2022 WSOP Day 42: Audacious Bluff Puts Lococo Over 10M in the Main Event

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Jul 12, 2022 8 min read

July 11 was the 42nd day of the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas, and it was yet another day filled with high drama, intense poker action, and a some pretty ridiculous buffs.

Only one player got their hands, or should that be wrists, on a gold WSOP bracelet and Pei Li was that player. Li came out on top in Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha to become a WSOP champion for the first time in addition to reeling in a $190,219 top prize.

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Former Final Tablist Lococo Bags Big After Six-Bet Bluff on WSOP Main Event Day 5

An eventful Day 5 of the 2022 World Series of Poker Main Event saw a field of 380 players whittled down to just 124. The remaining players are all guaranteed $62,500, with the pay jumps on Day 6 coming with 98 ($73,100) and then 89 ($86,000) players remaining.

One name that stands out towards the top of the counts is Alejandro 'PapoMC' Lococo who appears to have picked up where he left off last year, when he finished seventh for $1,225,000, and is safely through to Day 6 with a stack of over 10 million.

Event #70: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts

Since his deep run last November, Lococo has cashed for over $600,000 including two titles in the Czech Republic earlier this year. Here at the 2022 WSOP, the Argentinian has cashed in three events so far but nothing compared to his deep run in this year's Main Event.

The most eye-catching hand of the day came after the dinner break, after Lococo tangled with Karim Rebei who had led the remaining players going into dinner.

You can read the full hand history here, but Lococo's six-bet shove got through against Rebei and he vaulted up the counts.

Lococo says the importance of this hand cannot be understated, calling it perhaps the most important hand he's played in his life so far.

"It's not my plan pre-flop to go all-in for 100 big blinds!" he told PokerNews. "But I was playing for many hours with this player and there were many factors that went into the decision. I could spend many hours discussing it!"

Did Alejandro Lococo Pull Off Best WSOP Main Event Bluff Since Moneymaker?

Some may think Lococo will be experiencing déjà vu heading into Day 6 for the second year in a row, but with a different stack size compared to last year, the Argentinian says it will be all change.

"Last year I started Day 6 with a below-average stack, and this year I have much more, so clearly there will be different decisions and strategy, with different ranges and open raises."

Another notable making another deep run is, of course, defending champion Koray Aldemir. He spent most of Day 5 under the lights of the TV table, but took it in his stride eliminating multiple opponents over the course of the day to bag a healthy stack.

Aldemir and Lococo are joined in Day 6 by 2020 WSOP Main Event champion Damian Salas (2,435,000), along with 2018 WSOP final tablist Antoine Labat.

Several players who won their first bracelets here at the 2022 WSOP are still in contention for a memorable second, including Espen Jorstad, Andrew Yeh and Dan Smith. Smith nursed his short stack through the day, but with the help of some timely doubles he remained alive to bag 2,030,000.

"You kind of just have to play every hand the way it needs to be played," Smith told PokerNews. "The structure of the tournament does mean there is a lot of play, and that does help. Having a short stack here is more valuable than in other tournaments.

"I am fully aware that the most likely result is that I'm not going to make the final table. But, I'm having a great time and I'm trying to enjoy the experience and do my best, and whatever happens, happens."

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Other players through to Day 6 include the last remaining women in the tournament Shelby Wells (1,900,000) and Efthymia Litsou (11,675,000). They will be joined by bracelet winners Timur Margolin (1,095,000), Andrew Yeh (5,830,000) and Marco Johnson (2,820,000).

Players falling on Day 5 included Jake Schindler, Ali Imsirovic, five-time bracelet-winners Brian Rast and John Juanda, as well as former tenth-place WSOP Main Event finisher Gaelle Baumann.

Having played five-and-a-half levels on Day 5, play will resume halfway through Level 26 (40,000/80,000) at 1 p.m. local time. The tournament will take place in the Bally's Event Center right in the heart of Las Vegas.

Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the updates as they happen as we get that one step closer to crowning a new poker world champion.

