Leo Soma Wins First Bracelet In 2022 World Series of Poker $1,500 Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em Event

The 2022 World Series of Poker $1,500 no-limit hold’em six-max event drew a massive field of 2,393 entries, creating a prize pool of nearly $3.2 million that was paid out among the top 359 finishers. After three days of short-handed action, France’s Leo Soma emerged victorious with the $456,889 top prize and his first WSOP gold bracelet.

This was Soma’s first recorded cash at the WSOP. He became just the 28th player from France to have secured a bracelet. Fellow Frenchman Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, a two-time bracelet winner, was on the rail for Soma as he closed out the win.

Soma was awarded 1,080 Card Player Player of the Year points after coming out on top. This was his first POY-qualified score, but it alone was enough to move him inside the top 150 in the 2022 POY race sponsored by Global Poker.

Plenty of big names made deep runs in this event, including two-time bracelet winner Shankar Pillai (64th – $5,763), two-time bracelet winner Taylor Paur (43rd – $9,498), three-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (24th – $17,481), two-time bracelet winner Anson Tsang (15th – $27,858), and Italian high-stakes player Mustapha Kanit (13th – $27,858).

2009 WSOP main event champion and four-time bracelet winner Joe Cada made survived to the unofficial final table, but fell just short of capturing his fifth title at the series. He got the last of his stack in preflop with KK leading the AK of Soma, who was the runaway leader at the time. Soma spiked an ace on the flop to leave Cada in rough shape. The turn and river brought no help and Cada was sent to the rail with $61,098 for his seventh-place showing. The 34-year-old now has nearly $14.3 million in lifetime live tournament earnings to his name, despite primarily focusing on cash game play.

Ivan Zhechev was the first to fall at the official final table. With a Q7784 board he was put all-in by Soma. Ahechev eventually made the call with Q10, only to be shown 97 for trip sevens by Soma. Zhechev earned $81,188 as the sixth-place finisher.

Derek Suddell ran pocket threes into the pocket queens of Maximiliano Gallardo to finish fifth for $109,083. Soma then extended his already considerable lead when his 7-6 suited outran the A-J suited of Daniel Wellborn in a preflop showdown. Soma flopped a pair and held from there to eliminate Wellborn in fourth place ($148,171).

Argentina’s Maximiliano Gallardo was knocked out in third place when he attempted to pick off a bluff with third pair, only to be shown a straight by Soma. Gallardo took home $203,451 for his strong showing in this event, while Soma entered heads-up play with roughly a 10:1 lead over Thomas Schultz.

In the final hand, the pair saw a J63 flop after Soma raised and Schultz called preflop. After a check from Schultz, Soma bet 800,000. Schultz called again and the 7 came on the turn. Schultz moved all-in and Soma made the call, rolling over J3 for two pair. Schultz had K9 for a flush draw. The 10 was not one of his outs, though, and he was eliminated in second place ($282,358), while Soma took down the pot and the title.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo credit: WSOP / Spencer Sembrat.

You can follow the 2022 World Series of Poker on Card Player’s series landing page, sponsored by Global Poker, the fastest growing online poker room in the world. Check out the series schedule, as well as event recaps, news, and player interviews.

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