WSOP 2022: Nipun Java Among Top 10 Stacks After Day 1 of Event #80; Neel Joshi & Abhinav Iyer Make Day 2 in Event #81

Day 44 of the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was hectic, to say the least, with the Day 7 session of Event #70: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event World Championship stretching for an unprecedented 17 hours! The start-of-day field of 35 runners came down to the unofficial final table of 10 players. Espen Jorstad and Matthew Su bagged the joint chip leader, with both players securing the same 83,200,000 in chips.

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Of the eight bracelet events running on Day 44, three crowned champions. Event 71: $1,111 One More For One Drop saw Idaho resident Mike Allis close out his WSOP career in style as he overcame a 5,702-entry field and defeated 2013 Main Event champion Ryan Riess (2nd for $331,056) heads-up to win his career-first bracelet and $535,610.

Canada’s Sebastien Aube took down Event #78: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em for $499,636. He triumphed over a field of 1,364 entries to win his first-ever gold bracelet.

Indo-American Sandeep Pulusani clinched his career-second bracelet in Event #77: Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha for $277,949. Esther Taylor finished runner-up for $171,787.

After running three starting flights from July 10 to 12, Day 2 of Event #75: $777 Lucky 7’s No-Limit Hold’em 7-Handed played out on Wednesday. Two hundred eighty-five players returned to the felts, and only nine were left after 15 levels of play. Christopher Farmer (77,400,000) bagged the day-end chip lead.

Chiraag Patel, MPL Poker Pro Siddharth Karia, and Spartan Poker Team Pro Nikita Luther were part of the Day 2 field, but none of them could not progress any further. Karia ran the deepest, busting 135th for $3,670 (~₹2.94 Lakhs). Patel (148th for $3,670) (~₹2.94 Lakhs) and Luther (260th for $2,800) (~₹2.24 Lakhs) rounded out the Indian cashes in the event.

Day 2 of Event #79: $10,000 Razz Championship saw 14 new entrants joining in, pushing the player field to 139 players. By the end of the day’s play, only 13 runners were left in contention, with Brandon Shack-Harris (1,152,000) emerging as the Day 2 chip leader.

Event #80: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold ’em/Pot Limit Omaha Deepstack attracted 2,107 entries, and the field whittled down to 76 runners when the bags were brought out on Day 1. Jorge Briones (2,585,000) bagged the biggest stack of the day.

Two-time bracelet winner Nipun Java was the only Indian to make Day 2 and carries the seventh largest stack of 1,775,000. Shashank Jain (268th), Abhishek Goindi (270th), and Raghav Bansal (315th) were also seen in action but fell out before the day ended. All three min-cashed for $960 (~₹76,817).

Event #81: $5,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em was another event that saw Indians flock to the felts. Young Gun Neel Joshi (274,000) and bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer (89,000) were the only Indians carrying stacks to Day 2. Mark Davis (1,127,000) will headline the 153 survivors to Day 2 from a starting field of 756 players.

Event #70: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event World Championship – Day 7

Another record was breached on Day 7 of the Championship Event, where it took a marathon 17 hours of play for the start-of-day field of 35 players to narrow down to the final 10. Espen Jorstad and Matthew Su emerged as the joint chip leaders and carried the same 83,200,000 heading into Day 8.

Matija Dobric (68,650,000), Aaron Duczak (56,000,000), John Eames (54,950,000), Adrian Attenborough (50,800,000), Michael Duek (49,775,000), Jeffrey Farnes (35,350,000), Asher Conniff (29,400,000), and Philippe Souki (13,500,000) are the others in contention to become the new World Champion!

Some of the notables eliminations of Day 7 included David Diaz (13th for $525,000), Karim Rebei (16th for $410,000), Kenny Tran (17th for $410,000), Efthymia Litsou (18th for $323,100), Day 3 chip leader Aaron Mermelstein (20th for $323,100), Brian Kim (23rd for $323,100), Indo-American Mayank Madan (24th for $323,100), 2020 WSOP Main Event champion Damian Salas (27th for $262,300) and Marco Johnson (35th for $262,300).

