| 18+ | Play Responsibly | T&C Apply
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired
Expired

Dan Smith Gets Monkey Off His Back with First WSOP Bracelet

Dan Smith Gets Monkey Off His Back with First WSOP Bracelet

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) awarded three more bracelets over the weekend to bring the total number up to five players who found WSOP glory early in the festival at the Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.

Poker legend Dan Smith (lead image) finally got the monkey off his back and won his first career bracelet in Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship after defeating Christoph Vogelsang during the final heads-up match for $509,717. Vogelsang took away a bit of the spotlight as his play created some controversy with the Poker Twitter community with Vogelsang tanking in what many believed were routine spots.

Meanwhile, Scott Seiver and Brad Ruben joined the club of four-time bracelet winners over the weekend. Read on to learn more.

Dan Smith Wins His First Bracelet

With nearly $38 million in live poker tournament earnings as tracked by The Hendon Mob, Dan Smith was arguably the most successful poker tournament player to never win a WSOP bracelet. That all changed over the weekend after Smith won the 64-player $25,000 Heads-Up Championship for $509,717.

Smith has had numerous close calls in the past at the WSOP with two runner-up performances and six third-place finishes and has an impressive $10,577,904 in WSOP earnings alone.

"It was always something I was thinking about," Smith said to PokerNews after the victory. "But I wasn't overly stressed about it not happening yet."

Smith faced a tough line-up in Jake Daniels, Laszlo Butjas, Alex Foxen, Jonathan Jaffe, and Dario Sammartino, before facing Christoph Vogelsang heads-up.

It was a back-and-forth affair for the final match. Smith took the lead for the final time when his sixes were good against Vogelsang’s ace-five suited. Moments later, Smith won the title on a bad beat when his ace-four got there against ace-ten.

As mentioned in the intro, Vogelsang generated some controversy among high-profile poker players about what they perceived to be tanking including Scott Seiver, who already won his fourth bracelet this festival.

While many were quick to suggest that the WSOP adopt a time-clock for some if not all events, and some were even asking the WSOP for an outright ban of Vogelsang, Smith had a different take.

"Big buy-in, tough field, every match super tough,” Smith said. “People love to give Christoph a hard time but he's a hell of a player. He's tanking because he's really considering every spot. I didn't steal a pot easily, every pot was a fight. This was one of the cooler ones to win."

WSOP Event #5: $25K HU Championship Final Table Results

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Dan SmithUnited States$509,717 
2Christoph VogelsangGermany$315,029 
3Dario SammartinoItaly$193,537 
4Kevin RabichowUnited States$193,537 
5Sean WinterUnited States$75,045 
6Jonathan JaffeUnited States$75,045 
7Chance KornuthUnited States$75,045 
8Dylan DestefanoUnited States$75,045 

Scott Seiver Wins Bracelet #4

Scott Seiver Wins Fourth WSOP Bracelet

Earlier this festival, David Peters won his fourth bracelet. Scott Seiver matched him over the weekend with his fourth career bracelet after besting a field of 752 entries in Event #3: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em to win the $320,059 top prize.

Perhaps there was some Lady Luck involved as Seiver eliminated both Alexander Farahi (second - $197,806) and David Goodman (third - $139,193) with pocket queens en route to the title.

Scott Seiver Bracelet Wins

YearEventEntriesPrize
2008Event #21: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em731$755,891 
2018Event #52: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship114$296,222 
2019Event #62: $10,000 Razz116$301,421 
2022Event #3: $2,500 Freezeout NLH752$320,059 

WSOP Event #3: $2,500 Freezeout Final Table Results

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Scott SeiverUnited States$320,059
2Alexander FarahiUnited States$197,806
3David GoodmanUnited States$139,193
4Steve ZolotowUnited States$99,483 
5Sergio AidoSpain$72,233 
6Nick SchulmanUnited States$53,296 
7Lewis SpencerUnited Kingdom$39,970 
8Chris HunichenUnited States$30,478 
9Aditya AgarwalIndia$23,634 
10Shawn HoodUnited States$18,645 

Brad Ruben Wins Fourth Bracelet

Brad Ruben Wins Fourth Bracelet

Brad Ruben joined Seiver and Peters in the four-bracelet club after winning Event #4: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice for $126,288.

Rubin’s run at the WSOP has been impressive as all four bracelets have come since 2020. Two of the bracelets were earned via WSOP Online Bracelet Events, while last year he also shipped the $1,500 Razz event live at the final year at the Rio.

Brad Ruben Bracelet Wins

YearEventEntriesPrize
2020GGPoker.com Event #62: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha990$220,160 
2021WSOP.com Event #21: $600 PLO 6-Handed551$69,148 
2021Event #42: $1,500 Razz311$99,188 
2022Event #4: $1,500 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed430$126,288 

WSOP Event #4: $1,500 Dealer's Choice Final Table Results

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Brad RubenUnited States$126,288 
2Jaswinder LallyCanada$78,048 
3Naoya KiharaJapan$52,282 
4Ben YuUnited States$35,793 
5Jorge WalkerUnited States$25,056 
6Charles BransfordUnited States$17,944 
7Alfred AtamianUnited States$13,153 

2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Results

EventEntriesPrize PoolWinnerCountryPrize
Event #1: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em832$349,440 Katie KoppUnited States$65,168 
Event #2: $100,000 High Roller Bounty46$3,000,500 David PetersUnited States$1,166,810 
Event #3: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em752$1,673,000 Scott SeiverUnited States$320,059 
Event #4: $1,500 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed430$574,050 Brad RubenUnited States$126,288 
Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship64$1,512,000 Dan SmithUnited States$509,717 

*Images and hand data courtesy of the WSOP / PokerNews.

Comment on that

Your message is awaiting approval