WSOP Day 32 Recap: Elezra Wins PLO 8 Championship, Eskandari and Angelov Both Conquer Bracelet Events

A thrilling day of action at both Bally’s and Paris in the World Series of Poker saw players take on the might of the $1,000-entry Mini Main Event, which created the longest registration lines in decades according to some inside the venues. With bracelets won in a variety of game formats, there were plenty of opportunity for players to take home gold and glory on Day 32 of the 2022 WSOP.

Eli Elezra Wins Fifth Bracelet After Epic Battle

Eli Elezra took on the chip leader Chino Rheem and walked away with the title as he bagged his fifth WSOP bracelet in Event #63, the 10,000-entry Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. In the event won by Josh Arieh last year on his way to becoming Player of the Year, Elezra outlasted several stars of the felt as a final table containing pros such as 2022 bracelet winner Robert Cowen.

With the overnight chip leader Rheem kicking off where he left the night before, players with short stacks needed to act quickly or fade away. Arieh fits into the first section with aplomb, and well-versed in the vissicitudes of PLO tournament poker, fearlessly bulldozed his short-stack along as others such as Amnon Filippi (15^th) and Allen Kessler (11^th) faded away.

At the final table, Arieh started as the short stack, but laddered to seventh as he put up the bravest defense of his bracelet possible. Play certainly closed up a little after Arieh’s elimination as over two hours played out without an elimination. Eventually, Elezra busted Filippos Stavrakis and in doing so grabbed a chip lead he would hold onto for almost all the duration of the tournament’s remaining levels.

Ken Aldridge and Damjan Radanov before Robert Cowen fell two places short of becoming the second double bracelet winner in 2022. When he left, Elezra had nine million chips with Rheem holding eight million. Rheem has two runner-up results in WSOP events, as well as six other top nine finishes, but has never won a bracelet and that personal curse continued as he at points led this event and yet fell at the final hurdle, Elezra claiming the win and his fifth gold bracelet of a glittering career.

Eskandari Wins Super Seniors Event for $330,000

Massoud Eskandari won the $1,000-entry Super Seniors event after an eventful final day saw five play down to a winner at Bally’s on the Strip. Peter Mylenki barely had time to sit down before he was on the rail, cashing for over $85,000 when his pocket fours were shot down by James Jewell’s pocket kings.

Next to go was Sharri Crawford, who busted to Eskandari to not only bust but give the chip leader more ammunition with which to shoot down his opponents. When Jewell busted in third place, however, it gave Jennifer Gianera a big chip lead, as the female player had gone on a great run to put herself in a brilliant position to win the bracelet.

Sadly for her, a big double for Eskandari when he had pocket eights on a seven-high flop against Gianera’s ace-seven was to prove pivotal. He never looked back from that moment and after taking the lead got into a dominant position before Gianera risked her remaining 30 big blinds with a flush draw from the flop. Eskandari’s made hand of a pair of kings held and he became the king, winning his first bracelet and a top prize of $330,609, with Gianera collecting the $204,293 runner-up prize.

Angelov Grabs Deepstack PLO Crown

On a final day full action, 102 players played down to a winner in Event #64, the $600-entry PLO Deepstack event. At a dramatic final table, it was Konstantin Angelov who took the gold, but the excitement started long before the final nine players were reached. Stars such as Shaun Deeb, Koray Aldemir, Michael Mizrachi and Tommy Le all busted before the business end of the event.

Once the final nine were at the same table fighting for the title, Chris Keller busted in ninth place, before Rafael Mota, one of two Brazilians at the final table, left in eighth place. Ben Miner lost out with pocket aces in seventh place, before French player Philippe Pelluault’s double-suited hand failed to flush, knocking him out in sixth place.

Brazilian 888poker ambassador Vivian Saliba brought a passionate rail to support her at the final table, but that didn’t help her make the heads-up battle as she busted in fifth for $52,795. After she left, so too did the French former chip leader, as Guillarme Soumier left the party in fourth. Igor Ioffe followed in third before the final battle commenced, with Angelov in the lead with 51.2 million chips to Gregg Merkow’s 34.5 million.

No sooner had heads-up began was it all over. Merkow was unable to beat Angelov’s set of threes and that sealed the deal for the winner, giving him the $199,466 top prize and the bracelet that he had always dreamed of winning.

Ladies Event Reaches Final Table

Just eight players remain in the $1,000-entry Ladies Event, with Lynh Nguyen benefitting from a fortunate final hand to grab the chip lead. On a day where both the Day 1 and Day 3 chip leaders lost their stacks, it was the elimination of Cherish Andrews in ninth which provided the narrative for this record-breaking ladies-only event.

All-in with pocket kings for a 2 million chip pot, Andrews saw Nguyen win with pocket jacks and set the final eight players in place instead. The pot would have continued play with Andrews in the middle of the pack, but instead, the massive chip leader from the start of play hit the rail.

Christina Gollins (3,845,000) and Julie Le (3,100,000) are both closing in on Nguyen in the chipcounts, with Jessica Teusl (985,000) and Natalie Hof Ramos (965,000), who was supported by her fellow professional husband Felipe Ramos on the rail, both have ten big blinds but nothing to lose as the final table plays down to a winner tomorrow.

Hellmuth in Top Five of NLHE Freezeout

Event #65, the $3,000-entry NLHE Freezeout event, saw 26 players survive as 90% of the Day 2 field fell by the wayside. Of those 26, Keiji Ito is the chip leader with 6,360,000 chips, but 16-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (3,290,000) is hovering dangerously in fifth place on the list and will be shooting for a record-extending 17^th WSOP bracelet when play resumes tomorrow.

Elsewhere, players such as Neel Joshi (2,215,000), Julien Martini (1,825,000) and Anton Wigg (1,230,000) still hae a chance of adding gold to their achievements this summer, while others such as Martin Stoyanov, Romain Lewis, Tom Middleton, Michael Gathy and Alex Lindop all reached the top 60 without going to the next day.

Record Breaking Day in Mini Main Event

A huge day of action in Event #66, the $1,000-entry Mini Main Event, saw 5,833 entries flood both Bally’s and Paris as registration lines almost extended back to the Rio by the middle of the day! Under 500 players made the cut as entrants such as Jake Bluston (2,825,000), another Jake in Jake Schwartz (2,275,000), bracelet winners James Calderaro (1,800,000), Leo Soma (1,175,000), Shaun Deeb (700,000) and Joao Simao (525,000) all made the Day 2 cut.

Others to survive included Ivan Zufic (920,000), Kathy Liebert (585,000), Jeff Madsen (510,000) and Perry Friedman (67,500).

Six Stick Around in Super Turbo

Just six players made the final day in Event #67, the $1,000 buy-in Super Turbo Bounty event, with Nacho Barbero (12,225,000) holding a huge lead as he battles to win his first-ever WSOP bracelet. The final day will see three other potential first-timers go for gold as Ilya Nikiforov (4,875,000) starts the day as Barbero’s nearest challenger. Other hopefuls Maria Ho (1,875,000) and especially Fabiano Kovalski (425,000) will have work to do with just nine and two big blinds respectively.

Two former bracelet winners remain in the field as both Rob Hollink (3,250,000) and Andrew Lichtenberger (2,500,000) attempt to win what would be a second bracelet for each man. The top prize of $587,520 is certainly one worth fighting for when play resumes.

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