Another $10,000 buy-in championship event is in the books at the 2022 World Series of Poker. The latest tournament of this prestigious subset of the WSOP schedule to determine a winner was the limit hold’em championship. Jonathan Cohen emerged victorious from a field of 92 entries, capturing his first gold bracelet and the top prize of $245,678. The Montreal, Quebec resident hadn’t originally planned on entering this event.
“I wasn’t even playing this tournament. I busted out of the shootout with like two minutes to register. Matt Schreiber, the guy that got third, begged me to come play. He got me to come play with him and he final tabled with me,” said Cohen after coming out on top.
Cohen nearly won his first bracelet a decade before this, finishing second in the $1,500 no-limit shootout event at the series for $192,559. Coincidentally, that same event concluded on the other side of the Bally’s tournament room not long before Cohen emerged victorious.
“That tournament over there,” said Cohen when asked about finishing as the runner-up back in 2012. “Yeah, that was misery. I definitely didn’t want to come second twice. Yeah, I feel very relieved. I’m happy.”
Cohen closed out this event with his eight-year-old service dog Riley at his side. Riley wasn’t the only support Cohen had at the final table, though. A vocal rail was cheering for him down the stretch.
“Yeah, actually it means a ton,” said Cohen. “I normally keep to myself. I didn’t even tell anyone I made this smile table. They all just found me. Now I understand why professional sports teams do better at home. It like felt real good having people cheering for me. Feeling the energy.”
This tournament was planned to run over the course of three days, but an extra fourth day was ultimately needed to complete the event. When the official final table was set, Cohen was in the middle of the pack.
The first player knocked out at the official final table was David Litt. He got the last of his chips in the middle with trips tens and an open-ended straight draw. He was up against an overpair and a made straight. The river changed nothing and bracelet winner Joseph Couden’s straight dragged the main and side pots to send Litt home with $22,192.
Amir Shayesteh was left on fumes after folding on the river in a big multi-way pot. He got the last of his stack in soon after with J-7 and was up against the A-5 of recent $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller winner Chad Eveslage. Eveslage turned trip aces to leave Shayesteh drawing dead. He earned $27,269 for his eighth-place finish.
Matt Woodward’s run in this event came to an end after all of the chips went in with him holding second pair against the top air of Couden. The turn and river brought no help and Woodward was eliminated in seventh place ($34,314). This was his third cash of the series. He now has more than $2.6 million in recorded tournament earnings.
Six-handed play continued for more than two hours without another bustout. During that time, Eveslage fell from the upper half of the leaderboard toward the bottom of the chip counts. He eventually got the last of his chips in on a J99 flop with his 77 leading the A5 of Jonathan Cohen. The 9 turn improved Eveslage to a full house. The 9 river put quads on the board, though, giving Cohen the winning hand with four nines and an ace kicker. Eveslage earned $44,194 as the sixth-place finisher.
Couden slid down the chip counts during five-handed action. He eventually got all-in with A-9, three-betting an open from MJ Gonzales, who called with Q-J. Couden flopped a pair of nines, but Gonzales rivered a king-high straight to secure the pot. Couden cashed for $58,226 as the fifth-place finisher. The 2018 WSOP $1,500 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event winner now has nearly $2.5 million in career tournament earnings to his name.
Gonzales lost a big chunk of his stack with pocket kings being beaten by a flopped two pair for bracelet winner Matthew Schreiber. Gonzales was left short, and soon was forced all-in with Q-5 trailing the A-8 suited of Kyle Dilschneider. The turn saw Gonzales pair his five to take the lead, but Dilschneider rivered the wheel to win the pot and eliminate Gonzales in fourth place ($78,435). The high-stakes cash game specialist now has nearly a million in tournament scores despite having only 14 recorded live cashes.
Despite scoring that knockout, Schreiber was the next player to find himself on the ropes. The 2017 WSOP $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. champion lost a big pot to the top two pair of Cohen. Soon he was all-in after an A95 flop with his Q9 trailing the A9 of Cohen. Schreiber found no help on a 10 turn, 7 river runout and was sent home with $107,978 for his third-place showing.
Cohen entered heads-up play against Dilschneider with the lead, but the tables would turn before play was halted for the night. When the pair resumed their battle on day 4, the pair traded the lead early before Cohen began to pull away. Inthe final hand, Dilschneider raised from the button with 55. Cohen called with K9 and the flop came down 833. Cohen check-called and the 9 on the turn gave him a pair of nines. He checked again and Dilschneider bet with his pocket fives. COhen check-raised, putting Dilschneider all-in. He called and was in need of a five on the river. The K gave Cohen kings and nines for the win, sending Dilschneider to the rail with $151,842 for his runner-up finish.
Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Jonathan Cohen | $245,678 | 540 | 246 |
| 2 | Kyle Dilschneider | $151,842 | 450 | 152 |
| 3 | Matthew Schreiber | $107,978 | 360 | 108 |
| 4 | MJ Gonzales | $78,435 | 270 | 78 |
| 5 | Joseph Couden | $58,226 | 225 | 58 |
| 6 | Chad Eveslage | $44,194 | 180 | 44 |
| 7 | Matt Woodward | $34,314 | 135 | 34 |
| 8 | Amir Shayesteh | $27,269 | 90 | 27 |
| 9 | David Litt | $22,192 | 45 | 22 |
Winner photo credit: PokerGO / Enrique Malfavon.
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