2022 WSOP Day 5: Smith Bags 25k Heads-Up Title; Housewarming Surpasses Guarantee

June 4 was filled with action from start to finish at the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Even with only bracelet-winner crowned in the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship, there was still plenty of action as the Series continues to heat up over the opening week.

Read about everything that transpired on Day 5 of the 2022 WSOP in its new home at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.

Dan Smith Claims His First WSOP Bracelet

The only bracelet awarded on Saturday came in Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship when Dan Smith topped a capped 64-player field to win his very first gold bracelet along with a $509,717 top prize. Smith was emotional after his victory over Christoph Vogelsang who was forced to settle for second place and $315,029.

For many in the poker community, Smith has been known as 'the best player without a bracelet' but he will no longer have to walk around with that title after topping the capped-out 64-player field. The American poker pro has come close on numerous occasions at the WSOP including a second-place finish at the 2016 High Roller for One Drop where he cashed for over $3 million. Along with eight top-three finishes, Smith has accumulated over $10 million at the summer series in Las Vegas over his short career.

Smith admitted he was in shock after the match, considering it was a whirlwind of a day: "It was a tough match, a lot of hands were pretty crazy and it felt like everything was going against me. I'm not typically a sentimental person, but today is and was about the bracelet. I had to get lucky to get there but I'll take it."

Giving back to charity is something that is also very important to Smith and he has created the Double Up Drive as his way of giving back to those that are less fortunate. It is something that he holds very close to his heart but Smith was willing to expand on it after his match.

"I'm very proud of what I accomplished in poker and I think this is an important checkbox on my legacy as one of the all-timers. As wild as that is, I'm even more proud of what the whole poker community and I have come together to do with Double Up Drive. We have raised $25 million for good causes and while I love poker, thousands of people that would have died are now alive because of that. I am happy that poker has been my vessel to do this good but I am immensely proud and optimistic that it will continue to do well."

2022 WSOP Event #6 Final Table Results

Sergi Reixach Leads 93 Surviving Players in Event #8: $25,000 High Roller

Day 1 of Event #8: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em has come to an end and Sergi Reixach is the chip leader after eight levels of play. The eighth event in the 2022 World Series of Poker at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas drew 229 entrants on the first day to generate a prize pool of $5,410,125, with more expected before the close of registration on Day 2.

Reixach leads a surviving field of 87 after bagging a total of 1,418,000. His best finish at the WSOP was a fourth place run in the 2021 $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event and he is looking for his second cash of the series after a 39th place finish in this year’s $2,500 Freezeout.

The leader is followed by 2014 bracelet winner David Miscikowski and Justin Young, the only two other players to finish with over 1,000,000 chips. Young is looking for his first cash of the series after he failed to find the payout window despite having the chip lead at the beginning of the final day of the $100,000 High Roller.

Top 10 Chip Counts

Among the players near the top of the leaderboard are Sam Grafton, Martin Stausholm, and Cary Katz. Other players finding a bag for Day 2 include bracelet winners Michael Wang, Josh Arieh, David Peters, Adrian Mateos, Brian Rast, Jason Koon, Stephen Chidwick, JC Tran, Bertrand Grospellier, Julien Martini, and 2021 Main Event champion Koray Aldemir.

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Jared Griener Among Chip Leaders After Day 1c of 2022 WSOP Housewarming

Day 1c of Event #5: $500 The Housewarming No-Limit Hold-em, in the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas attracted 5,526 entries. This was the highest amount of players yet for a single day of entries this series, and brought in $2,320,920 in prize money. That brought the running total for the tournament to an incredible $5,381,040, crushing the $5 million guarantee, and there’s still one more day to go! After 22 levels, 249 players finished the day, joining the 311 that have already qualified.

Jared Griener has amassed more than $2.2 million in tournament earnings and is the #1 all-time money player from Utah. He bagged up 2,300,000 going into Day 2.

George “Tony” Degon led the field as Day 1c finished up. Degon bagged 4,665,000 moving into Day 2 on Monday, June 6, kicking off at 10 a.m. He joined Griener and notable international players such as Roberto Begni from Switzerland (2,440,000), Yohonn Sagot from France (2,750,000) and Jean-Francois Alexandre from Canada (2,920,000), alongside domestic players William Givens (2,920,000), James Little (2,680,000) and Jeffrey Rogers (3,035,000) on the final day. Women’s Poker Hall Of Fame member Kathy Liebert also qualified for Day 2 with 925,000.

Top 10 Day 1c Housewarming Chip Counts

Labandeira Bags Big in Day 1 of Event #9: $1,500 Seven Card Stud

It was an exciting day of Stud action at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas in Day 1 of the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #9: $1,500 Seven Card Stud. A day that saw a field of 329 smash the previous field from 2021 and create a prizepool of $439,215. At the end of fifteen levels of play, approximately 100 players advanced to Day 2.

Leading the pack of seven-card enthusiasts as the bell tolled at the end of the night was Manuel Labandeira of Madrid, Spain, who bagged up 281,500. He was spotted towards the last few levels of the night with a large amount of chips and was able to cross the finish line of the day as the leader.

Event #9 End of Day 1 Chip Counts

Other big stacks to finish with over 200,000 included Daniel Weinman with 233,000 and WSOP Bracelet winner Kenny Hsiung with 204,500. Close behind, just a bit short of the 200,000 mark, was James “Mailman” Paluszek with 175,500.

WSOP Main Event Champions 2012-14: Merson, Riess, Jacobson

Just 26 Players Return for Day 3 in Event #7: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better

Only 26 players remain in contention for the coveted World Series of Poker gold bracelet in Event #7: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. The mixed game contest showcased yet another very strong turnout for the 2022 WSOP in its new home at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas with a total of 1,087 entries and the biggest slice of the $1,451,154 prize pool is still up for grabs.

What started with 413 survivors after Day 1 saw the field of contenders whittled down to the final 26 contestants and mixed game regular Amnon Filippi established a solid field over all other hopefuls. Throughout the day, he amassed chips on a very consistent basis and could always be found near the top of the leaderboard to end Day 2 with 3,000,000 in chips. Paul Zappulla follows in second place with 2,090,000 while Pittsburgh's James Chen completes the overnight leaderboard with 1,820,000.

Event 7 End of Day 2 Chip Counts