WSOP Day 43 Recap: Defending Champion Koray Aldemir Eliminated from Main Event, Hong Wins First Bracelet in Bounty Final

A dramatic day of action in the WSOP Main Event saw a starting field of 123 on Day 5 reduced to just 35 survivors on a sensational day’s play on the WSOP Main Event live stream on PokerGO. On a day when stars of Day 5 such as Zilong Zhang, Dan Smith and Alejandro Lococo all busted the Main Event, there was yet more drama as some new names rose to the top of the leaderboard.

 

Main Event Day 6 Trims Field to 35 Players

 

The biggest news in Main Event terms was the elimination of defending world champion Koray Aldemir. The German player, who won last year for $8 million, took his leave in 75^th place after playing 15 days of Main Event poker without losing his tournament life. All-in and at risk for the first time in this year’s event, Aldemir saw his pocket nines fail to hold against Bryan Kim’s ace-queen as a queen on the flop spelled doom for the German.

 

Kim went on a heater after taking out Aldemir, racing past 30 million chips on his way to a podium finish, alongside Jeffrey Farnes and Philippe Souki from Britain, who continues to go from strength to strength. While Aldemir had busted, there is a former Main Event winner still in contention as the 2020 Hybrid Main Event winner Damian Salas looks to win a ‘live only’ bracelet in this year’s Main Event.

 

Three British players feature in the top 10, as Souki is joined by Andy Taylor (23,900,000) and John Eames (22,450,000), with Eames, in particular, an old favorite of the ‘Brit Pack’ fans who heralded modern talents such as James Akenhead and Sam Holden in the November Nine era of the Main Event. Espen Jorstad (31,475,000), Kenny Tran (8,800,000) and short stack Marco Johnson (3,725,000) are the only bracelet winners remaining in the field other than the 2020 champion Salas.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #70 $10,000 Main Event Day 6 Top 10 Chip Counts:
Position	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Jeffrey Farnes	U.S.A.	37,825,000
2nd	Brian Kim	U.S.A.	33,875,000
3rd	Philippe Souki	United Kingdom	32,475,000
4th	Karim Rebei	France	31,475,000
5th	Espen Jorstad	Norway	31,175,000
6th	Matija Dobric	Croatia	29,550,000
7th	Adrian Attenborough	Australia	28,625,000
8th	Andy Taylor	United Kingdom	23,900,000
9th	Michael Duek	Argentina	22,575,000
10th	John Eames	United Kingdom	22,450,000

 

 Jinho Hong Wins First Bracelet

 

Jinho Hong took the title in Event #76, the $1,979 buy-in Poker Hall of Fame Bounty tournament, for a top prize of $276,067. The day began with Hong in control, chips-wise, followed by Punnat Punsri and that was how the tournament closed out with those two players in the same positions.

 

There was plenty of drama along the way, however, with Hong bumping himself into a massive lead when he knocked out two players in the same hand, Yuri Dzivielevski and George Rotariu both falling to the eventual winner.

 

Daniel Weinman looked like the biggest threat to the leaders, but when he busted in fourth place for $86,730, Punsri took on the mantle of challenger to Hong when his pocket kings beat Jakob Miegel’s pocket tens. Punsri took the lead, but a double-up due to a kicker gave Hong the lead once more but his next attempt to double up would fail with the result of ending the tournament.

 

Shoving with pocket aces, Punsri couldn’t hold as Hong’s ace four prevented the Thani player doubling his 11 big blind stack and instead ended the event in his favor, winning him his first WSOP gold bracelet and the quarter-million-dollar top prize.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #76 $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Jinho Hong	South Korea	$276,067
2nd	Punnat Punsri	Thailand	$170,615
3rd	Jakob Miegel	Germany	$120,756
4th	Daniel Weinman	U.S.A.	$86,730
5th	Pavel Spirins	Latvia	$63,225
6th	Yuri Dzivielevski	Brazil	$46,791
7th	George Rotariu	Romania	$35,164
8th	Bas de Laat	Netherlands	$26,841
9th	Dov Markowich	Canada	$20,814

 

Three Remain as Ryan Riess Chases Second Bracelet in One Drop Event

 

Just three players are left in the hunt for gold in the $1,111-entry One More for One Drop event, with the 2013 Main Event winner Ryan Riess second in chips. Of the trio, Mike Allis (142.7 million) is chief amongst them in terms of chips, but Riess (46.7 million) cannot be written off with his vast experience of winning on the biggest stage.

