Jensen immediately moved up the counts once play resumed as he dragged pots off every player. Ponakovs entered the final five as the chip leader ahead of Ivey, while Ben Heath, Greg Jensen, and Michael Moncek were grouped together. Eric Worre, Nick Petrangelo, Masashi Oya, Mikita Badziakouski, and Talal Shakerchi were all eliminated prior to the final five that would relocate to the WSOP main stage to conclude the final table on PokerGO. An audible to the schedule was called early on in Monday’s action with the pace of play ensuring a speedy arrival to the final table. The second $100,000 buy-in for the 2022 WSOP attracted a total of 62 entrants and created a prize pool of $5,998,500. “I never had victory in live tournaments,” Ponakovs said about winning his second WSOP bracelet. Ponakovs is Latvia’s only WSOP bracelet winner, and after securing $1,897,363 in prize money for winning Event #42: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller, he now moves into top spot on Latvia’s All-Time Money List with nearly $3.3 million in lifetime tournament earnings. Ponakovs won his first WSOP bracelet in 2021 when he won the $7,777 No-Limit Hold’em Lucky 7’s High Roller on for $432,491.
Latvian Aleksejs Ponakovs has won his second World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet by defeating 10-time WSOP bracelet winner and 2017 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Phil Ivey in heads-up play.
