2022 WSOP Recap: Highlights So Far

Kate Kopp Grabs First Gold Bracelet

The first WSOP event of 2022 saw Kate Kopp take home her first ever gold bracelet in the $500 Casino Employees Event No-Limit Hold’em tournament.

Kopp is no stranger to the felt - as a long-time dealer and poker player from Cleveland, Ohio, she managed to navigate a field of 832 players and claim the top prize of $65,168. Kopp has now played in eight WSOP events throughout the years, but this is the first time her name joins the list of gold bracelet winners.

After finishing third in the same event back in 2018, this victory means a lot to Kopp and her family. In a post-win interview she said:

My whole family plays poker. My grandpa taught us. My brother and sister both have rings and even my nine and 10-year-olds know how to play.

Kolev Turns $1,500 Into $1.1 Million

Over the years there have been plenty of interesting outfits spotted at the tables, but on Day 23 of the series we saw perhaps the most interesting piece of poker attire ever witnessed... a KFC bucket worn as a hat.

This was an extremely bold move by the Bulgaria pro, Yuliyan Kolev, but it only earned respect as he cashed in $1,125,189 after outwitting the other 7,960 entrants. Support from the rail couldn't have been stronger, as his entire team joined him with the fast food headwear.

The Millionaire Maker victory makes Kolev a two-time WSOP champion and delivers the greatest score of his career, bringing his total earnings to $2,804,010. The final hand, saw Kolev defeat Oren Rosen heads-up with pocket aces prevailing against queen-jack, which secured an infamous WSOP victory and perhaps a sponsorship for deep fried chicken...

Fourth Bracelets: David Peters and Scott Seiver

David Peters and Scott Seiver have both grabbed their fourth WSOP titles this year. Seiver landed a cool $320,059 in Event #3: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout, while Peters added just a little to his bank balance, with a $1,166,810 score in Event #2: $100,000 High Roller Bounty.

Peters competed in the brand new event with only 45 other entrants, where every knockout was worth $25,000. Though the field was small, the names were huge... Peters duked it out with the likes of Phil Ivey, Ali Imsirovic, Dario Sammartino and ultimately faced Chance Kornuth heads up to battle it out for the win.

With such legends joining him at the table, it's no surprise Peters was ecstatic after defeating Kornuth:

“It’s always nice to beat someone that’s hot, and someone that is a great player,” Peters told PokerGO. “It was nice to beat a player like that for sure.”

It comes as no surprise this victory means so much, as it moves Peters to fifth place on poker's all-time money list, with lifetime earnings totalling $40,165,579.

Seiver, also one of the most infamous high-stakes players in the world, bagged his fourth piece of WSOP jewellery too.

Henry Acain and Event #5

Event #5: $500 Housewarming became the fourth largest live WSOP tournament of all time with a staggering 20,080 entrants. The mammoth field built a top prize of $701,215 and Henry Acain fought his way through the competition to bag his first ever WSOP gold bracelet.

On the final day, he battled against start-of-the-day chip leader Christian Taylor to secure pole position for the final table. It was smooth sailing for Acain, who used the big stack to bully his way round the table. By the final hand he held a major chip lead and was able to crack Jared Kingery’s pocket aces to take the victory.

Dan Smith Wins First-Ever WSOP Bracelet

Dan Smith, long regarded as one of the best poker players without a WSOP bracelet, has finally broken the curse. He sits 7th on the all-time money list but had somehow never taken a World Series title before this year's Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up Championship.

WIth 48 WSOP events to his name, it's no surprise that this victory was so important to Smith:

“I’m not typically a very sentimental person,” said Smith. “I remember before the One Drop final table, everyone was like, ‘how important is it for you to be playing for this bracelet?’ and I was, ‘I’m focused on the $10 million today.’ Today it really is, and was about the bracelet.”

Chad Eveslage and Jake Schindler Score High Roller Gold

High roller tournaments are always a hit at the World Series and this year saw the largest entry field in history for a high roller event. Event #8: $25,000 NL Hold’em High Roller hosted 251 players, all with hopes to bag the top prize of $1,415,610. But Chad Eveslage came out on top and was joined by Jake Schindler as runner up, who bagged a cool $874,915.

Schindler also made his way onto the felt for Event #12: $50,000 NL Hold’em High Roller where he landed his first ever gold bracelet and the $1,328,068 prize.

The two results put Schindler atop the WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard and the 2022 PGT leaderboard, as well as placing him 11th on the all time money list. Not bad for a week's work...

2022 World Series of Poker - Results So Far