The 53rd Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) is in full swing at its new home in Ballys and Paris Las Vegas Casino. As players continue to flock to the world’s biggest annual spectacle, bracelets are being quickly snatched. While several players like David Peters, Scott Seiver & Brad Ruben have won their career fourth bracelets, there have been several first time series champions like Henry Acain, Dan Smith, Amnon FIlippi, Chad Eveslage & Alex Livingston. The latest batch of stars winning their first bracelets are Ben Diebold, Raj Vohra, Jake Schindler, Michael Moncek & France’s Leo Soma.
Event #10: $10K Dealer’s Choice 6-Handed Championship – Ben Diebold Wins It For First Bracelet And $299,488
A very popular mixed game tourney at the WSOP 2022, Event #10: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice 6-Handed Championship attracted a record 123 players to create a prizepool of $1,146,975. The largest share of the prizepool went to USA’s Ben Diebold who took a little under an hour to carry his final day chip lead to the victory as he defeated Mike Gorodinsky heads-up to earn his first bracelet and $299,488.
- Buy-in: $10,00
- Entries:123
- Prizepool: $1,146,975
- ITM Players: 19
Coming into heads-up play with a massive lead of 5.7 million chips, Diebold quickly built an insurmountable lead. Finally, it all ended with Gorodinsky getting it in with Qc Jh and losing to Ben Diebold’s pocket sevens on the Kh 9d 6h 9s 5s board. Gorodinsky earned $185,095 as a runner-up.
Running from 5th to 7th June, the tournament paid out the top 19 players. It was scheduled to run for three days, but a fourth day was needed to finish it off. Day 3 began with 15 players and it took five hours for the field to whittle down to the unofficial seven-handed FT. The bubble burst on Day 2 with Nacho Barbero (19th for $16,264), bracelet winner Nick Guagenti (18th for $16,264), Ian O’Hara (17th for $16,264), and bracelet winner Jean-Robert Bellande (16th for $16,264) falling before Day 3.
Players falling out before the FT on the final day were Jordan Siegel (15th for $16,264), two-time bracelet winner Tuan Le (14th for $20,239), bracelet winner Joao Viera (13th for $20,239), three-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman (12th for $20,239), Mark Gregorich (11th for $25,522), Felipe Ramos (10th for $25,522), three-time bracelet winner Greg Mueller (9th for $32,608), four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen (8th for $25,522), and two-time bracelet winner Anatolii Zyrin (7th for $42,205).
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Ben Diebold – $299,488
- Mike Gorodinsky – $185,095
- Brian Rast – $134,370
- Christopher Claassen – $98,738
- Naoya Kihara – $73,453
- Randy Ohel – $55,329
Event #11: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack – Raj Vohra Wins It For First Bracelet And $335,886
Running from 6th to 7th June, the WSOP 2022 Event #11: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack crowned its champion in Raj Vohra, a former tennis player-turned seasoned poker pro from Lake Worth, Florida. He overcame a huge field of 5,715 players to claim his first bracelet and $335,886.
- Buy-in: $600
- Entries: 5,715
- Prizepool: $2,914,650
- ITM Players: 858
“It’s a dream come true. It’s the best moment of my life. I’ve waited for so many years, at least 15 years, for this moment, and it’s finally arrived. This is just a blessing, having all my friends and family here, my wife, it doesn’t get any better than this. This is it. But this is not the end, this is just the beginning. We got the first one, let’s see how many more we’re gonna get,” – Vohra said after his first bracelet win.
Vohra is an Indian-origin player and his previous best finish at the WSOP came in 2008 when he finished 5th in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event. Vohra was an underdog on the final table as he began his play with eights in chips but went all the way to win it after beating Qing Liu (2nd for $207,192) heads-up. The final hand of the tourney saw both players having identical stacks, with Vohra holding As Kh and Liu holding pocket eights. An ace on the turn sealed the pot and title for Vohra.
Team India
The tournament paid out 858 players and saw two Indian players running deep, namely Anirudh Mudimela and Abhishek Parashar. Mudimela ran deepest, finishing 18th for $12,767 (INR 9,93,770), while Parashar fell out in 23rd place, earning the same amount of $12,767 as Mudimela.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Raj Vohra – $335,286
- Qing Liu – $207,192
- Hung Tran – $154,833
- Nicole Limo Greene – $116,568
- Michael Lin – $88,417
- Junxiu Zhang – $67,572
- Ralph Marquez – $52,035
- Stanislav Snitsar – $40,378
- Renaud Cellini – $31,574
Event #12: $50,000 High Roller – Jake Schindler Wins It For His First Bracelet and $1,328,068
Running from 6th to 8th June, the third High Roller event on the WSOP 2022 schedule, Event #12: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold ’em, crowned a champion in Jake Schindler who had placed runner-up in Event #8: $25K High Roller. The 32-year-old topped a field of 101 players to take home the top prize $4,835,375 and his maiden bracelet! This was Schindler’s fourth title of the year, who has made ten final tables so far in 2022, collecting more than $7 million in earnings along the way.
