WSOP 2022: Parekh, Doddapaneni, Bansal & Rao Advance in Main Event; Krishna Makes Day 2 in Event #68; Grover & Goyal Pick Up Scores

Day 35 of the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) had just three events running, keeping in line with the prevailing trend of the side action slowing down once the $10,000 No-Limit Hold ’em Main Event World Championship gets underway!

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Indo-American Shiva Dudani (15,650,000) headlines the five finalists in Event #69: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Championship, having already locked in a career-best payout.

The last two flights of Event #68: $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty No-Limit Hold ’em concluded, and there was a mad rush of players signing up to make the cut for Day 2 and a chance at drawing the grand $1 Million bounty prize. The player pool now stands at 14,112 entries, with 826 players having booked their seats for Day 2.

Gokul Krishna (395,000) was the only Indian to advance through Day 1C. He will be joining Day 1B qualifiers Nishant Sharma (520,000) and Aditya Systla (515,000) on Day 2.

Tarun Goyal (398th for $1,326, ~₹1.05 Lakhs) and Jaydeep Dawer (619th for $1,061, ~₹84,140) fell out on Day 1C, while Young Gun Arsh Grover (218th for $1,326 ₹1.05 Lakhs) and Akshay Bharadwaj (255th for $1,160 ~₹91,991) cashed Day 1D.

The Day 1B chip leader Armando Figueroa (3,150,000) commands the overall chip leading for Day 2.

However, the Main Event was again the biggest story on Monday, with 2,145 players entering the race to become the next World Champion. Many have been speculating that this year’s Main Event may surpass the 8,773 player record set in 2016. Given that the Main Event has already signed up 3,045 players through the first two starting flights, those speculations may just come true.

Confirming this was a PSA put out by WSOP earlier in the day. In anticipation of an overcrowded turnout on the final starting flight, Day 1D, WSOP posted a tweet requesting players who had not yet registered to play Day 1B or Day 1C instead of Day 1D. WSOP later announced a change to the Day 2 schedule. Instead of having Day 2AB and Day 2CD, there will be Day 2ABC on July 7 and Day 2D on July 8.

From the 2,145-player starting field on Day 1B, only 634 advanced to Day 2ABC. Among the survivors were five Indians, Nirav Parekh (121,700), Sriharsha Doddapaneni (92,300), Paawan Bansal (44,600), and Nathan Rao (26,000). They will be joining the Day 1A qualifiers Chiraag Patel (145,400) and Abhishek Goindi (28,200) on Day 2ABC.

Patrick Hagenlocher (332,800) bagged the most enormous stack of the day and also assumed the overall chip lead among the 1,265 survivors (Day 1A – 631 & Day 1B – 634).

Event #68: $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty No-Limit Hold ’em – Day 1C & Day 1D

Event #68: $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty No-Limit Hold ’em completed its last two starting flights on Monday. The final entry count stood at 14,112 across the four flights, Day 1A (3,573), Day 1B (3,936), Day 1C (4,269) and Day 1D (2,334). A total of 826 players (Day 1A – 182, Day 1B – 208, Day 1C – 232 & Day 1D – 204) have made the cut for Day 2.

All players entering Day 2 are eligible to draw for the top bounty prize of $1,000,000 once they eliminate an opponent.

Day 1C Recap

Day 1C of Event #68: $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty No-Limit Hold ’em started with 4,269 players, and 22 levels of play later, 232 carried forward a stack to Day 2.

Ismail Abou Sharkh (2,800,000) bagged the day-end chip lead, with Gabriel Schroeder (2,545,000), Joseph Cheong (2,415,000), David McGowan (2,265,000), Cory Smith (2,100,000) and Gennaro Proscia (2,050,000) rounding the top six stacks – all with a stack of over 2 Million.

Gokul Krishna (395,000) was the lone Indian advancing to Day 2 and ranked 172nd in chips among the 232 Day 1C survivors. Krishna is chasing his first cash at the 2022 WSOP.

