Is This One of the Most Stacked Final Tables in WPT History? Can Gediminas Uselis Defend?
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The penultimate stop of the World Poker Tour’s 20th season has a doozy of a final table!
On Tuesday, 16 players from a 1,541-entry field returned for Day 4 action in the World Poker Tour (WPT) 2022 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO) $3,500 Main Event at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
After just five hours of play, the final table of six was established. Leading the way is the UK’s Andrew Wilson, and while he enjoys a healthy chip lead, he faces some stiff competition in the form of three-time WPT champ and Seminole crusher Brian Altman, two-time WPT champ and recent Five Diamond champ Chad Eveslage, and amazingly the defending champ Gediminas Uselis, who won the 2021 WPT RRPO for $778,490.
Rounding out the final table are 2015 LAPT Bahamas winner Josh Kay, who also finished fifth in the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open back in January, and the short-stacked Robel Andemichael.
Can Uselis accomplish a rare title defense? Can Altman capture a fourth WPT title to tie Darren Elias for the all-time lead? Will Eveslage claim his third title and second of the season? Or even finish third or better to move into the Season 20 POY lead ahead of Steve Buckner with just one stop remaining.
All of those questions will be answered during Wednesday’s finale, which will be live-streamed starting at 2:30 p.m. ET. The eventual champion will take home $785,800 plus a $10,400 seat in next month’s WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
2022 WPT RRPO Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Count | BB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chad Eveslage | 12,700,000 | 64 |
| 2 | Robel Andemichael | 1,400,000 | 7 |
| 3 | Josh Kay | 9,250,000 | 46 |
| 4 | Gediminas Uselis | 8,375,000 | 42 |
| 5 | Andrew Wilson | 33,425,000 | 167 |
| 6 | Brian Altman | 11,850,000 | 59 |
Falling Short of the Final Table
Ten players bowed out on Day 4 starting with Nick Verderamo, who ran pocket fours into nines to bust in 16th place for $40,500. From there, Joey DiPascale (15th - $40,500), Dung Nguyen (14th - $50,000), Jacob Dolehanty (13th - $50,000), Phong Turbo Nguyen (12th - $62,500), Denys Shafikov (11th - $62,500), and Steve Karp (10th - $78,500) all followed him out the door.
At the unofficial final table of nine, Ted McNamara was the first to fall after losing a classic race with pocket queens to the ace-king of Wilson. McNamara received $78,500 for finishing in ninth place. The short-stacked Ryan Dougherty then bowed out in eighth place for $100,000 after his jack-ten suited failed to get there against Wilson’s ace-queen.
In the final hand of the day, which took place in Level 30 (100,000/200,000/200,000), Wilson raised to 400,000 under the gun and called when Eric Bonin three-bet jammed for 1.35 million from the cutoff.
Bonin woke up with two black kings while Wilson was drawing with jack-eight. Two jacks on the flop were gin for Wilson, and Bonin exited in seventh as the final table bubble for $129,000.
Remaining WPT RRPO Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st | $785,800 + $10,400 WPT World Championship seat |
| 2nd | $525,000 |
| 3rd | $390,000 |
| 4th | $290,000 |
| 5th | $219,000 |
| 6th | $167,000 |
Did You Know the World Poker Tour is Online?
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Listen to more about the WPT World Championship on the new PokerNews Podcast!
*Images courtesy of WPT/Drew Amato.
