Who Won Events 56-60 at the 2022 World Series of Poker?

A busy five events in the World Series of Poker saw an incredible victory in the Poker Players Championship, a Super Seniors victory and other bracelets handed out in No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha. In a week when over 2,000 players took to the felt on Day 1a and 1b of the WSOP Main Event, we already brought you the news of what happened in WSOP events 51-55. Here are the next batch of results from an incredible WSOP so far.

Dan Cates Wins Back-to-Back PPC Titles

The $50,000-entry Poker Players Championship is always the event that elite players want to win. Playing poker in a number of different disciplines, the ‘PPC’ was won by Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates in 2021 and this year saw the same player win it all over again, this time dressed as Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage.

Wrestling the title from Yuri Dzivielevski heads-up, the final duel took hours to complete, and it was in NL 2-7 Single Draw that the title was decided, two big pots going against the Brazilian to give Cates the title and a whopping $1.4 million top prize.

Benny Glaser was also at the final table, where he finished in fourth place after an unlucky run-out against the Japanese player Naoya Kihara, who came third for $639,257.

NLHE Deepstack Final Table Produces Maiden Bracelet

Event #57 concluded with Hungarian player Tamas Lendvai winning his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet as he conquered the final table in the $600-entry Deepstack NHLE event. With the biggest obstacle in his path at the final table being renowned online crusher Jonathan Van Fleet, Lendvai topped the final nine to take home the first-place prize of $299,464.

Starting the final day with just eight big blinds, it was a miraculous victory for the family man Lendvai, who mainly watched as the eliminations of Tsuf Saltsberg, Abdullah Alshanti and Daniel Marcus before the final four saw Alex Jim, the overnight chip leader, join them on the rial.

Van Fleet’s exit was the pivotal one, his ace-ten busting to Lendvai’s pocket aces and giving Lendvai the chance to move in and win the tournament with queen-ten, his unfortunate opponent, German player Frank Recihel, losing with king-queen when a ten landed on the river, whereupon an emotional Lendvai sank to his knees in relief and exaltation.

Lawrence Brandt Wins First-Ever Bracelet in PLO Event

In Event #58, the $1,500-entry PLO Hi-Lo event saw an all-American top seven end with Lawrence Brandt winning his first WSOP bracelet. With 14 players starting the day, the only non-American to reach the final table was Sweden’s Jerry Odeen, but he lost out in eighth place as he became the first player to bust at the final table.

Other big names would fall on the way to Brandt claiming the $289,610 top prize. Of them, perhaps the most well-known was Jared Jaffee, who busted in fifth place for a cash worth $70,877. Jacob Ferro finished sixth for $53,288, while the overnight chip leader, Richard Crooks, busted in fourth place for $95,400.

Eskandari Wins Super Seniors Event for $330,000

In Event #59, the $1,000-entry Super Seniors event, Massoud Eskandari won the top prize of $330,609 as he took the title of Super Seniors champion. Just five players returned to the felt on an eventful final day, which began with the elimination of Peter Mylenki at Bally’s casino on the Strip.

Mylenki’s pocket fours lost to James Jewell’s pocket kings as he cashed for $85,000, with Sharri Crawford the next to go, busting to the eventual winner Eskandari. Jewell busted in third place and that left an almighty battle for the bracelet featuring a strong performance from Jennifer Gianera.

At one point, Gianera established a big chip lead, but she couldn’t hold onto it, losing with ace-seven on a seven-high flop to Eskandari’s pocket eights, and that was a sign of things to come as the winner dominated the rest of the heads-up battle to leave Gianera with the $204,293 runner-up prize.

Short Deck Drama in Event #60

Japanese Short Deck specialist Shota Nakanishi won Event #60’s top prize of $277,212 after taking down former bracelet winners at the five-handed final table. Stephen Chidwick busted first, as the English poker legend, who sits in the top 10 of all-time tournament players, busted to miss out on the chance to win his second bracelet and first since 2019.

American Sean Winter busted in fourth place, and he was followed by another American in the shape of 2022 Poker Hall of Fame nominee Brian Rast. Rast’s cash in third place for $121,718 saw Ben Lamb make the heads-up stage, but it was still Nakanishi who held the lead.

Lamb would go close, winning back some chips, but Nakanishi had made a real name for himself back in his home country at the Short Deck game. He proved that his reputation is fully deserved after seeing off four great opponents and claiming the first WSOP bracelet of his career, winning $277,212 into the bargain.

Photo courtesy of PokerGO, home of the 2022 World Series of Poker, with final table live streams throughout July.