2022 WSOP Day 28: Kenney Leads the $50,000 PPC Event
After awarding four WSOP bracelets on Day 27 of the 2022 World Series of Poker at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas, only one new champion was crowned on June 27, Day 28 of the series. However, a lack of gold did not equate to a lack of action, far from it, with six events in full swing.
Eric Smidinger won the only bracelet of Day 28 courtesy of coming out on top in Event #47: $1,000 Seniors Championship. Only five players from the original 7,188 were in contention on Day 5, and an emotional Smidinger outlasted them all, defeating Ben Sarnoff heads-up to bank $694,090 and this event's bracelet. Poker Hall of Fame nominee Kathy Liebert could only muster a fifth place finish.
Elsewhere, Bryn Kenney topped the chip counts after Day 2 of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Kenney has found himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons of late but it letting his poker do the talking. He'll be hoping to follow in the footsteps of another chastised player, Jake Schindler, in winning a bracelet at the 2022 WSOP.
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Laskowitz With a Colossal Advantage in the Colossus
Sam Laskowitz goes into the final day of Event #51: $400 Colossus with a commanding chip lead with only seven players remaining. Laskowitz has 206,500,000 chips, worth 52 big blinds, and has one hand on the $414,490 top prize right now.
British grinder Paul Hitzer (132,000,000) is the leader's nearest rival when play resumes at 4:00 p.m. on June 28. None of the other five finalists have more than 17 big blinds in their arsenal, so expect the action to be fast and furious from the word go.
Event #51: $400 Colossus Final Seven Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Laskowitz | United States | 206,500,000 | 52 |
| 2 | Paul Hizer | United States | 132,000,000 | 33 |
| 3 | Jordan Pelon | France | 68,000,000 | 17 |
| 4 | Jeff Loiacano | United States | 56,000,000 | 14 |
| 5 | Luong Quach | United States | 38,500,000 | 9 |
| 6 | Anthony Ruttler | United States | 32,000,000 | 8 |
| 7 | James Scott | United Kingdom | 13,500,000 | 3 |
Todd Leads the Final 21 in the Salute to Warriors Event
Day 2 of Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors started with 498 players but ended with a mere 21. Nobody bagged up more chips than James Todd, who finished with nice, even 20,000,000 stack, or 50 big blinds if you prefer.
None of the returning players are former WSOP champions, so somebody will receive their first gold poker hardware in addition to $161,256, a fantastic prize for a $500 investment. Rigoberto Rodriguez (14,950,000), Todd Saffron (11,900,000), Nicholas Sena-Hopkins (10,305,000), and Zyad Qasem (10,000,000) will fancy their chances of glory thanks to being armed with eight-figure stacks.
Day 3 of this event kicks off at 12:00 p.m. sharp on June 28.
Event #54: $500 Salute to Warriors Day 2 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Todd | United States | 20,000,000 | 50 |
| 2 | Rigoberto Rodriguez | United States | 14,950,000 | 37 |
| 3 | Todd Saffron | United States | 11,900,000 | 30 |
| 4 | Nicholas Sena-Hopkins | United States | 10,305,000 | 26 |
| 5 | Zyad Qasem | United States | 10,000,000 | 25 |
| 6 | Patrick Pilko | United States | 9,900,000 | 25 |
| 7 | Brett Coltman | United States | 9,300,000 | 23 |
| 8 | Elias Neto | Brazil | 9,200,000 | 23 |
| 9 | Matthew Vaughan | United States | 7,750,000 | 19 |
| 10 | Richard Strainis | United States | 6,650,000 | 17 |
Only 20 Pairings Remain in the $1,000 Tag Team Event
The unique Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team has reached the business end of the tournament with only 20 of the 913 teams remaining in the hunt for the event's bracelet and a $148,067 top prize that accompanies it.
Leading the way right now is Team Kraemer, made up of Mackenzie Kraemer and Jon Schiller. However, Team Russell (Adam Russell and Ryan O'Grady), and Team Barnum (Justin Barnum and DJ Buckley) are hot on the leaders' heels.
There are plenty of big names still hunting for this event's title, not least Nick Yunis and Reynel Hernandez of Team Yunis, and Patrick Leonard and Espen Jorstad of Team Leonard.
Return to PokerNews from 3:00 p.m. on June 28 to follow the final day's action.
Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team Event Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Team | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mackenzie Kraemer - Jon Schiller | 1,715,000 | 57 |
| 2 | Adam Russell - Ryan O'Grady | 1,575,000 | 53 |
| 3 | Justin Barnum - DJ Buckley | 1,505,000 | 50 |
| 4 | Nick Yunis - Reynel Hernandez | 1,350,000 | 45 |
| 5 | Franco Spitale - Martin Pochat | 1,270,000 | 42 |
| 6 | Curtis Knight - Chris Barnes | 1,205,000 | 40 |
| 7 | Patrick Leonard - Espen Jørstad | 1,060,000 | 35 |
| 8 | Julian Rugna - Franco Gasparini | 1,020,000 | 34 |
| 9 | Colin Robinson - Harry Lodge | 965,000 | 32 |
| 10 | Jason Lipiner - Dekel Balas | 830,000 | 28 |
$50,000 Poker Players Championship Progresses to Day 3; Kenney Leads
Bryn Kenney is the man to catch going into Day 3 of Event #56: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, the largest event of this kind since 2013. Some 112 players bought in before late registration ended, which means a prize pool that tips the scales at $5,362,000.
Forty-one of those who started still have chip in front of them, but only 17 will walk away with a share of the spoils.
Kenney finished with 2,064,000 chips and will fancy his chances of taking down this tournament. However, as you would expect, the field is stacked with the biggest names in the business, including reigning WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir (1,427,000), Yuri Dzivielevski (1,405,000), Benny Glaser (1,255,000), Adam Friedman (1,220,000), and a certain Phil Ivey (850,000).
In fact, click here to see the end-of-day chip counts because we would be doing you an injustice by not mentioning each and every Day 2 survivor!
June 28 at 2:00 p.m. local time in Paris Las Vegas is where the Day 3 action goes down.
Event #56: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryn Kenney | United States | 2,064,000 | 86 |
| 2 | Michael Moncek | United States | 1,702,000 | 71 |
| 3 | Koray Aldemir | Germany | 1,427,000 | 59 |
| 4 | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazil | 1,405,000 | 59 |
| 5 | Scott Bohlman | United States | 1,379,000 | 57 |
| 6 | Taylor Paur | United States | 1,344,000 | 56 |
| 7 | Johannes Becker | Germany | 1,338,000 | 56 |
| 8 | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | 1,255,000 | 52 |
| 9 | Adam Friedman | United States | 1,220,000 | 51 |
| 10 | David Williams | United States | 1,082,000 | 45 |
Miller Is The Man To Catch in the $600 Deepstack Championship
Some 4,913 players piled into Event #57: $600 Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold'em but only 560 of those starters made it through to Day 2, each doing so in the money places.
Bradley Miller's late surge saw him bag up a tournament-leading stack of 1,165,000 chips. Only two other players ended Day 1 with seven-figure stacks, namely Mark Olivo (1,052,000) and John Ypma (1,000,000).
The rest of the chip counts are littered with familiar faces, such as Mark Seif (666,000), Ryan Eriquezzo (622,000), Jeremy Ausmus (502,000), Eric Baldwin (468,000), Brett Shaffer (466,000), and Chris Moorman (96,000).
Play resumes at noon local time on June 28. Be there or be square.
Event #57: $600 Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bradley Miller | United States | 1,165,000 | 116 |
| 2 | Mark Olivo | United States | 1,052,000 | 105 |
| 3 | John Ypma | United States | 1,000,000 | 100 |
| 4 | Christopher Grim | United States | 980,000 | 98 |
| 5 | Yota Mitsui | Japan | 918,000 | 92 |
| 6 | Marc Tremblay | Canada | 875,000 | 87 |
| 7 | Justin Kushi | United States | 872,000 | 87 |
| 8 | Jesse Engel | United States | 864,000 | 86 |
| 9 | Uri Kadosh | United States | 855,000 | 85 |
| 10 | Bart Lybaert | Belgium | 834,000 | 83 |
Liberto Pots His Way to the $1,500 PLO8 Day 1 Chip Lead
Event #58: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better saw the 1,303 entrants whittled to 203 over the course of 17 levels on Day 1, leaving the tournament on the money bubble because 196 places are paid.
All but guaranteed at least a min-cash is Justin Liberto who finished Day 1 with 791,000 chips, which were enough for the overnight chip lead. David Prociak (432,000) is the only other bracelet winner with a top ten stack.
Such luminaries as Raj Vohra (287,000), Connor Drinan (270,000), Jared Jaffee (251,000), and Irish Omaha specialist Eoghan O'Dea (244,000) and just a handful of names who quietly and efficiently went about their business on the opening day.
The 203 survivors return to battle from 2:00 p.m. local time on June 28 where they play another ten levels.
Event #58: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Liberto | United States | 791,000 | 132 |
| 2 | Richard Crooks | United States | 675,000 | 113 |
| 3 | Jacob Ferro | United States | 639,000 | 107 |
| 4 | Peter Neff | United States | 568,000 | 95 |
| 5 | Michael Banducci | United States | 555,000 | 93 |
| 6 | Rodney Spriggs | United States | 499,000 | 83 |
| 7 | David Prociak | United States | 432,000 | 72 |
| 8 | Richie Allen | United Kingdom | 425,000 | 71 |
| 9 | Bradley Helm | United States | 424,000 | 71 |
| 10 | Corey Wade | United States | 415,000 | 69 |