 

Also fighting for the $535,610 top prize is Basel Chaura, with the third of an all-American finale coming back with 38.6 million chips. With Riess holding 30 big blinds for example, there is still every chance that any of the three remaining players win the title and the gold bracelet.

 

Before the final three were left to sleep on their chances of glory, Niklas Warlch lost out in ninth place for $54,085. He was outlasted by players such as Andrew Robinson (7^th for $87,551) and Mohammed Jafar (4^th or $190,363) as the final stages played down to those three players who will battle for the bracelet tomorrow.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #71 $1,111 One More for One Drop Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Chips / Prize
1st	Mike Allis	U.S.A.	142,700,000
2nd	Ryan Riess	U.S.A.	46,700,000
3rd	Basel Chaura	U.S.A.	38,600,000
4th	Mohammed Jaafar	U.S.A.	$190,363
5th	Leonardo De Souza	Brazil	$145,892
6th	Salah Nimer	U.S.A.	$112,162
7th	Andrew Robinson	U.S.A.	$87,551
8th	Rio Fujita	U.S.A.	$68,562
9th	Niklas Warlich	Germany	$54,085

Salazar Ahead in Lucky 7’s

 

On a huge day for bust-outs, 151 players were reduced to just 11 players by the close of play in Event #77, the $1,500-entry Mixed NLHE/PLO event, with Aden Salazar ending the day in the lead with 9,140,000 chips.

 

Salazar’s stack was more than double that of his nearest challenger, with Noah Bronstein coming in second with 4,200,000 chips. With Daniel Negreanu losing out in 18^th as he fell to the eventual chip leader Salazar, Kid Poker had his aces cracked and he was joined on the rail by players such as Dan Shak, Christian Harder, Connor Drinan and Scott Davies.

 

Of the final 11 players who’ll battle for gold tomorrow, Vincent Lam (3,810,000) sits in third place and may be hard to shift. It is Sandeep Pulusani (1,210,000) who is the only player who will fight for a second bracelet, but he’s short in chips, so there could be a new bracelet winner coming when play resumes and plays down to a winner on Day 44 of the 2022 WSOP.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #77 $1,500 Mixed NLHE/PLO Final Day Chip Counts:
Place	Player	Country	Chips / Prize
1st	Aden Salazar	U.S.A.	9,140,000
2nd	Noah Bronstein	U.S.A.	4,200,000
3rd	Vincent Lam	Canada	3,810,000
4th	Vegard Andreassen	Norway	3,500,000
5th	Daniel Chuprun	U.S.A.	2,040,000
6th	Robert Topham	U.S.A.	1,805,000
7th	Richard Kellett	United Kingdom	1,580,000
8th	Esther Taylor	U.S.A.	1,385,000
9th	Sandeep Pulusani	U.S.A.	1,210,000
10th	William Leffingwell	U.S.A.	1,130,000
11th	Jordan Kaplan	U.S.A.	1,000,000

 

Lucky 7’s Final Day 1 Flight Brings $4,000 Entries

 

An incredible 4,017 entries on Day 1c of the $777 buy-in Lucky Sevens Event #75 saw 166 players survive. They’ll join the 44 Day 1a survivors and 75 who made it from Day 1b for a Day 2 that will take place tomorrow starting with 285 players in seats who will race down to a winner. After a busy day of action in Day 1c, Alon Messica (3,050,000) leads the field while Joseph Elpayaa (2,875,00) and Xinli Ye (2,800,000) both made the podium places.

 

Big names such as Cherish Andrews (2,000,000), Barry Greenstein (545,000), and Joe Serock (455,000) all made the Day 2 seats draw, while other such as Women’s Hall of Famer Kathy Liebert and Jake Schwartz both busted inside the money places. With a top prize of $777,777, it promises to be some race the line.

