WSOP Day 15 Recap: Monster Stack Won by Mike Jukich, Ben Lamb Chasing PLO Glory

A huge day of action in the 2022 World Series of Poker saw seven events race to wards their final tables or bracelets as stars of the felt such as Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth were all in action. With the drama playing out with a stunning backdrop of Bally’s and Paris Casinos in Las Vegas, there were two new bracelet winners as millions of dollars were fought for at the felt.

Jukich Wins Monster Stack for Almost a Milly

Mike Jukich fulfilled a lifelong dream when he won the $1,500-entry Event #21, the Monster Stack for $966,577. At the final table, there were two bracelet winners in the final five, but neither Anthony Spinella (5^th for $260,315) or Joao Simao (4^th for $341,095) could stop the runaway winner, Jukich.

The heads-up battle was a thrilling one, with Jukich hitting a two-outer to overcome Mateusz Moolhuizen of the Netherlands in second place.

You can watch the whole final table play out in sensational style right here:

PLO High Roller sees Veselin Karakitukov Lead Final Five

Blugarian player Veselin Karakitukov leads the final five players in the PLO High Roller $50,000 event. With a busy day of action whittling down 36 players to just five survivors, stars such as Josh Arieh and Ben Yu busted outside the money before the final table wss reached.

Once there, the eliminations of Chance Kornuth and overnight chip leader Joni Jouhkimainen fresh in the memory, Aaron Mermelstein became the first player to leave the action, before Scott Seiver crashed out to Ben Lamb’s pocket aces and Aaro Katz lost with aces against kings despite hitting an ace. When Jason Mercier became the final victim of the night, kings not good enough to beat Lamb, the final five were set, and Ben Lamb – just behind Karakitukov – will be firing for gold tomorrow.

Kevin Song, Tim McDermott Reach Shootout Final Table

100 players started Day 2 of the $1,500-entry Shoutout NLHE Event #27, which saw players like Patrick Leonard, Landon Tice and Mustapha Kanit all miss out on making the 10-handed final table.

Eugene Katchalov, who is raising money for Ukrainian humanitarian charities this summer, busted heads-up to just miss out on the chance of winning his first WSOP gold bracelet in seven years when David Sudell triumphed against the former PokerStars Pro.

The only WSOP bracelet winner to reach the final 10 is Kevin Song, while the miracle of the day belonged to the progression of Tim McDermott, who emerged victorious despite being down to just one single 5,000 chip before doubling up and bouncing off the canvas to win.

When David Dowdy made the final table by outlasting his heads-up opponent, the final players were set and will battle for a top prize of $240,480 tomorrow afternoon where others such as Ravi Raghavan, Roongsak Griffeth, David Yonnotti, Michael Simhai, Ariant Patel, and Austin Peck will battle for gold.

Eveslage Defeated as Heads Up Battle Paused

Overnight chip leader Chad Eveslage fell in sixth place as the latest attempt by a player to win two bracelets this WSOP summer failed in Event #26. The $10,000-entry Limit Hold’em Championship saw play paused heads-up, with Kyle Dilschneider holding the chip lead on 3 million chips to Jonathan Cohen’s 2.57m chips.

With nine players starting the day in pursuit of the $245,678 top prize, David Litt was the first to bust, crashing out in a cooler as his trips ran into Joey Couden’s straight.

Couden himself would bust fifth before the exits of both Matthew Gonzales (4^th for $78,435) and Matthew Schreiber (3^rd for $107,978) set up the final duel. After three hours of play, the pair could not be separated, so will return tomorrow to battle it out for what will be the first WSOP for one of the two men.

Yuri Dzivielevski Leads Lowball Event’s Final Day

In Event #29, the $1,500-entry No-Limit 2-7 Lowball event saw 122 players kick off a bumper Day 2 thanks to a record Day 1 field entering. Thanks to that, an extra day has been added to the schedule, meaning there was no winner on Day 15 but there will be tomorrow as 19 players fight to grab the gold bracelet and top prize of $127,809.

The bubble burst on Day 2, with reigning event champion Phil Hellmuth crashing out to WSOP bracelet winner and YouTube poker vlogger Ryan Depaulo along the way. Depaulo himself would min-cash for $2,417 in 58^th place. Nick Schulman busted on the stone cold bubble to miss out just like Hellmuth.

With others such as Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow, Jake Schwartz, Todd Brunson, Brandon Shack-Harris, and 2022 WSOP bracelet winner Alex Livingston all cashing but not surviving, the top 10 was topped by Brazilian online poker legend Yuri Dzivielevski and Jonathan McGowan, both of whom finished on 1.1 million chips. Elsewhere in the top 10, Roland Israelashvili (1,105,000) is a three-bet from the lead, with Kane Kalas, having a very good WSOP so far, sneaking into the top 10 on 540,000 chips.

Two Other Bracelet Events Conclude Day 1s

In Event #30, a massive 1,891 players played the $1,000-entry Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed event. That’s a huge amount, well over 800 more than last year’s corresponding tournament, with just 108 players surviving after a tumultuous day at the felt. Stephen Song leads the way with 1,404,000 chips, a little more than Pedro Arroyos (1,365,000), William Kopp (1,163,000) and Chino Rheem (1,100,000).

With other big names such Dylan Weisman (623,000), Maurice Hawkins (422,000), Ryan Laplante (378,000), James Dempsey (292,000), Barny Boatman (263,000), and Kevin MacPhee (234,000) making the Day 2 seat draw, it promises to be huge fun when play resumes as players battle to win the $255,359 top prize.

Finally, Event #31 saw 102 players start the $10,000-entry Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship and after 11 hours of action, just 43 players were still in seats. With re-entry permitted on Day 2, that number could yet swell further, but as it stands, the top prize will be north of $200,000.

Chip leader after almost half a day was Swedish player Oscar Johansson (293,000), but he has stellar company in the rear-view, with Brian Hastings (292,000), Shaun Deeb (286,000), Jeremy Ausmus (250,000), and Phil Hellmuth (132,000) all still in the mix.

Not every big name who registered survived Day 1, with players such as Phil Ivey, 2021 winner Brian Yoon, Daniel Negreanu and Scott Seiver all busting.

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