The 2022 World Series of Poker has entered its final throes with only one tournament yet to crown its champion. Day 49 of the 2022 WSOP saw the Tournament of Champions shuffle up and deal, in addition to two more players getting their hands on some WSOP hardware.
Minh Nguyen came out on top in Event #85: $1,500 The Closer. This tournament required an extra day's play after Day 1b was disrupted by the rumors of an active shooter in Las Vegas. Day 3 saw 17 players return to their seats, including Nguyen, who had essentially bricked the series before this victory. Nguyen made amends by securing The Closer's bracelet and the $536,280 top prize.
Gregory Jensen ended the 2022 WSOP on a high by taking down Event #86: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship. Victory came with an impressive $824,649 and that all-important gold bracelet. Jensen defeated Pavel Plesuv heads-up, thus denying the talented Moldovan his first bracelet.
Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2022 WSOP is here.
Cowen Claimed Day 1 Chip Lead in the Tournament of Champions
The Tournament of Champions is the final event of the 2022 WSOP, one that is a freeroll for players who managed to win a WSOP Circuit ring during the 2021/22 season in addition to the 2022 WSOP bracelet winners. Despite this being a freeroll, there is a $1 million prize pool up for grabs.
Some 463 players took full advantage of the freeroll entry and 144 of those bagged and tagged chips at the close of play, which came after the conclusion of ten levels. British pro Robert Cowen, who won his second bracelet this summer, is the man at the top of the chip counts with a stack of 428,000, or 214 big blinds if you prefer. Cowen was the only player to end Day 1 with more than 400,000 chips.
Ali Eslami is Cowen's nearest rival going into Day 2 as he bagged up a 305,000 stack at the close of play.
With the Tournament of Champions field restricted to champions, as the name suggests, the field was littered with stellar names from around the world. The likes of Aleksejs Ponakovs (247,500) and Daniel Strelitz (235,000) bagged up top 10 stacks and will fancy their chances of winning another gold bracelet.
Two-time bracelet winner Shankar Pillai (142,500), Joe McKeehen (125,000), KFC bucket wearing Yuliyan Kolev (117,500), David Jackson (103,000), and the 2022 WSOP Player of the Year Dan Zack (100,500) are just a handful of stars who finished Day 1 with stacks in excess of 100,000 chips.
Day 2 kicks off at 11:00 a.m. on July 19 with the plan to play 10 one-hour levels. Those who progress to Day 3 will then return to Bally's Las Vegas on July 20 and play down to a champion of champions.
Tournament of Champions Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Cowen | United Kingdom | 428,000 | 214 |
| 2 | Ali Eslami | United States | 305,000 | 153 |
| 3 | Daniel Sepiol | United States | 285,000 | 143 |
| 4 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | 247,500 | 124 |
| 5 | Zachary Seymour | United States | 241,000 | 121 |
| 6 | Daniel Strelitz | United States | 235,000 | 118 |
| 7 | Cheryl Svenson | United States | 221,500 | 111 |
| 8 | Carlos Loving | United States | 203,000 | 102 |
| 9 | Fred Li | United States | 183,500 | 92 |
| 10 | Erik Bauer | Slovakia | 183,000 | 92 |
In this Series
- 1 2022 WSOP Day 1: Hellmuth Noticeable Absentee as WSOP Kicks Off
- 2 2022 WSOP Day 2: First Bracelet Awarded; Ivey Records a Cash
- 3 2022 WSOP Day 3: Peters Wins Gold; Seiver Hunting For Bracelet #4
