What Would You Do In These Hands From the 2022 WSOP Main Event?
Every poker tournament is a marathon and not a sprint. And with its two-hour levels across nine arduous days of play, no tournament is more of a marathon than the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
Unlike other marathons, the Main Event requires its runners to navigate through a field of landmines as they hope to cement their name in poker history by becoming the next WSOP champion.
With the 2023 Main Event just around the corner, here's a look back at a hand from each day of the 2022 Main Event that left us asking, how would you play these hands with $10 million on the line?
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Day 1b - Queens No Good For Margets
During the second of four starting flights, an early-position player raised and Shijia Liu three-bet to 3,200 from the hijack. Leo Margets, from the button, four-bet to around 8,500. The original raiser folded and Liu took his time before calling.
The flop came 3♣7♠10♥ and Liu checked over to Margets who continued for 5,500. Liu raised to 15,000 and Margets, after thinking for a minute, called.
The 5♦ arrived on the turn and both players would slowly tap the table.
On the 2♦ river, Liu took over a minute before putting in 45,000, which effectively put Margets all in.
Margets only had 38,500 left behind her and the Spanish WSOP bracelet winner took about two minutes before putting in a crying call.
Liu turned over A♠A♣ and Margets could only reply "Yup" as she tabled Q♠Q♣ and told the players at the table "Good luck!"
Meanwhile, Liu immediately becomes one of the biggest stacks in the red section with over 140,000.
Day 2abc - Kulev Hits Combo Draw on River to Double Up
During Day 2abc with 35,000 in the middle on a 10♦8♦6♣A♠ board, Alex Kulev, from the big blind, put in a bet of 16,500.
His opponent, from the small blind, put Kulev all in for 90,000 total.
Kulev then went into the tank for a couple of minutes before coming out with a call.
Alex Kulev: A♦7♦
Big Blind: 6♦6♠
Kulev's top pair was well behind the big blind's set of sixes. However, he still had a 25% chance to hit his flush or his straight.
Luckily for Kulev, the J♦ arrived on the river to double him up and take him to over 200,000.
Day 2d - Polk Gets Flushed to the Rail
On Day 2d, recent $25,000 Heads-Up Championship runner-up Doug Polk raised it up to 4,500 in middle position and Justin Chu defended from the big blind. The flop came 5♠4♠3♥ and Chu check-called a bet of 4,000 from Polk.
The turn brought the J♥ and Chu checked again. Polk tossed in another bet of 14,000 this time and Chu check-raised all in. Polk had just over 40,500 remaining and gave it some thought before making the call for his tournament life.
Doug Polk: J♠10♥
Justin Chu: K♥4♥
Polk turned top pair but Chu had a pair and a flush draw. The river was the 6♥ and Chu improved to a flush, sending Polk to the rail but not before everyone got a "good game".
Read More About 2022 Mai Event Champion Espen Jorstad
Day 3 - Pumpernick Doesn't Believe Mustafov
Here's a hand that took place on Day 3 as 2,993 players returned. Three ways to the 8♦2♣2♥ flop, it checked to Fahredin Mustafov and he then bet 17,000. Roman Pumpernick in the small blind was the only caller and the 4♦ fell on the turn. Pumpernick now bet 15,000 only for Mustafov to raise it up to 75,000, which the Austrian snap-called.
They headed to the 4♣ on the river and Pumpernick now checked. Mustafov bet 131,000 for nearly half of his remaining stack and Pumpernick eventually called to win the pot with Q♣8♣, as Mustafov had bluffed all the way with 10♣7♣.
Day 4 - Wien Correctly Calls Off Stack, Earns Full Double Up
On Day 4 with the field dwindled down to 1,299 runners, a player under the gun opened to 40,000 and Jeremy Wien three-bet to 130,000 from the button. The original raiser called.
The flop came A♦2♦9♣ and Wien continued for 105,000. The under-the-gun player called.
On the 6♠ turn, Wien bet once again, this time for 180,000. His opponent called a second time.
The river brought the K♦ and after his opponent checked, Wien bet for 260,000, leaving 500,000 behind. His opponent, who had Wien covered, deliberated for a few seconds before announcing all in.
Wien stood up immediately and muttered "This is so sick" and questioned whether or not his opponent had the same hand or queen-jack of diamonds.
Finally, after a few minutes and apologizing to the table for taking his time, Wien announced "If this is the way I go out, then this is the way I go out" and made the call, turning over A♣K♣.
His opponent tapped the table and said "Nice call", showing J♦J♠ to double Wien up.
Day 5 - Crazy Bluff From Lococo
On Day 5 that began with 380 players, Alejandro Lococo raised it up from the hijack and Karim Rebei defended from the big blind. The flop came 9♠8♥7♥ and both players checked to the K♠ on the turn.
Rebei led out with a bet of 140,000 and Lococo raised to 485,000. Rebei responded with a three-bet to 1,135,000 and this is where things got interesting. Lococo announced a raise but put in the wrong amount, therefore was committed to a min-raise of 1,785,000.
