ACR Team Pro Drew Gonzalez opened to 2,000 in early position and the big blind called.
On the flop of J♠5♦7♠, Gonzalez bet 2,500 and his opponent check-called.
On the turn Q♥, both players checked and on the river 5♥, Gonzalez bet 5,900. The big blind called but mucked against Gonzalez's Q♦8♦ (pair of queens).
Some tables are starting to break in Paris Black section and we lost some notable players, such as yesterday's $800 Deep Stack winner Qiang Xu and American player Farah Galfond.
LoriAnn Persinger raised in late position, nodding evenly to the music in her ears; she was called by the player on the button, as well as the big blind.
When the flop rolled 6♦4♠4♣, the player in the blind took the initiative and bet 1,600. Persinger raised to the tune of 4,600 and both her opponents quickly folded. She continued to nod her head without missing a beat, as she scooped the pot.
As he likes to report it on his Instagram profile, French regular Erwann Pecheux is on to his 40th tournament this summer. After busting the $3,000 event earlier today, Pecheux is in the mix in this $500 Freezeout. And he's still in chase of his best WSOP result, finishing runner-up in 2015 in a $1,500 Mix Max bracelet event.
A player in early position opened to 800, called by middle position, button and Erwann Pecheux in the big blind.
On the flop Q♦5♣8♦, middle position player took the lead with a 2,500 bet. Only Pecheux called.
On the turn 7♦, middle position player checked before his turn. Pecheux checked and the river came 5♠.
Once again, middle position player started to act before his turn but Pecheux quickly checked and his opponent fired a 5,000 bet. Enough to take the pot as Pecheux remained around the starting stack.
A player in middle position opened to 600 and Olga Iermolcheva called from the big blind.
On the flop A♠2♠3♦, the opener continued for 800 and Iermolcheva check-raised to 2,500. Her opponent called. On the turn J♥, she bet 4,000 and got another call.
On the river 8♠, she fired 6,400 and her opponent called, then mucked when Iermolcheva revealed 4♥5♥ for the straight on the flop.
EPT Senior Dealer Said Bats is off to a good start with 35,000 chips in front of him.
On a three-way pot on a board of 9♠J♥J♦2♦, Bats took the lead with a 1,100 bet in early position and only the cutoff called. On the river 4♦, Bats fired 1,200 and his opponent folded.
With many of the lower buy-in events offered this year having already broken records, Event #46: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em is sure to attract another sizable field and prize pool, and potentially award another first-time bracelet winner. These events have also featured many of the biggest names in poker, including WSOP Main Event champions and many bracelet winners hunting for their next piece of hardware, so the competition will be fierce.
This is only the second time this event has been held as a World Series of Poker live event. The 2022 event was won by David Perry, who bested a field of 4,786 entrants, winning his first bracelet and the first-place price of $241,729 from a prize pool of $2,010,120.
A visibly emotional Perry said that win made him feel "Blessed, grateful. I've been in Vegas since 1985, came here with $612 and two suitcases; this is my community," he continued.
2022 $500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1st
David Perry
United States
$241,729
2nd
Chris Moorman
England
$149,405
3rd
Daniel Eichhorn
United States
$111,341
4th
Joshua Prager
United States
$83,623
5th
Sebastien Guidez
France
$63,302
6th
Phong Nguyen
United States
$48,299
7th
Elven Espinar
United States
$37,148
8th
Henry Reyes
United States
$28,802
9th
Daniel Marcus
United States
$22,512
10th
Robert Pettit
United States
$17,741
A previous version of the event was also held as part of the 2020 WSOP slate of online events mandated by the COVID pandemic. Alan Goehring won that event, scoring $119,400 along with the bracelet. The prize pool for the 2020 online event was $665,550 and had 1,479 entrants.
Alan Goehring
Goehring was no stranger to navigating large fields across many levels of buy-in, having won the 2020 WSOP bracelet, a WSOP Circuit ring, two WPT titles, and notching a second-place finish to Noel Furlong in the 1999 WSOP Main Event.
Seeing the energy of the enormous fields these events have generated so far spread across Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas has been exhilarating and this event should be one to watch.
Players will begin Day 1 at 10:00 a.m. local time at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, starting with a stack of 25,000 chips and blinds of 100/100/100. Twenty-two 30-minute levels will be played with 20-minute breaks after Levels 4, 8, 11, and 19, and a 75-minute dinner break after Level 15 (approximately 6:30 p.m.). Late registration will run through the break after Level 11 (approximately 4:30 p.m. local time).
Day 2 will feature a 10:00 a.m. local time restart and play down to a winner, with 15-minute breaks every four levels, and a dinner break to be determined.
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for full coverage of this event as we begin the road to the crowning of another champion at the 2023 World Series Of Poker.