India’s Jaydeep Dawer entered Day 1C after busting Day 1A in 230th place for $1,672 (~₹1.32 Lakhs). Dawer could not make Day 2 in his second attempt; however, he finished in 619th place for $1,061 (~₹84,140). This was Dawer’s third ITM finish in the ongoing series. He had previously cashed Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors, finishing 463rd for $800 (~₹63,200).

Tarun Goyal was another Indian reported in action on Day 1C; however, he fell out in 398th place, earning a payday worth $1,326 (~ ₹1.05 Lakhs). Goyal already has three cashes in the ongoing series. His other three ITM scores of the series came in Event #21: $1,500 MONSTER STACK No-Limit Hold ’em (329th for $5,054 ~₹4 Lakhs), Online Event #6: $500 No-Limit Hold ’em Turbo Deepstack (66th for $1,650 ~₹1.31 Lakhs) and Event #43: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Holdem (595th for $876 (~₹69,469).

A host of Indian-origin players advance through Day 1C, including Alok Arora (1,000,000), Neel Murthy (890,000), and Gurpreet Sin Lubana (210,000).

Notable who bagged and tagged for Day 2 included James Moore (1,150,000), Robert Campbell (855,000), Calen McNeil (855,000), Barry Greenstein (625,000), and Daniel Zack (485,000).

Fedor Holz, Justin Bonomo, Ray Henson, Phil Hellmuth, and Adrian Mateos were some top names who busted before the money bubble burst.

Bracelet winners who were eliminated after the money bubble burst included Sarah Stefan (302nd for $1,658), Noah Schwartz (315th for $1,477), Martin Jacobson (443rd for $1,161), and Mike Gorodinsky (365th for $1,477).

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1C

1. Ismail Abou Sharkh – 2,800,000
2. Gabriel Schroeder – 2,545,000
3. Joseph Cheong – 2,415,000
4. David McGowan – 2,265,000
5. Cory Smith – 2,100,000
6. Gennaro Proscia – 2,050,000
7. Spencer Champlin – 1,890,000
8. Jerry Fang – 1,820,000
9. Benjamin Sim – 1,685,000
10. Benjamin Steinwachs – 1,600,000

Day 1D Recap

Day 1D of Event #68: $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty No-Limit Hold ’em logged in 2,334 players, and 204 of them advanced through, and 351 places got paid.

Jack Melki (1,490,000) bagged the chip lead among the Day 1D survivors, with Michael Delvecchio (1,375,000), Emily Nguyen (1,200,045), Stephen Frakes (1,195,000), and Brendan Shiller (1,175,000) carrying forward the subsequent top stacks.

The #2 ranked player on the annual leaderboard, Arsh Grover, was a late arrival at the series and entered Day 1D chasing his first cash of the series. He fell out in 218th place for $1,326 (~ ₹1.05 Lakhs) to add to his eight WSOP cashes (WSOP – 7 & WSOPE – 1).

Akshay Bharadwaj was another Indian who finished in the money on Day 1D, placing 255th for $1,160 (~₹91,991). With this, Bharadwaj added another score in the ongoing series after his 462nd place finish in Event #68: $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty No-Limit Hold ’em for $1,062 (~₹83,811).

Like the Day 1C flight, a host of Indian-origin players made it across to Day 2, including Lokesh Garg (580,000), Sandeep Mathai (435,000), Rishi Makkar (380,000), Rajkumar Ramakrishnan (365,000), Rajendra Ajmani (280,000) and Rajasekhar Kola (105,000).

Notable Day 1D survivors include Tom Cannuli (1,150,000), Massoud Eskandari (1,100,000), Anthony Spinella (875,000), David “ODB” Baker (865,000) and Justin Bonomo (635,000).

However, several top pros failed to advance, including Bryn Kenney, Shaun Deeb, Phil Hellmuth, and Vanessa Kade.