The One More for One Drop Dream is Still On For 41 Players; Barry Hutter Leads

Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop has reached Day 4 and only 41 players are still in the hunt for this event's bracelet and the $535,610 in prize money that accompanies the piece of poker jewelry.

Barry Hutter (14,075,000) goes into Day 4 with the chip lead and will fancy his chances of securing his second bracelet. However, Hutter must navigate his way past 40 opponents, all of whom have reached Day 4 on merit.

Christina Gollins (14,000,000) finished Day 3 only one small blind behind Hutter in the standings, so will fancy her chance of glory in this tournament, as will 2013 WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess (10,425,000) who finds himself in the top five chip counts when play resumes at 12:00 p.m. local time on July 12.

Joon Kim (7,575,000), who is tenth in chips, is the only other bracelet owner in the field.

Event #71: $1,111 One More for One Drop Top 10 Chip Counts

Oulmekki Bags Up The $777 Lucky 7's Day 1b Chip Lead

Day 1b of Event #75: $777 Lucky 7's saw another 1,818 players buy-in but only 145 of those starters survived a frantic 22 levels of play. Frane's Selim Oulmekki (2,565,000) not only survived but thrived on Day 1b, bagging up the largest stack in the room and of the entire tournament so far.

Three other players ended Day 1b with at least two million chips. Kevin Oakes (2,125,000), Armando Figueroa (2,085,000), and Matthew Land (2,010,000) being that trio of big stacked players.

Bracelet winners Tom Franklin (1,150,000), Carlos Chang (675,000), Daniel Zack (655,000), and John Racener (640,000) are just a handful of well-known grinders to look out for on Day 2.

The third and final flight commences at 12:00 p.m. on July 12.

Event #75: $777 Lucky 7's Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

Hong Takes a Solid Lead Into the Final Day of the Hall of Fame Bounty Event

Event #76: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty was meant to crown its champion on Day 42 of the 2022 WSOP but it became apparent that was never going to happen, so the decision was made to pause the tournament after the end of Level 30.

Only seven players remain in the hunt going into the unscheduled Day 3 and it is South Korean Jinho Hong who leads them back into battle, doing so with 7,785,000 chips.

The stacks are very shallow going into the final day's action, so this tournament's champion could be crowned within a couple of hours. Hong's stack is the equivalent of 39 big blinds, and second-placed Punnat Punsri (6,280,000) has 31 big blinds, but the other five finalists have between seven and 15 blinds in their stacks.

Rejoin the action from 2:00 p.m. local time on July 12.

Event #76: $1,979 Hall of Fame Bounty Chip Counts

Drinan Shines Brightest on Day 1 of the $1,500 NLHE/PLO Mixed

Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Connor Drinan (1,200,000) is the man to catch going into Day 2 of Event #77: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha. Drinan was one of only two players to finish with a seven-figure stack, Vincent Lam (1,070,000) was the other.

Lam was involved in a monster-sized pot as the rest of the field were bagging up their chips. Lam called a three-way all-in with middle pair and a flush draw against an underpair and a superior flush draw. The river bricked and Lam soared towards the chip counts' summit.

Some 151 players return for Day 2 at 1:00 p.m. local time on July 12, including Daniel Negreanu (325,000), Anson Tsang (209,000), Scott Davies (207,000), and British grinder Barny Boatman (86,000)

Event #77: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Top 10 Chip Counts

Jones Takes an Early Lead in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Event

The last tournament of Day 42 was a new addition to the schedule: Event #78: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em. A field of 1,364 bought in and created a $3,034,900 prize pool but only 257 of the players who sat down with high hopes will return for Day 2 on July 12.

British star Ben Jones (738,000) is in pole position going into Day 2 at 2:00 p.m. local time on July 12. Jones has several impressive live scores on his CV in addition to a glowing history in the online poker world. Jones holding a big stack spells bad news for anyone seated with him.

The controversial Bryn Kenney (484,000) bagged up a top five stack, while the likes of Christian Rudolph (381,000), David Miscikowski (296,000), Anatoly Filatov (288,000), David Peters (260,000), and Scott Seiver (223,000) all made it through Day 1 relatively unscathed.

Event #78: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts

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Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He now works as Managing Editor. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.

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Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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