Ryan Riess Day 2abc
Ryan Riess won through on Day 2abc of the 2022 WSOP Main Event.

Day 2abc of the WSOP Main Event saw a packed Bally’s and Paris casinos play down to Day 3 in style as past champions, new hopefuls and… Darth Vader – sort of – participated in this year’s WSOP Main Event Day 2. With players able to enter with a reduced stack, we saw the grand entrance of Phil Hellmuth, a quick bust-out for the PokerBrat and plenty more besides. In two other events, play got underway in a big-value One Drop event and a Mixed Omaha event that saw another big field in this year’s WSOP.

 

Main Event Drama as Hellmuth Lasts One Hour, Two Former Winners Survive

 

The first Day 2 flight of this year’s WSOP Main Event took place as Phil Hellmuth made his grand entrance and three Day 1 flights combined into the first of two Day 2s. With registration open until the end of the first two levels, some chose this day to make their entrance, and none did it more dramatically than Phil Hellmuth. Walking into the cardroom with the sound of John Williams’ Imperial March theme from Star Wars ringing in his ears, Hellmuth sat down to a chorus of cheers and boos, playing the pantomime baddie to perfection. Sadly for fans of the Poker Brat, Hellmuth wouldn’t win a single hand and was busto just 60 minutes later.

 

While Hellmuth struggled to find the force, plenty of others thrived, including two former WSOP Main Event winners in Ryan Riess and Joe McKeehen. Riess, the 2013 champion, won the Main the first time he stepped inside the walls of the Rio, and he will attempt to do the same this year at Bally’s, and in doing so become the first man to win two Main Events in the modern era. Collecting 275,000 chips, he finished with a deal more than the 2015 world champion McKeehen, who piled up 118,000 by the close of play.

 

Chip leader at the end of Day 2abc was Gavin Munroe, who ended up with 1,067,500 chips after going on a great late run. He was followed in the chipcounts by Karim Rebei who finished with 932,000 chips, with Nick Howard (810,000) a little further behind. With other big names such as Jason DeWitt (529,000), Jeremy Wien (497,500) and Tag Team co-winner Espen Jorstad (463,500) all in the top 40, it promises to be quite a Day 3 on the cards.

 

Phil Hellmuth may have busted but he was not the only one, with Bertrand Grospellier, Clayton Maguire, Shawn Daniels, Kenny Hsiung, Chris Brammer, James Canderaro and Daniel Alaei all on the rail before the close of play.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #70 $10,000 Main Event Top 10 Chipcounts:                          

 

  1. Gavin Munroe – 1,061,500
  2. Karim Rebei – 932,000
  3. Nick Howard – 810,500
  4. Ariya Iwato – 755,500
  5. Steven Stolzenfeld – 708,500
  6. Ayaz Mahmood – 618,000
  7. Franco Gasparini – 584,000
  8. Sergio Castelluccio – 570,500
  9. Aliaksandr Shylko – 558,500
  10. Richard Lee – 555,500

 

Liu Leads One Drop Event After Packed Day 1a

 

After a long opening day at the felt, Day 1a of the $1,111-entry One More One Drop event saw 841 entries, with 253 survivors making Day 2. Renmei Liu was the chip leader at the close of play with 445,500 chips, but he was closely followed by players such as Justin Lee (357,000), Rommel Berges (350,000), Justin Fawcett (348,500), Niko Koop (329,000) and Mateusz Moolhuizen (257,000).

 

Other big names to end the day with chips included Brian Green (159,000), Matt Berkey (101,500), Brett Shaffer (90,500) and Cherish Andrews (64,500), with plenty more entries guaranteed over the next few days. Last year’s event saw 3,797 entrants topped by Scott Ball on his way to becoming the NLHE Player of the Year for an extra $25,000.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #71 $1,111 One More for One Drop Top 10 Chipcounts:      

                     

  1. Renmei Liu – 445,500
  2. Justin Fawcett – 438,500
  3. Justin Lee – 357,000
  4. Rommel Berges – 350,000
  5. Aaron Earthman – 347,500
  6. Adam Weinraub – 344,000
  7. David Childs – 339,000
  8. Garith Rodgers – 334,000
  9. Niko Koop – 329,000
  10. Michael Thach – 328,500

 

Krickl the Leader in Mixed Omaha Bracelet Event

 

Kate Krickl (280,500) leads the field in Event #72, the $1,500-entry Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better event, with 771 players taking part in the only Day 1 of this mixed game event. At the close of play, Krickl was followed by Mark Erickson (262,000) and David Prociak (244,000), as 223 players saw their names go into the metaphorical hat for the Day 2 seat draw.

 

With other big names such as Chance Kornuth (207,500), Dylan Weisman (186,500), Men ‘The Master’ Nguyen (147,500), Scott Clements (142,000) and Barny Boatman (135,500) all progressing, Day 2 should be a doozy as players battle it out to get closer to the $195,565 top prize and that priceless gold WSOP bracelet.

 

WSOP 2022 Event #72 $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo Top 10 Chipcounts:                        

 

  1. Kate Krickl – 280,500
  2. Mark Erickson – 262,000
  3. David Prociak – 244,000
  4. Giuseppe Liantonio – 243,000
  5. James Chen – 223,500
  6. Lisa Ahumada – 220,500
  7. Michael Hernke – 219,500
  8. Rob Hollink – 219,000
  9. Andres Korn – 208,000
  10. Chance Kornuth – 207,500

 

Jason Mercier may not be playing the WSOP Main Event but his wife Natasha is, and with her husband’s blessing, too. Gotta love the Merciers.

 

 

It would appear Barstool Nate has some plans for next year’s World Series of Poker. Big plans.

 

 

You’ve heard of the Mystery Bounty at the WSOP. So what about the Misery Bounty? We’re here for it, that’s what.

 

 

It was certainly a miserable hour at the felt for Phil Hellmuth as the Poker Brat busted the Main Event inside 60 minutes without winning a hand!

 

 

Patrick Leonard followed up on his own advice for the WSOP Main Event… by busting with a premium hand.

 

 

Finally, Matt Glantz shared a pretty heartwarming tribute to a famous friend of his in the poker world as he told the world that winning $1 million wasn’t the luckiest day of his life.

 

 

Official photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the home of live-streamed action throughout the 2022 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.