With the elimination of Robert Welch in 11th place ($675,000), the tournament officials decided to halt proceedings. The remaining ten players are assured at least $675,000. There will be a gap day on July 14, and play will resume on July 15 at 2 PM (PDT), where these ten will play down to four finalists.

End of Day 7 Chip Counts

1. Espen Jorstad – 83,200,000
2. Matthew Su – 83,200,000
3. Matija Dobric – 68,650,000
4. Aaron Duczak – 56,000,000
5. John Eames – 54,950,000
6. Adrian Attenborough – 50,800,000
7. Michael Duek – 49,775,000
8. Jeffrey Farnes – 35,350,000
9. Asher Conniff – 29,400,000
10. Philippe Souki – 13,500,000

Event #75: $777 Lucky 7’s – Day 2

Day 2 of Event #75: $777 Lucky 7’s had 285 survivors from the three starting flights (Day 1A – 44, Day 1B – 75 & Day 1C – 166) converging, and only nine remained after 15 levels of play.

Christopher Farmer (77,400,000) is leading the way and by some distance, with Rodney Turvin (58,000,000) and Kyle Miholich (31,700,000) a distant second and third in chips.

A trio of Indians, Chiraag Patel (1,515,000), MPL Poker Pro Siddharth Karia (720,000), and Spartan Poker Team Pro Nikita Luther (250,000) had returned on Day 2, but none of them survived the day`s play.

Young Gun Siddharth Karia had the best run of the trio and finished 135th for $3,670 (~₹2.94 Lakhs), marking his fifth cash in the ongoing series. The online reg has already scored in Event #70: $10,000 MAIN EVENT No-Limit Hold’em World Championship (747th for $21,000, ~₹16.80 Lakhs), 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).

The 2019 APPT Manila Event 16: ₱15,000 NLH Turbo winner Chiraag Patel fell out in 148th place for $3,670 (~₹2.94 Lakhs). With this deep run, Patel picked up his second series cash after his 869th place finish in the Main Event for $17,000 (~₹13.51 Lakhs).

The 2018 Tag Team bracelet winner and Spartan Poker pro, Nikita Luther, finished 260th for $2,800 (~₹2.24 Lakhs). This was her second cash of the series after her (and Dinesh Alt‘s) 124th place finish in Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team for $1,611 (~₹1.27 Lakhs).

The event generated a $4,711,790 prize pool, and the top 970 finishers from the starting field of 6,891 players were assured a payday.

Mike Takayama (16th for $24,620), Santiago Soriano (22nd for $19,560), Day 1C chip leader Alon Messica (36th for $12,670), Day 1B chip leader Jesse Kertland (39th for $12,670), James Mackey (41st for $12,670) & Ben Yu (72nd for $5,000) were some notables that boarded the money bus.

The nine finalists are each assured at least $51,590, with the eventual champion slated to take home $777,777 and the WSOP gold bracelet. Day 3 will begin at noon (PDT) on July 14 in the Bally’s horseshoe area, where they will play down to a winner.

End of Day 2 Chip Counts

1. Christopher Farmer – 77,400,000
2. Rodney Turvin – 58,000,000
3. Kyle Miholich – 31,700,000
4. Jed Stewart – 25,700,000
5. Braxton Moore – 20,800,000
6. James Hughes – 19,600,000
7. Gregory Teboul – 19,200,000
8. Allen Cunningham – 13,200,000
9. Paul De La Soujeole – 13,100,000

Event #79: $10,000 Razz Championship – Day 2

Day 2 of Event #79: $10,000 Razz Championship was an eventful one that started with many notable names in contention for the prestigious title and the shiny WSOP gold bracelet.

Fifty-nine players took to their seats, but will late registration open till the start of Day 2, 14 more entrants joined the field, creating a 139-player field. After seven levels of play, only 13 players made it to Day 3 – nine former WSOP bracelet winners!

