2022 WSOP Day 46: Jorstad Leads the Main Event Final Three; Vieira Claims Second Bracelet

On a day which saw three more WSOP bracelets awarded, Norway's Espen Jorstad put himself in pole position as chipleader in the final three of the 2022 WSOP Main Event.

Jorstad has two times as many chips as Adrian Attenborough, while Michael Duek from Argentina completes an international line-up for the final trio.

Out of a field of 8,663 entries in the second largest WSOP Main Event in history, all three finalists have locked up a large slice of the $80,782,475 prize pool and earn at least $4 million for their efforts. Significant pay jumps await as the runner-up will collect $6 million, and the new world champion walks away with the top prize of $10 million.

Results on Day 8 and Remaining Payouts

Mo Arani Wins Event #81: $5,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em ($665,459)

Mo Arani won his first WSOP Bracelet after surviving a topsy-turvy heads-up battle vs Johannes Straver that capped off an exciting day of action. Day 3 of Event #81 $5,000 Freezeout took almost 12 hours of play that saw ten out of an original field of 746 enter, and only one emerged as the victor of the $665,459 grand prize out of the total prize pool of $3,487,050.

Arani entered the day seventh in chips out of ten and was never the short stack or the big stack at any point; rather, he just coasted along in the middle for much of the day, largely avoiding big confrontations.

Event #81: $5,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

“It feels surreal to win. I was getting out-played heads-up, I don’t have any heads-up experience, so I got some coaching and decided to take more spots and be ready to gamble more”, as he referred to one of his poker friends and mentors Calvin Anderson who was supporting him on the rail the entire time.

“I never gave up. I was playing well when it was multi-way, the only time I felt like a worse player was during heads-up. But aside from that I was pretty comfortable in these spots.”

Before this victory, Arani had a little over a million in career earnings, with his largest score being about $220,000 back in 2013. Mainly a cash game player, this win will increase his total winnings by 60% as he takes a huge prize in one of the twenty or so tournaments that he plays per year.

Arani wanted to give a couple of shoutouts to some people who have helped his game. "I want to shoutout to Jonathan Jaffee, my coach. He is really good, and I was talking to him on breaks on the phone and Calvin (Anderson) as well."

Richard Alsup Wins Event #82: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack ($272,065)

Richard Alsup won Event #80: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack for $272,065 a month after his travel buddy Rob Wazwaz won the same event Event #25: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack.

This event attracted 2,820 entries which generated a prize pool of $1,979,648. Alsup wasn't even planning on playing the event as he wanted to play the mystery bounty at the Wynn, but previous winner Wazwaz convinced his friend Alsup to attend.

Event #82: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

When asked how it feels to win his first bracelet, Alsup said, "It feels phenomenal. I haven't really been a bracelet chaser but this one is really special. It feels really special because my travel buddy Rob Wazwaz won the same event a month before. The stars aligned, I wasn't even going to play."

Alsup has a four-month-old baby back home and spoke of the difficulties of being away. "I have a baby at home and it's been really hard being away from my family. I love my son and girlfriend so much that it's tough to be away. I'm ready to get out of here, but this tournament of champions freeroll is trying to tempt me to stay."

On the baby shoe at the final table, Alsup said, "I brought this (the shoe) because I had the idea to bring this in case I make a final table. I put this down on my cards as the final table started, and I said, 'Watch out guys, I got that baby run good'. It's magical, I feel like it brought me good luck."

The heads-up battle between Alsup and Whitehead was a passive affair with plenty of limped pots as stacks got very shallow. Alsup would steal pots post-flop, but Whitehead would somehow keep finding ways to double. However, Whitehead couldn't win every all in, which eventually gave the win and the bracelet to Alsup as his friend and fellow $800 deepstack bracelet winner Rob Wazwaz erupted in joy.

João Vieira Outlasts Lander Lijo to Win Second WSOP Bracelet ($1,384,415)

Portugal's João Vieira outlasted a field of 107 entries in Event #83: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em and needed to come from behind multiple times to win his second bracelet and a career-high score of $1,384,415.

Vieira's previous best score was back in July 2019, when he took down $758,011, winning his first bracelet in Event #70: $5,000 No Limit Hold'em - 6-Handed.

Amazingly, this was Vieira's 15th cash at the 2022 World Series and his 79th career WSOP cash. It was also Vieira's 11th-career WSOP final table, having reached the final table four times in 2021.

Event #83: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

Despite this being his second bracelet, Vieira is enjoying this achievement much more than the first time around. "This one was a little bit more enjoyable (than in 2019). The first one was more like getting the monkey off my back. I had already done a lot of stuff online, very accomplished, but I still needed the big one. So this kinda takes my name off the list of guys that didn't have it.