The survivors from the four starting flights will convene for Day 2 at 1 PM (PDT) on July 5.

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1D

1. Jack Melki – 1,490,000
2. Michael Delvecchio – 1,375,000
3. Emily Nguyen – 1,200,045
4. Stephen Frakes – 1,195,000
5. Brendan Shiller – 1,175,000
6. Tom Cannuli – 1,150,000
7. Massoud Eskandari – 1,100,000
8. Qing Liu – 1,090,000
9. Tuan Nguyen – 945,000
10. Gerson Caldeira – 930,000

Top 10 Chip Counts at the Start of Day 2

1. Armando Figueroa – 3,150,000
2. Ismail Abou Sharkh – 2,800,000
3. Vincent Meli – 2,705,000
4. Gabriel Schroeder – 2,545,00
5. Gabriel Moura – 2,530,000
6. Joseph Cheong – 2,415,000
7. Freddy Granados – 2,405,000
8. David McGowan – 2,265,000
9. Fabian Foster – 2,130,000
10. Cory Smith – 2,100,000

Event #69: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Championship – Day 3

Running alongside Day 1B of the Main Event was Day 3 of Event #69: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Championship. Often considered the Main Event for PLO specialists, the $10K PLO 8-Handed Championship registered a record-setting field of 683 entries, generating a whopping $6,368,975 prize pool. After three action-packed days of poker, the four-day-long event is down to just five players.

Day 3 started with 39 players returning to the felts. After seven levels of play, only five were left standing, with Indo-American player Shiva Dudani leading the charge. Two-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Dudani will be returning with a solid stack of 15,650,000 on Tuesday, almost twice that of the Day 2 chip leader Michael Duek (9,405,000), who holds the second-biggest stack. Not too far behind is Tom Hu, who had the chip lead for much of the evening until he lost a massive pot to Dudani and bagged the third-largest stack of 7,330,000.

It was a fast-paced day with quick eliminations. By the first break of the day, the final three tables were being redrawn.

Several notables fell short of the final table, including Elior Sion (11th for $76,792), Allan Le (12th for $61,760), Robert Nehorayan (16th for $41,985), Jeff Madsen (19th for $41,985), John Beauprez (23rd for $41,985), Brandon Adams (24th for $35,509), partypoker Ambassador Patrick Leonard (26th for $35,509), Nicholas Baris (29th for $35,509), and Ronald Keijzer (32nd for $30,557).

The eight-handed final table was formed with the elimination of Jered Bettencourt (9th for $97,044).

Toby Lewis (8th for $124,611) was the first player to be eliminated on the final table.

Soon after that, the two Indo-American players on the final table, Shiva Dudani and Nitesh Rawtani, clashed. Rawtani’s were no match for Dudani’s which rivered a two pair on the runout. “I thought I dodged it,” Rawtani said on his way out. He had won his way into the event through a $1,100 satellite and scored an insane return on the investment, making away with a career-best $162,542 in seventh place.

Dudani also scored the last elimination of the day in Thair Kallabat (6th for $215,326). His aggressive play towards the end of Day 3 ensured him a runaway chip lead heading into Day 4. The former WSOP Circuit Main Event champion, Dudani, is guaranteed to improve upon his previous career-best finish as the remaining five players are assured a minimum $289,630 payout, while the winner will take home the $1,246,770 top prize and the coveted WSOP gold bracelet.

The five finalists will return at 2 PM (PDT) on July 5 to play down to a champion.

End of Day 3 Chip Counts

1. Shiva Dudani – 15,650,000
2. Michael Duek – 9,405,000
3. Tom Hu – 7,330,000
4. Sean Troha – 5,045,000
5. Joachim Haraldstad – 3,580,000

Event #70: $10,000 No-Limit Hold ’em Main Event World Championship – Day 1B

Even before the 2022 WSOP had commenced, WSOP Executive Director, Ty Stewart, had predicted that the Main Event would surpass the record of 8,773 players set in the 2006 series. It seems like that possibility is on the brink of turning into reality.