Two-time bracelet holder Brandon Shack-Harris (1,152,000) bagged the most giant stack of the day. Shack-Harris has had a productive series so far, having already cashed in five events, and he already booked his best series score with a guaranteed $20,746 payout in this event. Will he be able to join the three-time WSOP bracelet holders club? Will he be able to make an even bigger cash this series? These questions will be answered only after Day 3, but his advantageous position at the top of the leaderboard puts him in an advantageous position.

Another bracelet holder and a very well-established poker player, Brian Hastings, is right behind Shack-Harris with 1,149,000, with just an ante`s difference between both players. Hastings is running hot this season. With his recent bracelet win in Event #31: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship, he now has six WSOP bracelets. Another win will put him in serious contention for the ‘Player of the Year’ title.

Other notables still in the running include Julien Martini (873,000), Chance Kornuth (707,000), Joao Vieira (677,000), David Benyamine (362,000), and the 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir (480,000).

The money-bubble burst in level five when Brian Hastings got involved in a three-way pot with Ray Dehkharghani and Max Pescatori. Dehkharghani was short-stacked at that point and went all in against Pescatori. While turning over his last card, Dehkharghani said, “It’s over,” and headed to the rail. His elimination left the remaining 21 players in the money.

Other notable players who exited empty-handed include Phil Ivey, Dan Zack, defending champion Benny Glaser, Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Hellmuth.

Players will return for Day 2 at 2 PM (PDT) on July 14 in the gold section of Ballys to play for the coveted gold bracelet and the $328,906 first-place cash prize.

End of Day 2 Chip Counts

1. Brandon Shack-Harris – 1,152,000
2. Brian Hastings – 1,149,000
3. Julien Martini – 873,000
4. Yueqi Zhu – 749,000
5. Max Pescatori Italy – 724,000
6. Chance Kornuth – 707,000
7. Joao Vieira – 677,000
8. Ziya Rahim – 611,000
9. Koray Aldemir – 480,000
10. Felipe Ramos – 413,000
11. David Benyamine – 362,000
12. Laith Salem – 336,000
13. Hal Rotholz – 319,000

Event #80: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold ’em/PLO Deepstack – Day 1

Event #80: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold ’em/Pot Limit Omaha Deepstack drew 2,107 players, and after 22 levels and a marathon 13 hours of play, only 76 had a stack to carry to Day 2.

Honduran recreational player Jorge Briones (2,585,000) had the most chips in the bag at the end of the day’s play. John Dollinger (2,135,000) was the only other player advancing with over 2 Million in chips. Dror Ramaty (1,965,000), Giuseppe Maggisano (1,940,000), and Justin Barnum (1,815,000) round out the top five day-end stacks.

While Indian players usually prefer the NLHE variant of poker, quite a few have been dabbling with the PLO variant at the 2022 WSOP. In this event, four Indians were seen in action, but only Nipun Java progressed to Day 2 and did well to carry the seventh most enormous stack of 1,775,000.

Java is the only Indian to have won two bracelets, that too in the same year. He took down the 2017 WSOP Event #10: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em (with Aditya Sushant) and followed it up by winning Event #71: $1,000 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold’em Championship. Java has already assured himself his sixth score of the series, having previously cashed in Event #21: $1,500 MONSTER STACK No-Limit Hold’em (183rd for $6,574, ~₹5.26 Lakhs), Event #37: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER No-Limit Hold’em (528th for $4,172, ~₹3.34 Lakhs), Event #75: $777 Lucky 7’s No-Limit Hold’em 7-Handed (641st for $1,555, ~₹1.24 Lakhs), Event #5: $500 The Housewarming No-limit Hold’em (2099th for $876, ~₹70,095) & Online Event #5: $600 Online Deepstack Championship for (228th for $845, ~₹67,615).

