First Female Winner Katie Kopp Takes Opening Event of 2022 WSOP for $65,000

There were four bracelet events that took place on Day 2 of the 2022 World Series of Poker. With one bracelet claimed, a final table reached and two thrilling Day 1’s in the bank, Katie Kopp was the name on everybody’s lips as she performed a stunning comeback to reign supreme in the $500 buy-in Casino Employees event.

With Chance Kornuth and David Peters looking on a collision course in the $100,000 High Roller Bounty event, there was drama at every table at Bally’s and Paris in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Kopp the Queen in Opening Event

It has been a long time since a female player won a WSOP bracelet so early in the World Sereies schedule, so Katie Kopp’s achievement in winning the $500 Casino Employees Event #1 cannot be underestimated. The fact that she did so by performing a comeback anyone in poker history would be proud of was even more bracelet worthy. Kopp was short stacked with just four players left, holding five big blinds. From there, however, she went on a stunning sprint to the line, busting players with abandon as she swept to her first title.

Players such as the 2021 reigning champion of the event, Jimmy Barnett, and famed Unibet Tournament Director and professional Kenny Hallaert ran close, but both were on the rail by the time the final nine players gathered to battle for the gold.

With Kopp’s rail chanting “Can’t stop Kopp!” throughout the final, her friends and family were delighted to see her come back from the dead in tournament terms as the Day 1 chip leader Shaun Colquhoun fell to Kopp’s small pair and Brandon West followed suit in third place just a few hands later.

Heads up, Kopp had a dominating queen against the ace-nine of Wyatt Frost, and the situation with the cards mirrored the final table playout. Frost couldn’t overcome his opponent and Kopp’s ace-queen held to give her a first-ever WSOP bracelet amid emotional scenes inside the Paris Ballroom (pictured below).

Chance Chasing Fourth WSOP Bracelet

“Kid Poker saw his ace-king rivered by Kornuth’s ace-queen.”

Chance Kornuth built an incredible chip lead in the $100,000 buy-in High roller Bounty event on Wednesday night as he cruised past some of the biggest players in the world in Las Vegas. With players like Daniel Negreanu and Cary Katz missing the money but others such as Phil Ivey making profit, the second day of action in this event saw the chip leader Justin Young fail to make any return on his overnight chips.

Kornuth eliminated top $25k Fantasy WSOP Draft pick Daniel Negreanu in the hand of the night, as Kid Poker saw his ace-king rivered by Kornuth’s ace-queen and that precipitated a run of cards and use of skill from Kornuth that the final table of nine had no answer to.

The money bubble came and went with seven making profit, as Nick Petrangelo was bubble boy. Phil Ivey, full of renewed hope after skittling Petrangelo, was immediately dispatched in seventh place for a min-cash by David Peters, the only player to bag over half Kornuth’s chips at the close of play.

By the end of the night on Day 2, players such as Lazslo Bujtas, Frank Crivello, Erik Seidel, Bill Klein, Justin Young and Steinberg had all crashed with only Steinberg of those cashing. Steinberg, whose bets cash ever was around $5,000, made it all the way to sixth place from late registration, winning over $180,000. It was Kornuth, however, who crushed the field on the day and now sits one decent final table result away from his fourth bracelet just a week after winning his maiden WPT Main Event in Vegas.

You’ll be able to watch all the action unfold on PokerGO on Friday 3^rd June’s live stream as the first final table to be streamed on a live delay this summer plays down to a winner.

Other WSOP Bracelet Events

Two other events took place, with Event #3 ($2,500 NLHE Freezeout) and Event #4 ($1,500 Dealers Choice) both reached Day 2s. Jesse Kertland led 113 players in no-limit hold’em in Event #3 as he bagged up 941,000 chips, a little more than chasing duo Michael Moncek (873,000) and Casey Hatmaker (849,000). Others to make the Day 2 cut included Shannon Shorr (670,000) Chris Hunichen (543,000) and David Benyamine (520,000), all of whom made the top 10.

Players to miss out on an end-of-day chipcount included Niall Farrell, Jesse Lonis, Kathy Liebert, Matt Affleck, Tamon Nakamura, Maria Ho, Jake Schindler, Maria Konnikova, Upeshka De Silva, Joe Cheong, Byron Kaverman and Landon Tice 732 entries overall.

It was Dennis Eichhorn (276,000) who bagged the most in Event #4, as 123 players survived from 460 total entries. With stars of mixed games such as John Monette (213,500), Ben Yu (192,000) and Brian Rast (169,500) all finding a spot in the top 10 overnight, other such as Benny Glaser, Robert Mizrachi, David Williams and the 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Josh Arieh couldn’t survive to make the Day 2 seat draw.

Photo courtesy of PokerGO, home of the 2022 World Series of Poker, with final tables live streams on throughout June and July.