Christopher Chatman Flips to Win First WSOP Bracelet in Event #24: $1,000 Flip & Go
The 2022 World Series of Poker in its new home at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas has crowned a new champion as Christopher Chatman was the last player standing in Event #24: $1,000 Flip & Go. The Day 1 chip leader managed to close it out on the final day of play and he secured himself the gold bracelet as well as the first prize of $187,770 from the total prize pool $1,182,810 prize pool.
Day 1 started with the flip portion of the tournament where 8 players bought in to a one hand sit & go where players were given three cards and discarded one after the flop. The winner would secure a seat in the tournament stage where they'd already be in the money. The event attracted 1,329 entries and 157 made it to Stage 2 of the tournament.
Event #24: $1,000 Flip & Go Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout |
| 1 | Christopher Chatman | United States | $187,770 |
| 2 | Rafi Elharar | Israel | $116,050 |
| 3 | Tyler Willse | United States | $85,420 |
| 4 | Ian Steinman | United States | $63,530 |
| 5 | Pete Chen | Taiwan | $47,760 |
| 6 | Austin Apicella | United States | $36,290 |
| 7 | Zach Cheatum | United States | $27,880 |
| 8 | Georgios Sotiropoulos | Greece | $21,660 |
| 9 | Mike Matusow | United States | $17,010 |
Scott Seiver was not one of the 157 as the four-time WSOP bracelet winner fired 43 bullets and didn't win a single time. The field was staked with notables but many like David Peters, Jeff Gross, and Patrick Leonard didn't secure a bag.
Chatman was the clear chip leader at the end of Day 1 where he went into the day with 58 big blinds as play resumed at 12 p.m. local time with 27 left. He dominated throughout and was never far from the chip lead the whole day.
Winner's Reaction
"I'm a recreational player so I have a regular full time job so I just play about once a month. I play some tournaments and cash as well," Chatman said in his post-win interview with PokerNews. "It doesn't even seem like it's real."
Chatman is from North Virginia and said he'd been playing poker since high school but that he got more interested in it after Chris Moneymaker won the Main Event in 2003.
"Actually me and my buddy Jason have been coming out on and off for like a week during the series and playing for a few years," Chatman said.
One of the key hands Chatman played was when he checked back his set of deuces on the river.
"I thought straight after checking back that it was a horrible play. I knew that the guy of my left (Ian Steinman) was a tricky player and I thought he could have been trying to trap me with a set of sevens. There was also a wacky straight that got there as well, but in hindsight, it wasn't a good play on my part."
Chatman also also quick to mention the support he had back home.
"My friend Jason has been sending my wife updates. I'm also texting a handful of people and telling them to go on the PokerNews website. It's super exciting, I wish I didn't have to go home tomorrow."
Recap of the Day
Play resumed at 12 p.m. and players quickly dropped from the field include British player Harry Lodge and bracelet winner Galen Hall, who came into the day as one of the chip leaders. Players were eliminated until a stacked final table was reached which included bracelet winners Mike Matusow, Georgios Sotiropoulos, Pete Chen, and Steinman.
Matusow was the first to go as he was the short stack coming into the final table. Greek player Sotiropoulos quickly followed along with Zach Cheatum as the field thinned. Meanwhile, Austin Apicella was eliminated in sixth as he couldn't get anything going on the final table. Apicella was soon followed to the rail by Chen as the final table entered the endgame.
Going into three handed play Chatman was the chip leader but the stacks soon leveled out as Rafi Elharar doubled with ace-five against Chatman's jack-five in a blind vs blind all-in. This left Chatman, Elharar and Tyler Willse equal on chips.
However, Chatman was still able to close it out eliminating Willse in a brutal flip as the board paired for Chatman's ace-king to beat Willse's pocket threes.
The heads-up battle was a short affair as Chatman continued to bully the table by aggressively stealing the blinds by moving all in as Elharar's stack dwindled to around 10 big blinds.
There was little drama in the final hand where Chatman moved all in with ace-king and was called by Elharar with king-six. The board ran clean for Chatman giving Chatman the win and securing himself the bracelet as we defeated the stacked field to emerge victorious.
Congratulations to Christopher Chatman for winning his first WSOP bracelet in Event #24: $1,000 Flip & Go!
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team all summer long for coverage of your favorite tournaments at the 2022 World Series of Poker.