Day 39 of the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a hectic one with four events running, and Day 2D of Event #70: $10,000 Main Event World Championship, was one that everyone had their eyes on. With late registration open for the first two levels of play and a little over 550 entries needed to set a new record, it was too close to call.

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The late registrations closed at the end of Level 17, and all speculations were put to rest two levels later when the final numbers were announced. The final player count came in at 8,663 entries, 110 entries short of the 2006 Main Event record, making the 2022 WSOP Main Event the second-largest in WSOP history.

The Main Event generated an $80,782,475 prize pool to be distributed among the top 1,300 players starting with a min-cash worth $15,000. The 2022 WSOP Main Event champion will collect a whopping $10 Million in cash prize, and the runner-up will get $6 Million.

An additional 454 players bought in late on Day 2D, taking the field to an astounding 3,749 players – nearly 1,000 players more than Day 2ABC. After the scheduled five levels of play, 1,733 progressed to Day 3. They will be joined by 1,260 survivors from Day 2ABC, making for a Day 3 starting field of 2,993 players.

Muhammad Abdel Rahim (936,500) bagged the most chips on Day 2D and was the only player with over 900K, with Marsel Backa (738,000) and Ryan Torgersen (731,500) a distant second and third in the day-end chip counts.

A group of 19 Indians headlined by PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved (191,300) returned on Day 2D. Only half of them, ten Indians survived through, with MPL Poker Pro Siddharth Karia (401,000) carrying forward the largest stack from the team – he bagged the 76th most giant stack among the 1,733 Day 2D survivors. Bracelet winners Nipun Java (350,500) and Kartik Ved (296,500), along with poker vlogger Jaideep Sajwan (158,500), Aditya Systla (154,500), PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Ahuja (151,000), Muskan Sethi (131,000), Young Gun Neel Joshi (121,500), Kalyan Chakravarthy (84,000) and Kunal Punjwani (53,000) are others who will be coming back for Day 3 tomorrow.

Piyush Aggarwal, Jaydeep Dawer, Raghav Bansal, Akshay Bharadwaj, Shashank Jain, Spartan Poker Pro Nikita Luther, Apratim Sharma, and Yudhishter Jaswal failed to advance.

The 10 Indians from Day 2D will be joined by the Day 2ABC survivors Chiraag Patel (311,500), Young Gun Arsh Grover (194,000), Ankit Ahuja (117,800), and bracelet winner Aditya Sushant (27,500).

Team India Chip Counts For Day 3 of Main Event

Day 2ABC chip leader Gavin Munroe (1,061,500) commands the overall chip lead.

Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop was the other bracelet event that witnessed sizable Indian participation The second starting flight registered 1,471 entries, and only 530 survived the day`s onslaught. Four Indians were part of the advancing group – Tarun Goyal (228500), Kunal Patni (86,000), Abhishek Paul (67,000), and Akshay Bharadwaj (17,000). Portugal’s Andre Cohen (456,000) bagged the top stack of the day, with a third and final starting flight scheduled for July 9.

Day 2 of Event #72: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better began with 223 players, and after 15 levels of play, only 23 were left standing. Mark Erickson (2,580,000) had started the day as the second-biggest stack and has bagged the overnight chip lead, followed by Barny Boatman (2,480,000) and Men Nguyen (1,630,000).

Event #73: $1,500 Razz made a solid start with 383 hopefuls signing up – 70 more than the event’s turnout last year. Only 123 of them advanced to Day 2, with former Razz Championship bracelet winner Calvin Anderson (336,000) in pole position.

Event #70: $10,000 No-Limit Hold ’em Main Event World Championship – Day 2D

Day 2D of the 2022 WSOP Event #70: $10,000 No-Limit Hold ‘em Main Event World Championship is over! A total of 3,294 players – all of their carrying day-end stacks from Day 1D – flagged off the day. However, poker media like us were on the lookout for our headline for the day – and it all depended upon the late registration count. By the time the window closed through four hours of play, 454 players had joined the action, bringing the final Main Event field to 8,663 entries – 110 entries shy of the 2006 WSOP Main Event record of 8773 entries.

Day 2D ran with an impressive 3,749 players – almost 1,000 players more than Day 2ABC! After five two-hour levels of play, 1,733 hopefuls booked their berth for Day 3.

Leading the group was the 2016 Event #56: $1,500 NLHE finalist Muhammad Abdel Rahim (936,500), with Marsel Backa (738,000) and Ryan Torgersen (731,500) in tow.