- 4 2022 WSOP Day 4: Scott Seiver & Brad Ruben Win Bracelet #4
- 5 2022 WSOP Day 5: Smith Bags 25k Heads-Up Title; Housewarming Surpasses Guarantee
- 6 2022 WSOP Day 6: Szecsi Reels in His Third Bracelet; O8 Event Needs Extra Time
- 7 2022 WSOP Day 7: Dan Smith Flying High in the $50K High Roller
- 8 2022 WSOP Day 8: Schutten Leads $50K High Roller Final Six
- 9 2022 WSOP Day 9: Diebold, Schindler, and Moncek Strike Gold
- 10 2022 WSOP Day 10: Bronshtein and Foxen On Course For Bracelets
- 11 2022 WSOP Day 11: Three New Bracelet Winners Crowned, "ElkY" and Ivey Lead $10K Stud
- 12 2022 WSOP Day 12: Two More Bracelets Won; Friedman on Fire in the $10K Stud
- 13 2022 WSOP Day 13: Friedman Makes It Five; Two Other Champs Crowned
- 14 2022 WSOP Day 14: Three New Champions; Big Names Turn Out In Force
- 15 2022 WSOP Day 15: Karakitkov On Course for $50K PLO High Roller Title
- 16 2022 WSOP Day 16: The Busiest Day Yet For Bracelets as Four Awarded
- 17 2022 WSOP Day 17: Hastings Secures His Sixth WSOP Bracelet
- 18 2022 WSOP Day 18: MILLIONAIRE MAKER Draws Thousands of Runners
- 19 2022 WSOP Day 19: Hellmuth Flying High in $10K Deuce-to-Seven
- 20 2022 WSOP Day 20: Bromfman, Stovall, and 'PmpknHead' Secure Bracelets
- 21 2022 WSOP Day 21: Ivey Denied His 11th WSOP Bracelet
- 22 2022 WSOP Day 22: $10K Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship Finally Concludes!
- 23 2022 WSOP Day 23: Six Events in Play, One Champion Crowned
- 24 2022 WSOP Day 24: Ivey Bags a Big Stack in the $250K Super High Roller
- 25 2022 WSOP Day 25: Foxen Leads $250k Super High Roller, First Bracelet for Cyprus
- 26 2022 WSOP Day 26: HOF Nominee Liebert's Still Got It, How Foxen Won First Bracelet
- 27 2022 WSOP Day 27: Four Bracelets Awarded as $50K PPC Kicks Off
- 28 2022 WSOP Day 28: Kenney Leads the $50,000 PPC Event
- 29 2022 WSOP Day 29: Dzivielevski Leads the $50K PPC; Three Bracelets Awarded
- 30 2022 WSOP Day 30: The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men
- 31 2022 WSOP Day 31: Cates Crowned PPC Champ on a Crazy Day of Action
- 32 2022 WSOP Day 32: Eli Elezra Wins Again, Hellmuth Chasing a Bracelet
- 33 2022 WSOP Day 33: Phil Hellmuth Denied 17th Bracelet; Jackson, Barbero & Teusl Victorious
- 34 2022 WSOP Day 34: The Main Event Shuffles Up and Deals!
- 35 2022 WSOP Day 35: Another Huge Day of Main Event Action
- 36 2022 WSOP Day 36: Clarke Leads Main Event; Glantz Banks a Milly
- 37 2022 WSOP Day 37: Vaughn Kicks Off Huge Main Event Flight
- 38 2022 WSOP Day 38: Gavin Munroe Leads After Day 2abc of the Main Event
- 39 2022 WSOP Day 39: Bryn Kenney Among Top Stacks After Day 2d of Main Event
- 40 2022 WSOP Day 40: Main Event Enters the Money, Six Former Champs Still In
- 41 2022 WSOP Day 41: Taylor von Kriegenbergh Leads the Main Event Into Day 5
- 42 2022 WSOP Day 42: Audacious Bluff Puts Lococo Over 10M in the Main Event
- 43 2022 WSOP Day 43: Main Event Field Reduced to Only 35
- 44 2022 WSOP Day 44: Main Event Reaches Its Final Table
- 45 2022 WSOP Day 45: Colpoys Claims Chip Lead in the $50K High Roller
- 46 2022 WSOP Day 46: Jorstad Leads the Main Event Final Three; Vieira Claims Second Bracelet
- 47 2022 WSOP Day 47: Jorstad Crowned Main Event Champion as 2022 WSOP Nears End
- 48 2022 WSOP Day 48: Series Begins Wrapping Up; Five Champions Crowned
- 49 2022 WSOP Day 49: Cowen Leads the Tournament of Champions
- 50 2022 WSOP Day 50: Woof Leads Final 16 in the Tournament of Champions
