Tournament of Champions Day 2 | 2022 World Series of Poker

Tournament of Champions

Day 2 Completed

07-19-2022 23:25 UTC-8

Woof Leads Final 16 After Day 2 in Tournament of Champions; Cowen Among the Big Stacks

Christian Zetzsche

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

All but one gold bracelet of the 2022 World Series of Poker in its new home at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas has found a new owner already, and most poker tables in the vast convention centers of the two hotels on the Las Vegas Strip have already been placed in storage. However, one more champion will be crowned on July 20, 2022, as sixteen players out of 470 entries remain in Event #89: Tournament of Champions.

The final tournament on the schedule replaces the former invitation-only Global Casino Championship, which was only available to specific qualifiers of the WSOP Circuit. For the 2022 edition, the field of eligible players was expanded to WSOP bracelet winners of the current summer in "Sin City," as well as 470 of them out of nearly 600 eligible champions entered the fray. They battled for their portion of the $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool in the restricted freeroll, and 16 players remain after 20 levels of 60 minutes each.

Day 2 concluded with Canada's Jonathan Woof atop the leaderboard with a stack of 2,190,000. Only four further finalists have a seven-figure stack at their disposal including Carlos Loving (1,800,000), Robert Cowen (1,685,000), and Benjamin Kaupp (1,250,000) as they possess more than 50 big blinds each. Among the players in the top ten are also two further 2022 WSOP bracelet winners in Yuliyan Kolev and Ali Eslami.

Top 10 Chip Counts After Day Two

Position	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Jonathan Woof	Canada	2,190,000	110
2	Carlos Loving	United States	1,800,000	90
3	Robert Cowen	United Kingdom	1,685,000	84
4	Benjamin Kaupp	United States	1,250,000	63
5	Erik Bauer	Netherlands	985,000	49
6	Gregory Wish	United States	955,000	48
7	Raul Garza	United States	915,000	46
8	Yuliyan Kolev	Bulgaria	870,000	44
9	Ali Eslami	United States	790,000	40
10	Ryan Messick	United States	660,000	33

Nine of the sixteen hopefuls will aim to keep the last WSOP gold bracelet of the series on home soil, while six hail from Europe. All of them have already locked up $7,400 as a boost for their bankroll, while the winner walks away with the top prize of $250,000 and live poker's most sought-after hardware.

The 2022 WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jorstad made an appearance via late registration prior to the start and was one of nine players to attempt spinning up 15 big blinds. However, Jorstad never got up and running to depart in the opening stages. Many other big names would follow without anything to show for such as the former WSOP Main Event champions Joe McKeehen and Joe Cada, Alex Foxen, Stephen Song, Manig Loeser, Ari Engel, and David Jackson to name all but a few.

Last to bow out before the money was none other than Daniel Weinman, who came runner-up to Zack in a close POY race. In one of the most classic setups in No-Limit Hold'em, Weinman got it in for 51 big blinds with pocket kings only for Carlos Loving to snap-call with pocket aces. There were sixty players "loving" the cooler as they all locked up a min-cash of $3,500.

Almost one dozen gold bracelet winners already earned a slice of the prize money courtesy of the WSOP and that also included the 2022 WSOP Player of the Year Dan Zack, who collected a min-cash worth $3,500 to wrap up the inaugural stop at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas. Other notables to bow out in the money on Day 2 were Maxx Coleman, Aleksejs Ponakovs, Gaetan Balleur, Fred Li, Yevgeniy Minakrin, Daniel Strelitz, and Dan Smith.

Coleman got a short stack in with queen-jack only to see Kolev wake up with aces behind to deal the final blow. The Bulgarian was in a very jovial mood all day long and his "woooo" whistles found some mimicking on the same and other tables for hours to follow.

One of the noteworthy clashes inside the money saw Ryan Messick at risk with ace-king suited against the pocket kings of Christopher Bissinger and an ace appeared in the window. Messick had only qualified in the early morning hours on July 18 in Pennsylvania and jumped on a plane right away, he will be among the 16 returning hopefuls while Bissinger departed in 22nd place.