- Buy-in: $50,000
- Entries: 101
- Prizepool: $4,069,375
- ITM Players: 16
The third and final day of the event with six players returning to battle it out for the coveted title and bracelet. Bracelet winner Andrew Lichtenberger was the first to fall, with his A-5 suited failing to beat the A-Q suited of Schutten. He was followed by four -time bracelet winner Bracelet winner David Peters and Shannon Shorr in 5th and 4th places, respectively. Shorr was doing well but then lost a series of pots. Eventually, he got the last of his chips in with pocket eights, only to find himself up against the pocket tens of Schindler. Neither player improved and Shorr got eliminated in 4th place.
The lone non-American player on the final table, Thailand’s Punnat Punsri, exited in 3rd place for $593,481, leaving Schindler and Brek Schutten with the latter holding a 2:1 chip lead over Schindler. Schindler managed to close the gap early, then surged into the lead by making a big call for his tournament life. Eventually, it all ended with Schindler limping in with Ac Kh and Schutten raising it to 1.2 Million with his Ah Qh. Schindler 3-bet shoved, and Schutten made the call. With a king on the board, Schindler shipped it for his first bracelet and Schutten settled for $820,808 as a runner-up.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Jake Schindler – $1,328,068
- Brek Schutten – $820,808
- Punnat Punsri – $593,481
- Shannon Shorr – $436,412
- David Peters – $326,464
- Andrew Lichtenberger – $248,516
- Michael Rocco – $192,570
- Dario Sammartino – $151,942
- Sean Winter – $122,114
Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold’em – Michael Moncek Wins It For His First Bracelet & $145,856
Running from 6th to 8th June, the WSOP 2022 Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold’em was taken down by three-time WSOP circuit ring winner Michael Moncek who overcame a field of 522 entries to secure his first bracelet and a career-best payday of $145,856. The win marked his 17th cash in a bracelet event and he now has $380,908 in lifetime live earnings. “It feels awesome, especially in a game that I’ve never played before. “I’m going to have to learn to play it now,”- Moncek told WSOP reporters.
- Buy-in: $1,500
- Prizepool: $696,870
- Entries: 522
- ITM Players: 79
The $1,500 buy-in event collected a $696,000 prize pool that was shared by the top 79 players. The third and final day began with 16 players. Kenny Hsiung (11th for $8,446 – FT bubble), Pedro Rios (12th for $6,787), Francisco Garzon (13th for $6,787), Michael Picardi (14th for $5,553), Patrick Megna (15th for $5,553), and Robert Linchesky (16th for $5,553) falling short of the final table.
Moncek started the final table in style by knocking out the WPT champion Lee Markholt in 9th place. His next victims were Joe McKeehen (5th) and Christoph Kwon (4th) and Yueqi Zhu (3rd ). With that, Michael Moncek (7,200,000) held a chip lead over Ben Ross (5,850,000) into the heads-up play.
The chip lead was exchanged early on and Ross took a commanding chip lead. However, Moncek worked his way back into contention and eventually shipped the title. On the final hand, Ross got the last of his stack in on a Jd 6d 5h Qd board with Jh 6h and Moncek called with 3d 2d. The 8d on the river saw Moncek take down the coveted title. Ross had to settle for the runner-up $90,150 prize.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Michael Moncek – $145,856
- Ben Ross – $90,150
- Yueqi Zhu – $63,314
- Christoph Kwon – $45,178
- Joe McKeehen – $32,761
- Steven Wolansky – $24,149
- Fred Lavassani – $18,100
- Nick Pupillo – $13,798
- Lee Markholt – $10,701
- Damoun Nikouie – $8,446
Event #14: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em: Leo Soma Wins It For First Bracelet And $456,889
Running from 7th to 9th June, the WSOP 2022 Event #14: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em saw Frenchman Leo Soma overcoming a field of 2,392 to win $456,889 and his career-first bracelet.
- Buy-in: $1,500
- Entries: 2,392
- Prizepool: $3,193,320
- ITM Players: 359
Just 16 players entered the third and final day of the event, with Soma starting in the middle of the pack. Eliminations were quick and five players got eliminated before the first break. Soma quickly rose to the chip lead and overtook the lead before the first break ended. From there on, he never relinquished his lead. And Soma was responsible for all but one of the eliminations at the final table.
Although Timothy Schultz doubled up during the three-handed play, Soma eliminated both him and Gallardo in quick succession to secure victory. The final hand of the tourney saw Schultz with Ks 9s and Soma with Jc 3h. The board ran out 6h 3s Jd 7s 10c, giving the title and top prize to Soma.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Leo Soma – $456,889
- Thomas Schultz – $282,358
- Maximilian Gallardo – $203,451
- Daniel Wellborn – $148,171
- Derek Sudell – $109,083
- Ivan Zhechev – $81,188
- Joe Cada – $61,098
Keep following Online Poker News (OPN) for the updates and news from the WSOP 2022!