Tournament of Champions | 2022 World Series of Poker

07-20-2022 12:36 UTC-7

Erik Bauer Eliminated in 11th Place ($11,400)

Christian Zetzsche

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Picking up the action on the turn in a battle big blind versus button, Erik Bauer check-jammed his small stack into a bet worth 75,000 by Raul Garza. What followed was the snap-call by Garza and they flipped the over.

Erik Bauer:
Raul Garza:

The on the river brought no help to Bauer and he had to settle for 11th place for a payday of $11,400.

Player	Chips	Progress
Raul Garza	2,905,000 455,000	455,000
Erik Bauer	Busted

Tags: Erik Bauer Raul Garza

07-20-2022 12:38 UTC-7

Redraw of the Unofficial Final Table

Christian Zetzsche

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

There are around 36 minutes left in the level and the redraw of the last ten players is as follows.

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Yuliyan Kolev	Bulgaria	830,000	33
2	Ali Eslami	United States	1,590,000	64
3	Jonathan Woof	Canada	810,000	32
4	Gianluca Speranza	Italy	575,000	23
5	Eric Bensimhon	France	515,000	21
6	Ryan Messick	United States	1,150,000	46
7	Benjamin Kaupp	United States	2,150,000	86
8	Raul Garza	United States	2,905,000	116
9	Gregory Wish	United States	1,225,000	49
10	Robert Cowen	United Kingdom	2,200,000	88

Player	Chips	Progress
Raul Garza	2,905,000
Robert Cowen	2,200,000 200,000	200,000

Benjamin Kaupp	2,150,000 250,000	250,000

Ali Eslami	1,590,000 395,000	395,000

Gregory Wish	1,225,000 25,000	25,000
Ryan Messick	1,150,000 -50,000	-50,000
Yuliyan Kolev	830,000 -170,000	-170,000

Jonathan Woof	810,000 -290,000	-290,000

Gianluca Speranza	575,000 -100,000	-100,000
Eric Bensimhon	515,000 165,000	165,000

07-20-2022 12:47 UTC-7

Jonathan Woof Eliminated in 10th Place ($11,400)

Connor Richards

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Ali Eslami opened to 75,000 from the cutoff and Jonathan Woof three-bet jammed a stack of 815,000 from the button. Eslami snap-called when the action folded around.

Jonathan Woof:
Ali Eslami:

"The implosion continues," Woof groaned when he saw he was against kings.

The board ran out and Woof was eliminated in a disappointing 10th place after starting the day as the chip leader.

"What a f***in' implosion. F***," Woof said as he left the tournament area.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ali Eslami	2,400,000 810,000	810,000

Jonathan Woof	Busted

Tags: Ali Eslami Jonathan Woof

07-20-2022 12:56 UTC-7

Small Pots For the Final Nine

Christian Zetzsche

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Yuliyan Kolev raised to 55,000 from under the gun and was called by Robert Cowen in the big blind. They checked all the way on the board and Cowen won the pot with the .

"I saved a bet," Kolev said and then asked Cowen where he was from. "I am from England," the Brit replied. Gianluca Speranza chimed in "It is the winner of the $50,000 PLO," to which Kolev said "oh, Robert Cowen, you played with a friend of mine there" [Veselin Karakitukov from Bulgaria].

Ali Eslami then raised to 50,000 from under the gun and received two callers. The flop brought and Eslami took it down with a bet.

Raul Garza then opened to 55,000 and Eslami defended the big blind. No betting action followed on a board and Garza earned the pot with .

Player	Chips	Progress
Raul Garza	3,100,000 195,000	195,000
Ali Eslami	2,700,000 300,000	300,000

Robert Cowen	2,100,000 -100,000	-100,000

Yuliyan Kolev	800,000 -30,000	-30,000

Tags: Ali Eslami Gianluca Speranza Raul Garza Robert Cowen Yuliyan Kolev

07-20-2022 13:00 UTC-7

Bensimhon Doubles Through Speranza With Rockets

Connor Richards

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Gianluca Speranza opened from the cutoff and Eric Bensimhon flat-called on the button. Benjamin Kaupp also called from the big blind.

The action checked to Bensimhon on the flop of and he put out a bet. Only Speranza called. Speranza checked again on the turn and Bensimhon checked back.

The river brought the and Speranza checked before Bensimhon moved all in for around 250,000. Speranza made the call with , but it was no good against the of Bensimhon for an overpair.

Player	Chips	Progress
Eric Bensimhon	850,000 335,000	335,000
Gianluca Speranza	225,000 -350,000	-350,000

Tags: Benjamin Kaupp Eric Bensimhon Gianluca Speranza

07-20-2022 13:06 UTC-7

Garza Chips Up Further

Christian Zetzsche

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Benjamin Kaupp raised to 55,000 on the button and then called a three-bet to 180,000 by Raul Garza in the small blind. Both invested 100,000 on the flop and Garza then also bet the turn for 250,000. This time, Kaupp folded.

One hand later, Ali Eslami raised to 75,000 and Garza called on the button, as did Robert Cowen in the big blind. The flop was checked to Eslami, who bet 125,000. Garza raised to 280,000 and won another pot uncontested.

Player	Chips	Progress
Raul Garza	3,400,000 300,000	300,000
Robert Cowen	2,600,000 500,000	500,000

Ali Eslami	2,400,000 -300,000	-300,000

Benjamin Kaupp	1,800,000 -350,000	-350,000

Tags: Ali Eslami Benjamin Kaupp Raul Garza Robert Cowen

07-20-2022 13:07 UTC-7

First Break With Nine Remaining

Christian Zetzsche

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

The last nine players are now on a scheduled 15-minute break.

07-20-2022 13:15 UTC-7

Updated Counts on the Break

Christian Zetzsche

Level 22 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Raul Garza	3,375,000 -25,000	-25,000
Robert Cowen	2,605,000 5,000	5,000

Ali Eslami	2,400,000

Benjamin Kaupp	1,830,000 30,000	30,000

Ryan Messick	1,120,000 -30,000	-30,000
Eric Bensimhon	985,000 135,000	135,000
Gregory Wish	880,000 -345,000	-345,000
Yuliyan Kolev	785,000 -15,000	-15,000

Gianluca Speranza	235,000 10,000	10,000

Level: 23

Blinds: 15,000/30,000

Ante: 30,000

07-20-2022 13:26 UTC-7

Gianluca Speranza Eliminated in 9th Place ($15,000)

Christian Zetzsche

Level 23 : Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante

In the first hand back from the break, Gianluca Speranza moved all-in from under the gun for the last seven and a half blinds. Gregory Wish then got it in from the button to isolate and the blinds got out of the way.

Gianluca Speranza:
Gregory Wish:

The dominated ace found no help yet on the flop while picking up some equity on the turn. However, the on the river paired the board and the kicker of Wish played to eliminate Speranza in 9th place for $15,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gregory Wish	1,190,000 310,000	310,000
Gianluca Speranza	Busted

Tags: Gianluca Speranza Gregory Wish