2022 WSOP Day 30: The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
6 min read
2022 WSOP

The says the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and that was certainly the case on Day 30 of the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas. PokerNews had prepared to write about how three players became 2022 WSOP champions but it turned out only two events concluded in time to bestow that honour on people. In addition, one event that should have played down to five players ended with seven bagging and tagging.

Team Leonard (Patrick Leonard & Espen Jorstad) triumphed in Event #55: $1,000 Tag Team after defeating Team Paggeot heads-up to secure $148,067 and their first WSOP bracelets. Only five teams from an initial 913 pairings reached the final day's action, and it was Team Leonard who gets to call themselves this tournament's champion.

The second bracelet went to Lawrence Brandt in Event #58: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. This tournament looked destined for an unscheduled Day 4 but in the early hours of June 30, not long before the sun was about to come up in Nevada, Brandt defeated Corey Wade heads-up to bag the title, $289,610 and their first WSOP bracelet.

Bracelet number three should have been dished out in Event #62: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em, but the tournament staff brought the curtain down on proceedings at 3:00 a.m. local time with 20 tired players still in the hunt.

Cates Leads the Fantastic Five in the $50K PPC

Dan Cates
Dan Cates

Defending champion Dan Cates holds a narrow chip lead going into the final day of Event #56: $50,000 Poker Players Championship where only four opponents stand between him and back-to-back victories in what is arguably the toughest event on the WSOP schedule.

Cates (9,075,000) returns to the action from 4:00 p.m. on June 30 knowing he is only four eliminations away from an incredible victory. British mixed game specialist Benny Glaser (8,260,000), Yuri Dzivielevski (7,535,000), Johannes Becker (5,470,000), and Japan's Naoya Kihara (3,265,000) are the other four finalists vying for gold.

Event #56: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Final Five

SeatPlayerCountryChipsBig Bets
1Naoya KiharaJapan3,265,00011
2Benny GlaserUnited Kingdom8,260,00028
3Johannes BeckerGermany5,470,00018
4Yuri DzivielevskiBrazil7,535,00025
5Dan CatesUnited States9,075,00030

Can Cates go back-to-back in the $50K PPC?

Jim Leads the Magnificent Seven in the $600 Deepstack

Alex Jim
Alex Jim

Seven players are vying for the bracelet awarded in Event #56: $600 Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold'em, and it is Alex Jim (36,300,000) who leads them back into battle from 12:00 p.m. local time on June 30.

The initial plan was to reduce the 60 Day 3 returnees to a final five, but play was halted with seven players remaining due to it being 3:00 a.m.

The final day could be over quickly because only three players have more than the average stack, and three have fewer than 15 big blinds. Jon Van Fleet (32,800,000) is second in chips and is arguably the most experienced of the remaining players. Can Van Fleet make that experience count?

Event #57: $600 Deepstack Championship Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Alex JimUnited States36,300,00036
2Jon Van FleetUnited States32,800,00033
3Tsuf SaltsbergIsrael27,200,00027
4Abdullah AlshantiUnited States19,800,00020
5Frank ReichelGermany13,000,00013
6Daniel MarcusUnited States10,600,00011
7Tamas LendvaiHungary7,800,0008

Tune into the final day's action from the $600 Deepstack

Defending Champion Through to Day 3 of the $1,000 Super Seniors

Jean-Luc Adam
Jean-Luc Adam

Defending champion Jean-Luc Adam (750,000) progressed to Day 3 of Event #59: $1,000 Super Seniors albeit in 26th place from the 87 who bagged and tagged their stacks at the close of play. Adam is certainly not yet out of the running, but he will have plenty of work to do when play resumes at 10:00 a.m. on June 30.

Leading the final 87 players into battle is Robert Schuler (2,100,000), the only player whose stack contains more than 100 big blinds. Two-time bracelet winner Barny Boatman (1,165,000) finds himself in the top ten while Day 1 chip leader Angelita Grayer (560,000) is still in the mix.

Event #59: $1,000 Super Seniors Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Robert SchulerUnited States2,100,000105
2Massoud EskandariUnited States1,860,00083
3Alfred AhlmUnited States1,780,00089
4Carolyn NiekerkUnited States1,463,00073
5Leo MitchellUnited States1,370,00069
6Barny BoatmanUnited Kingdom1,165,00058
7Greg HenryUnited States1,125,00056
8Ronald PetersonUnited States1,125,00056
9Elizabeth Bennett-MartinCanada1,080,00054
10Jarvis PostnikoffUnited States1,025,00051

Find all the Super Seniors updates right here

Only Five Players Remain in the $10K Short Deck Event; NakanishiIs In Pole Position

Shota Nakanishi
Shota Nakanishi

Japan's Shota Nakanishi (2,562,000) holds a commanding lead going into the finale of Event #60: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em where only five players have the chance to capture the $277,712 top prize.

