Another week of the 2022 World Series of Poker is behind us, and another batch of WSOP gold bracelet winners have been crowned at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. Here’s a look at recent winners from the 2022 WSOP.
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Cates Victorious in $50,000 Poker Players Championship
Daniel “Jungleman” Cates did the unthinkable this week, winning the WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship for the second year in a row. This time around, Cates defeated a field of 112 entries to take home more than $1,400,000.
Cates topped Yuri Dzivielevski in heads-up play. It was an epic heads-up match with plenty of haymakers thrown in each direction. Eventually, Cates was able to come out on top after several hours of play to win his second WSOP gold bracelet.
Foxen Grabs First Gold and More Than $4,500,000
The biggest buy-in of the 2022 WSOP was Event #50: $250,000 Super High Roller. A total of 56 entries were had, each putting in a quarter of a million dollars, and a prize pool of nearly $14,000,000 was on offer. Taking home the lion’s share of the pot was Alex Foxen, winning $4,563,700 and his first WSOP gold bracelet.
Foxen took the chip lead late on Day 2 of the event on the money bubble when he doubled with pocket aces through Dan Zack’s ace-king. Foxen rode that chip lead to a victory, defeating Brandon Steven in heads-up play.
"It definitely means a lot to me," Foxen said after. "It's kind of been a bit of a monkey on the back. I've always wanted a bracelet and had some close spots. I was always disappointed to not get one and this feels like a really special one to get my first in."
Also reaching the final table of the event were defending champion Adrian Mateos (4th - $1,367,206), Phil Ivey (7th - $597,381), and current WSOP Player of the Year frontrunner Dan Zack (8th - $488,095).
With this event being a PokerGO Tour (PGT)-qualifying event, Foxen added 700 PGT leaderboard points. That moved Foxen into fourth place on the 2022 PGT leaderboard.
Hui Wins Third Gold Bracelet
Phil Hui picked up his third World Series of Poker gold bracelet when he won Event #45: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha for $311,782. Hui had to mount a bit of a comeback to get the win, down 6-to-1 in chips at one point against his heads-up opponent, Daniel Tordjman. Hui completed the comeback for his third trip to the WSOP winner’s circle.
The event drew a field size of 1,437 entries. Hui’s other two gold bracelets were from the 2014 WSOP $3,000 Omaha Hi-Lo for $286,976 and 2019 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship for $1,099,311.
Smidinger Tops Huge Seniors Field
Event #47: $1,000 Seniors Championship drew a big field of 7,188 entries, creating a prize pool of $6,397,320. When the dust had settled, it was Eric Smidinger taking first place. He scored his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet and nearly $700,000 in prize money.
Smidinger entered the gift and final day of play second in chips behind Ben Sarnoff. It was Sarnoff who met Smidinger in heads-up play, and Sarnoff had about a 4-to-1 chip lead to begin the final duel. Smidinger began to win all of the big pots in heads-up play, worked himself into the chip lead, then finished things off with pocket eights when Sarnoff held ace-king of hearts.
Hizer Scores “Colossal” Win
In the WSOP $400 Colossus tournament, a field of 13,565 entries packed the tables at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip, creating a $4,476,450 prize pool. Taking home the $414,490 first-place prize and his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet was the UK’s Paul James Hizer.
Hizer bested Sam Laskowitz in heads-up play to get the win for what was the first live tournament victory of his career. A week ago, Hizer did put together an impressive run in the WSOP $1,500 Millionaire Maker, finishing 31st from a field of 7,961 entries to win $35,573.
Leonard, Dudley Among Other Winners
Those mentioned above weren’t the only winners to take home gold at the WSOP over the last week. Andrew Yeh won Event #44: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship for $487,129, Jonathan Pastore won Event #46: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em for $771,765, Menikos Panagiotou won Event #48: $1,500 Eight Game Mix 6-Handed for $180,783, and Simeon Spasov won Event #49: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $527,944.
In Event #52: $2,500 Nine Game Mix 6-Handed, it was Kijoon Park taking home the $219,799 top prize, and Brazil’s Joao Simao won Event #53: $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em; Pot-Limit Omaha for $686,242. James Todd won Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors for $161,256, and Patrick Leonard teamed up with Espen Jørstad to win Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team for $148,067.
Hungary’s Tamas Lendvai scored $299,464 for a victory in Event #57: $600 Deepstack Championship, Lawrence Brandt won Event #58: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo for $289,610, Shota Nakanishi won Event #60: $10,000 Short Deck for $277,212, and Dash Dudley won Event #62: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty for $301,396.
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