2022 World Series of Poker

Event #70: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event World Championship
Event Info

2022 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q2
Prize
$10,000,000
Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$80,782,475
Entries
8,663
Players Info - Day 4
Entries
1,299
Players Left
380

Kogel Wins Kings vs. Aces in 3.4 Million Chip Pot

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Nathanael Kogel
Nathanael Kogel

In a hand relayed to PokerNews just after the fact, Nathanael Kogel opened to 50,000 and Rigoberto Rodriguez raised to 200,000. Kogel four-bet to 500,000 and Rodriguez went all in, covering Kogel. Rodriguez snap-called.

Nathanael Kogel: {k-}{k-}
Rigoberto Rodriguez: {a-}{a-}

The flop came {9-}{10-}{2-} but a {k-} shocked the table on the turn.

A {4-} came on the river and Kogel could thank his lucky stars as his chip stack ballooned to 3,400,000.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, was left with around 550,000 behind.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Nathanael Kogel us
Nathanael Kogel
3,400,000
1,800,000
1,800,000
Profile photo of Rigoberto Rodriguez us
Rigoberto Rodriguez
550,000
-1,050,000
-1,050,000

Tags: Nathanael KogelRigoberto Rodriguez

Last Break of the Night

Level 19 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Koray Aldemir
Koray Aldemir

With under 500 players remaining in the Main Event, the players are going on their final 20-minute break of the night. Over the past two hours, there has been plenty of movement near the top of the leaderboard with Aaron Mermelstein regaining the chip lead. When the players return, they will play one more level before the bagging and tagging process begins. Here is a look at some of the highlights from the past level.

Tags: Aaron Mermelstein

Smith Triples Through Two Massive Stacks

Level 19 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Dan Smith
Dan Smith

Ali Imsirovic raised to 30,000 from early position and Zilong Zhang made the call on the button. In the small blind, Dan Smith moved all in for 825,000.

Imsirovic made the call and action was back on Zhang. After thinking for a couple minutes, Zhang also made the call to put well over two million chips in the pot.

Action slowed between Imsirovic and Zhang after the flop. With Smith all in, they both checked every street while the board ran out {k-Spades}{10-Diamonds}{2-Spades}{3-Diamonds}{3-Hearts}.

Dan Smith: {10-Spades}{10-Hearts}
Ali Imsirovic: {9-Clubs}{9-Spades}
Zilong Zhang: {5-}{5-}

Smith had the other two pocket pairs dominated, neither opponent improved, and Smith catapulted up into a top spot on the leaderboard.

Smith stood up, laughed, clapped his hands, and readied for the final level of the night with his newly won chips.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Ali Imsirovic ba
Ali Imsirovic
2,980,000
-870,000
-870,000
Profile photo of Zilong Zhang us
Zilong Zhang
2,800,000
-1,500,000
-1,500,000
Profile photo of Dan Smith us
Dan Smith
2,505,000
1,105,000
1,105,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Run It Once

Tags: Ali ImsirovicDan SmithZilong Zhang

Imsirovic Scoops Another Pot, Nears Four Million

Level 19 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Ali Imsirovic
Ali Imsirovic

A player in middle position opened and Ali Imsirovic raised to 80,000 and was called by the original raiser.

The flop came {k-Clubs}{6-Clubs}{2-Hearts} and Imsirovic continued for 50,000. His opponent called.

The turn came the {q-Hearts}, putting two flush draws on the board. Both players checked.

On the {8-Spades} river, the player checked once more and Imsirovic fired for 155,000. The player thought about it for about 30 seconds before letting his cards go.

With the win, Imsirovic took his tally to nearly four million.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Ali Imsirovic ba
Ali Imsirovic
3,850,000
250,000
250,000

Tags: Ali Imsirovic

Keating Calls With Ace-High

Level 19 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Alex Keating
Alex Keating

Alex Keating was in position in a heads-up pot on a board of {5-Clubs}{5-Spades}{4-Spades}.

The opponent checked on the flop and Keating fired for 35,000. The opponent check-raised to 100,000 and Keating called.

The opponent checked on the {q-Diamonds} turn and Keating checked back. The opponent then led out for 150,000 on the {10-Clubs} river and Keating tried to get a read on his opponent.

"Hey, Miami? Do you have a good hand or a bad hand?" Keating asked. "I think you may have hit that queen."

Keating eventually tossed in a call and it was the right move as the opponent showed {k-Clubs}{j-Spades} for king-high, while Keating had the winner with {a-Diamonds}{7-Spades} for ace-high.

"Is that one going to be on PokerNews?" Keating asked with a smile after raking in the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Alex Keating us
Alex Keating
3,000,000
120,000
120,000
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Alex Keating

Aldemir Makes it a Hat-Trick of Knockouts

Level 19 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Koray Aldemir
Koray Aldemir

Albert Hoekendijk was all-in from the big blind for 345,000 and was up against the ascending Koray Aldemir.

