John Smith, Phil Ivey Among Those Advancing to Round 3 in Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship
The opening two rounds of Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship have been completed, leaving just 16 players to return for Round 3 on Thursday. Among them is none other than heads-up specialist John Smith who is looking to make another deep run in this event.
Smith, who often only plays the Heads-Up Championship event at the World Series of Poker, has been known for making his presence felt at the table. The 75-year-old finished runner-up in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017, accumulating over $400,000 in the process.
To kick things off in 2022 at the WSOP, Smith got past Michael Rocco in the first round but had a formidable opponent in Ali Imsirovic in the second round. Despite falling behind early, Smith was able to wrestle the chip lead away from the #1 GPI ranked player in the world. Holding a five-to-one chip lead, Smith finished the job with pocket jacks against the ace-seven of Imsirovic, sending Smith to Round 3 where he will take on Dylan Destefano.
Another big name that accumulated a massive rail throughout the day was Phil Ivey who is making his return to the WSOP this year. Ivey pushed his way past online heads-up specialist Henri Puustinen in the opening round and made short work of Jeremy Ausmus in Round 2. Ivey will be facing off against Kevin Rabichow in Round 3 as a potential matchup with Smith looms should they both advance.
The field reached its capacity of 64 players with many of the high-stakes professionals taking their shot at winning a WSOP gold bracelet. Unfortunately for the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, Shaun Deeb, Phil Galfond, and David Peters, they were unable to get out of the opening-round matches. Others like Mikita Badziakouski, Joao Vieira, Darren Elias, and Cary Katz dropped out in the second round.
With just 16 players returning for Round 3 tomorrow, players will only have to win one more match to reach the money and lock up a min-cash of $75,045. Each of them will have their sights set on winning three more matches and walking away with over $500,000 and the WSOP bracelet.
Prizepool & Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st | $509,717 |
| 2nd | $315,029 |
| 3rd-4th | $193,537 |
| 5th-8th | $75,045 |
The action will get underway at 2 p.m. local time in the purple section of the Paris ballroom. Two more rounds will be on the schedule with the final four matchups taking place on Thursday. A couple of other intriguing matchups to keep an eye on tomorrow include the all-German affair between 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir and high-stakes pro Christoph Vogelsang. Meanwhile, a couple of Americans in Alex Foxen and Dan Smith will also be duking it out on the lower half of the draw.
Keep it locked here as the PokerNews live reporting team will bring you all of the live updates throughout the tournament en route to crowning another bracelet winner.