WSOP Day 31 Recap: Cates wins Back to Back PPC Titles as Four Bracelets Won on Day of Drama in Las Vegas

A huge day on this year’s WSOP schedule saw nine events take place, producing four winners who each took home gold on Thursday night. With the $50,000 Poker Players Championship coming to a thrilling conclusion on PokerGO, there were also wins in No Limit Hold’em, Short Deck and a Super Turbo Bounty event where the player with the shortest stack in the room at the start of play ended up winning the title.  

 

Epic Final Day of PPC Sees Cates Claim Incredible Back-to-Back Victory

 

The final day of the $50,000-entry Poker Players Championship was an absolute classic as it played out on PokerGO to fans all around the world. With five players reaching the final table, Brazilian pro Yuri Dzivielevski and Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates had both enjoyed ending the day with the lead over the preceding two days, and they were on collision course from the first cards. So it proved as Cates would eventually outlast his opponent after an epic heads-up battle for the gold.

 

It was German player Johannes Becker who busted first, losing his stack in no limit hold’em, busting to Benny Glaser as he left the party for a little over $343,000. Next to go was British mixed game specialist Glaser himself, who was second in chips when Johannes busted only to crash out in fourth for $464,420. Glaser left in NL 2-7 Single Draw, leading Cates to break character for an instant, saying “Bad luck, Benny,” as the British player moved disconsolately from the felt.

 

Naoya Kihara had busted Glaser but after an extended period of play, he would bust in third place for $639,257, setting up the dream duo’s final duel.

 

You can watch all the action as Dan Cates captured the PPC title at the expense of Yuri Dzivielevski right here on PokerGO

https://www.pokergo.com/videos/f9aff3c9-ac7c-4892-9567-75d309f5fe80

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WSOP 2022 Event #56 $50,000 Poker Players Championship Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Daniel Cates	U.S.A.	$1,449,103
2nd	Yuri Dzivielevski	Brazil	$895,614
3rd	Naoya Kihara	Japan	$639,257
4th	Benny Glaser	United Kingdom	$464,420
5th	Johannes Becker	Germany	$343,531

 

Lendvai Outlasts Van Fleet at Deepstack Final Table

 

A thrilling ending to the $600-entry Event #57, the Deepstack NHLE event, saw Hungarian player Tamas Lendvai conquer a final table containing online end boss Jon Van Fleet as nine players battled for glory in the first bracelet to be won on the day. Having started the day last in chips on just eight big blinds, Lendavi went right through the gears to claim victory in what would become a trend on Day 31 of the 2022 WSOP.

 

Play began yesterday at the nine-handed final table with the elimination of John Ypma, who had led the tournament for a good portion of the later stages. He busted for $28,129, but he wasn’t on the rail on his own for long, with Tamir also busting before the final day. Seven started play on the last day, but after the eliminations of Tsuf Saltsberg, Abdullah Alshanti and Daniel Marcus between seventh and fifth place, Alex Jim who led coming into the action, busted in fourth place.

 

If this might have opened things up for Van Fleet, he picked the wrong time to try to capitalize on it. Shoving with ace-ten, he was snap-called by Lendvai with pocket aces and busted in third place for $138,149. Lendvai had been the short stack for so long over the last two days of the series he almost couldn’t believe he was heads-up, and in the final hand, he won with queen-ten against German player Frank Recihel’s king-queen as a ten landed on the river.

