Aleksejs Ponakovs Wins $100K WSOP High Roller, Denies Ivey’s 11th Bracelet
Latvia's Aleksejs Ponakovs won the $100,000 High Roller event of the WSOP, the most expensive tournament of the season so far and denied Phil Ivey his 11th bracelet as the American poker superstar finished second.
The $100,000 event attracted 62 entries and the total prize pool was almost $6,000,000 with the first two places taking home seven-digit figures. The field of this tournament was filled with super high roller stars including Dan Smith, Jason Koon, David Peters, Michael Addamo, Andrew Lichtenberger, Chance Kornuth, Koray Aldemir, Adrian Mateos, Stephen Chidwick, Marius Gierse, Dario Sammartino, Erik Seidel, Christoph Vogelsang and Shannon Shorr. Albeit none of the names mentioned finished in the money.
Kory Aldemir Bubbles
It was the defending Main Event champion Koray Aldemir who bubbled in 11th place. He jammed a tiny stack from UTG with 7-6 suited and Aleksejs Ponakovs 3-bet with A-T suited. While Aldemir caught a 6 on the flop, Ponakovs spiked an Ace on the river to eliminate the German. After that, all the remaining players secured at least $162,623.
Among the players finishing the in money were Ben Heath, Talal Shakerchi, Mikita Badziakouski and Nick Petrangelo.
Phil Ivey Losses Heads-Up With a Semi-Bluff
After Ben Heath busted in third place, Phil Ivey and Aleksejs Ponakovs were the last two players remaining. The Latvian started with more chips, but Phil Ivey briefly took the lead when he called down Ponakovs' bluff with top pair. But after a couple of hands Ponakovs regained the lead and in the end, it was a huge semi-bluff that decided the game:
Ponakovs opened from the button to 2 big blinds and Ivey reraised to 7 big blinds. Ponakov called. Flop: J 7 3 . Both players checked. After the 9 peeled off on the turn, Ivey checked again and now Ponakovs bet 7.5 big blinds. Phil Ivey in turn check-raised all-in for a bit over 27 big blinds and after one minute Ponakovs called. Ivey showed 8 6 for a straight-draw while Ponakovs held A 9 for middle pair. The river brought the 8 . That was none of Ivey's outs and with that card the tournament was over.
After having won one bracelet during the 2021 Online WSOP (the $7,777 Lucky Sevens High Roller), Aleksejs Ponakovs now won his first live WSOP bracelet in Las Vegas. He was incredibly happy about the victory and told PokerNews that he plans on playing many more events going forward: "I’m really pleased to finally get the bracelet. There is for sure some good stuff happening right now in my head. I am getting better and better in life. I am coming for more events."
For Phil Ivey, this was the 3rd final table appearance during this WSOP. After finishing 7th in the $100K Bounty event and coming 3rd in the Stud Championship, he now was only one spot away from winning his 11th bracelet.
WSOP Event #42: $100k High Roller Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $1,897,363 |
| 2nd | Phil Ivey | United States | $1,172,659 |
| 3rd | Ben Heath | United Kingdom | $805,024 |
| 4th | Gregory Jensen | United States | $571,896 |
| 5th | Micahel Moncek | United States | $420,944 |
| 6th | Talal Shakerchi | United Kingdom | $321,437 |
| 7th | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | $255,001 |
| 8th | Masashi Oya | Japan | $210,485 |
| 9th | Nick Petrangelo | United States | $181,068 |
| 10th | Eric Worre | United States | $162,623 |
2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Results
| Event | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | Prize |
| Event #1: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em | 832 | $349,440 | Katie Kopp | United States | $65,168 |
| Event #2: $100,000 High Roller Bounty | 46 | $3,000,500 | David Peters | United States | $1,166,810 |
| Event #3: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em | 752 | $1,673,000 | Scott Seiver | United States | $320,059 |
| Event #4: $1,500 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed | 430 | $574,050 | Brad Ruben | United States | $126,288 |
| Event #5: $500 Housewarming | 20,080 | $8,433,600 | Henry Acain | United States | $701,215 |
| Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship | 64 | $1,512,000 | Dan Smith | United States | $509,717 |
| Event #7: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better | 1,086 | $1,449,810 | Amnon Filippi | United States | $252,718 |
