Paul Hizer Outlasts 13,565 Entries To Win 2022 World Series of Poker Colossus Tournament

The 2022 running of the World Series of Poker no-limit hold’em Colossus event saw 13,565 entries post the $400 buy-in, building a prize pool worth $4,476,450. After two starting flights and three more days of action, that sea of players was narrowed down to a single champion: UK poker pro Paul Hizer. The London resident earned a career-best score of $414,490 and his first gold bracelet for the win.

“It means a lot,” Hizer told WSOP reporters after coming out on top. “Played many tournaments. Had lots of deep runs. But I’ve never actually won a tournament outright. I don’t know if many people know that about me. I’m sure my close friends do. And maybe today was just written in the stars and I was meant to go all the way. I felt really confident, I felt like I had a really good game plan, and I’m just really thankful that it worked out.”

“I’ve applied a lot of my time to playing poker. I’ve made it my profession over the last six years. My parents initially weren’t so pleased. It’s not the career choice they wanted for me. Like always in life, I just trust my gut and I did my best,” said Hizer.

The huge field in this event resulted in the top 1,695 finishers making the money. Plenty of notables made deep runs, including two-time bracelet winner Timur Margolin (164th – $2,750), Daniel Buzgon (121st – $3,180), two-time bracelet winner Eric Baldwin (87th – $4,360), and bracelet winner David Jackson (11th – $32,130).

This event was originally slated to last just four total days, but the strong turnout resulted in the need for extra time for a champion to be decided. Just seven players returned for the final day, with Sam Laskowitz in the lead and Hizer in second chip position.

Three of the remaining players came into the day with fewer than ten big blinds. Several short-stack double-ups occurred in the early going, but eventually one of the all-ins ended with an elimination. Anthony Ruttler got all-in for less than three big blinds with Q-10, only to run into the pocket queens of Luong Quach. The pocket pair improved to a flush for Quach and Ruttler was knocked out in seventh place ($66,670).

Jeff Loiacono’s final hand was also Q-10, but his was suited. He found himself dominated by the A-Q of Laskowitz. Neither player connected with the board and Laskowitz’s ace was enough to earn him the pot and narrow the field to five. Loiacono took home $86,160 as the sixth-place finisher.

Despite busting a player earlier in the day, Quach was soon the one all-in and at risk. He shoved for just shy of two big blinds with 10-7 suited from the small blind. Jordan Pelon called with 8-2 from the big blind and flopped top pair. Quach picked up a flush draw on the turn, but a blank on the end sent him packing with $112,060 for his fifth-place showing.

Hizer had slid to the bottom of the pack early in four-handed action, but earned a crucial double-up to keep pace. He then called an all-in from James Scott, who shoved for roughly six big blinds from the small blind. Scott held pocket tens, kich meant that Hizer’s K-9 suited had just one overcard. Hizer paired his king on the turn and held from there to send Scott to the rail in fourth place ($146,680).

Another six-blind shove from the small blind saw Jordan Pelon at risk with Q-3 suited facing the A-9 of Laskowitz, who snap-called from the big blind. The turn aaw Laskowitz pair his ace, but he had to fade a gutshot for Pelon heading into the final card. The board paired to see Pelon eliminated in third place ($193,240).

With that, Laskowitz entered heads-up play with 412,000,0000 to Hizer’s 131,500,000. Hizer closed the gap a bit before doubling through Laskowitz to move into the lead. His A-Q was racing against the pocket threes of Laskowitz, and had yet to improve by the turn. A king on the river gave Kizer an ace-high straight, giving him roughly a 7:4 chip advantage as play continued.

Kizer made a hero call on the river with king high to further extend his lead. In the final hand Hizer shoved from the button with A3 and Laskowitz called all-in for roughly six big blinds with 82. The board ran out J76K10 to lock up the pot and the title for Hizer. Laskowitz earned $256,170 as the runner-up finisher.

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

Winner photo credit: WSOP / Danny Maxwell.

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