Minnesota Man Makes Most Of World Series Of Poker Trip, Wins First Bracelet

Rob Wazwaz Photo Credit: WSOPIt took just two days for a massive field of 4,062 entrants in the $800 buy-in no-limit hold’em event to play to a champion in this week’s deepstack tournament at the 2022 World Series of Poker.

Despite the modest buy-in, players were able to compete for a prize pool worth $2,859,648, with $358,346 earmarked for the eventual winner. In the end, the title and the big payday went to Minnesota poker player Rob Wazwaz, who also earned his first career bracelet.

“It was my third final table, but first in a long time,” Wazwaz told WSOP reporters. “Back then, I wasn’t as experienced. I didn’t play them right when I got deep. But I’ve come a long way, and my dream was to come out here and win a bracelet. I ran so pure, so pure. This was the purest tournament I’ve ever ran in my entire life.”

This was the biggest score of Wazwaz’s career, although he has found the winner’s circle before. In 2017, he won the Heartland Poker Tour Indiana main event for $173,385 and in 2018, he took down the MSPT Shakopee main event for another $109,375. Wazwaz has multiple wins at Canterbury Park Card Club near his home, including the Minnesota State Poker Championship.

His previous best finish at the WSOP came back in 2014, when he took seventh in a $1,500 no-limit hold’em event for $50,246.

The final table featured players from Israel, France, India, and Canada, as well as the United States. Bracelet winners who made a deep run in the tournament included Abhinav Iyer (7th), Sean Drake (48th), Will Givens (87th), Roberly Felicio (88th), and Anatolii Zyrin (98th).

This was the first of two $800 buy-in deepstack events on the WSOP schedule. The second kicks off Thursday, July 14.

Final Table Results

Place Player Payout POY Points
1 Rob Wazwaz $358,346 660
2 Robert Crow $221,399 550
3 Terrence Reid $166,011 440
4 Sean Legendre $125,371 330
5 Dov Markowich $95,363 275
6 Maxime Duhamel $73,064 220
7 Abhinav Iyer $56,388 165
8 Sebastien Clot $43,839 110
9 Liran Betito $34,336 55

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