,060,000
  9. Cherish Andrews – 2,000,000
  10. Romans Voitovs – 1,985,000

 

Online Bracelet Event Sees Anderson Fall Just Short

 

More drama closed out the day in the Online Event which took place today, which was the 8-Max High Roller event and cost $3,200 to enter. There was another first-time winner who took the prize as French player Julien Perouse won the event for $324,767 after he outlasted the eight-handed final table that was full of American players other than himself.

 

This year’s $3,200-entry Online Event saw an even bigger prize pool than in 2021, with players such as Mike Watson (44th), Daniel Negreanu (34th) and Jeremy Ausmus (25th) all making the money without troubling the five-figure payouts. Others such as Patrick Leonard, David ‘ODB’ Baker and Upeshka De Silva all missed the money.

 

After Adam Hendrix and Corey Paggeot both lost in the same hand to Brian Altman, it was a surprise exit next as Altman himself hit the rail, running into Calvin Anderson’s pocket aces to depart. With five players left, John Riordan’s exit was followed by the last dance for Alex Greenblatt. Then, Gabriel Nastasa made a swift exit in third for $137,055.

 

Heads-up, Anderson was hoping to win a third title, but he was denied by the forceful French pro, whose victory was worth $324,767, a good chunk more than Anderson’s runner-prize of $202,627.

 

WSOP 2022 $3,200 Online Event Final Table Results:                         

 

  1. Julian Perouse – $324,767
  2. Calvin Anderson – $202,627
  3. Gabriel Nastasa – $137,055
  4. Alex Greenblatt – $97,820
  5. John Riordan – $66,512
  6. Brian Altman  – $47,835
  7. Corey Paggeot – $35,070
  8. Adam Hendrix  – $26,336

 

Scott Seiver gave props to newly minted bracelet winner Jinho Hong for his past prowess as a StarCraft legend and performer in reality TV show “The Genius”:

 

 

Is it time for the Winter Series of Poker? Patrick Leonard seems to think so; more poker is better, right?

 

 

The last woman standing in the Main Event tells Remko Rinkema that she’s relaxed and ready to go for the final days of the Main Event:

 

Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.