Nakanishi is a Short Deck specialist and it showed as he finished with 312 antes in his stack, almost double the amount of Stephen Chidwick (1,423,000) who is hopeful of securing his second bracelet.

Also in the mix are Ben Lamb (1,207,000), five-time WSOP champion Brian Rast (855,000), and Sean Winter (533,000), the latter bringing up the rear and, like Nakanishi, is yet to win some poker gold.

Play resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 30.

Event #60: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em Final Five

SeatPlayerCountryChip CountAntes*
1Sean WinterUnited States553,00069
2Stephen ChidwickUnited Kingdom1,423,000178
3Brian RastUnited States855,000107
4Ben LambUnited States1,207,000151
5Shota NakanishiJapan2,562,000320

Who will win the $10,000 Short Deck event?

Ladies Turn Out in Force For Their Championship; Sharma Shines

Gargee Sharma
Gargee Sharma

Gargee Sharma shone brightest as 1,074 women were reduced to only 274 hopefuls after Day 1 of Event #61: Ladies No-Limit Hold'em. Sharma bagged up 419,000 chips and has done her chances of glory no harm at all.

Dozens of household names punched their Day 2 tickets on the first attempt, including Cherish Andrews (363,000), Charlotte Van Brabander (228,000), Ruth Hall (191,000), Maria Konnikova (153,000), Jamie Kerstetter (133,500), Melanie Weisner (113,500), and Loni Harwood (90,500) among others.

The ladies return to their seats at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 30 and they'll fight it out for another ten levels.

Event #61: Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Gargee SharmaUnited States419,000210
2Cherish AndrewsUnited States363,000182
3Wendy BeckersUnited States285,000143
4Melanie PittardUnited States262,500131
5Charlotte Van BrabanderBelgium228,000114
6Yian SaeleeUnited States227,500114
7Tanja VujanicAustralia219,000110
8Marybeth AndersonUnited States218,500107
9Samantha GonzalezUnited States213,500106
10Juli BlackSt Lucia212,500106

Follow the $1,000 Ladies event here

Super Turbo Bounty Goes Into an Unscheduled Day 2

Chris Fraser
Chris Fraser

Event #62: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em was due to crown its champion but a decision was made to bring the players back for an unscheduled Day 2 at 3:00 p.m. local time on June 20 with 20 players remaining.

Chris Fraser helped himself to 22 bounties during the Day yet still finds himself in 17th place with 1,350,000 chips. Only Merijn Van Rooj (1,150,000) and two-time bracelet winner Dash Dudley (725,000) have fewer chips.

John Bredengerd (8,500,000) returns to the action at the chip counts' summit. He is joined by fellow big stacks David Sanchez (6,850,000), and Shaun Colquhoun (5,500,000), the latter fresh off the back of a fourth place finish in the $500 Casino Employees event earlier in the series.

Event #62: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1John BredengerdUnited States8,500,00043
2David SanchezUnited States6,850,00034
3Shaun ColquhounUnited States5,500,00028
4Yuhei SanadaJapan4,875,00024
5Kevin DavisUnited States4,625,00023
6Harpreet PaddaCanada4,375,00022
7Dimitre DimitrovUnited States3,100,00016
8Terence KluczkowskiUnited States3,025,00015
9Ken DrewryUnited States2,975,00015
10Romain GuilbertUnited States2,875,00014

Click here for the Super Turbo Bounty live updates

$10K PLO8 Championship is the Biggest Ever

Ryan Hughes
Ryan Hughes

A bumper crowd of 268 turned out in force for Day 1 of Event #63: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, making it the largest such tournament in WSOP history. Those 268 starters were reduced to 124 by the time the curtain came down on Day 1's action.

Ryan Hughes (407,000) pipped Andrew Brown (380,000) to the chip lead. Both grinders will be confident of going super deep in this monster-sized event.

Others safely through to Day 2, which commences at 2:00 p.m. on Jun 30, include Chino Rheem (331,500), Chance Kornuth (273,500), Kyle Cartwright (269,500), Amnon Filippi (247,500), Daniel Negreanu (191,500), defending champion Josh Arieh (189,000), Brian Hastings (177,500), and Eli Elezra (165,500).

June 30 at 2:00 p.m. is when this host of star return to the action at Paris Las Vegas.

Event #63: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Ryan HughesUnited States407,000163
2Andrew BrownUnited States380,000152
3Sterling SavillUnited States342,000137
4Chino RheemUnited States331,500133
5Filippos StavrakisUnited States303,000121
6Michael SortinoUnited States289,500116
7Chance KornuthUnited States273,500109
8Kyle CartwrightUnited States269,500108
9Damjan RadanovUnited States257,500103
10Amnon FilippiUnited States247,50099

Have you ever seen a tournament as stacked as this?

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Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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