2022 World Series of Poker

The joint most expensive non-Hold'em tournament of the 2022 World Series of Poker at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas is one step closer to crowning a winner. Out of a field of 106 entries in Event #28: $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, only five players remain and three of them already have at least one of the coveted WSOP gold bracelets to their name.

Bulgaria's Veselin Karakitukov leads the pursuit for the lion's share of the $5,074,750 prize pool after he climbed to the top of the leaderboard on the unofficial final table. The 32-year-old PLO specialist has the vast majority of his live poker cashes in the four-card variant and claimed a stack of 9,755,000 at the end of Day 2.

He is followed by 2011 WSOP Player of the Year and one-time WSOP bracelet Ben Lamb, who has reached his sixth WSOP final table in an Omaha variant and will enter second in chips with 8,215,000. Close behind that is the UK's Robert Cowen, who has 7,935,000 at his disposal and aims to double his tally after winning the maiden WSOP bracelet in Event #80: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha just half a year ago.

Dash Dudley has two WSOP bracelets on his poker resume and both came in PLO tournaments at the 2019 WSOP in Las Vegas and the WSOPE at the King's Resort in Rozvadov. He will start the bid for a third bracelet with 4,185,000 in chips, which is good enough for 28 big blinds.

Last but not least, Jared Bleznick advanced with 1,690,000 in chips and enters as the bottom stack with 11 big blinds. The last player to bust on Day 2 was Jason Mercier on his first appearance during the 2022 WSOP in its new home at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.

Seat Assignments for the Final Day

The penultimate tournament day recommenced with 36 players remaining and more than half of them had to leave the Ballroom at the Paris Hotel without anything to show for. Among others, the WSOP bracelet winners Eelis Pärssinen, Ben Diebold, Erik Seidel, and John Beauprez were all gone much earlier than they had hoped for.

Reigning WSOP player of the year Josh Arieh started as one of the bigger stacks but never gained much traction. After a clash with Aaron Katz, Arieh was left with fumes and he was then eliminated by Aaron Mermelstein shortly thereafter.

The field raced towards the money bubble also thanks to the efforts of Cowen, who knocked out several opponents in quick succession including Krasimir Yankov and Christopher Trang. The final three tables were set only a few minutes later and further high-profile eliminations followed. Ben Yu suffered a cruel exit against Mercier and Dudley then sent Brian Rast to the rail.

On the money bubble itself, Andjelko Andrejevic was the last player to come up short of the payouts. He had previously pranked that the bubble had burst only to then suffer exactly this fate in a preflop contest with Dudley.

Chance Kornuth and start-of-the-day chip leader Joni Jouhkimainen were among those to cash but bow out prior to the unofficial final table, on which Aaron Mermelstein became the first casualty. Scott Seiver ran into the aces of Lamb and Katz took a rough beat against Karakitukov when his pocket aces were cracked by pocket kings despite an ace on the board.

Mercier became the final casualty of the night when his kings failed to hold up against the one-suited rundown of Lamb and that concluded the action for the night. The final five players will return to the feature table in the Bally's Event Center on Wednesday, June 15, at 4pm local time for the live-streamed conclusion of the event.

There will be 18:53 minutes left in Level 26 at blinds of 75,000-150,000 and a big blind ante of 150,000. The cards-up coverage will be available on the PokerGO platform and all PokerNews updates will be published according to the security delay.

Final Table Result and Remaining Payouts

Ben Lamb opened the action with a button raise to 400,000 and Jason Mercier three-bet the pot to 1,350,000 in the small blind. After some consideration, Lamb called as he studied the remaining stack of Mercier and they headed to the flop.

The shove by Mercier for around 1,300,000 followed and Lamb snap-called.

Jason Mercier:
Ben Lamb:

Lamb had a pair to go with his flush draw and the turn provided the flush, while Mercier had improved to a set o kings. The board didn't pair anymore as a blank followed to eliminate Mercier in 6th place for a payday of $260,819.

All five remaining players now bag and tag their chips, all counts and a recap of today's action are to follow.

In the latest edition of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway and Jesse Fullen come to you from the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and talk about the big stories from Bally's and Paris Las Vegas. That includes Phil Hellmuth and other pros testing positive for COVID, Cory Zeidman issuing a statement regarding the federal sports betting charges he's facing, and recapping bracelet winners such as Henry Acain, who won the massive Housewarming Event.

Guests on this episode include recent bracelet winners Scott Seiver, Dan Smith, Brad Ruben, and Amnon Filippi, as well as Matt Berkey, who opens up about his successful Only Friends show.

Click here to listen to the new PN Podcast!

Robert Cowen lost a limped pot to Veselin Karakitukov when he bet the flop for 225,000 and then check-folded the turn.

Cowen then limped the button, Karakitukov did so from the small blind and Dash Dudley checked in the big blind. The flop was checked to Cowen and he bet 625,000 to win the pot.

Two raise and take its later, Cowen raised to 300,000 and Jared Bleznick called on the button. The flop fell and Cowen check-called for 350,000 to then lead the turn for 375,000, which Bleznick called. On the river, Cowen asked for the size of the pot before betting 1,700,000 and Bleznick folded instantly.

Veselin Karakitukov opened to 360,000 in early position and Aaron Katz three-bet to 1,305,000 on the button. The action folded back to Karakitukov who took almost two minutes before making the call.

The flop fell and Karakitukov shoved all in. Katz instantly called off his last 800,000 chips and the cards were on their backs.

Aaron Katz:
Veselin Karakitukov:

Veselin Karakitukov was in rough shape, especially with one of his kings already dead. The on the turn improved Katz to a set of aces but Karakitukov picked up a flush draw. It was the on the river that made Karakitukov's flush and Katz was beside himself at the forthcoming, sending him out in seventh place.

The action folded to Aaron Katz in the small blind who made it 360,000. Ben Lamb called from the big blind and the flop came . Katz ripped all in for his last 615,000 and Lamb quickly called.

Aaron Katz:
Ben Lamb:

The on the turn and the on the river bricked out for Lamb and Katz scored himself a double up.

Jared Bleznick and Aaron Katz limped, as did Robert Cowen in the small blind. Veselin Karakitukov checked in the big blind and the flop was checked all the way. Karakitukov led the turn for 210,000 and Bleznick raised it up to 650,000 in order to win the pot after all opponents folded.

Katz then raised the pot to 420,000 only for Ben Lamb to report to 1,440,000. It folded back to Katz, who also surrendered as well.

Cowen then raised to 240,000 in the cutoff and Bleznick defended the big blind. It was checked by Bleznick on the flop and Cowen's bet worth 480,000 took it down.