WSOP Day 6 Recap: Norbert Szecsi Wins Third WSOP Bracelet in Opening Online Event of 2022 WSOP

The opening online events of the 2022 World Series took place on a busy day of action in Las Vegas, Nevada. With both Bally’s and Paris casinos packed out with passionate poker players, there were seven events in action as some of the best in the world duked it out at the felt for glory.

Brewer On Top in High Roller with Stacked Field of 15 in the Hunt

Just 15 players are left in the hunt for one of the biggest prizes of the 2022 World Series of Poker, with Chris Brewer leading the field in the $25,000-entry 8-Max High Roller Event #8.

With some late Day 2 registrations added into the mix, a total field of 252 players created a prize pool of over $5.9 million with the $1.4 top prize due to be awarded tomorrow at Bally’s.

Chris Brewer’s stack of 5,100,000 was clear of his nearest challengers Chad Eveslage (4,914,000) and Brek Schutten (4,610,000).

A little further behind, Jake Schindler (3,150,000), Justin Young (2,320,000), and the 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Josh Arieh (1,995,000) all still in the mix. With top pros and former bracelet winners Byron Kaverman (1,880,000) and WSOP 2021 Main Event champion Koray Aldemir (520,000) both still in with a shot too.

While the final dozen players or so will be dreaming of the bracelet win, some were left rueing missed opportunities on Day 2, with players such as Dan Shak, Phil Ivey, David Peters and Brian Rast all hitting the rail.

Szecsi Conquers Dunst for Third WSOP Bracelet

The first online event of the 2022 World Series of Poker concluded on Sunday night as Hungarian pro Norbert Szecsi won the WSOP bracelet for $288,850. Szecsi, who dominated play from four players remaining until he had all the chips, toppled the great Tony Dunst heads up and in doing so consigned the man with two WSOP bracelets to his second runner-up placement in a WSOP event in the last three years.

Elsewhere at the final table, there were great results for former WSOP Main Event winner Greg Merson, who came third for $96,465, Phil Galfond, who live-streamed his journey to sixth place for $52,230 on a delay and British crusher Toby Lewis who finished ninth at the final table for $18,530.

Livingston Leads Stud Field into Final

The former 2019 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Alex Livingston leads the final eight in the $1,500-entry Seven Card Stud Event #9, as the final day looms for five players who have yet to win a bracelet and three players with six between them already. Livingston’s stack of 2,495,000 is some way ahead of two former single bracelet winners Kenny Hsiung (1,605,000) and John Racener (1,160,000) as the final day will see Brad Ruben (725,000) look to spin up his stack and become the first player to win two bracelets this summer.

Ruben, whose Dealer’s Choice win in Event #4 was added to three more bracelets dating back to August 2020, is one of the most in-form players in recent WSOP history and should he see it out and win, Ruben will become officially the 29^th most successful player in World Series of Poker history. As it stands, he is on the brink of the top 50, despite not having won a bracelet just two short years ago.

While the final eight enjoyed a day to remember, several big names got close to glory but bricked the final stages, with Andrew Kelsall (48^th), Barry Greenstein (41^st), Mori Eskandani (27^th), Tamon Nakamura (26^th), and Kevin Mac Phee (11^th) all departing before the chips were bagged up and play ended for the night.

Vieira Leads from Gordinsky in $10k Dealer’s Choice Event

Casually referred to by others as ‘The Adam Friedman Invitational’, the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice will have a new winner this year as Friedman busted on Day 1 of the event, meaning he won’t make it four in a row.  Friedman was one of 62 hopefuls to depart on Day 1 as the field of 113 was trimmed to 51 and it was Portuguese player Joao Vieira who bagged the most chips, piling up 425,000 before the tournament was brought to a close for the night.

Elsewhere in the top 10, there were full bags for players such as Mike Gorodinsky, Vieira’s closest rival, who totalled 401,500 by the close of play, along with Nacho Barbero (269,500), Richard Ashby (250,500) and Ian O’Hara (188,000).

Final Day 1 Flight of The Housewarming Breaks Tournament Record

Already a tournament with an astonishing number of entries, the $500-entry Housewarming event saw just 339 remain from an amazing turnout of 7,268 entries on Day 1d. It was Christian Taylor (6,515,000) who bagged up the overall chip lead in the event, but he had plenty of stellar company at the top of the chipcounts, with Tyler Gaston (4,510,000), Rodolfo Romeira (3,340,000), Simon Webster (3,650,000) and Joshua Sutat (2,580,000) all making the top 10.

With a total field of 20,080 entrants generating an incredible prize pool of over $8.4 million, the guarantee of $5 million was smashed to pieces as one of the biggest-ever prize pools for a $500 poker tournament was reached.

Vengrin and Filippi Will Return for Debut Bracelet Showdown

Just two players remain in the $1,500-entry Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Event #7, as they could not conclude the battle for their maiden bracelet before the close of play at Bally’s on Sunday night.

After players such as Anthony Piazza (23^rd for $8,281), Travis Pine (16^th for $10,053), Japanese player Kosei Ichinose (14^th for $10,053), Bradley Smith (11^th for $15,505) and Van Law (10^th for $15,505) bowed out on the route to the final table, nine played down to two as the fight for bracelet #7 of the 2022 World Series of Poker took place.

Early at the final table, two-time WSOP bracelet winners Mel Judah (8^th for $25,377) and Rami Boukai (7^th for $33,178) both let before popular pro Matt Glantz busted in fifth place when his single pair was beaten by Vengrin’s two-pair and Glantz cashed for $80,671 in fifth. When played ended, Filippi had the advantage with 19,525,000 chips playing Vengrin’s 7,700,000, but anything can happen when play resumes tomorrow with the $252,718 top prize and a first-ever bracelet on the line.

Every Loeser is a Winner

Manig Loeser from Germany won his second WSOP bracelet as he crushed the second online bracelet event of the night, winning $127,153 in the process. Coming from behind to win heads up, Loeser, who also won his debut bracelet at the online felt in 2021, triumphed in an event which saw 1,213 players put up the ‘BIG $500’ entry. With players such as Vanessa Kade, Phil Galfond and the COVID-hit David ODB Baker all cashing, the action was fast and furious as play raced to a conclusion in a frantic ending to the event.

In the end, Loeser, who returned from a deficit heads-up moved all-in on the river of a board showing both an ace and a king with ace-seven and ‘omahabrian’ called it off with king-four, condemning themselves to the runner-up spot worth $78,641. Loeser’s second bracelet win was worth a lot more as he banked the top prize of $127,153 to his bankroll and the second bracelet of his career to the mantelpiece.

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