Event #70: $10,000 No-Limit Hold ’em Main Event World Championship has already registered 3,045 entries (Day 1A – 900 & Day 1B – 2,145) from its first two starting flights. To surpass the 2006 record, the remaining two flights must register over 5,700 entries.

Expecting high demand for Wednesday’s Day 1D, the WSOP was forced to change the Day 2 schedule for the Main Event. On July 5, WSOP tweeted a PSA to players urging those who haven’t registered yet to consider playing Day 1B or Day 1C instead of Day 1D. The reason is that they could be forced to play 10-handed or wait long to get seated due to high demand for the final starting flight.

911 message to players. WSOP will make every effort to sit all players for what may be record Main Event. We urge anyone able to play today 1B or 1C tmw for best experience. Day 1D is expected to be massive requiring 10 handed play and potential long waits for alternate seating.

— WSOP (@WSOP) July 4, 2022

About three hours after asking players to register for Day 1B or Day 1C instead of Day 1D, WSOP made another announcement. Initially, players who qualified for Day 1A & 1B would return for Day 2AB on July 7, while players advancing from Day 1C & 1D would return for Day 2CD on July 8. While no alterations have been made to the Day 1s, the Day 2 schedule has been changed. There will no longer be a Day 2AB flight. Instead, it will become Day 2ABC on Thursday, with the players returning from Day 1C competing in that flight as well instead of the second Day 2 session. Day 2D will start on Friday with only the players from Day 1D (Wednesday). This alteration was made with the expectation that Day 1D would register the highest number of entries out of all four starting flights and would require a separate Day 2 session.

WSOP MAIN EVENT SCHEDULE CHANGE

Due to the field sizes in Flights 1A and 1B of the Main Event, Flight 1C will now be combined with the first two flights to create Day 2ABC on Thursday, July 7 at 11am. Day 2D will play as scheduled on July 8th at 11am. pic.twitter.com/S0FG07FxQt

— WSOP (@WSOP) July 4, 2022

Coming back to Day 1B, the second starting flight of the Main Event locked in 2,145 entries, and after 12 hours of play, 634 runners were left in the field. Day 1B was played on July 4, American Independence Day. So, at the start of the play, Jack Effel asked the veterans to stand and, in unison, chant, “Shuffle Up and Deal.”

The action on Day 1B was charged right from the get-go. It was just the second hand of the day at Table 674 when Marc Goone and Dennis Brand found themselves playing for all their chips. With the flop open and 15,000 already in the pot, Brand moved all in from the cutoff. Goone tanked for a while and then made the call.

Dennis Brand

Marc Goone

It was a classic cooler as the remaining two streets brought & . Goone’s Aces held, eliminating Brand within the first 30 minutes of the day.

Around the same time, on a different table, players were greeted by royalty. Alex Romero, who held rivered a Royal Flush on the second hand of the day, when the board ran . Michael Monicatti, involved in the showdown with Romera, flipped over his and accepted defeat with a laugh.

Day 1A saw Chiraag Patel (145,400) and Abhishek Goindi (28,200) make the cut for Day 2ABC. They will have the company of fellow countrymen Nirav Parekh (121,700), Sriharsha Doddapaneni (92,300), Paawan Bansal (44,600), and Nathan Rao (26,000), who bagged and tagged from Day 1B.

Bagging the biggest stack among the Indian contingent was Nirav Parekh. Unfortunately, we do not know much about the player`s run since he was not reported in the day`s coverage. However, it was undoubtedly an eventful day for him as he carried the 117th most enormous stack of 121,700 among the 634 survivors. Given that he does not have a profile with WSOP, we have to assume that if Parekh cashes the Main Event, it will be his first WSOP cash.

