Daniel Cates makes WSOP history - he has won back-to-back $50,000 Poker Players Championship events!
While wearing a "Macho Man" Randy Savage costume, Macho Man Dan hypothetically delivered the pro wrestling champ's finisher, the flying elbow, onto the felt and won just eight minutes after sunrise.
2022 WSOP Event #56: $50,000 Poker Players Championship
- Buy-in: $50,000
- Date: June 26 to 30, 2022
- Entries: 112
- Prize pool: $5,362,000
Dan Cates outlasted a player field of 112 to take home the prize money worth $1,449,103 along with his second bracelet.
Ahead of the penultimate day's play, Dan "Jungleman" Cates announced he'd "basically already won" the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. True to his word, he went on to defeat Brazilian Yuri Dzivielevski heads-up, securing his second WSOP bracelet along with the $1,449,103 top prize money.
Dzivielevski was in the quest for his third WSOP bracelet win in four years, and many opportunities arose during his marathon topsy-turvy heads-up battle in front of a raucous Brazilian rail. However, he fell just short and would have to settle for second-place.
Final Table Action
In front of a lively rail of Brazilians and Americans cheering for their favorite player, the final two braced themselves for an entertaining back and forth heads-up battle that produced many stand-out moments over a span of seven hours.
An early wheel for Dzivielevski in 2-7 Triple Draw along with catching Cates bluffing in No-Limit Hold'em saw him almost draw level in the chip counts, but Cates made a comeback after winning a series of Pot-Limit Omaha hands that had Dzivielevski scrambling to stay alive. In the last hand of the PLO round, the chips went in with Dzivielevski dodging straight, flush and even backdoor quad outs just to stay alive and prolong the battle.
Cates still held the momentum and, thanks to a straight flush in Limit Hold'em, he worked hard to again hold a 2:1 chip lead.
Dzivielevski is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, and this was the Brazilian's sixth WSOP final table and fifth in two years since the WSOP returned from its coronavirus-induced hiatus. So when Cates opened up another lead, he didn't blink and worked steadily to close the gap once again.
Then it was Dzivielevski's turn to put his foot on the gas. It felt like he had Cates right where he wanted him and finally had the measure of his opponent. But that's where the Jungleman is most dangerous, and in a blink of an eye - aided by the steadily increasing blinds and limits - the tables had turned and it looked like Cates was inches away from victory.
The two traded pots almost as often as they traded the chip lead. A double for Cates was the first called all in for several hours after Dzivielevski had again had Cates inches away from the exit.
Then the limits simply became too much. Dzivielevski was short after a 2-7 Triple Draw hand, and despite several No-Limit Hold'em doubles to stay alive, Cates was finally able to claim the victory shortly before 6 a.m.
The final hand of the event was between Dan Cates and Yuri Dzivielevski.
This is Cates' 2nd WSOP gold bracelet in his poker career. This win moved Cates up to $11,853,966 in lifetime tournament earnings, according to The Hendon Mob.
He actually won his first gold bracelet on the same exact WSOP event last year after outlasting a field of 63, taking home the first-place prize worth $954,020.
2022 WSOP Event #56: $50,000 Poker Players Championship - Final Table Results
|
|
Player
|
Country
|
Prize (USD)
|
|
1
|
Dan Cates
|
USA
|
$1,449,103
|
|
2
|
Yuri Dzivielevski
|
Brazil
|
$895,614
|
|
3
|
Naoya Kihara
|
Japan
|
$639,257
|
|
4
|
Benny Glaser
|
United Kingdom
|
$464,420
|
|
5
|
Johannes Becker
|
Germany
|
$343,531
|
|
6
|
Koray Aldemir
|
Germany
|
$258,812
|
Source: https://www.wsop.com/tournaments/updates/?aid=2&grid=4943&tid=20356&dayof=203565&rr=5