Shashank Jain (268th for $960, ~₹76,817), Abhishek Goindi (270th for $960, ~₹76,817), and Raghav Bansal (315th for $96,0 ~₹76,817), also took on to the felts on Day 1; but all of them could only manage a min-cash.

Daniel Zack (1,295,000), Asi Moshe (888,000), Rick Alvarado (630,000), Daniel Fuhs (585,000), Hung Le (490,000), and Sean Troha (450,000) are among the former bracelet winners who bagged a stack for Day 2.

The $600 buy-in event created a $1,074,570 prize pool. The 76 survivors have all locked in at least $1,853. The eventual champion will take home $158,609 and the gold bracelet.

Day 2 action resumes at 1 PM (PDT) on July 14 in the Bally’s Ballroom (Red Section).

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1

1. Jorge Briones – 2,585,000
2. John Dollinger – 2,135,000
3. Dror Ramaty – 1,965,000
4. Giuseppe Maggisano – 1,940,000
5. Justin Barnum – 1,815,000
6. Florian Ribouchon – 1,800,000
7. Nipun Java – 1,775,000
8. Jonathan Dimmig – 1,710,000
9. Jordan Russell – 1,580,000
10. Quentin Roussey – 1,380,000

Event #81: $5,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em – Day 1

The penultimate freezeout tourney of the series, Event #81: $5,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em, kicked off on Wednesday. A total of 756 players entered the field, and after 14 levels of play, only 153 were left standing.

Mark Davis leads the charge with a massive 1,127,000, making him the only player with over a million in chips. Yuki Kashihara (829,000) and Tony Bracy (704,000) hold the other top stacks for Day 2.

While several Indians entered the event, only Young Gun Neel Joshi (274,000) and bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer (89,000) advanced to Day 2.

The chemical engineer from BITS Pilani, Neel Joshi, recently posted a deep run in Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop No-Limit Hold’em. He was one of three Indians to make Day 3 and finished 98th for $5,664 (~₹4.51 Lakhs). His deepest run in this year’s series had come in another freezeout tournament, Event #65: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em, where he placed 12th for $30,435 (~₹24.02 Lakhs). Joshi has already accumulated $51,826 (~₹41.47 Lakhs) at the series through five cashes, pushing his lifetime WSOP winnings to $246,804 (~₹1.97 Crores).

The Chennai-based pro, Abhinav Iyer, is fresh from his deep run in Event #78: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em, where he finished 27th for $13,999 (~₹11.14 Lakhs). The 2019 WSOP Event #84: The Closer – $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em champion has scored six times at the 2022 WSOP and is chasing his 37th WSOP cash in this event.

The $5,000 buy-in event generated a $3,487,050 prize pool to be distributed among the top 114 finishers. While the min-cash starts at $8,021, the champion will take home $665,459 and the gold bracelet.

Indian-original players who carried forward stacks to Day 2 include Pushpa Agarwal (287,000), Harsukhpaul Sangha (264,000), and Shankar Pillai (208,000), Kitty Kuo (580,000), Cliff Josephy (419,000), Galen Hall (319,000), Landon Tice (244,000), Andrew Lichtenberger (173,000), and Adam Hendrix (172,000) were among the notables advancing to Day 2.

Several poker heavyweights crashed out on Day 1, including former WSOP Main Event champions Ryan Riess and Phil Hellmuth and bracelet winners Kristen Bicknell and husband, Alex Foxen.

Darren Elias, Ethan Yau, and Matt Berkey were other notables who made an early exit.

Day 2 will begin at 2 PM (PDT) on July 14 and play down till only five players remain.

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1

1. Mark Davis – 1,127,000
2. Yuki Kashihara – 829,000
3. Tony Bracy – 704,000
4. Johannes Straver – 670,000
5. Francois Pirault – 614,000
6. Kitty Kuo – 580,000
7. Terence Etim – 524,000
8. Tzu Yen – 510,000
9. James Romero – 500,000
10. Javier Garcirreynaldos – 491,000

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerGO, PokerNews & WSOP

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