Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or whichever holiday celebration you follow) is just around the corner, but poker isn’t taking any breaks. On both sides of the Atlantic, major tournament schedules are underway. The play in these events should capture the attention of poker’s fandom and keep them entertained up to Santa’s drop down the chimney.
World Poker Tour World Championship Underway in Las Vegas
The World Poker Tour has been building to this moment throughout the entirety of 2022. The WPT World Championship, which will crown the tour’s version of the World Champion and determine the 2022 WPT Player of the Year, is underway at the Wynn Las Vegas. The tournament schedule kicked off earlier this week with the WPT Prime (formerly known as the WPT DeepStacks), and to say the players were ready for it was a huge understatement.
Day 1A of the $1000 unlimited reentry tournament saw 1205 entries hit the tables throughout action on Thursday. It wasn’t just those looking to make their name, either. Popular pros such as Curt Kohlberg, David ‘The Dragon’ Pham, Dylan Linde, Jeremy Ausmus, and former WSOP World Champion Joseph McKeehen were all a part of the action, with all driving deep into the night.
It was Rick Mechammil who was the most fortunate (or skillful, take your pick) of the 150 players who survived the Day 1A carnage, however. Mechammil surged to a stack of 733,000 to sit atop the mountain and wait for Day 1B to complete its action on Friday. The official chip counts have yet to be released, but tentative info from the WPT indicates this is the Top Five players:
1. Rick Mechammil, 733,000
2. Lars Kamphues, 687,000
3. Kodey Hammer, 649,000
4. Tommy Tran, 618,000
5. Peter Mugar, 586,000
The WPT Prime Championship will continue its play at noon (Pacific time) on Friday and late registration will be open until around 5 PM. The guarantee on the tournament is $2 million, something that is within sight and should be shattered considering the numbers that came out for its initial action.
European Poker Tour Settles in Czech Republic to End Season
The European Poker Tour has settled down at King’s Casino in Rozvadov for its season-ending action in the 2022 EPT Prague. The EPT started its year-end festival on Wednesday, with the cards in the air for the €10,000 Mystery Bounty tournament. That tournament concluded last night after 68 players took their shot at glory and cash in the form of bounties.
In this bounty event, half of the money was set aside for the survivors of the tournament to split up. The other half of the money was handed out in knockout bounties, ranging from €1000 up to €50,000. Thus, all the players were looking to capture at least a piece of the overall prize pool through their play in the tournament.
Three players who didn’t get close to the money – Sam Greenwood, Mike Watson, and Pablo Brito Silva – were fortunate enough to draw big cash when they eliminated players. Greenwood and Watson both selected €25,000 bounty tickets, while Silva picked up a €10,000 prize. The rest of the bounty pool – and the overall prize pool – went to those who cashed in the tournament.
By knocking out the final three players in the tournament, Rodrigo Seiji was able to bank €27,5000 in bounties, but more importantly he picked up the EPT trophy and the €95,880 that went to the champion. Jorryt van Hoof was the player he defeated in heads-up play, with van Hoof taking home €62,320 along with the biggest bounty of €50,000. Here’s the rest of the players who earned their way to the final table of the Mystery Bounty event.
1. Rodrigo Seiji (Brazil), €95,880 (€27,500 in bounties added on)
2. Jorryt van Hoof (Netherlands), €62,350 (€50,000)
3. Jamil Wakil (Canada), €44,260 (€35,000)
4. Maher Nouira (Tunisia), €34,040 (€7500)
5. Mark Hammond (United Kingdom), €26,210 (€32,500)
6. Conor Beresford (United Kingdom), €20,130 (€10,000)
7. Steve O’Dwyer (Ireland), €15,500 (€117,500)
8. Emil Bise (Switzerland), €11,990
9. Ognyan Dimov (Bulgaria), €9270
The 2022 EPT Prague will be playing out over the next two weeks, with the Main Event set to start on December 12. There will also be a High Roller (€10,000) beginning on December 16 and Super High Roller (€50,000) on December 11, plus another €3000 Mystery Bounty tournament. It will end the Season XIX schedule for the EPT at what has become their traditional closing festival.
