The 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online Event No.23: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout took place on Sunday Night. It had 244 entrants who formed a $335,500 prize pool. Yet, Michael "stiltwalk" Mercaldo emerged as the winner after eight and a half hours.
He took home his second gold bracelet and $68,005. The Hendon Mob shows that the poker player had $71,221 live poker earnings before his latest victory. He won $123,574 in the 2021 WSOP $777 No-Limit Hold'em Lucky Sevens, and it is his largest score.
Other notable players who participated in the event but didn't reach the final table included Jeff "mavsusc" Platt (PokerGO's commentator), Toby "DustPistons" Lewis, and Alex "OrcinusOrca" Foxen (bracelet champion and a regular high-stakes player). Each of them had a deep run.
The Final Table's Results
- Michael "stiltwalk" Mercaldo from the U.S. – $68,005
- Joseph "ShoeGoat" Walters from the U.S. – $49,150
- Evan "ballz222" Sandberg from the U.S. – $35,730
- Matthew "booyastink" Wantman from the U.S. – $25,867
- Will "JonSnow14" Clarke from the U.S. – $18,754
- Orson "borgatcha" Young from the U.S. – $13,688
- Austin "Shady 1" Roberts from the U.S. – $9,997
- Jesse "Patient0" Yaginuma from the U.S. – $7,347
Action at the Final Table
Eight players advanced to the final table. The action started at a slow pace as it went back and forth for almost an hour. Stocks fast while blinds increased.
Jesse "Patient0" Yaginuma used ace-jack to move all in, but Evan "ballz222" Sandberg used pocket queens to call him. But, the board failed to improve, and Yaginuma exited the tournament in eighth place with $7,347.
Austin "Sahdy_1" Roberts put all chips in the middle using ace-seven after a few minutes. But they soon faced Matthew "booyastink" Wantman's ace-king. Still, the board run ten-high hence eliminating Roberts in the seventh position.
Orson "borgatcha" Young used pocket jacks to move all in in the next hand, but Sandberg used ace-eight to call him. The flop revealed an ace and sent Young packing in sixth place.
Will "JonSnow14 '' Clarke followed him in fifth place after Mercaldo's ace-king beat his ace-nine. Wantman used king-queen to move all in, and Joseph "ShoeGoat" Walters used ace-ten to call him. Yet, the board didn't change, and Wantman left the tournament in fourth place.
Sandberg was in a flip position after his ace-king faced Mercaldo's pocket fours. The flop turned a four while the other chips didn't aid Sandberg, thus ending his run in the third position. His elimination set up heads-up action between Walters and Mercaldo.
Both of them had a slim chip margin. They played for about ten minutes until Walters collected pocket sevens and went all in against Mercaldo's pocket eights. Mercaldo opened a button to 100,000 while Walters went all-in for 1,300,000 chips.
The former called fast, and the latter got a cooler. He later ran into Mercaldo's bigger pair, and pocket eight held up.
The board turned queen-high while Walters finished as a runner up and Mercaldo won his second WSOP gold bracelet. Leading poker websites offered a live broadcast of the tournament, thus allowing poker enthusiasts to follow each move those players made.
