WSOP 2022: Joao Vieira Clinches Second Bracelet in Event #83: $50,000 High Roller NLHE ($1,384,415)

Joao Vieira
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  • RUPAM THAKUR July 16, 2022
  • 2 Minutes Read

On Friday, former basketball pro turned poker professional Joao Vieira (cover image) won his second WSOP gold bracelet in the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #83: $50,000 High Roller NLHE at Bally’s and Paris in Las Vegas for a career-best $1,384,415. The Winamax Team Pro outran the star-studded field of 107 players and came from behind several times on the final day facing besting Spain’s Lander Lijo heads-up! The Spaniard collected a personal-best $855,631 in second place.

32-year-old Joao Vieira won his first bracelet in Event #70: $5,000 NLHE at the 2019 WSOP for $758,011, which was his best finish before this win. The bracelet victory is Vieira’s 15th cash at the 2022 WSOP and his 81st overall, boosting his lifetime WSOP tally to a whopping $3.18 Million. It was also Viera’s 11th-career WSOP final table finish. According to Hendon Mob, Vieira is ranked #1 on Portugal’s All-Time Money list, with $5,841,905 in live tournament earnings.

Joao Vieira sounded more excited after winning his second bracelet than his first win and later said, “This one was a little bit more enjoyable (than in 2019). The first one was more like getting the monkey off my back. I had already done a lot of stuff online, very accomplished, but I still needed the big one. So this kinda takes my name off the list of guys that didn’t have it.”

He added, “This one is more enjoyable not only because it’s my second one, it’s also a big score. I’ve had a horrible summer this year in terms of results even though I came in really prepared, and I was playing pretty good. But the results were not there.”

As for his 2022 WSOP run, Vieira said, “I caught a bunch (of cashes) and was breaking a lot. I also was picked third in the $25K Fantasy, so I had a lot of hopes… maybe go for Player of the Year… and all of a sudden I couldn’t make a final table. But I was confident that this could come. I was waiting for my run, and it finally came.”

Sharing his future WSOP plans, Vieira “I want to win five (bracelets), and then we’ll see what life has in store for me.”

The $50K High Roller NLHE collected a $5,122,625 prize pool and paid out 17 places.

Seth Davies (11th for $100,000), Henrik Hecklen (12th for $87,500), Gregory Jensen (13th for $87,500), Francisco Benitez (14th for $80,000), Chris Hunichen (15th for $80,000), Jonathan Little (16th for $80,000), and the 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir (17th for $80,000) were notables who cashed the prestigious event.

Justin Bonomo bubbled the nine-handed final table (10th for $100,000).

Final Table Chip Counts

  1. Lander Lijo – 7,700,000
  2. Joao Vieira – 4,900,000
  3. Brian Rast – 4,500,000
  4. Dan Colpoys – 4,100,000
  5. Galen Hall – 3,500,000
  6. Fedor Holz – 2,700,000
  7. Sean Perry – 2,300,000
  8. Alexandros Theologis – 2,150,000
  9. Stephen Chidwick – 950,000

 

Final Table Recap

Former bracelet winner Alexandros Theologis was the first player to be knocked out on the final table in ninth place. His lost the crucial flip to Brian Rast’s as the latter hit trip aces on the board.

Eleven minutes later, another bracelet winner Stephen Chidwick fell out after shoving his 3.5 BB short stack with , only to run into Sean Perry’s .

Falling in seventh place was GGPoker Ambassador Fedor Holz. Rast opened the action from the middle position, and Holz shoved from the small blind with . Lander Lijo in the big blind called with and Rast folded. The board gave Lijo a straight, ending the German poker phenom`s chase for a third career bracelet.

Sean Perry was next on the chopping block in sixth place. Lander Lijo opened the pot from the button with , and Perry shoved his 15 BB stack with . Lijo called and the runout sent Perry packing.

Brian Rast, the player with the most WSOP bracelets to his name on the final table, was out next in fifth place. With the flop open , Rast checked and Joao Vieira c-bet. Rast moved all-in with (flush draw) and Vieira called with . The turn & river sealed Rast’s fate, who fell four places shy of winning a sixth bracelet.

Nine minutes later, the start-of-day chip leader Dan Colpoys was eliminated in fourth place. He called from the small blind with , and Joao Vieira raised it from the big blind with . Colpoys shoved, and Vieira called and dodged the two remaining sixes in the deck.

The three remaining players traded chip leads for almost three hours and thirty minutes, during which time they all held a commanding chip lead at one point. Finally, Galen Hall ended up falling in third place. Vieira opened the pot, and Hall ripped in his 19 BB stack with . Lander Lijo shoved over the top with in the big blind to get Vieira to fold. Hall failed to catch the deuce, falling agonizingly short of winning his second bracelet.

Lander Lijo (19,500,000) held almost 60% of the chips at the start of the heads-up play against Winamax Team Pro Joao Vieira (12,600,000). The Spaniard pulled ahead into an over 5:1 chip lead at one point but couldn’t do the distance.

On the last hand, Vieira shoved with , and Lander Lijo called off with . The board threw no surprises, and just like that, Vieira became a two-time bracelet winner!

Joao Vieira
Joao Vieira

 

Final Table Results (USD)

  1. Joao Vieira – $1,384,415
  2. Lander Lijo – $855,631
  3. Galen Hall – $625,941
  4. Dan Colpoys – $463,589
  5. Brian Rast – $347,658
  6. Sean Perry – $264,034
  7. Fedor Holz – $203,107
  8. Stephen Chidwick – $158,278
  9. Alexandros Theologis – $124,974

 

Content & Images Courtesy: WSOP & PokerNews

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