Event #42: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em

The 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #42: $100,000 High Roller NLH ended one day sooner than anticipated as the $5,998,500 prizepool was divvied up between the top ten of the 62 total entries with the $1,897,363 grand prize going to Latvia's Aleksejs Ponakovs.

Ponakovs won his second WSOP bracelet, with his first one coming online in November, making the latest one his first live bracelet. Prior to the victory, Ponakovs had amassed over $1.4 million in career live earnings according to The Hendon Mob, with a near-million score coming just a month ago in May at the Triton Poker Series Madrid.

Ponakovs also notably has a 33rd-place finish from the 2013 WSOP Main Event on his resume, meaning that he has been on the felt for some time, but has just now started his surge in winnings. The first player to ever win a bracelet from Latvia in November, he now adds another to the Latvian bracelet tally.

Ponakovs was on cloud nine following the win, "I'm really pleased to finally get the bracelet. There is for sure some good stuff happening right now in my head. I will realize later [as it sinks in]."

He was boosted by his boisterous rail who made roosters a theme due to the flashy shirt of Ponakov, which the rail copied.

"At first I was really laughing about it, but it really helped in the end," he said. He also added that the poker world will be seeing a lot more of him soon: "I am getting better and better in life. I am coming for more events."

2022 WSOP Event #42 Final Payouts

Road to the Bracelet

One of the premier hands of Day 1 went the way of Ponakovs as he made a hero call against defending champion Michael Addamo when max pressure was applied to him. He rode that to second in chips where he would begin the day. He would dip down some in the middle part of the day, but would surge to a big chip lead before the money thanks to a few big hands to put himself in position to become the big stack bully.

As the day unfolded, the story became Phil Ivey's attempt to win his eleventh WSOP bracelet and surprisingly, his first in no-limit hold'em. The poker world tuned in to the Ponakovs vs Ivey heads-up duel, which started with Ponakovs holding a 56%-44% chip lead. But Ivey would take a 2:1 chip lead after picking off a bluff to make it look like the eight-year bracelet drought for Ivey would possibly be coming to an end.

Ivey's chip advantage was short-lived however as Ponakovs would strike back shortly after with two substantial hands that allowed him to regain the lead. Just a few minutes later, Ponakovs called Ivey on the turn with second pair against Ivey's open-ended straight, which failed to connect on the river, and just like that, the brief but eventful heads-up battle was over and Ponakovs was the champion.

Action of the Day

The day began with 23 survivors from Day 1 and eleven late entries added fuel to the fire with max late registration to create the 62-entry total. A few of the last-minute entries hit the rail within a few minutes, including Justin Bonomo and Alex Foxen, who could not get anything going.

From there the eliminations started to build rapidly as the blinds caught up to the short stacks and players were sent away at a steady clip. However, play would slow down substantially on the bubble, which would become a roller coaster affair as it took over 90 minutes to burst the money threshold.

Gregory Jensen dramatically stayed alive with a river queen to keep the bubble going. Seated next to each other, Koray Aldemir and Eric Worre would then get into a micro stacks war as both players were down to a couple of big blinds as Aldemir doubled with a single big blind at one point. Eventually, Aldemir would succumb as the bubble boy and Worre was eliminated shortly after but with $162,623 more in his pocket as he was taken out in tenth place.

Nick Petrangelo was next to go in ninth place after his jacks had been decimated by Jensen's river queen to bring the field to the official final table and satart-of-day chip leader Masashi Oya was eliminated on the same hand in eighth place after he ran into some rough sledding just before the bubble to knock down his once large stack into a short one.

At this point, the decision was made to adjust the schedule and go ahead and finish the final table as opposed to the previously scheduled return for Day 3. Right after that decision, Mikita Badziakouski was felted in seventh place when Ben Heath found a flush on the river and then Talal Shakerchi followed him out the door shortly before the dinner break when his aces went up in flames to the quad kings of Ponakovs.

The players returned from dinner to the PokerGO streaming table in Bally's. Michael Moncek was the first to go there as he made a successful parlay from his bracelet win in Event #13: $1,500 Limit Hold'em to a huge payday here.

Hedge fund manager Jensen then exited in fourth place after he was able to ride his bubble survival all the way to the top four.

Heath was felled in third place when he never able to recover after his aces were cracked by Ivey's flush to bring him from the three-handed chip leader to short stack, where he would soon depart at the hands of Ivey to set up the aforementioned heads-up match.

That wraps it up for the coverage of this thrilling high roller event. Stay tuned for more wire-to-wire 2022 World Series of Poker coverage as PokerNews does not miss a beat this summer.

Phil Ivey raised to 1,000,000 on the button with    and Aleksejs Ponakovs called in the big blind with   . The flop came     and Ponakovs check-called a bet of 1,200,000 from Ivey.

