Event #49: $2,000 No-Limit Holdem

It took an extra day to find a winner in Event #49: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em and Bulgaria's Simeon Spasov emerged as the newest champion at the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) after defeating Mike Watson in heads-up play for $527,944.

The event, which ran for the first time at the 2022 WSOP, drew 1,977 runners and generated a prize pool of $3,519,060.

Spasov, who began the day as one of the short stacks, completed the improbable victory over Watson after cracking aces to survive Day 3 before spinning it up on Day 4. It marked Spasov's first gold bracelet and his best finish after previously running to 19th in the 2021 WSOP $800 Deepstack event.

Event #49: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em Day 4 Results

Day 4 Action

Watson came into the day as the chip leader, but he fell behind early when Spasov found a double with ace-queen. A short time later, Evan Sandberg got his short stack into the middle, but Daniel Custodio made a pair of aces on the river to eliminate him in seventh place.

Christopher Frank wasn't far behind in sixth place after Spasov's ace-queen outdrew his pocket nines. A short time later, Watson doubled through Custodio with pocket queens and he was back near the top of the leaderboard.

Brazil's Walter Ripper was aggressive throughout the final two days, but his run came up short when Ioannis Angelou Konstas left him short with pocket kings. Ripper was eliminated a few moments later as Spasov continued his hot final table run with the knockout.

Angelou Konstas went on a late run and started to build chips by doubling through the bigger stacks, but he was out in fourth place when he picked up pocket queens only to have Spasov spiked a straight on the river with pocket tens.

Three-handed play continued until Custodio got it all in with ace-deuce suited but Watson made a straight with king-queen to send him home with third-place money.

Watson and Spasov faced off for more than an hour after both dominated the final table throughout the afternoon. Spasov built his lead and kept Watson at bay until the big moment came when Watson got it in with ace-nine and lost to Spasov's ace-queen. It was the third big hand of the day he won with ace-queen after cracking pocket aces with the same hand to keep his tournament alive on Day 3.

Congratulations to Simeon Spasov for winning Event #49: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em at the 2022 World Series of Poker!

Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews live reporting team for live updates from the floor throughout the 2022 WSOP in its new home at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas.

The final two players are now on a 15-minute break.

After much back and forth action, Simeon Spasov started to pull away in this heads-up match. On a board showing       in a pot of just over 15,000,000 in the middle, Simeon Spasov shoved the river for 25,000,000 into the shorter stack of Mike Watson.

Watson went deep in the tank, thinking for several minutes before painfully letting his hand go and the large pot was awarded to Spasov.

Simeon Spasov	40,000,000	500,000
Mike Watson	19,000,000	-2,300,000

Action was heads up with around 8,000,000 in the pot and       on the board when Simeon Spasov bet 4,600,000 and Daniel Custodio called.

Spasov turned over    to take the pot with tens and sevens.

A short time later, Mike Watson went back and forth with Spasov before the flop. Spasov raised to 2,100,000 and Watson made it 7,100,000 before Spasov pushed in 30,000,000. Watson got away from it and Spasov's run picked up more steam.

Simeon Spasov	39,500,000	19,500,000
Mike Watson	13,000,000	-9,000,000
Daniel Custodio	6,200,000	-10,500,000

The action was picked up in a pot of 1,800,000 on a flop of    . Mike Watson bet 600,000 from the small blind and Simeon Spasov made the call from the big blind.

On the   turn both players checked their option. The   hit the river and Watson bet 800,000. Spasov put little thought before raising to 3,600,000 and Watson quickly folded.

Mike Watson	22,000,000	-9,000,000
Simeon Spasov	21,000,000	4,000,000

Players are now on a 15-minute break. Play will resume shortly.

Mike Watson	31,000,000	3,000,000
Simeon Spasov	17,000,000	-2,100,000
Daniel Custodio	10,400,000	-2,000,000

Simeon Spasov shoved from the button and Ioannis Angelou Konstas called for around 3,500,000 from the big blind. Action was heads up and Angelou Konstas was at risk.

Ioannis Angelou Konstas:   
Simeon Spasov:   

The board ran out       and Spasov made a straight on the river to send Angelou Konstas to the rail in 4th place for $177,761.

Simeon Spasov	25,100,000	3,500,000
Ioannis Angelou Konstas	0	-3,500,000

Action picked up when it folded to Ioannis Angelou Konstas in the small blind who opened for 1,350,000. Mike Watson three-bet to 3,000,000 from the big blind. Angelou Konstas decided on a min-click four-bet to 4,650,000. Watson took a moment before jamming all in and Angelou Konstas snap-folded his hand.

On the very next hand Angelou Konstas opened to 3,500,000 from the button, leaving himself with only 1,600,000 behind. Watson made the call from the small blind and the big blind got out of the way.

On a flop of     both players checked. When the   turn hit Watson bet out 1,000,000 and Angelou Konstas folded leaving himself very short.

Mike Watson	28,000,000	12,500,000
Ioannis Angelou Konstas	1,600,000	-14,800,000

Action started when Walter Ripper opened to 1,000,000 from under the gun. It folded to Ioannis Angelou Konstas on the button who three-bet to 2,200,000 and Ripper made the call.

On the flop of     Ripper checked and Angelou Konstas bet 750,000. Ripper elected on a check-jam for roughly 6,400,000 and Angelou Konstas could not call fast enough.

Ioannis Angelou Konstas:   
Walter Ripper:   

Angelou Konstas flopped top set and had a strangle hold on the hand until the   peeled off on the turn giving a straight draw to Ripper and a huge sweat. The river   completed the board and the set of kings held propelling Angelou Konstas to one of the big stacks.

Ioannis Angelou Konstas	16,400,000	7,025,000
Walter Ripper	1,100,000	-10,300,000

Mike Watson opened the action to 900,000 from the cutoff. It folded to Daniel Custodio in the big blind who moved all in and Waston snap-called.

Mike Watson:   
Daniel Custodio:  

The board ran out       and after going from chip leader to short-stacked, Watson found a much needed double up.

Mike Watson	15,500,000	5,800,000
Daniel Custodio	6,000,000	-8,500,000