Abdel-Rahim, who is second in chips overall coming into Day 3, recounting his Day 2D run, said, “I ran really well in the first two levels, and then I was coasting. I was card dead for the next two levels, but during the last level, I got kings vs. ace-king for a huge pot.”

It was a busy day for the Indian contingent in Las Vegas, for as many as 19 Indians led by PokerGuru Ambassador Kartik Ved returned for a shot at the biggest prize in the game. Only 10 advanced to Day 3, and MPL Poker Pro Siddharth Karia (401,000) bagged the top stack from the team. Two-time bracelet winner Nipun Java (350,500) is not far behind, followed by Kartik Ved (296,500).

The other Indians advancing through Day 2D are Aditya Systla (154,500), Jaideep Sajwan (158,500), PokerGuru Ambassador Ashish Ahuja (151,100), Muskan Sethi (131,000), Young Gun Neel Joshi (121,500), Kalyan Chakravarthy (84,000), and Kunal Punjwani (53,000).

Siddharth Karia is one player who needs no introduction. A well-known online reg, the FTS 2.0 Main Event champion already has three cashes in the series in Event #68: $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty (1069th for $1,633, ~₹1.29 Lakhs), Event #43: $500 NLHE Freezeout (209th for $1,552, ~ ₹1.21 Lakhs) and Event #51: $400 NLHE Colossus (142nd for $3,180, ~ ₹2.51 Lakhs). With over a dozen WSOP cashes dating back to 2019, Karia will be a player to watch out for as the Main Event field whittles down over the coming days.

The Vegas resident Nipun Java is someone who knows his way around bracelet events. While Java has three cashes at the 2022 WSOP, he also crossed the money line in two events in The Wynn and the Venetian. Java has long-standing experience playing at the WSOP. With an above-average stack for Day 3, he will be looking to add a third bracelet and the prestigious World Championship title to his already illustrious poker resume.

Kartik Ved has been the flagbearer for India in the ongoing series. The 2020 WSOP Online Series Event #64: $840 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold ’em winner has been on a scoring spree, having already cashed six events and even bettered his previous WSOP record by raking in a career-best $275,593 (~₹2.17 Crores) in Event #66: $1,000 MINI Main Event No-Limit Hold’em (freezeout). In 2018, Ved made headlines for finishing 128th in the WSOP Main Event for $57,010 (~₹39.20 Lakhs). Given his experience and current form, he will be another top contender from India for the prestigious title.

However, several Indian players saw their Main Event run ending on Friday. These include Piyush Aggarwal, Jaydeep Dawer, Raghav Bansal, Akshay Bharadwaj, Shashank Jain, Spartan Poker Pro Nikita Luther, Apratim Sharma, and Yudhishter Jaswal.

Many Indian-origin players also bagged up for Day 3. The list includes Ashish Gupta (391,500), Chandra Sekhar Venkatesan (342,500), Avi Mukherjee (321,500), Amit Sharma (282,000), Romit Patel (204,000), Jay Majmudar (146,000), Shankar Pillai (130,000), Rajendra Ajmani (123,500), Tanuj Bhatnagar (88,000), Rohit Hukmani (85,500), Sasidhar Bobba (84,500), Brijesh Patel (81,500), Pratik Patel (51,000), Amish Patel (49,500), and Kunal Patel (38,000).

Other notables advancing to Day 3 include Bryn Kenney (665,000), David Peters (552,500), Massoud Eskandari (475,000), Chino Rheem (366,000), Chris Moneymaker (297,500), Maria Konnikova (280,500), the 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir (255,000), Mike Takayama (208,000), Robert Mizrachi (71,500), Max Pescatori (70,500), Eli Elezra (56,000), and Benjamin Spragg (39,000).

Kenney, who was recently in the news over cheating allegations, bagged one of the top stacks on Day 2D. Incidentally, Kenney, who was ranked #1 on the All-time money list at the start of the day, was pushed down to #2 by Justin Bonomo, who cashed a $10K High Roller in a side event in Las Vegas. Kenney was quite happy with his run on Day 2D. “It was a pretty smooth day. I just played my game. This would be the next big one to win, this should be fun. I’ve been very well received this World Series. Lots of people asking for pictures with me, and I’m just trying to stay in the moment and play my best.”

Defending Main Event champion Koray Aldemir has also bagged a sizeable stack for Day 3 in his bid to go back-to-back. Acknowledging that a lot of people did not recognize him at first, Aldemir said that his table was excited to be moved to the feature table. Talking about his Day 2D run, Aldemir said, “I doubled up early with a set against aces and got the max value. After that, I went down to around 100k but had a really good last level. I’m feeling confident, it’s still the Main Event, and there are more cameras and attention on me, so I still get nervous sometimes.”

