WSOP 2024 Day 22 Recap: Hellmuth Goes Close, Maria Ho and Barry Shulman Move in on Magic WSOP Memories

One of the busiest days so far at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw seven events in progress without anyone winning a gold WSOP bracelet as several events were left on the brink of crowning a winner in Las Vegas. Players such as Phil Hellmuth and Shaun Deeb went close but missed out, while others such as Barry Shulman and Maria Ho could be one day away from fulfilling their poker dreams. 

Hecklen the Hero in High Roller After Day 1 

Event #47 began with a huge field of 95 players on Day 1 as the $100,000-entry High Roller attracted some of the best No-Limit Hold'em players in the world. After 11 levels of action, and with registration still open until tomorrow, Danish poker professional Henrik Hecklen had the chip lead with just over 3.5 million chips and only 44 players still in seats.

With other players such as online beast Ben Tollerene (2,815,000), PokerGO favorite Nick Petrangelo (2,700,000), and Jared Bleznick (2,655,000) all thriving, the 2023 event winner, Dutchman Jans Arends, lost out after busting late in the day.

Others lasted not nearly so long. Daniel Negreanu was in the eyeline for many a fan on the rail, but Kid Poker endured a nightmare day at the felt, busting not once but twice when he ran into players with pocket aces. Another player couldn't win with kings, as the 2022 world champion Espen Jorstad had his cowboys shot down by Aussie Kahle Burns' jacks, missing out on an end-of-day bag to seal chips in, but the newly-crowned $50,000 High Roller champion Sergio Aido was in fine form, ousting Negreanu before surviving to Day 2. 

WSOP Event #47: $100,000 High Roller Day 1 Chip Counts

Hellmuth Hits the Post in Mixed Omaha Marathon  

Just three players remain in the $1,500-entry Mixed Omaha Event #43, with one extra day required to sort out the winner tomorrow. Swedish player Magnus Edengren leads the way with 10.5 million chips, with James Juvancic (6.2m) and Tim Seidensticker (5m) still in the hunt for gold. The last player to miss out on that chance on Day 3 was Phil Hellmuth, as the 17-time WSOP gold bracelet winner just failed to make the final day having run short and four-handed, been eliminated. 

With others such as six-time WSOP winner Shaun Deeb (16th for $7,543) and Nathan Gamble (14th for $9,234) both unable to make the final table, it was a dramatic day's action where more and more fans arrived to see if The Poker Brat, Phil Hellmuth, could match his namesake Phil (Ivey) in winning a bracelet this summer. So far, the answer remains 'not yet' as Hellmuth fell three places short of extending his record over Ivey from six events to seven. 

WSOP Event #43: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Final Day Chip Counts/Results

Barry Shulman Believes in NLHE Finale

In Event #44, the $2,000-entry NLHE event, 1,561 entrants have been whittled down to just 17 players as former WSOP bracelet winner Barry Shulman (685,000) is the only player in the remaining field to pick up gold at the World Series before. Chip leader after today's 10 levels was Javier Gomez, who stacked up 4,870,000 in his pursuit of the $410,359 top prize. 

Others in the top 10 include Nicholas Massey (4,055,000), who is Gomez' nearest challenger, with Damien Le Goff of Great Britain on 3,445,000 and Romanian Narcis Nedelcu (2.7m), who continued his habit of ending each day in this event in the top 10 by the close of play. He'll hope to finish nine places higher than he currently sits when play resumes. 

WSOP Event #44: $2,000 NLHE Final Day Chip Counts

Kabrhel Leads Final 55 in Monster Stack 

With just 55 players remaining, everyone's favorite anti-hero Martin Kabrhel leads the last day's chip counts with a stack of 24,425,000, closely followed by Tim Reilly with 24 million on the nose. Other big names reside in the top 10 chip counts, with British hopeful Mat Frankland (10.95m) followed further down the leaderboard by EPT creator and Poker Million winner John Duthie (8m). 

With a top prize of $1,098,220 on the line, a fantastic return for a stake of just $1,500, 8,704 total entries have battled down to this point... now who will win the bracelet and grab the glory? Kabrhel has to be favorite, with two former WSOP wins in his backstory and the chip lead. Other former winners Arnaud Enselme (10,425,000), Greg Jensen (4,625,000) and Joao Simao (2,275,000) will all hope to improve their chances early with some positive pots going their way.    

WSOP Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack Final Day Chip Counts

Chung Leads the Way in H.O.R.S.E. Championship

Event #45, the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship has reached its final day, with Chris Chung on top with 1,345,000 in chips, with Patrick Moulder (1,195,000) and British mixed game crusher Benny Glaser (1,125,000) hot on his heels. With just 17 remaining from 281 total entries, there were also top 10 appearances from the likes of Robert Wells (885,000), who will be aiming not to finish second tomorrow. The proud Welshman has already been a WSOP event runner-up twice in this year's series! 

With a prize pool of $1,683,300 and top prize of $399,988 on offer, players such as Alex Livingston, David Benyamine, Jesse Lonis, and Nick Schulman were all eliminated along with Phil Ivey before the money bubble burst. Cashing on Day 2 were Roland Israelashvili (24th), Jeff Madsen (21st), and Brad Ruben (18th) among others, with two standout female performers still very much involved. Maria Ho (420,000) and Esther Taylor (400,000) are one day away from claiming WSOP for the first time.     

WSOP Event #45: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Final Day Chip Counts

Two More Bracelet Events Begin

Event #46, the $1,000-entry Seniors Championship began, with 4,993 entries packing the Horseshoe and Paris casinos with mature poker hopefuls all over the age of 50. With $4,393,840 in the prize pool on Day 1a alone, 647 survived to Day 2, with Brent Nelms the chip leader on 525,000 chips. He was immediately followed in the counts by Carlos Bermudez (468,000), and Rafael Benami (438,500), while superstars Matt Salsberg (210,000), James Calderaro (175,000), Andy Black (153,000), Allyn Shulman (92,000), Andres Korn (82,000), Mark Seif (77,000), and Robert Campbell (49,000) all made the day 2 cut with chips to stack. 

Finally, Event #48, the $1,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max event saw 2,212 total entrants, already an increase on the 2023 total of 2,071 entries. This year's Day 1 ended with 128 still in with a chance of grabbing gold, with Grzegorz Derkowski the chip leader on 1,177,000, with players such as James Chen (1,017,000), Kharlin Sued (1,100,000), Brian Hastings (793,000), David Prociak (630,000), Christopher Frank (608,000), Shaun Deeb (445,000) and Phil Laak (243,000) all advancing to Day 2 and the chase towards a top prize of $262,734 and a sparkling WSOP bracelet.

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