MTT phenom Sriharsha Doddapaneni was also in the thick of the action on Day 1B. He was first reported in Level 2. With the board open , and 11,600 in the pot, a player in early position bet for 5,200. Doddapaneni, on the button, thought for roughly a minute before forcing his opponent all in. The early-position player, who had 30,700 more behind, put his hands on his head and contemplated his decision before eventually tossing his cards into the muck. Doddapaneni raked the pot, climbing to 80,000.

By Level 3, Doddapaneni’s stack had dropped to 66,000, but a level later, he had jumped to 98,000. He ended the day with an above-average stack of 92,300 (ranked 238th in chips).

A seasoned pro, Doddapaneni has 22 WSOP cashes to his name. Even though Doddapaneni is yet to open his scorecard at this year’s series, he is no stranger to running deep in bracelet events. His deepest finish in the annual series came in 2021 WSOP Online Series Event #12: $1K DOUBLE STACK, where he finished third for a whopping $357,408 (~₹2.65 Crores).

Paawan Bansal is a player, like Doddapaneni, who needs no introduction. The 2018 WSOP Event #75: The Closer – $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em runner-up carried a below-average stack of 44,600 (ranked 489th in chips) to Day 2ABC.

Bansal has already picked up three scores in the series. He has cashed the WSOP Main Event only once in 2017, where he finished 124th for $53,247.

Nathan Rao has been a surprise package this year. He has cashed two events already, with his deepest run coming in Event #49: $2,000 No-Limit Holdem, where he finished 20th for $18,930 (~₹14.84 Lakhs). He will be entering Day 2ABC with a short stack of 26,000 (ranked 575th in chips).

Well-known pro Kunal Patni also joined the action on Day 1B. He was seen in action early on during Level 1, when his lost out to Jordan Mazer‘s that flopped a set on the board. Patni’s stack dropped to 45,000. By Level 2, Patni was down to 5,100 and busted soon after.

Atif Chaudry (187,700), Dinesh Alt (121,500), Raminder Singh (121,100), Srikanth Yadlapati (105,500), Jasvinder Singh (102,500), Srinivasa Vemulamada (94,100), Sahib Purewal (63,200), Shishir Gandhi (60,000), Ratha Ramasamy (46,200), Vijay Ramani (37,900), and Ajay Kejriwal (23,800) were some Indian-origin players who advanced to Day 2ABC.

Patrick Hagenlocher (332,800) bagged the Day 1B chip lead. The Queens, New York native only has $1,425 in recorded earnings, but he could be looking at a much bigger payday if he cashes the Main Event. He said he was in shock and gave a shout-out to his wife and daughter back home. He also wanted to dedicate this tournament to his other daughter Izzy, who passed away a few years ago.

“I feel like it could be (destiny),” he said. “This is my third time playing the main event. The furthest I went was deep in Day 3.”

Asi Moshe (119,200), Jeffrey Lisandro (132,100), PokerStars Ambassador Andre Akkari (126,600), Francois Pirault (115,000), and Sylvain Loosli (99,600) were among the notables advancing to Day 2ABC.

Wendeen Eolis, the first woman ever to cash in the Main Event back in 1986 in 25th place, took her seat today. She bagged a healthy stack of 90,200.

Two former NFL greats, Lincoln Kennedy and Antoine Winfield, also took to the felts. They each found a bag with Kennedy at 53,300 and Winfield at 14,000.

The Day 1C flight will commence at 11 AM (PDT) on July 5, where we expect to see another bumper turnout and several more Indians in attendance.

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1B

1. Patrick Hagenlocher – 332,800
2. Matthias Kribben – 268,100
3. Julien Loire – 254,100
4. Daniel Zogman – 253,100
5. Linglin Zeng – 239,900
6. Ognjen Sekularac – 223,200
7. Guilherme Garcia – 217,500
8. Paul Michaelis – 213,700
9. Caleb Henson – 213,000
10. Phuoc Nguyen – 205,000

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerGO, PokerNews & WSOP

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