The final day of the Tournament of Champions and the 2022 WSOP will recommence at 11 a.m. local time on the two Horseshoe Feature tables. Recommencing blinds in level 21 will be 10,000-20,000 with a big blind ante of 20,000. Once the field has reached the final five or six contenders, the action will also be picked up by the PokerGO live stream as well with the broadcast to get underway as of 4 p.m. local time.

Stay tuned for the conclusion of the 2022 WSOP as the PokerNews live reporting team will be in the Bally's Event Center until the last gold bracelet has been awarded.

Tags: Aleksejs Ponakovs Alex Foxen Ali Eslami Ari Engel Benjamin Kaupp Carlos Loving Christopher Bissinger Dan Smith Dan Zack Daniel Strelitz Daniel Weinman Espen Jorstad Joe Cada Joe McKeehen Jonathan Woof Maxx Coleman Raul Garza Robert Cowen Ryan Messick Yuliyan Kolev

07-19-2022 22:31 UTC-8

2022 WSOP Event #89 Tournament of Champions: Day 3 Seat Draw

Christian Zetzsche

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Room	Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
Bally's	Feature 1	1	Yuliyan Kolev	Bulgaria	870,000	44
Bally's	Feature 1	2	Gregory Wish	United States	955,000	48
Bally's	Feature 1	3	Ryan Messick	United States	660,000	33
Bally's	Feature 1	5	Carlos Loving	United States	1,800,000	90
Bally's	Feature 1	6	Antoine Vranken	Netherlands	340,000	17
Bally's	Feature 1	7	Robert Cowen	United Kingdom	1,685,000	84
Bally's	Feature 1	8	Eric Bensimhon	France	525,000	26
Bally's	Feature 1	9	Ali Eslami	United States	790,000	40

Bally's	Feature 2	2	Dominick Sarle	United States	425,000	21
Bally's	Feature 2	3	Jonathan Woof	Canada	2,190,000	110
Bally's	Feature 2	4	Ryan Hohner	United States	300,000	15
Bally's	Feature 2	5	Alan Gibson	United States	275,000	14
Bally's	Feature 2	6	Raul Garza	United States	915,000	46
Bally's	Feature 2	7	Gianluca Speranza	Italy	520,000	26
Bally's	Feature 2	8	Erik Bauer	Netherlands	985,000	49
Bally's	Feature 2	9	Benjamin Kaupp	United States	1,250,000	63

07-19-2022 22:26 UTC-8

End-of-Day 2 Counts

Christian Zetzsche

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Jonathan Woof	2,190,000 215,000	215,000

Carlos Loving	1,800,000 585,000	585,000
Robert Cowen	1,685,000 -90,000	-90,000

Benjamin Kaupp	1,250,000

Erik Bauer	985,000 360,000	360,000
Gregory Wish	955,000 -145,000	-145,000
Raul Garza	915,000 -185,000	-185,000
Yuliyan Kolev	870,000 -480,000	-480,000

Ali Eslami	790,000 -410,000	-410,000

Ryan Messick	660,000 -60,000	-60,000
Eric Bensimhon	525,000 355,000	355,000
Gianluca Speranza	520,000 40,000	40,000
Dominick Sarle	425,000 50,000	50,000
Antoine Vranken	340,000 -120,000	-120,000

Ryan Hohner	300,000 -10,000	-10,000
Alan Gibson	275,000 -75,000	-75,000

07-19-2022 22:17 UTC-8

Day 2 Ends

Connor Richards

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Day 2 has ended with the completion of Level 20. Stay tuned for a recap of the day's events.

07-19-2022 22:00 UTC-8

Speranza Under Pressure; Gets a Shove Through

Christian Zetzsche

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Gianluca Speranza raised to 30,000 on the button and Erik Bauer jammed in the small blind to force out the Italian.