| Event #8: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em | 251 | $5,929,875 | Chad Eveslage | United States | $1,415,610 |
| Event #9: $1,500 Seven Card Stud | 329 | $439,215 | Alex Livingston | Canada | $103,282 |
| Event #10: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship | 123 | $1,146,975 | Ben Diebold | United States | $299,488 |
| Event #11: $600 NLH Deepstack | 5,715 | $2,916,650 | Raj Vohra | United States | $335,886 |
| Event #12: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em | 85 | $4,069,375 | Jake Schindler | United States | $1,328,068 |
| Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold'em | 522 | $696,870 | Michael Moncek | United States | $145,856 |
| Event #14: $1,500 6-Max NLH | 2,392 | $3,193,320 | Leo Soma | France | $456,889 |
| Event #15: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship | 196 | $1,827,700 | Daniel Zack | United States | $440,757 |
| Event #16: $3,000 No Limit Hold'em | 1,240 | $3,310,800 | Stefan Lehner | Austria | $558,616 |
| Event #17: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball | 309 | $687,525 | Dominick Sarle | United States | $164,243 |
| Event #18: $1,000 NLH Freezeout | 2,663 | $2,370,070 | Bryan Schultz | United States | $330,057 |
| Event #19: $25,000 PLO High Roller | 264 | $6,237,000 | Tong Li | China | $1,467,739 |
| Event #20: $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw | 350 | $467,250 | Denis Nestrenko | Russia | $108,250 |
| Event #21: $1,500 Monster Stack NLH | 6,501 | $8,678,835 | Mike Jukich | United States | $966,577 |
| Event #22: $10,000 Stud Championship | 95 | $885,875 | Adam Friedman | United States | $248,254 |
| Event #23: $3,000 6-Handed Limit Hold’em | 213 | $568,710 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | $142,147 |
| Event #24: $1,000 FLIP & GO | 1,329 | $1,182,810 | Christopher Chatman | United States | $187,770 |
| Event #25: $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack | 4,062 | $2,859,648 | Rajaee Wazwaz | United States | $358,346 |
| Event #26: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship | 92 | $857,900 | Jonathan Cohen | United States | $245,678 |
| Event #27: $1,500 Shootout No-Limit Hold'em | 1,000 | $1,335,000 | Michael Simhai | United States | $240,480 |
| Event #28: $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha | 106 | $5,074,750 | Robert Cowen | UK | $1,393,816 |
| Event #29: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw | 437 | $583,395 | Maxx Coleman | United States | $127,809 |
| Event #30: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha | 1,891 | $1,682,990 | Daniel Weinman | United States | $255,359 |
| Event #31: $10,000 Triple Draw Championship | 118 | $1,100,350 | Brian Hastings | United States | $292,146 |
| Event #32: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. | 773 | $1,031,955 | Steven Albini | United States | $196,089 |
| Event #33: $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em | 1,348 | $3,599,160 | Nino Ullmann | Germany | $594,079 |
| Event #34: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Holdem | 1,774 | $2,368,290 | Justin Pechie | United States | $365,899 |
| Event #35: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Event | 281 | $625,225 | Lok Chan | Hong Kong | $144,338 |
| Event #36: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo | 471 | $628,785 | Ali Eslami | United States | $135,260 |
| Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker | 7,961 | $10,627,935 | |||
| Event #38: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Championship | 121 | $1,128,325 | Pedro Bromfman | Brazil | $294,616 |
| Event #39: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha | 719 | $1,919,730 | Fabian Brandes | Germany | $371,358 |
| Event #40: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship | 137 | $1,277,525 | Daniel Zack | United States | $324,174 |
| Event #41: $1,000 Turbo Bounty NLH (freezeout) | 2,227 | $1,982,030 | Ramsey Stovall | United States | $191,268 |
| Event #42: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em | 62 | $5,998,500 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $1,897,363 |
| Event #43: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Holdem | 4,786 | $2,010,120 | David Perry | United States | $241,729 |
