Dzivielevski Leads Final 13 in $50,000 Poker Players Championship; Defending Champion Cates in Second Place
The money bubble has burst and 13 players out of an 112-entry strong field remain in contention in Event #56: $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Widely considered as the crown jewel of the schedule for mixed game players in the 2022 World Series of Poker in its new home at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas, the first portion of the $5,362,000 prize pool has already been paid out.
As one may expect, the remaining contenders for the high-stakes mixed game contest includes some of the biggest names in the world of poker. Ten of the final 13 hopefuls already have a WSOP title to their name and the defending champion Dan Cates sits in second place with a stack of 4,995,000. He only trails Brazilian poker prodigy Yuri Dzivielevski on the leaderboard, who advanced with 5,645,000 in chips and seeks to add a third WSOP gold bracelet for his already stellar resume.
Perhaps an unlikely name to still be in contention after Day 3 in this very event is the defending 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir. He has been occasionally playing mixed games at the start of his poker career and also took lessons from fellow German and mixed game specialist Johannes Becker. Aldemir sits in fifth place on the leaderboard with 3,205,000 after he lost a showdown pot to Becker in the final stages of the night with his fellow compatriot bagging up 3,990,000.
Final 13 Players After Day 3 in Event #56: $50,000 Poker Players Championship
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazil | 5,645,000 | 35 |
| 2 | Dan Cates | United States | 4,995,000 | 31 |
| 3 | Johannes Becker | Germany | 3,990,000 | 25 |
| 4 | Taylor Paur | United States | 3,290,000 | 21 |
| 5 | Koray Aldemir | Germany | 3,205,000 | 20 |
| 6 | Naoya Kihara | Japan | 2,830,000 | 18 |
| 7 | Matthew Ashton | United Kingdom | 2,250,000 | 14 |
| 8 | Daniel Weinman | United States | 1,805,000 | 11 |
| 9 | Lou Garza | United States | 1,660,000 | 10 |
| 10 | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | 1,210,000 | 8 |
| 11 | Matthew Gonzales | United States | 985,000 | 6 |
| 12 | Philip Sternheimer | United Kingdom | 940,000 | 6 |
| 13 | John Racener | United States | 370,000 | 2 |
Besides defending champion Cates, another former winner of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship is still in the mix and may become the third player to win the live poker's versatility test more than once. The 2013 winner Matthew Ashton sits in the middle of the pack with a stack of 2,250,000, good enough for seventh place on the leaderboard.
Among the four players to secure a cash prize already were Dan Smith, Scott Bohlman, David "ODB" Baker, and Bryce Yockey. The latter fell victim to a very late surge by Lou Garza, who was down to fewer than one big blind in the final level of the night only to double up three times. Two of these double-ups came at the expense of Yockey in 2-7 Triple Draw and he then rivered a straight in Seven Card Stud to finish the job he had started by sending Yockey out in 14th place.
Many other big names saw their hopes vanish throughout the six levels of 100 minutes each. In a field filled with superstars, the list of casualties reads like the who-is-who of the international poker scene. Among them were for instance ten-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey, 2007 PPC champion Freddy Deeb, French mixed game specialist Julien Martini, Anthony Zinno, and the three-time PPC winner Michael Mizrachi.
Deeb came up short with an ace against the pocket tens of Cates while Seiver lost numerous clashes with Baker and his fate was sealed by the day's arch nemesis. Mizrachi missed the chance at an unprecedented fourth title in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship when he came up short in a battle of the short stacks with Adam Friedman.
Jean-Robert Bellande, Daniel Negreanu, David Williams, Stephen Chidwick, and Erik Seidel were also among those to miss out on the money bubble and Friedman came up short as well after he lost most of the chips in a remarkable Stud hand against Garza.
It wouldn't take long for the money bubble burst soon after with the elimination of Maxx Coleman in a NLHE coin flip in the penultimate level of the night. The final stages then reduced the field to the last 13 contenders. They will be back at 2:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 and take their seats on the feature tables of the Bally's Event Center.
The penultimate tournament day will whittle down the field to the last five hopefuls for the live-stream on the PokerGO platform. Stay tuned for the conclusion of the mixed game contest of the year right here on PokerNews.
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, putting Garza in the lead. On the 
turn, Garza grabbed his bag and started walking away from the table, not realizing he had a winning king-high straight. As the dealer put the 
flop, Cates checked to Racener, who bet, but then Cates came back with a check-raise.
on the turn. Cates bet and Racener called.
, Cates quickly bet and was again called by Racener.
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flop. The turn was the 
and Coleman was eliminated. The remaining 17 players are all guaranteed $83,738.