 

Lendvai, overcome with emotion, shouted and cheered with his rail before collapsing to the floor in shock at the magnitude of his achievement, before his rail climbed over and helped him up, celebrating with their man who had made his lifelong dream come true in the most incredible fashion.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #57 $600 Deepstack Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Tamas Lendvai	Hungary	$299,464
2nd	Frank Reichel	Germany	$185,027
3rd	Jon Van Fleet	U.S.A.	$138,149
4th	Alex Jim	U.S.A.	$103,994
5th	Daniel Marcus	U.S.A.	$78,793
6th	Abdullah Alshanti	U.S.A.	$60,196
7th	Tsuf Saltsberg	Israel	$46,347
8th	Tamir Saidman	Israel	$35,964
9th	John Ypma	U.S.A.	$28,129

 

Dudley Dashes to Victory in Super Turbo

 

Dash Dudley lived up to his name as he added another WSOP bracelet to his collection in style. Starting the day with just under four big blinds, Dudley played like a man with both nothing to lose and a desperation to win and did exactly that, going from short-stack with 20 players starting the day’s play to champion inside just a few hours.

 

Dudley would have cashed for just $11,208 if he had busted first on the day as he was favorite to do. That didn’t happen, of course, as he ran it up to win over $300,000 in the most remarkable play out that mirrored the Deepstack drama on the rother side of Ballys’. Players such as Romain Guilbert, Chris Fraser and Shaun Colquhoun all busted before the final nine assembled, and once there, three Americans crashed out in Ken Drewry, Dimitre Dimitrov and Kevin Davis.

 

The Japanese player Yuhei Sanada left in sixth place for $59,306 before Harpreet Padda from Canada and famous player Jan Bednar of the Czech Republic left in fourth place. After overnight chip leader John Bredengerd left in third place, Dudley was heads-up with David Sanchez. The final hand saw Sanchez shove from the button with king-jack, but Dudley called with king-queen and saw it home to celebrate with his many friends on the rail.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #62 $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Dash Dudley	U.S.A.	$301,396
2nd	David Sanchez	U.S.A.	$186,258
3rd	John Bredengerd	U.S.A.	$138,142
4th	Jan Bednar	Czech Republic	$103,325
5th	Harpreet Padda	Canada	$77,945
6th	Yuhei Sanada	Japan	$59,306
7th	Kevin Davis	U.S.A.	$45,517
8th	Dimitre Dimitrov	U.S.A.	$35,240
9th	Ken Drewry	U.S.A.	$27,526

 

In the fourth bracelet win of the day, Japanese Short Deck specialist Shota Nakanishi took the title with a top prize of $277,212 after holding off four greats along the way. At the five-handed final table, it was British player Stephen Chidwick who busted first, as he missed out on the chance to claim his second WSOP bracelet after breaking his duck in 2019.

 

Next to go was Sean Winter, who never made it to the top of the leaderboard in the latter stages of the event and paid the price, slipping out in fourth before Brian Rast followed him to the rail soon after. Rast, who is nominated for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame as this year’s new member cashed for $121,718.

 

Heads-up Ben Lamb had played himself into contention after some terrific play on the approach. But Nakanishi, who had never won a WSOP bracelet before, managed to outlast the last of his four highly decorated opponents in the final hand by holding ace-king against Lamb’s ace-queen, when a jack-high board played out to give the Japanese player the glory.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #60 $10,000 Short Deck NLHE Championship Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Shota Nakanishi	Japan	$277,212
2nd	Ben Lamb	U.S.A.	$171,331
3rd	Brian Rast	U.S.A.	$121,718
4th	Sean Winter	U.S.A.	$88,168
5th	Stephen Chidwick	United Kingdom	$65,143

 

Super Seniors Final Reached with Gianera Bidding for Bracelet

 

The last five players in the $1,000-entry Super Seniors event have been reached, as the final table formed across a dramatic day’s play in Event #59 in Las Vegas’ WSOP. On the way to that final table being found, there were some dramatic exits for big names among the more mature set of poker players. The defending champion in this event, French player Jean-Luc Adam, was taken out early as he busted in 40^th place, just after former Hollywood actor James Woods lost out in 42^nd place.

