WSOP Weekly: David Peters, Scott Seiver Score High Roller Titles; Housewarming Reaches Day 2
Action continues playing out in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas as the festival reaches the second week. Some major names continue rising to the top with David Peters and Scott Seiver both scoring their fourth gold bracelets.
Brad Ruben also added his fourth bracelet as well and the online action also got underway with two events. Here’s a look at some of the events from the weekend as well as a look ahead.
Event 2: $100,000 High Roller Bounty
With some big names at this final table, David Peters (pictured in lead image, courtesy PokerGO) came out on top for almost a $1.2 million score. He entered the final table second in chips to Chance Kornuth and the two players ended up heads-up for the bracelet.
This becomes Peters’ fourth bracelet, which was featured on PokerGO. Last year, he became an online bracelet winner by taking down the $7,777 Lucky 7s High Roller for $283,940.
The High Roller Bounty brought in 46 entries for a $3.3 million prize pool. Kornuth took home $721,144 for runner-up and Peters was pleased to win the title facing such a tough player. He’s also hoping for more big things to come this summer.
“It’s always nice to beat someone that’s hot, and someone that is a great player,” Peters said. “It was nice to beat a player like that for sure.
“I got a lot of points now, so maybe I’ll make a run at [WSOP] Player of the Year. I’m in the mood to grind so I think I’ll play a good amount.”
Event 3: $2,500 Freezeout NLHE
Another big name rose to the top in this event with Scott Seiver earning his fourth bracelet on Friday. He defeated Alexander Farahi ($197,806) in heads-up play on the PokerGO main feature table for $320,059.
The tournament brought 752 entries for $1.7 million. Sevier is fresh off a tough matchup with Phil Hellmuth on PokerGO’s Heads-up Duel. He lost that match but earned some redemption on Friday. The longtime pro has been ready to get the WSOP action underway.
“I just was really fired up to play a bunch of tournaments,” Seiver said. “There is something just so special about the World Series of Poker.”
It's a good year to be a three-time bracelet winner as @scott_seiver triumphs, becoming the second player this year to claim their fourth @WSOP bracelet.
Seiver came into the FT as the chip leader and beat out a stacked lineup to earn $320K.
🔁 – Replay: https://t.co/goHNpArEt4 pic.twitter.com/aCKRDWSoZV
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) June 4, 2022
Event 4: $1,500 Dealers Choice Six-Handed
Four seemed to be the number for winners in early WSOP tournaments. That included Brad Ruben taking bracelet No. 4 on Saturday in this event. He scored the title after defeating Jaswinder Lally in heads-up play.
Lally scored $78,048 for runner-up, quite an impressive run in this tournament over the last two years. Ruben secured $126,288 for the win and played for a cause close to his heart.
Throughout the tournament, he wore a T-shirt for Shields & Stripes, an organization aiding veterans, law enforcement, and first responders. Ruben was looking for a cause to play for and the group seemed like a worthy group.
“This one is very, very special,” he said after the win.
“(Shields & Stripes) help first responders and police officers who have injuries that aren’t really seen. I honestly feel like this is bigger than me. I’m representing them. I’m donating one percent of my winnings but also, I’m trying to get the word out about organizations like them and also maybe spread the word on maybe other poker players donating to charities.”
Event 5: $500 The Housewarming
This tournament was meant to welcome players to the new Bally’s/Paris venues and kicked off the big-field, lower buy-in events. It seems players were ready to get back to live poker action.
The tournament saw 20,080 entries over four starting flights and saw 899 players returning for Day 2 on Sunday. Tyler Gaston, of Westerville, Ohio, returns as chip leader with Jong Kim, of Atlanta, Georgia, in second.
The event promises a huge payout for the winner, which should be determined by Tuesday.
Event #6: $25,000 Heads-up Championship
The high roller action continued with another tournament regular capturing his first bracelet. Dan Smith took this title for $509,717 with Christoph Vogelsang finishing runner-up for $315,029.
The event attracted 64 players for a $1.5 million prize pool. Smith has had several close calls, but was finally able to break through on Sunday. He took to Twitter to comment on how much pressure goes into winning the prestigious heads-up event.
I’ve said before a five hour chess match is more draining than five hours of high stakes poker. Cliffs: ring lots of easy decisions/often you’re not involved
Modifying that: HU is exhausting. Every spot is tricky, less snap decisions plus tackling the live and emotional aspect.
— Dan Smith (@DanSmithHolla) June 4, 2022
Event 7: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
After almost 13 hours of play on Day 3, this event returns with the final two players battling for a title on Monday. Amnon Filippi holds 19.5 million chips with Matt Vengrin returning with 7.7 million.
Filippi has almost $1.2 million in WSOP winnings, but is searching for his first bracelet. Vengrin has $892,951 in WSOP winnings and is also looking for his first piece of series hardware.
Online Event 1: $5,300 High Roller Freezeout
The online action began on Sunday at WSOP.com. Hungary’s Norbert Szecsi scored his third bracelet in the opening event for $288,850.
Several other big names also gave it a run online as well with World Poker Tour commentator and two-time bracelet winner Tony Dunst finishing runner-up for $168,950.
Greg Merson, winner of the 2012 Main Event winner, finished third for $96,465. Phil Galfond also took sixth for $52,320. The tournament attracted 218 entries for $1.1 million prize pool.
Online Event 2: BIG $500
Another player from outside the US found success in the second online event. Germany’s Manig Loeser topped a field of 1,213 for $127,153.
The win comes after Loeser scored his first bracelet in the $600 Monster Stack in 2021 for $104,313. “omahabrian” finished runner-up on Sunday for $78,641 in an event featuring a $799,200 prize pool.
Upcoming events
Early week action sees some interesting events this week. Event 8: $25,000 High Roller Eight-Handed should reach a winner on Monday. Chris Brewer leads the final 15 players returning. Event 9: $1,500 Seven Card Stud also returns with the final eight players and Alex Livingston in the chip lead.
Plenty of big names also return for Day 2 of Event 10: Dealers Choice 6-Handed Championship. Those among the chip leaders include Mike Gorodinsky, Jean-Robert Bellande, Jeff Madsen, Mark Gregorich, and David Benyamine. Here’s a look at events in the coming days:
- $600 NLHE Deepstack (Event 11) – June 6
- $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed (Event 12) – June 6
- $1,500 Limit Hold’em (Event 13) – June 6
- $1,500 Six-Handed NLHE (Event 14) – June 7
- $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship (Event 15) – June 8
- $3,000 NLHE (Event 16) – June 8
- $2,500 Mixed Limit Triple Draw Lowball (Event 17) – June 8