"This one is more enjoyable not only because it's my second one, it's also a big score. I've had a horrible summer this year in terms of results even though I came in really prepared and I was playing pretty good. But the results were not there.

"I caught a bunch (of cashes) and was breaking a lot, I also was picked third in the $25K Fantasy, so I had a lot of hopes… maybe go for Player of the Year… and all of a sudden I couldn't make a final table. But I was confident that this could come. I was waiting for my run and it finally came.

Vieira is going to come back for more and has some lofty ambitions for the future.

"I want to win five (bracelets) and then we'll see what life has in store for me."

David Bach Leads Remaining 22 Players in Event #84: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.

Day 2 of Event #84: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. reached a finish with 179 gold bracelet-seeking hopefuls cut to just 22 players. Leading the pack is David Bach with 1,094,000.

The 2009 WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Champion is no stranger to mixed-game success, and he looks to add another bracelet to the three already in his collection.

Closest on his tail is Perry Friedman with 985,000. Friedman donned his staple LED hat and mask as usual, with virtual bubbles when on the bubble and a dollar sign to celebrate the bubble bursting.

Event #84: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. Top 10 Chip Counts

Taking place in Bally's Event Center for Day 2, the H.O.R.S.E. players were surrounded by the electric energy of the World Series Main Event at the main stage.

Not everyone was lucky enough to find a bag, early casualties were Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Eli Elezra, Allen Kessler, and Scott Seiver. Eric Kurtzman felt the pain of being the stone bubble when his two pair wasn't good enough for the high or low of a stud eight or better hand. Later in the day saw the falls of Adam Friedman, Brad Ruben, and David Williams.

Players did reach the final three tables redraw before the end of the night and will come back at 2 p.m. local time in Bally's Event Center for Day 3.

Antoine Vranken Leads Day 1a of The Closer

Day 1a of Event #85 $1,500 The Closer is in the books with Ahmed Karrim in the lead with 1,695,000. The South African, who has secured five WSOP cashes this summer, is narrowly ahead of Raghav Bansal of India with 1,600,000.

A total of 929 players entered the fray, with only 75 making it to Day 2, which will be played on Sunday, July 17th at 1 p.m. local time.

The bubble burst shortly after the final break of the night when Ukrainian Vadim Shelz knocked out the button player after rivering a flush against their opponent's flopped wheel, guaranteeing the remaining players a minimum payday of $2,405.

Event #85 $1,500 The Closer Top 10 Chip Counts

Several big names played one of the last events of the series. Still, they failed to make the money, including Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Maria Konnikova and Justin Bonomo.

Some big names did manage to bag and tag. Jen Shahade will be back on Sunday with 920,000, David "ODB" Baker bagged 735,000 and Roland Israelashvili finished with 500,000.

Among the names to have bust out but have cashed are Liina Vark ($2,631), Steven Zolotow ($2,631), Farah Galfond ($2,631) and Christina Gollins ($3,006).

One of the hands of the day was when Korean Eunyoung Choi defeated their opponent with quad kings against quad eights. Choi bagged 250,000, which is around eight big blinds.

Day 1b will begin at noon local time in Paris with 22 30-minute levels with a 75-minute dinner break after level 12.

Adrian Mateos Bags in Event #86: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship as Barry Woods Leads

The first day of Event #86: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship concluded after ten hours of high-quality poker with 150 from a 349 field making it through to Day 2.

For the majority of the day, four-time WSOP bracelet winner Adrian Mateos was seen atop of the chip counts and ended with 287,500. Frontrunning the pack is Barry Woods, who ended the day as chipleader with an even 400,000.

David Jackson (326,000) and Ben Heath (311,000) are also well positioned for Day 2, with Pierre Calamusa (333,500), Alexandre Reard (282,000), Jared Jaffee (201,000), Brian Rast (131,500), Kristen Foxen (131,000), Erik Seidel (935,000), Scott Seiver (73,000), Chance Kornuth (59,500), and defending champ Ben Yu (42,000) are also returning tomorrow.

Event #86: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold 'em Top 10 Chip Counts

Others were not as fortunate as some well-known names to hit the rail included All Time Money List Leader Justin Bonomo, Daniel Negreanu, David Peters, Shaun Deeb, Igor Kurganov, Matt Berkey, Jonathan Little, Alex Foxen, and 2013 WSOP Main Event winner, Ryan Riess.

Late registration is open until the start of Day 2 at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 16th.