Albert Hoekendijk: {8-Spades}{8-Clubs}
Koray Aldemir: {a-Hearts}{q-Hearts}

Aldemir continued his run good and paired up on the {q-Diamonds}{j-Diamonds}{2-Spades} flop. The {9-Clubs} hit the turn to give the Dutchman outs to the straight but the {5-Hearts} river secured the pot for the defending champion.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Koray Aldemir de
Koray Aldemir
1,870,000
435,000
435,000
Defending Champion
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Albert Hoekendijk nl
Albert Hoekendijk
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Albert HoekendijkKoray Aldemir

Aldemir Breaks 1 Million

Level 19 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Koray Aldemir
Koray Aldemir

Robert Koellner opened to 35,000 with {j-Hearts}{9-Diamonds} from the cutoff and was called by reigning WSOP Main Event Champion Koray Aldemir and Yao Yin from the blinds.

Aldemir held the {k-Spades}{10-Hearts} and checked his top pair on the {k-Clubs}{8-Clubs}{2-Spades} flop. Yin bet 75,000 with his {q-Clubs}{4-Clubs} and Koellner got out of the way. Aldemir called.

Aldemir checked again and Yin immediately moved all in as the covering stack on the {7-Hearts} turn. Aldemir, with 415,000 behind, made the call after taking some moments to think over his options.

The {6-Spades} river was safe for the German and brought his stack to over 1,000,000.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Koray Aldemir de
Koray Aldemir
1,100,000
415,000
415,000
Defending Champion
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Yao Yin us
Yao Yin
385,000
150,000
150,000

Wien Bounces Back After Losing Half His Stack

Level 19 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Jeremy Wien
Jeremy Wien

With the pot already around 255,000 on an {a-Clubs}{k-Clubs}{8-Hearts} flop, Jeremy Wien checked over to the button, who put in a bet of 85,000. Wien, from the hijack, then put in a raise of 205,000 which had the button sucking through his teeth. After a couple of seconds, he eventually folded.

Wien, who has recently lost half his stack getting all in and holding {j-Diamonds}{j-} on an eight-high diamond board against {a-}{k-Diamonds}, with an {a-} hitting, is now back up close to a million.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Jeremy Wien us
Jeremy Wien
980,000
-620,000
-620,000
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Jeremy Wien

Aces vs. Ace-King on the Feature Table

Level 19 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Damian Salas
Damian Salas

Back on the Main Feature Table, Fernando Viana Da Costa raised to 30,000 with {q-Hearts}{j-Hearts}. Thu Nguyen found himself with another premium hand in. the form of the {a-Diamonds}{k-Diamonds} and made it 85,000. 2020 WSOP Main Event Champion Damian Salas then woke up with {a-Clubs}{a-Hearts} and four-bet 205,000.

Da Costa folded in early position while Nguyen put in the call from the hijack.

The {9-Clubs}{9-Diamonds}{3-Hearts} flop kept the aces in front and Salas bet 125,000 when checked to. Nguyen did not hesitate to call.

Nguyen paired his king on the {k-Hearts} turn and checked. Salas then checked back. Nguyen led for 275,000 on the {4-Spades} river and Salas quickly called with the winning hand.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Damian Salas ar
Damian Salas
1,710,000
710,000
710,000
Profile photo of Fernando Viana Da Costa br
Fernando Viana Da Costa
610,000
10,000
10,000
Profile photo of Thu Nguyen us
Thu Nguyen
580,000
-645,000
-645,000

"Any-Two Cards" Not Quite Working for Zhang Anymore

Level 19 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Zilong Zhang
Zilong Zhang

The action folded around to Zilong Zhang in the small blind who greeted his new tablemate Dan Smith with a raise to 55,000. Smith called from the big blind and the dealer spread the flop of {7-Hearts}{6-Clubs}{4-Spades}.

Zhang led out with a full pot-sized bet of 125,000 and Smith announced a raise to 265,000. Smith barely got the words out of his mouth before Zhang dropped in a stack of 100,000 chips.

Smith's eyes got wide as he contemplated his decision for his stack of 705,000. Smith eventually called and the cards were tabled.

Dan Smith: {8-Clubs}{6-Diamonds}
Zilong Zhang: {4-Diamonds}{2-Hearts}

Smith was well in front with a pair of sixes and the {j-Diamonds}, {a-Spades} runout was clean as Smith was welcomed with a double-up.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Zilong Zhang us
Zilong Zhang
3,690,000
-810,000
-810,000
Profile photo of Dan Smith us
Dan Smith
1,535,000
760,000
760,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Run It Once

Tags: Dan SmithZilong Zhang