The turn was the   and Ponakovs checked again. Ivey splashed in a bet of 2,600,000 this time with a straight and flush draw. Ponakovs still called with top pair and the   paired the board on the river.

Ponakovs checked once more and Ivey wisely checked it back. Ponakovs revealed his trip kings and Ivey mucked his holding.

Aleksejs Ponakovs	21,675,000	4,800,000
Phil Ivey	15,525,000	-4,800,000

Aleksejs Ponakov made it 700,000 to go on the button with    and Phil Ivey defended from the big blind with   . The flop fell     and both players checked to the   on the turn.

Ivey led out with a bet of 900,000 on the turn with just a straight draw and Ponakovs called with two pair. The   paired the board on the river and Ivey tossed in another bet of 2,000,000. Ponakovs gave it some thought and eventually shoved all in for 11,400,000 after his two pair got counterfeit. Ivey snap-folded and Ponakovs got a reaction from his rail.

Phil Ivey	20,325,000	-3,900,000
Aleksejs Ponakovs	16,875,000	3,900,000

Aleksejs Ponakovs opened to 750,000 on the button with    and Phil Ivey called out of the big blind with   . The flop came     and both players checked to the   on the turn. Ivey fired out a bet of 800,000 and Ponakovs quickly threw his cards to the muck.

On the next hand, Ivey raised to 700,000 with    and Ponakovs three-bet to 2,500,000 with    in the big blind. Ivey was the one to fold this time and the two traded pots in the early going.

Aleksejs Ponakovs	21,225,000	-50,000
Phil Ivey	15,975,000	50,000

Phil Ivey limped in on the button and Aleksejs Ponakovs came along from the small blind. Ben Heath ripped all in for 3,300,000 in the big blind and Ivey called after getting a count. Ponakovs got out of the way and the two hands were tabled.

Ben Heath:   
Phil Ivey:   

The dealer fanned the flop of     and Heath's ace-high was still in the lead. However, the   rolled off on the turn and Ivey nailed a pair of queens. The   completed the board and Heath was ousted in third place, leaving Ivey to battle heads-up with Ponakovs.

Aleksejs Ponakovs	21,275,000	4,975,000
Phil Ivey	15,925,000	2,225,000
Ben Heath	0	-7,200,000

Aleksejs Ponakovs opened to 500,000 on the button with    and Phil Ivey defended from the big blind with   . The flop came     and both players checked to the   on the turn. Ponakovs threw out a bet of 600,000 on the turn and Ivey folded his bottom pair.

On the next hand, Ivey limped in from the small blind with    and Ponakovs checked his option with   . The flop fell     and both players checked to the   on the turn.

Ivey led out with a bet of 400,000 and Ponakovs raised it up to 1,300,000. Ivey called with a straight and flush draw but it was the   that landed on the river. Ivey checked and Ponakovs reached back for a bet of 2,000,000. Ivey deliberated for a moment but decided to send his cards to the muck.

Aleksejs Ponakovs	16,300,000	1,900,000
Phil Ivey	13,700,000	-3,150,000
Ben Heath	7,200,000	1,250,000

Phil Ivey opened from the button to 550,000 with the   . Ben Heath woke up with the    in the big blindand three-bet to 1,850,000. Ivey tossed in the call.

The flop came the    . Heath led for a downsized bet of 1,250,000. Ivey jammed all in, Heath called quickly and the cards were turned up.

Ivey would need to find a club to survive. And he would find it right on the turn as the   came down to leave Heath drawing dead and the river was the   to secure the huge pot for Ivey and cause a chip change at the table.

Phil Ivey	17,200,000	10,400,000
Ben Heath	6,500,000	-8,900,000

Ben Heath raised to 550,000 in the small blind and Michael Moncek ripped all in for 2,830,000 in the big blind. Heath quickly called and Moncek was at risk with the cards on their backs.

Michael Moncek:   
Ben Heath:   

The flop came     which provided no immediate help for Moncek. The   on the turn left him drawing to three outs and the   hit the river to send Moncek home in fifth place.

Ben Heath	7,350,000	2,300,000
Michael Moncek	0	-3,400,000

Phil Ivey raised to 600,000 in the small blind with    and Gregory Jensen bumped it up to 2,300,000 in the big blind with   . The action was back on Ivey who used two of his time banks before opting to send his cards to the muck.

A couple of hands later, Jensen raised to 400,000 on the button with    and Ben Heath defended from the big blind with   . The flop fell     and Heath checked to Jensen who tossed in a bet of 400,000 which got Heath to quickly fold.

Gregory Jensen	7,525,000	1,225,000
Phil Ivey	6,150,000	-1,050,000
Ben Heath	5,050,000	150,000