Rebei took the opportunity to push out a five-bet to 4,000,000 which put Lococo into the tank for at least six minutes. After looking visibly distressed, Lococo eventually announced all-in for 5,710,000.
"Oops," Rebei said to the rail as he shrugged his shoulders. He still asked for a count and gave it some thought for a couple of minutes and even got the chips ready to call. However, Rebei opted to lay his hand down and Lococo flashed the A♣J♦ as he started clapping and shouting "Let's go!" as he dragged in a massive pot.
Snippets of the hand, played on the outer feature table without hole cards, can be seen below (courtesy of PokerGO).
Day 6 - Playing the Main Event Blind
After 123 players returned for Day 6, Victor Li raised to 400,000 from early position without looking at his cards and Efthymia Litsou called in the big blind, also without looking.
Both players checked dark on the 7♣4♣3♦ flop before the turn came the 2♣. Litsou bet out 3,000,000.
"What did I get myself into," Li said before finally looking at his cards and shoving all in. Litsou quickly called for 5,600,000 and showed J♣10♣ for a flush.
Li had 5♦3♣ as the river came the A♣, taking another look at the board to make sure he didn't get a straight flush.
Litsou later admitted she had, in fact, looked at her hand. "You lied to me," Li said before handing over the chips.
"That was the most bizarre hand I've ever played," Litsou said.
Day 7 - Huge Laydown With a Full House Keeps Diaz in Contention
As Day 7 began with only 35 players remaining, Jeffrey Farnes raised to 2,300,000 in early position with the K♠K♦ and David Diaz called from the small blind with the A♠Q♥. The flop came K♥Q♦2♦ and Diaz check-called a bet of 2,700,000 from Farnes.
The Q♠ paired the board on the turn and Diaz led out with a bet of 4,000,000. Farnes called and the 2♠ completed the board. Diaz reached for a bet of 7,000,000 on the river and Farnes ripped all in after around two minutes, sending a dry smile on Diaz' face who instantly shook his head.
Diaz was put to the test for his remaining 11,800,000 as he dipped deep into the tank. After six minutes went by, Diaz finally threw his queens full in the muck and the players went on a break.
Day 8 - Folding Nines to a Single Raise?
On Day 8 in Hand 151 at the final table, eventual champion Espen Jorstad raised to 6,000,000 with J♦10♦ and runner-up Adrian Attenborough called in the cutoff with A♥Q♣. Michael Duek folded 9x9x in the small blind and the flop came 8♠5♣2♦. It checked to the 9♣ turn. Jorstad bet 16,000,000 and Attenborough folded.
The tight fold by the third-place finisher evoked strong reactions from the poker Twitter community.
I’m personally offended by this fold in the small blind with 99 in the main event
— Daniel Cates 🇺🇸 🌎 (@junglemandan)
Haven’t watched one hand of final table. First hand I turn on the chip leader folds 99 to a min raise out of the sb https://t.co/i3zsUXYAJw
— David Baker (@audavidb)
Day 9 - The Final Hand
In Hand #215, which ended up being the final hand of the tournament, Jorstad limped in as Attenborough checked his option to see a flop of 4♥2♥2♣. Attenborough check-raised from 4,000,000 to 14,000,000 and Jorstad then clicked it back to 32,000,000 following one minute of consideration. Attenborough called rather quickly and the 8♠ followed on the turn.
The check by Attenborough triggered Jorstad's bet worth 62,000,000 once he gave it a minute and a half to consider his options. One minute passed for Attenborough to make the call and he then checked quickly on the Q♣ river with 200 million chips in the middle for yet another huge pot.
Jorstad emptied the clip with an effective shove for 131,000,000 as that's what Attenborough had behind. Yet another long tank by the Aussie followed with the same hand combination albeit off suit.
"Can I just jam for value one time and you tank? That would be nice," Attenborough joked with a smirk on the face towards his opponent after he was in the tank for a few minutes already.
"This one could be bad guys," the Aussie then remarked as he turned around to his rail. Once he focused back on the table and riffled the chips in agony. "You gonna be like why am I tanking with this hand but I really wanna call this time," the next table chatter followed.
All the while, Jorstad kept his laser-focused expression staring at the board and not giving away any emotion at all.
"What a game," Attenborough added and at some point even asked Jorstad "Do you have your eyes closed?" without receiving any reply at all.
"So many fuckin combos," the next burst of chatter followed before Attenborough started counting his chips again and talked through a few possible hand combinations, keeping a dry smile on the face.
"I really wanna call, really badly, but I have such a bad hand," the conclusion followed before he added "I just never know what to do ... sorry guys," he even apologized.
Ultimately, more than eight minutes passed when Attenborough said "fuck it" and finally talked himself into calling with the J♣4♠. Jorstad revealed the Q♦2♠ for deuces full of queens and has been crowned the 2022 WSOP Main Event champion. Another "fuck" by the Aussie followed, who immediately told his rail it had been a "really bad call".
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