 

Elsewhere, two-time bracelet winner Barny Boatman busted in 68^th place after coming into play sixth in chips, representing a tough day at the felt for the Hendon Mobster. After Peter Kamaras was eliminated on the final table bubble in 11^th place, the final ten played down to the official final of five and of those, it is Massoud Eskandari (19,000,000) who has the lead, with Jennifer Gianera (16,500,000) not far behind.

 

There is some gap to James Jewell (8,425,000) and a further space between the top three and two short stacks who have it all to do. With 21 big blinds apiece, Peter Mylenki and Sharri Crawford both ended the day with 4,200,000 chips.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #59 $1,000 Super Seniors Final Table Chipcounts:
Position	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Massoud Eskandari	U.S.A.	19,000,000
2nd	Jennifer Gianera	U.S.A.	16,500,000
3rd	James Jewell	U.S.A.	8,425,000
4th	Peter Mylenki	U.S.A.	4,200,000
5th	Sharri Crawford	U.S.A.	4,200,000

 

Andrews Leading Ladies Event with 42 Players Remaining

 

Just 42 players remain from the Day starting field of 274 hopefuls. In the popular traditional event that precludes male players taking to the felt (unless they fancy paying $10,000 to play instead of $1,000), Day 1 began with 1,074 players, each of whom would be playing for a top prize of $166,975 and the fabled WSOP gold bracelet.

 

On a busy Day 2 that saw the money bubble burst halfway through the day, only 160 ladies made the money as stars such as bubble girls Juliana Vidal and Kelli Storck lost their stacks at the same moment to go halves on the first min-cash. Players to miss out on the money entirely included Kerryjane Craigie, who famously came second in an opening Casino Employees event.

 

Plenty of players rushed from the room in a flurry of bust-outs after the bubble burst, with last year’s winner, Lara Eisenberg, among them, along with stars of the game such as 2021 WSOP Winner Leo Margets, with the Spaniard – who won last year’s Closer event for $376,850 – joined on the rail by Loni Hui, Molly Mossey and Xuan Liu.

 

It is Cherish Andrews who leads the remaining field, and what a lead it is, with 1.8 million chips far clear of second-placed Natalie Hof-Ramos in second place (1,100,000). Every other player of the 40 have less than half Andrews’ stack, with Chenyi Liu third in chips for 785,000. Others to make the cut included Amanda Baker (580,000), Melanie Weisner (560,000), Lexy Gavin (401,000), Charlotte Van Brabander (380,000), Tiffany Michelle (250,000) and Pamela Balzano (165,000).

 

WSOP 2022 Event #61 $1,000 Ladies Event Top 10 Chipcounts:
Position	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Cherish Andrews	U.S.A.	1,800,000
2nd	Natalie Hof-Ramos	Germany	1,100,000
3rd	Chenyi Liu	U.S.A.	785,000
4th	Marybeth Anderson	U.S.A.	760,000
5th	Christina Gollins	U.S.A.	745,000
6th	Ranae Warren	U.S.A.	675,000
7th	Felisa Westermann	Germany	665,000
8th	Gargee Sharma	U.S.A.	625,000
9th	Jessica Teusl	Austria	615,000
10th	Kultida Berman	U.S.A.	605,000

 

Rheem Leads PLO8 Championship with Champion Arieh Hanging On

 

No one wants to relinquish ‘their’ title when they come back to defend a WSOP bracelet and Josh Arieh is evidently no different as the reigning champion of Event #64, the $10,000 PLO 8 or Better Championship survived a rollercoaster day at the felt. Starting off on 189,000 chips, Arieh was short-stacked before he ran it up, knocked out Phil Ivey and took over the chip lead. Then Chino Rheem entered the fray, and Arieh slipped a little before ending the day on just 15 big blinds with 20 players left.

 

Despite those late hits, Arieh will be looking to run it up on the final day, but Rheem’s stack will take some catching. The popular pro had a mammoth stack of 2,595,000 in front of him when the bags were handed out, and his nearest rival, Filippos Stavrakis (1,880,000) is still a considerable distance behind him.

