Two World Series of Poker (WSOP) winners were crowned on Sunday, the last Sunday of the series. "Smeagol" and Frank "thewholefunk" Funaro beat all their opponents in their tournaments.
"smeagol" Wins $119,000 in the 2022 WSOP Online Event No.30: $5,300 NLH High Roller
"smeagol" beat Aram "X69Podheiser" Zobian in heads-up action to win $119,000 and a WSOP gold bracelet in Event No.30: $5,300 NLH High Roller. The action lasted for almost 10 hours in the evening.
The tournament attracted 85 entrants who made 18 re-entries and formed a $425,000 prize pool. Yet, it is only the top 12 players that won a $10,625 min-cash. Other notable players at the tournament who won money included Yong Keun "LuckySpewyl" Kwon, Justin "Jsaliba2" Saliba, and Michael "Unbelievable" Wang."
The Final Table's Results
- "smeagol" from the U.S. – $119,000
- Aram "X69Podheiser" Zobian from the U.S. – $79,475
- Anthony "Nowb3Athat" Spinella from the U.S. – $56,100
- Stephen "8betfold" Song from the U.S. – $40,800
- Shannon "aulophobia" Shorr from the U.S. – $29,750
- Ben "WhyIsGamora" Yu from the U.S. – $22,312
- Anthony "heheh" Zinno from the U.S. – $18,062
- Jesse "Dangerous22" Lonis from the U.S. – $14,875
Action at the Final Table
"Smeagol" was among the least popular players at the table. Yet, he had a huge stack when he proceeded to the table and got a huge lead after less than two hours.
Jesse "Dangerous22" Lonis made an all-in shove call from Zobian and risked ending his run. He held king-nine while his opponent tabled ace-four. But, Zobian got a straight from the board when it ran out and busted Lonis in eighth place.
Anthony "heheh" Zinno used ace-king to move all-in, and Shannon "aulophobia" Shorr used pocket nines to call him. Jack-high appeared on the board as Shorr got nines and eliminated Zinno in the seventh position.
Six-handed play continued for several minutes before Ben "WhyIsGamora" Yu collected pocket aces before calling smeagol's all-in shove using ten-seven.
The latter was in great form as he doubled up until a ten and seven appeared on the board thus ending Yu's run in sixth place. Shorr used ace-deuce to move all-in in the next hand, but Anthony "Nowb3Athat" Spinella called him using ace-ten. Still, the board didn't improve, and Shorr exited the event in fifth place.
Stephen "8betfold" Song chose ace-queen, several hands after Shorr's elimination, and faced Zobian's pocket fives. A five appeared on the flop, but Song didn't get help and left the table in fourth place.
smeagol had a huge stack lead and used pocket threes to move all in. Spinella used ace-nine to call, and the three players competed for the pair. But the board was clean for smeagol's threes, while Spinella got busted in third place.
A heads-up battle began between Zobian and Smeagol. The latter had an almost 5:1 stack lead. Surprisingly, the play continued for 15 minutes before the final hand was dealt.
"smeagol" used ace-ten to move all-in, and Zobian used ace-nine to snap-call him. King-high appeared on the board, and "smeagol" sent Zobian packing as a runner-up.
Frank "thewholefun" Funaro Wins $94,096 in $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Event No.29: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em had 318 entrants who made 224 rebuys and created a $487,800 prize pool. Frank "thewholefunk" Funaro was victorious after more than nine hours of play to win a WSOP gold bracelet and $94,096.
The Final Table's Results
- Frank "thewholefunk" Funaro from the U.S. – $95,096
- John "bigtuna22" Ypma from the U.S. – $68,096
- Matthew "peepeepoopoo'" Paoletti from the U.S. – $49,560
- Zachary "thepepster5" Epstein from the U.S. – $35,902
- Daniel "BackDoorDan" Smith from the U.S. – $26,146
- Bradley "banderson0" Anderson from the U.S. – $19,316
- Mike "THICC" Del Vecchio from the U.S. – $14,194
- Brandon "Beeeskerz" Zuidema from the U.S. – $10,536
Action at the Final Table
Nipun "javatini" Java busted the money bubble in the 61st position. Still, players reduced further until the eight-handed table was set.
Brandon "Beeeskerz" Zuidema finished eighth, and Mike "THICC" Del Vecchio got busted in eighth and seventh place, respectively. Del Vecchio finished seventh Paoletti got a straight from the river.
Bradley "banderson0" Anderson used pocket queens to move all-in against Ypma's ace-queen. The river had a brutal ace when Anderson left the tournament in the sixth position.
Daniel "BackDoorDan' Smith's run ended in the fifth position after using the top pair to shove. Unfortunately, Funaro got a nut straight on a turn and sent Smith packing. Zachary "thepepster5" Epstein and Paoletti finished fourth and third, respectively.
Funaro's ace-ten dominated Epstein's ace-four and busted him. Ypma used ace-ten to move all in a few hands before the event ended. The board ran pure for Funaro as Ypma's run ended as a runner-up with $68,096, while Funaro won the tournament.