Now that the numbers are in, the event has created an $80,782,475 prize pool of which the eventual champion will bag a whopping $10 Million. A total of 1,300 finishers are assured at least $15,000.

Day 3 of the Main Event will get underway at 11 AM (local time) on Saturday, July 9, where all the survivors from Day 2ABC and Day 2D will again run five two-hour levels. The money bubble is likely to burst early on Day 4.

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 2D

1. Muhammad Abdel Rahim – 936,500
2. Marsel Backa – 738,000
3. Ryan Torgersen – 731,500
4. Mauricio Solano – 674,000
5. Bryn Kenney – 665,000
6. Jared Hyman – 661,500
7. Shota Nakanishi – 643,000
8. Michael Huynh – 640,500
9. Mathieu His – 616,000
10. Florian Guimond – 595,000

Top 10 Chip Counts at the Start of Day 3

1. Gavin Munroe – 1,061,500
2. Muhammad Abdel Rahim – 936,500
3. Karim Rebei DZ – 932,000
4. Nicholas Howard – 810,500
5. Ariya Iwato – 755,500
6. Marsel Backa – 738,000
7. Ryan Torgersen – 731,500
8. Steven Stolzenfeld – 708,500
9. Mauricio Solano – 674,000
10. Bryn Kenney – 665,000

Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop NLHE – Day 1B

The second flight of the immensely popular Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop NLHE clocked in 1,471 entries, bringing the total count to 2,312 entries (Day 1A – 841 and Day 1B – 1,471) with one last flight left to run.

After ten levels of play, 530 advanced to Day 2. Counting the Day 1A survivors, 783 players have a stack for Day 2.

Last year, the event registered 3,797 entries. With unlimited re-entries allowed not only through the starting flights but also for the first two levels on Day 2, a new record is very much in sight.

Portugal’s Andre Cohen (456,000) amassed the most massive stack of the day, and his blistering Friday run has pushed him into the overall chip lead.

Dylan Cechowski (426,500), Damian Kucharski (416,500), Li Chen (395,000), Valentin Oberhauser (359,500), Fabrizio Gonzalez (335,500), Eric Fields (333,000), Maxwell Young (305,500), Alan Findlay (305,500), and Alexander Gambino (304,500) were others who made the top 10 chip counts list.

Some of the other notables to bag for Day 2 were Lilly Kiletto (290,000), Selim Oulmekki (272,000), Joao Simao (227,500), Sonny Franco (142,000), Christina Gollins (129,000), and David Pham (119,500).

Keeping the bracelet sweat alive for Team India, four Indians made it across to Day 2, namely Tarun Goyal (228500), Kunal Patni (86,000), Abhishek Paul (67,000), and Akshay Bharadwaj (17,000).

Tarun Goyal bagged the 44th biggest stack on Day 1B. He has already had four cashes in the ongoing series (18 WSOP cashed overall). His previous deep runs in the 2022 WSOP came in Event #68: $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty (1345th for $1,326, ~ ₹1.05 Lakhs), Online Event #6: $500 NLHE Turbo Deepstack (66th for $1,650, ~ ₹1.31 Lakhs), Event #43: $500 Freezeout NLHE (595th for $876, ~ ₹69,458), and Event #21: $1,500 MONSTER STACK NLHE (329th for $5,054, ~ ₹4.01 Lakhs).

It`s been an uneventful series for Kunal Patni, who picked up his first cash a few weeks ago, finishing 717th in Event #37: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER NLHE for $3,218 (~₹2.55 Lakhs).

Abhishek Paul has three recorded cashes at the WSOP but is yet to score this year.

Akshay Bharadwaj was among the Day 2D field in Event #70: $10,000 NLHE Main Event and jumped into the One More For One Drop after busting early. Bharadwaj cashed his first event of the series a couple of days ago, finishing 891th in Event #68: $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty for $2,222 (~₹1.76 Lakhs).

At least fifteen Indian-origin players featured among the Day 1B survivors.

Day 1C will kick off at noon (PDT) on July 9 (Saturday). Day 2 starts at 2 PM (PDT) on July 10.

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1B

1. Andre Cohen – 456,000
2. Dylan Cechowski – 426,500
3. Damian Kucharski – 416,500
4. Li Chen – 395,000
5. Valentin Oberhauser – 359,500
6. Fabrizio Gonzalez – 335,500
7. Eric Fields – 333,000
8. Maxwell Young – 305,500
9. Alan Findlay – 305,500
10. Alexander Gambino – 304,500

Event #72: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better – Day 2

Event #72: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better is just a day away from crowning a champion. If the pace of eliminations on Day 2 was any indication – we will likely see this happening in record time tomorrow.