 

Others to bag up chips included Felipe Ramos (1,010,000), 2022 bracelet winner Robert Cowen (840,000) and Allen Kessler (725,000), with ‘Chainsaw’ now just 19 opponents away from what would be a first-time bracelet to be celebrated by thousands in Las Vegas.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #63 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better Top 10 Chipcounts:
Position	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Chino Rheem	U.S.A.	2,595,000
2nd	Filippos Stavrakis	U.S.A.	1,880,000
3rd	Seungjin Lee	South Korea	1,860,000
4th	Damjan Radanov	U.S.A.	1,275,000
5th	Amnon Filippi	U.S.A.	1,275,000
6th	Ken Aldridge	U.S.A.	1,075,000
7th	Felipe Ramos	Brazil	1,010,000
8th	Sterling Savill	U.S.A.	910,000
9th	Robert Cowen	United Kingdom	840,000
10th	Sean Remz	U.S.A.	825,000

 

PLO Deepstack Day 1 Sees Bumper Numbers

 

A total of 2,858 entrants played down to just 102 players as a Day 1 that saw 22 levels concluded in the small hours of Friday morning. With a prize pool of over $1.45 million reached, whoever wins this event will score a top prize of $199,466. After a frantic day at the felt, French player Guillaume Soumier ended with the chip lead on 3,055,000 chips, ahead of Finnish player Tommi Lankinen (2,440,000) and Irish player Geln Keogh (2,385,000).

Other big names to make the cut included Michael Mizrachi (1,105,000), 888poker’s Vivian Saliba (830,000), and the 2021 WSOP Main Event world champion Koray Aldemir (265,000).

 

WSOP 2022 Event #64 $600 Pot Limit Omaha Deepstack Top 10 Chipcounts:
Position	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Guillaume Soumier	France	3,055,000
2nd	Tommi Lankinen	Finland	2,440,000
3rd	Geln Keogh	Ireland	2,385,000
4th	Xiaohui Yu	U.S.A.	1,930,000
5th	Stanislav Halatenko	United Kingdom	1,780,000
6th	Jihyun Min	South Korea	1,775,000
7th	Daniel Tordjman	France	1,770,000
8th	Michael Newman	U.S.A.	1,590,000
9th	Igor Ioffe	U.S.A.	1,545,000
10th	Barry Leventhal	U.S.A.	1,500,000

 

Event #65 Sees Over 200 Reach Day 2

 

From a total field of 1,359 entries, just 220 players are left with chips in Event #65, the $3,000-entry  No Limit hold’em event. Onur Unsal built a big lead with 1,244,000 chips, with other big stacks in the top 10 chipcouts including Krasimir Yankov (784,000), Niko Koop (741,000), Blake Bohn (738,600), Jarrett Hlavaty (699,000), and Alex Lindop (680,000).

 

Other stars of the felt to make Day 2 in good chip health include the 16-time record bracelet holder Phil Hellmuth (349,000), in-form player Michael Rocco (390,000), and 2022 Super High Roller winner Alex Foxen (68,000) with players such as Daniel Negreanu, David Peters, Maria Ho, Tony Dunst and all-time money list lead-chaser Justin Bonomo all ending the day on the rail before the bags were given out.

 

 

WSOP 2022 Event #65 $3,000 NLHE Freezeout Top 10 Chipcounts:
Position	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Onur Unsal	Turkey	1,244,000
2nd	Joel Micka	U.S.A.	829,000
3rd	Krasimir Yankov	Bulgaria	784,000
4th	Niko Koop	Germany	741,000
5th	Blake Bohn	U.S.A.	738,000
6th	Jarrett Hlavaty	U.S.A.	699,000
7th	Ali Eslani	U.S.A.	683,000
8th	Dan Wagner	U.S.A.	681,000
9th	Alex Lindop	United Kingdom	680,000
10th	Timur Margolin	Israel	645,000

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