One hand later, Speranza made it 30,000 to go again from the cutoff. Benjamin Kaupp three-bet to 90,000 in the small blind and it folded back to Speranza. He gave it some 30 seconds to think and moved all-in for 360,000 in order to force a quick fold from Kaupp.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jonathan Woof	1,975,000 65,000	65,000

Benjamin Kaupp	1,250,000 -90,000	-90,000

Raul Garza	1,100,000 65,000	65,000
Erik Bauer	625,000 95,000	95,000
Gianluca Speranza	480,000 -150,000	-150,000
Dominick Sarle	375,000 45,000	45,000
Alan Gibson	350,000 175,000	175,000
Ryan Hohner	310,000 15,000	15,000

Tags: Benjamin Kaupp Erik Bauer Gianluca Speranza

07-19-2022 21:51 UTC-8

Ivan Deyra Eliminated in 17th Place ($7,400)

Matt Hansen

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Ivan Deyra got the last of it in for around 100,000 and Raul Garza tossed in the chips to attempt a knockout.

Ivan Deyra:
Raul Garza:

The board ran out and Garza made a set of jacks on the flop to eliminate Deyra in 17th place for $7,400.

Player	Chips	Progress
Raul Garza	1,035,000 135,000	135,000
Ivan Deyra	Busted

Tags: Ivan Deyra Raul Garza

07-19-2022 21:45 UTC-8

Redraw of the Final Two Tables

Christian Zetzsche

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Seat	Table 677	Country	Chip Count	Table 678	Country	Chip Count
1	Yuliyan Kolev	Bulgaria	1,350,000	Ivan Deyra	France	100,000
2	Gregory Wish	United States	1,100,000	Dominick Sarle	United States	330,000
3	Ryan Messick	United States	720,000	Jonathan Woof	Canada	1,910,000
4	empty			Ryan Hohner	United States	295,000
5	Carlos Loving	United States	1,215,000	Alan Gibson	United States	175,000
6	Antoine Vranken	Netherlands	460,000	Raul Garza	United States	900,000
7	Robert Cowen	United Kingdom	1,775,000	Gianluca Speranza	Italy	630,000
8	Eric Bensimhon	France	170,000	Erik Bauer	Netherlands	530,000
9	Ali Eslami	United States	1,200,000	Benjamin Kaupp	United States	1,340,000

Player	Chips	Progress
Jonathan Woof	1,910,000 -30,000	-30,000

Robert Cowen	1,775,000

Yuliyan Kolev	1,350,000 250,000	250,000

Benjamin Kaupp	1,340,000

Carlos Loving	1,215,000 -85,000	-85,000
Ali Eslami	1,200,000 270,000	270,000

Gregory Wish	1,100,000 100,000	100,000
Raul Garza	900,000 -100,000	-100,000
Ryan Messick	720,000 75,000	75,000
Gianluca Speranza	630,000
Erik Bauer	530,000 -190,000	-190,000
Antoine Vranken	460,000 -15,000	-15,000

Dominick Sarle	330,000 -70,000	-70,000
Ryan Hohner	295,000 50,000	50,000
Alan Gibson	175,000 -45,000	-45,000
Eric Bensimhon	170,000 -45,000	-45,000
Ivan Deyra	100,000 -40,000	-40,000

07-19-2022 21:42 UTC-8

Daniel Sepiol Eliminated in 18th Place ($6,200)

Christian Zetzsche

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

The two table redraw was imminent but one more hand played out on table 677. Benjamin Kaupp raised to 35,000 and Robert Cowen called in the cutoff. Daniel Sepiol then pushed for 345,000 on the button and that sent both players in the blinds in a short tank before they folded. Kaupp called and Cowen quickly folded right after that.

Daniel Sepiol:
Benjamin Kaupp:

The board left Sepiol drawing dead and he had to settle for 18th place, which comes with a payday of $6,200. All 17 remaining players will now redraw for the final two tables.

Player	Chips	Progress
Robert Cowen	1,775,000 475,000	475,000

Benjamin Kaupp	1,340,000 465,000	465,000

Daniel Sepiol	Busted

Tags: Benjamin Kaupp Daniel Sepiol Robert Cowen

07-19-2022 21:38 UTC-8

Eric Smidinger Eliminated in 19th Place ($6,200)

Christian Zetzsche

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante

Antoine Vranken jammed out of the small blind for 230,000 with the and was called by Eric Smidinger in the big blind with the superior . The board came and Vranken turned the nut flush to double.