From the 771-player starting field the day before, 223 carried a stack to Day 2. And 15 levels of play later, only about 10% of them, i.e., 23 bagged and tagged for Day 3.

Mark Erickson, who held the second chip lead coming into Day 2, chipped up to bag the biggest of 2,580,000. However, he has stiff competition on his tail with two-time bracelet winner and Hendon Mob co-founder Barny Boatman (2,480,000) and seven-time bracelet winner Men Nguyen (1,630,000) carrying the subsequent top stacks to the final day. Stanley Krimerman (1,620,000) and William Slaght (1,565,000) round out the top five names on the Day 3 starting list.

Notables like five-time bracelet winner Adam Friedman (1,190,000) and two-time bracelet winners Mel Judah (815,000) and Rami Boukai (385,000) are the other poker heavyweights in contention.

It was a wild and swingy day for most players, and the hand-for-hand on the 116-player field was already underway before the second break of the day. Michel Abecassis burst the money bubble after losing all his chips to Anthony Nguyen, assuring the remaining field at least $2,413.

Several big names fell before the money bubble, including Daniel Negreanu, Sam Farha, Shaun Deeb, and last year’s runner-up Hernan Salazar.

Notables who finished in the money included Shawn Buchanan (35th for $4,713), two-time bracelet winner Nathan Gamble (38th for $4,713), three-time bracelet winners Chance Kornuth (45th for $4,113), and Scott Clements (62nd for $3,358), and Day 1 chip leader Kate Krickl (95th for $2,639).

The $1,500 buy-in event created a $1,029,285 prize pool. All 23 players advancing to Day 3 have locked in at least $6,610, while the eventual champion will take home $195,565 and the alluring gold bracelet.

Day 3 will resume at 2 PM (PDT) on Saturday, July 9, in the green section of Paris, where the plan will be to continue playing until a champion is crowned.

Final Day Chip Counts

1. Mark Erickson – 2,580,000
2. Barny Boatman – 2,480,000
3. Men Nguyen – 1,630,000
4. Stanley Krimerman – 1,620,000
5. William Slaght – 1,565,000
6. Jarod Minghini – 1,515,000
7. Adam Friedman – 1,190,000
8. Scott Abrams – 890,000
9. Anthony Nguyen – 855,000
10. Mel Judah – 815,000
11. Igor Zektser – 810,000
12. Bradley Anderson – 805,000
13. Peter Neff – 495,000
14. James Chen – 470,000
15. Rami Boukai – 385,000
16. Qinghai Pan – 370,000
17. Paul Lenkeit – 370,000
18. Ren Lin – 260,000
19. John Zable – 245,000
20. Shawn Carter – 225,000
21. Youcef Zalagh – 220,000
22. Michelle Roth – 160,000
23. Paul Sokoloff – 50,000

Event #73: $1,500 Razz – Day 1

Event #73: $1,500 Razz became another success story to come out of the 2022 WSOP. The opening day had 383 starters, 70 more than the last year’s turnout. The former Razz Championship bracelet winner Calvin Anderson (336,000) leads the 123 hopefuls due to return for Day 2 on Saturday, where over half of the field will walk out empty-handed. The top 58 places are assured a share from the $511,305 prize pool, with a min-cash worth $2,413.

Nicolas Milgrom (283,500), Vincent Griboski (223,000), Daniel Tafur (202,500), and Andres Korn (196,000) were the other players who made the top five list.

Former bracelet winners Yuri Dzivielevski (160,000), Frank Kassela (119,000), John Cernuto (66,000), Poker Hall of Famer Todd Brunson (39,000), and David “ODB” Baker (27,000) are other big names still in contention.

It’s been a forgettable WSOP for Daniel Negreanu, and the poker superstar made another early exit in the event. Shaun Deeb, Phil Hellmuth, and Player of the Year contender Daniel Zack were the other notables who fell out during the day.

The 123 survivors will return for Day 2 at 2 PM (PDT) on Saturday, July 9.

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1

1. Calvin Anderson – 336,000
2. Nicolas Milgrom – 283,500
3. Vincent Griboski – 223,000
4. Daniel Tafur – 202,500
5. Andres Korn – 196,000
6. Ismael Bojang – 192,500
7. Arthur Morris – 179,000
8. Daniel Strelitz – 177,000
9. Matt Savage – 175,000
10. Loren Adam – 174,000

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerGO, PokerNews & WSOP

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