Pei Li Crowned Champion in Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha ($190,219)
Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha is in the books after 6 and a half hours of play on the final day. The new champion is Pei ''Jerry'' Li who wins $190,219 and his first bracelet. On top of first place prize money, he also acquired a $500 bounty for each player he knocked out during the tournament.
The event itself saw a field of 1,390 entrants, many of which were reentries by players that busted before late registration ended at Level 9 of Day 1. Many names came and fell through the course of Day 1, including: Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Dan Weinman. Player of the Year first place leader Dan Zack made the money, building on his lead in the POY standings as the WSOP reaches its final week.
Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout |
| 1 | Pei Li | Canada | $190,219 |
| 2 | Nolan King | USA | $117,545 |
| 3 | Raul Esquivel | USA | $85,739 |
| 4 | Eemil Tuominen | Finland | $63,231 |
| 5 | William Gross | USA | $47,153 |
| 6 | Eric Lescot | Belgium | $35,561 |
| 7 | Ryan Scully | USA | $27,125 |
| 8 | Konstantin Angelov | Bulgaria | $20,930 |
| 9 | Diogo Veiga | Portugal | $16,339 |
Day 2 saw 124 players return for their chance at gold, with many returning WSOP champions looking to book another bracelet. Some players that made Day 2 but fell just short were: Connor Drinan (24th), Ankush Mandavia (19th) and Day 1 chip leader, Tamel Kamel (17th). Kamel had a rough day after he had built on his chip lead before getting short and ultimately busting just before the final two table redraw.
Day 3
It took ten sixty-minute levels of play to get down to the final nine players before play was halted for the night. Those final nine didn’t take long to get action going on Day 3 though. The short stacked bracelet winner Diogo Veiga finished ninth for $16,339 after he ran into the aces of Raul Esquivel.
Next to fall was Konstantin Angelov, who has been on fire lately after winning Event #64: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack ($199,466) just a couple of weeks ago. The Bulgarian has been running and playing great to navigate such big fields. He will have to wait for another shot at his second bracelet, however, since he finished eighth for $20,930.
The charismatic Ryan Scully was our seventh place finisher, taking $27,125 for his efforts after the runner-runner flush of Nolan King got there to bust his straight after they got it all in on the flop. Scully was upbeat the entire event, making sure everyone heard him if he won a big pot and cracking jokes with his tablemates.
In sixth place was Eric Lescot, who took $35,561 after a blind on blind duel with King when he ran a set of eights into a set of nines. The Belgium-based player finished with his best World Series of Poker result to date.
Out in fifth place was William Gross, after getting all in preflop and flopping the best hand, then King hit runner-runner on him. His fifth place finish was good for $47,153 plus bounties.
The Finnish player, Emil Tuominen got it in good on a flop with pocket aces against the gut shot straight draw of King. King continued running good and binked his gutter on the turn to bust Tuominen in fourth for $63,231.
Esquivel was then eliminated in third Place for $85,739 after Li sent him to the rail with a flush. Esquivel was mostly quiet through the final table and laddered well during all the action.
When heads-up play began, Li had a nearly 2-to-1 chip lead over King, but it switched back again when King flopped a set and got action from Li’s pocket aces, betting all in and getting called to double up King. The lead then switched twice more before the chip stacks evened out at 17,000,000 each. King then chipped away at Li, with Li getting chipped down to 8,000,000.
King, who had been enjoying beers with his rail (Kyle Julius, Ben Lamb, and others) had been potting it blind from the button, making the pots a little bigger than they would otherwise be. Li battled back to even once again with these inflated pots going his way before Li won a big one leaving King with 4,250,000. King then on doubled the next hand to stay in contention.
Both players agreed to skip two levels, making their stacks a lot more shallow. King ended up getting his last 3,900,000 in versus a 2,000,000 continuation bet from Li and being up against top pair. Li held up for the win and bracelet as King finished second.
Winner's Reaction
PokerNews caught up with Jerry Li after his win and asked him about his win and what he'd do with his prize and he responded saying ''No, nothing right now''. Perhaps he was a little speechless and tired after the grind to get the bracelet.
"The blind levels were raised at the request of King, by two levels near the end, and you agreed to it, why was that?"
He responded ''He's a very aggressive player, but so am I, so it made it a fun time heads up [to play for bigger pots]." It may have been a sign of both players wanting to get the tournament done after hours of heads-up play that saw the chip lead shift many, many times.
A fantastic win for Li who adds to his circuit ring victory, though you can be sure this one feels a lot more special. The Canadian player who is a pot-limit omaha specialist, will no doubt be back to playing on GGPoker, where he plays pot-limit omaha cash, as well as hold'em. This is the first bracelet for a player from Alberta, Canada, shockingly, where pot-limit omaha cash games run frequently. It's fitting that the first win for Alberta is in PLO.
That wraps up Event #74: $1,500 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha. Congratulations to the winner Pei ''Jerry'' Li on his first World Series of Poker bracelet.
Stayed tuned for all the up to date action from the Main Event and all other events running as the last week of the 2022 WSOP continues, live from Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.
