Tuesday, 21st June. 2022 WSOP Days #18-22.
It was a weekend of big names in big stories at the 2022 World Series of Poker. During his search for another WSOP bracelet, Phil Hellmuth's chips went missing.
During 2022 WSOP Event #38: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw Championship, Hellmuth legged it for the bathroom after the tables broke with 21 players left. When he arrived back at the newly set up tables, Hellmuth found his chips had gone and Farzad Bonyadi's stack looking suspiciously plump.
What has happened was that the casino staff had accidentally combined Bonyadi and Hellmuth's stacks while moving the chips from table to table.
The event had to go on pause to untangle the mess. Staff reviewed the security footage, confirmed Hellmuth's stack was 135,000 in chips, and returned those chips to the Poker Brat. Hellmuth went on to take 9th place, Bonyadi took 6th, and the event ultimately went to Pedro Bromfman.
Ivey takes second
It was an exciting few days for the other big poker-Phil as well. Phil Ivey came so close to his 11th bracelet today that you would have struggled to fit one of those flimsy WSOP cards between him and it.
Event #42: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em saw Ivey make it all the way to heads-up play against Aleksejs Ponakovs. The pair had almost even stacks to start, though Ivey soon took a comfortable lead.
But in no-limit hold'em a turn of the cards is all it takes. A few good hands for Ponakovs and a missed draw for Ivey put all the chips in Ponakovs stack.
Ivey had to settle for the $1,172,659 second-place prize.
New bracelet winners
| FT Date | Event Name | Player Name | Payout |
| Thu, June 16 | Event #33: $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em | Nino Ullmann | $594,079 |
| Fri, June 17 | Event #30: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed | Daniel Weinman | $255,359 |
| Fri, June 17 | Event #31: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship | Brian Hastings | $292,146 |
| Sat, June 18 | Event #32: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. | Steven Albini | $196,089 |
| Sun, June 19 | Event #34: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em | Justin Pechie | $364,899 |
| Sun, June 19 | Event #35: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Event | Lok Chan | $144,338 |
| Sun, June 19 | Event #36: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better | Ali Eslami | $135,260 |
| Sun, June 19 | Event #41: $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout | Ramsey Stovall | $191,268 |
| Sun, June 19 | [Online] $1,000 PLO 6-Max | "PmpknHead" | $141,705 |
| Mon, June 20 | Event #38: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw Championship | Pedro Bromfman | $294,616 |
| Tue, June 21 | Event #42: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em | Aleksejs Ponakovs | $1,897,363 |
WSOP coverage on Poker.org
Previous WSOP round-ups:
- 2022 WSOP Day #1: the $100k high roller and staff events kick series off.
- 2022 WSOP Days #2-6: First bracelets awarded, color up error delays event.
- 2022 WSOP Day #7-9: COVID hits the World Series of Poker
- 2022 WSOP Day #10: cheating accusations overshadow Jake Schindler’s first bracelet win
- 2022 WSOP Day #11-17: series in full swing, Hellmuth’s return, Friedman’s fifth
Detailed coverage:
- The Millionaire Maker managed impressive, but not record-setting, numbers.
- Haley Hintze debunked the poker world's bad takes on the masseuse firing.
- Brian Hastings won his sixth bracelet with an unusual good luck charm in his pocket.
Featured image source: Haley Hintze