 

 

WSOP 2022 Event #75 $777 Lucky 7's Top 10 Chip Counts:
Position	Player	Country	Chips
1	Alon Messica	Canada	3,050,000
2	Joseph Elpayaa	U.S.A.	2,875,000
3	Xinli Ye	U.S.A.	2,800,000
4	Artem Metalidi	Ukraine	2,680,000
5	Rodney Turvin	U.S.A.	2,600,000
6	Mike Takayama	Philippines	2,455,000
7	Michael Leanos	U.S.A.	2,070,000
8	Yita Choong	Australia	2,060,000
9	Cherish Andrews	U.S.A.	2,000,000
10	Romans Voitovs	Austria	1,985,000

 

Berkey Chasing Brilliant Miscicowski in $2,500 NLHE Event

 

With 257 players taking on Day 2 of Event #78, the $2,500 entry No Limit Hold’em event, just 22 players remain at the close of play, with David Miscicowski (6,085,000) leading from Solve for Why founder Matt Berkey (5,430,000) in the event which has a $499,636 top prize.

 

Also flying high in the top 10 were Luke Martinelli from Australia (2,955,000) and Ran Koller, who bagged 2,270,000 chips, with the chip leader and Koller the only bracelet winners in the field other than James Gilbert (1,330,000). It is a big day tomorrow, with the bracelet being awarded and a potential first gold trinket of success for the aforementioned Berkey or maybe Kenny Hallaert (1,425,000), who has enjoyed so many deep runs in his career without claiming gold as yet. Players to cash on the day without making the final day included and David Peters, Scott Seiver, Joe Cada, Martin Jacobson, Upeshka De Silva, Scott Seiver and Jack Sinclair.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #78 $2,500 NLHE Top 10 Chip Counts:
Position	Player	Country	Chips
1st	David Miscikowski	U.S.A.	6,085,000
2nd	Matt Berkey	U.S.A.	5,430,000
3rd	Thomas MacDonald	United Kingdom	3,935,000
4th	Sebastien Aube	Canada	3,130,000
5th	Nicolas Vayssieres	France	3,100,000
6th	Luke Martinelli	Australia	2,955,000
7th	Santiago Plante	Canada	2,920,000
8th	Ran Koller	Israel	2,270,000
9th	Julien Loire	France	2,060,000
10th	Alexander Farahi	U.S.A.	1,905,000

 

Razz Championship Sees Stars Turn Out

 

There were 125 entries in the final event of the night to close play for the night, the $10,000-entry Razz Championship Event #79, with players such as Brian Hastings, Daniel Negreanu and Adam Friedman all making the top 10. Chip leader from the 59 survivors is William Kakon with 308,500 chips, but others are hot on his heels, with Hal Rotholz (299,000) and Hastings (263,000) best of them.

 

Daniel Negreanu (240,000) made the top five, while mixed game WSOP legend Adam Friedman (214,000) ended the day eighth in chips, with this year’s $1,5000-entry Razz event winner Daniel Strelitz (52,000) and the defending champion of this Razz Championship bracelet, Benny Glaser (21,000) hanging on for dear life alongside Phil Hellmuth (12,500), who sits at the bottom of the chip counts.

 

Players who busted this event without cashing included Scott Seiver, Nick Guagenti, Chino Rheem, Maria Ho, Ben Lamb, and Allen ‘Chainsaw’ Kessler.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #79 $10,000 Razz Championship Top 10 Chip Counts:
Position	Player	Country	Chips
1st	William Kakon	Morocco	308,500
2nd	Hal Rotholz	U.S.A.	299,000
3rd	Brian Hastings	U.S.A.	263,000
4th	Kyle Dilschneider	U.S.A.	247,000
5th	Daniel Negreanu	Canada	240,000
6th	Amir Nematinia	U.S.A.	228,500
7th	Perry Friedman	U.S.A.	228,000
8th	Adam Friedman	U.S.A.	214,000
9th	David Bach	U.S.A.	210,500
10th	Yueqi Zhu	U.S.A.	198,500

Connect with PokerGO.com on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Watch daily poker clips on the PokerGO YouTube channel. Join the conversation on the PokerGO Discord server.