Berkey and Miscikowski Spearhead Final 22 in Event #78: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Welcome to the third and final day of action of Event #78: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em at the 2022 World Series of Poker, which gets underway at 2 p.m. PDT inside Bally's and Paris Las Vegas.
The first two days of play have seen the initial 1,364-entry field whittled down to just 22 players remaining. They're battling it out for the lion's share of the $3,034,900 prize pool, with the WSOP bracelet and $499,636 up top being awarded to the winner.
Leading the lineup is WSOP bracelet winner David Miscikowski, a player that was implicated in the Bryn Kenney RTA/cheating scandal, as part of a stable that allegedly colluded during thousands of online tournaments. The American bagged the biggest stack in Day 2 and finds himself with a 6,050,000 stack.
Hot on his heels, and looking for his first piece of WSOP hardware is Matt Berkey. The BetMGM Poker ambassador was in the upper echelons of the chip counts for most of Day 2 and finished with a stack of 5,430,000. Berkey has notched two third-place finishes in two WSOP events in previous years and will be looking to make his first WSOP final table since 2017.
Thomas MacDonald (3,935,000) rounds out the top three chip stacks and is only a big pot away from catching up with the two front runners. Other notables remaining include Santiago Plante (2,920,000), Kenny Hallaert (1,425,000), and WSOP bracelet winners Ran Koller (2,270,000) and James Gilbert (1,330,000).
Those still in the tournament have locked up a guaranteed payday of $16,860, with the first pay jump coming at 17th place, where the payout increases to $20,585.
Play resumes on Level 26, with the blinds at 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante. Levels will increase every 60-minutes and a 15-minute break will take place every two levels. Day 3 will not end until a winner is crowned.
Event #78: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | CHIPS | BIG BLINDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Miscikowski | United States | 6,085,000 | 101 |
| 2 | Matt Berkey | United States | 5,430,000 | 91 |
| 3 | Thomas MacDonald | United Kingdom | 3,935,000 | 66 |
| 4 | Sebastien Aube | Canada | 3,130,000 | 52 |
| 5 | Nicolas Vayssieres | France | 3,100,000 | 52 |
| 6 | Luke Martinelli | Australia | 2,955,000 | 49 |
| 7 | Santiago Plante | Canada | 2,920,000 | 49 |
| 8 | Ran Koller | Israel | 2,270,000 | 38 |
| 9 | Julien Loire | France | 2,060,000 | 34 |
| 10 | Alexander Farahi | United States | 1,905,000 | 32 |
As always, tick it out with PokerNews to follow the final day of this exciting event.
showing, Matt Berkey bet 350,000 from late position. The only other player in the hand was Ran Koller in the hijack who called.
and Berkey checked to Koller who threw out 800,000. Berkey counted out his chips and sat in the tank for a few minutes before deciding to call. Koller flipped over 
for top two pair and Berkey mucked without showing.
. The 
turn further strengthened the short stack's hand. However the 
river gave Etheridge a full house to secure the bust out.
hitting trips for Farahi right off the bat but Turchi still had a chance to hit a nine to save him. The turn was a 
and with a 
showing, Nenad Dukic raised from under the gun to 275,000 and was re-raised to 575,000 from Axel Hallay in the small blind. Dukic shoved all in, Hallay called and the cards were on their backs. 
showed up on the turn and with a 
on the river, Hallay was the only one to end up with a pair and sent Dukic to the rail in 20th place.
river.
flop put Farahi in the lead but the 
river completed the board.
