2022 WSOP Day 21: Ivey Denied His 11th WSOP Bracelet

Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
5 min read
Phil Ivey

It is difficult to believe that the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has been in play at its new home of Bally's and Paris Las Vegas for three whole weeks, but they do say time flies when you are having fun. June 20 was the 21st day of the series, a day that saw only one gold bracelet awarded but plenty of high-octane poker action take place.

Aleksejs Ponakovs denied Phil Ivey what would have been the legend's 11th WSOP bracelet. Ivey navigated his way through a ridiculously stacked field in Event #42: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em, and found himself heads-up against the Latvian online specialist. T was not meant to be for Ivey and he busted in second place for $1,172,659, leaving a delighted Ponakovs, swarmed by an army of friends, to collect the tournament's bracelet and a cool $1,897,363 in prize money.

The $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship does need an extra day, as predicted yesterday. Fifteen players returned to the action but despite the best efforts of everyone involved, they could not crown a champion, and three players still have chips.

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Late Surge Denies Sova The Millionaire Maker Day 3 Chip Lead

John Sova
John Sova

Only 24 of the 7,961 starters in Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em remain in the hunt for $1,125,141 top prize and, of course, a coveted gold bracelet.

Brazil's Alen Tenorio is the man to catch going into the penultimate day, having won a massive pot at Day 3's death to soar to the top of the chip counts with 16,600,000 chips. John Sova (15,300,000) thought he'd done enough to claim the overnight chip lead but the Brazilian pipped him to the post.

Others to look out for on Day 4, which commences at 10:00 a.m. local time on June 21, include Spain's Raul Martinez (10,925,000), WSOP Main Event finalist Nick Marchington (9,275,000), and Marchington's fellow Brit Kevin Houghton (5,000,000).

Event #36: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryCountBig Blinds
1Alen TenorioBrazil16,600,00066
2John SovaUnited States15,300,00061
3Jacek PastulaPoland14,775,00059
4Justin FawcettUnited States12,350,00049
5Linus RichterUnited States11,200,00045
6Raul MartinezSpain10,925,00044
7Paul AhnUnited States10,425,00042
8Dominic CoombeAustrailia10,300,00041
9Stanley WengUnited States9,550,00038
10Nick MarchingtonUnited Kingdom9,275,00037

Click here for all the Millionaire Maker updates

Yanovski Holds Commanding Lead in the $3K PLO

Leonid Yanovski
Leonid Yanovski

Event #39: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-handed has reached its official final table, meaning each of the remaining players are only five eliminations away from becoming a WSOP champion.

Israel's Leonid Yanovski (8,700,000) is the player in pole position going into the final table and a hot favorite for the $371,358 top prize, a sum generated by 719 players entering this event a couple of days ago.

Yanovski has 145 big blinds in his stack, so has plenty of wiggle room when play resumes at 4:00 p.m. local time on June 21. Joining the Israeli under the spotlight are Fabian Brandes (6,560,000), high-stakes specialist Sean Winter (4,275,000), Polish grinder Grzegorz Derkowski (3,685,000), Ferenc Deak (3,110,000), and American Thomas Morrison (2,435,000).

Nobody will take home less than $55,501 for their efforts, but each of the finalists will have one eye on the $371,358 top prize; Yanovsky already has one hand on that prize.

Event #39: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed Final Table Chip Counts

PlaceNameCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Leonid YanovskiIsrael8,700,000145
2Fabian BrandesAustria6,560,000109
3Sean WinterUSA4,275,00071
4Grzegorz DerkowskiPoland3,685,00061
5Ferenc DeakHungary3,110,00052
6Thomas MorrisonUSA2,435,00041

Follow all the $3,000 6-Max PLO action right here

$500 Freezeout Field Obliterated; Negri Bags An Early Lead, Pettit Has a Big Stack

Mitch Pettitt
Mitch Pettitt

The chance to win a WSOP bracelet for only $500 proved to be a strong lure as 4,786 players flocked to Bally's Las Vegas to enter Event #43: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em. The frantic pace proved too much for all but 202 of those entrants.

Italy's Lorenzo Negri weathered the storm the best and bagged up 1,860,000 chips at the close of play, enough to lead the 202 survivors back into battle on June 21. Everyone who finished in the top ten on Day 1 did so with more than 1.2 million chips, including Robert Pettit (1,590,000), Peter Schneider (1,570,000), Alan Gendelman (1,550,000), and Carol Filipski (1,505,000).

Bracelet winner Jonathan Dimmig (1,165,000), two-time bracelet winner Chris Moorman (880,000), and Women in Poker Hall of Fame member Maria Ho (565,000) are just three stellar names through to Day 2.

Join the PokerNews team from 12:00 p.m. local time on June 21 when this event restarts; they play down to a champion on Day 2.

Event #43: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Lorenzo NegriItaly1,860,00062
2Robert PettitUnited States1,590,00053
3Peter SchneiderUnited States1,570,00052
4Alan GendelmanUnited States1,550,00052
5Carol FilipskiUnited States1,505,00050
6Jared WardUnited States1,465,00049
7Michael SuggsUnited States1,420,00047
8Mason HinkleUnited States1,325,00044
9Matthew BiaforeUnited States1,290,00043
10Connor DaynardCanada1,285,00043

Discover which player takes foen the $500 NLHE Freezeout

Long Gallops Off With $10K H.O.R.S.E. Day 1 Lead

British mixed game specialist Philip Long (320,000) rode off into the Las Vegas night with the title of Event #44: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship chip leader and has done his chances of securing a second WSOP bracelet no harm at all. Long won his bracelet in 2018 when he was crowned champion of the $1,500 Eight Game Mix event.

There is still a long way to go in this tournament because 97 of the 192 starters are still in the mix going into Day 2. The tournament has attracted some of the best and most well-known players in the industry to the WSOP tables.

Such luminaries as Bradley Ruben (307,500), Yuri Dzivielevski (270,500), Mike Matusow (206,000), Mike Gorodinsky (174,000), Shaun Deeb (167,500), and Robert Mizrachi (136,000) were among the players cramming chips into an overnight bag.

Late registration remains open until 2:00 p.m. local time on June 21, so it is highly likely this event will see more than 200 players enter in total.

Event #44: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Top 10 Chip Counts

PlacePlayerCountryChips
1Philip LongUnited Kingdom320,000
2Brad RubenUnited States307,500
3Hansu ChuUnited States289,500
4Yuri DzivielevskiBrazil270,500
5Gary BensonAustralia267,000
6Andres KornArgentina258,000
7Kristijonas AndrulisLithuania256,000
8John RacenerUnited States247,000
9Kyle MontgomeryUnited States246,500
10Wilson IgweCanada238,000

No horsing around, the $10K HORSE updates are here

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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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