WSOP 2022: Mo Arani Bags First Bracelet in Event #81: $5,000 Freezeout NLHE ($665,459)

Event #81: $5,000 Freezeout NLHE 8-Handed of the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) came to a close Friday night, with Dallas, Texas resident Mo Arani (cover image) taking down the event to collect his maiden WSOP gold bracelet and a career-best $665,459 in first-place prize money.

Arani entered the final day seventh in chips out of ten players and was never the short stack or the big stack at any point. He maintained a middling stack for most of the day by avoiding big confrontations. Eventually, he came out on top after a topsy-turvy heads-up match against Netherlands’ Johannes Straver – the latter collecting $411,279 in second place.

Arani, who is primarily a cash game player, boosted his live tournament earnings to $2,265,786 with the win. This was also his 52nd WSOP cash (his fourth of the series) that pushed his WSOP tally to $1,501,596.

In his post-win interview, Mo Arani said, “It feels surreal to win. I was getting out-played heads-up, I don’t have any heads-up experience, so I got some coaching and decided to take more spots and be ready to gamble more.”

He added, “I never gave up. I was playing well when it was multi-way. The only time I felt like a worse player was during heads-up. But aside from that, I was pretty comfortable in these spots.”

Arani gave shoutouts to several people who have helped his game. “I want to shoutout to Jonathan Jaffee, my coach. He is really good, and I was talking to him on breaks on the phone and Calvin (Anderson) as well.”

The $5,000 Freezeout tournament registered a 746-player starting field, collecting $3,487,050 in the prize pool. The top 114 places walked past the money line with a min-cash worth $8,021.

From the Indian contingent, Young Guns Neel Joshi (41st for $14,259, ~₹11.38 Lakhs) and Abhinav Iyer (104th place for $8,021, ~₹6.40 Lakhs) cashed the event.

Neel Joshi picked up his seventh cash of the series (his 27th overall), improving his lifetime WSOP winnings to $262,230. His other ITM finishes at the 2022 WSOP came in Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop (98th for $5,664, ~ ₹4.51 Lakhs), Online Event #7: $500 NLHE Deepstack (143rd for $1,167, ~₹92,535), Event #65: $3,000 Freezeout NLHE (12th for $30,435, ~₹24.02 Lakhs), Event #49: $2,000 NLHE (58th for $9,190, ~₹7.19 Lakhs), Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker NLHE (494th for $4,172, ~₹3.26 Lakhs), and Event #5: $500 The Housewarming NLHE (572nd for $2,365, ~₹1.83 Lakhs).

India’s WSOP star Abhinav Iyer also scored his seventh cash of the series in the event, boosting his collective winnings at the 2022 WSOP to $95,183 (~₹75.98 Lakhs).

Mike Watson (11th for $41,057), Michael Mizrachi (12th for $33,011), Nacho Barbero (17th for $22,421), Mark Davis (19th for $22,421), Natural8 Ambassador Kitty Kuo (22nd for $22,421), Indo-American Shankar Pillai (25th for $18,950), Daniel Smiljkovic (31th for $18,950), Steve Zolotow (43rd for $14,259), Galen Hall (51st for $12,703), Renan Bruschi (55th for $12,703), Andrew Lichtenberger (60th for $11,523), Stoyan Madanzhiev (67th for $10,648), Benny Glaser (67th for $10,648), Anthony Spinella (72nd for $10,027), Gediminas Uselis (86th for $8,773), Michael Gathy (98th for $8,021), Natural8 Ambassador Pete Chen (102nd for $8,021), and Anthony Denove (113th for $8,021) were other notables finishing in the money.

Ten players returned for the final day’s play on Friday, and things started out slow, taking over an hour and a half for the day’s first elimination. Valentin Oberhauser was the unfortunate player to make an early exit (10th for $41,057).

Unofficial Final Table Chip Counts

1. Toby Lewis – 8,300,000
2. Peter Turmezey – 7,850,000
3. Cliff Josephy – 4,350,000
4. Adam Hendrix – 3,450,000
5. Francois Pirault – 3,250,000
6. Johannes Straver – 2,380,000
7. Michael Katz – 2,110,000
8. Mo Arani – 1,950,000
9. Caio Almeida – 930,000

Caio Almeida’s elimination (9th for $51,894) set the eight-handed final table in motion.

Final Table Recap

Michael Katz was dismissed quickly from the final table in eighth place after his failed to improve against Adam Hendrix’s .

After another three hours, two-time bracelet winner Cliff Josephy went out in seventh place. He moved all-in with but unfortunately for him, Johannes Straver woke up with . The rundown gave Josephy two pair, but Straver hit a one-card flush to take down the pot.

Soon after, Winamax Team Pro Francois Pirault was out in sixth place. His went down against Peter Turmezey’s .

Seventeen minutes later, Toby Lewis was eliminated in fifth place. In a battle of the blinds, Mo Arani moved all-in from the small blind with , and Lewis snap-called with and was the player at risk. The board gave Arani a flush, derailing Lewis`s bracelet run.

Within four minutes, Adam Hendrix joined Lewis on the rail after his were dominated by Peter Turmezey’s .

The top three traded chips for over two-and-a-half hours before Peter Turmezey was knocked out in third place. Turmezey moved all-in with , and Johannes Straver made the call with and took down the pot.

Mo Arani (25,325,000) entered the heads-up battle commanding an over 2:1 chip lead over Johannes Straver (12,475,000). The duo traded the chip lead for three hours before Arani regained his lead.

On the final hand, Mo Arani shoved with , and Johannes Straver called off with . The board gave Arani flopped trips for the win.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Mo Arani – $665,459
2. Johannes Straver – $411,279
3. Peter Turmezey – $292,665
4. Adam Hendrix – $211,295
5. Toby Lewis – $154,806
6. Francois Pirault – $115,122
7. Cliff Josephy – $86,917
8. Michael Katz – $66,638

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerGO, PokerNews & WSOP

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