Frank Funaro, Brian Kim, and Justin Saliba Among Big Winners In World Series of Poker Online's Final Stretch

The US-facing portion of the 2022 World Series of Poker Online has officially wrapped up. A total of 33 WSOPO gold bracelets were handed out on WSOP.com for contenders playing in Nevada and New Jersey, with over 13,3000 entries made and more than $10.6 million in prize money paid out along the way.

Card Player has published three recaps of the earlier events: the first covering events 1-8, the second on events 9-15, and finally a look at the winners of events 16-23.

Below is a look at how things ended up in the final stretch, which included events 24-33.

Event 24 – $7,777 Lucky 7s High Roller

Event no. 24 featured the second-highest buy-in tournament of the series. A total of 88 entries were made in the $7,777 ‘Lucky 7s’ no-limit hold’em high roller, creating a prize pool of $649,716. The smaller field meant that just the top 12 finishers made the money, with six-figure paydays for the last two players standings. In the end, Jared Strauss came away with the title, defeating five-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus heads-up for the win.

Strauss took home $181,769 and his first bracelet as the champion. This was by far the largest recorded tournament score on his resume, blowing away the $45,960 he secured as the fourth-place finisher in a $500 online bracelet event back in 2019.

Other big names to run deep included Japanese bracelet winner Kazuki Ikeuchi (12th), four-time bracelet winner Ben Yu (11th), eight-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Daniel Buzgon (9th), three-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman (7th), bracelet winner Stephen Song (6th), two-time bracelet winner Michael Wang (4th), and bracelet winner Jason Gooch (3rd).

Event 25 – $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max

Next up on the schedule was another higher-buy-in event: the $2,000 no-limit hold’em eight-max tournament.

Evan Sandberg emerged victorious from a field of 228 total entries, earning his first bracelet and the top prize of $94,567. This was the fourth-largest score of Sandberg’s career, with the biggest being the $293,322 he earned as the winner of the 2021 Wynn Fall Classic $1,600 mystery bounty event.

While Sandberg earned the largest share of the $421,800 prize pool, there were another 29 in-the-money finishers who took a piece of the pie, including Frank Funaro (28th), bracelet winner Jonathan Dokler (27th), JJ Liu (11th), bracelet winner Alex Foxen (10th), two-time bracelet winner Martin Zamani (7th), Matt Berkey (6th), two-time bracelet winner Tony Dunst (4th), and bracelet winner Kijoon park (2nd).

Event 26 – $3,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller 6-Max

The high-stakes action continued with a six-max no-limit hold’em event sporting a $3,200 buy-in. A total of 149 entries were made before registration came to a close, building a prize pool of $452,960.

Christopher Staats came away with the title in the end, denying 2022 WSOP $25,000 heads-up no-limit hold’em championship winner Dan Smith the gold. Staats was awarded his first bracelet and $111,609 for the win.

This was the third-largest score of Staats’ career, with his biggest being a third-place showing in the 2018 WSOP Little One for One Drop $1,111 buy-in event for $254,580. The Oklahoma City native now has nearly $1.5 million in recorded tournament earnings.

Smith earned $79,675 as the runner-up, growing his career earnings to more than $39.7 million. Smith now sits in ninth place on poker’s all-time money list.

Other notables who ran deep included Adam Hendrix (17th), three-time bracelet winner Shankar Pillai (16th), bracelet winner and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event champion Galen Hall (9th), six-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings (8th), bracelet winner Pete Chen (5th), and bracelet winner Brett Apter (3rd).

Event 27 – $500 No-Limit Hold’em Super Turbo

The price point returned down into three figures for event no. 27, a $500 buy-in no-limit hold’em super turbo. A total of 291 entries were made in this event, building a prize pool of $184,950. TIt took just over five hours for this event to play down to a champion. When the dust settled, it was Patrick Eskandar who came away with the bracelet and the top prize of $27,095.

Eskandar now has more than $1.6 million in career tournament earnings, with his biggest cash being a $317,161 payday for a 20th-place showing in the 2010 WSOP main event.

The top 48 finishers made the money in this fast-paced affair, with accomplished players like bracelet winner Kathy Liebert (30th), bracelet winner Carlos Welch (25th), WPT champion Balakrishna Patur (23rd), bracelet winner and WPT champion Alan Sternberg (22nd), bracelet winner Yong Keun Kwon (15th), bracelet winner Ryan Laplante (12th), bracelet winner Arkadiy Tsinis (9th), WPT champion Seth Davies (8th), two-time bracelet winner Tanner Bibat (6th), Jonathan Dokler (5th), and Joon Kim (3rd).

Event 28 – $365 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack

The lowest buy-in of the final stretch of tournaments was the $365 buy-in no-limit hold’em monster stack’ event. With 536 entries, the prize pool ballooned to $259,120. The sizable turnout meant that 96 players cashed.

Nobody earned more than eventual champion Desmond Haynes, though. Haynes, a Las Vegas resident, was paid out $44,828 alongside his first gold bracelet. This was the second-largest score of his career, with the first being the $92,750 he locked up as the winner of the $600 buy-in event at this year’s Grand Summer Series at the Golden Nugget. He now has more than $580,000 in recorded tournament earnings to his name.

Haynes outlasted plenty of notables on his road to the title, including seven-time ring winner Matt Stout (25th), Pete Chen (15th), Kathy Liebert (13th), Ryan Laplante (8th), Alex Foxen (6th), and Vanessa Kade (3rd).

Event 29 – $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship

The $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em championship event drew a field of 542 entries to create the second-largest prize pool so far in the series, behind only the $7,777 high roller ($649,716 in prize money).

The last player standing was Frank Funaro, a New Jersey native with plenty of big tournament experience under his belt. Funaro was awarded $94,096 and his first bracelet for the win.

The victory increased his career earnings to more than $1.5 million. He has three larger scores on his resume, including $219,089 earned as the runner-up in the 2020 $3,200 buy-in online high roller bracelet event.

Big names who joined Funaro in cashing this event included four-time bracelet winner and three-time WPT champion Anthony Zinno (30th), six-time bracelet winner and two-time WPT champion Daniel Negreanu (23rd), Shannon Shorr (22nd), WPT champion Mike Del Vecchio (7th), Dan Smith (5th), and recent bracelet winner Matthew Paoletti (3rd).

Event 30 – $5,300 High Roller

Brian Kim has played in big cash games for years, and made a splash on the live tournament circuit earlier this year when he finished 23rd in the WSOP main event for a career-best payday of $323,100.

Kim continued his breakout year in WSOP events by taking down event no. 30 of the WSOPO, a $5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller. Kim earned his first bracelet and $119,000 as the champion. He now has more than $623,000 in career earnings.

This tournament drew 85 entries, building a prize pool of $425,000 in the process. Only the top 12 finishers cashed, with the likes of Yong Keun Kwon (12th), Michael Wang (11th), bracelet winner Justin Saliba (10th), bracelet winner Jesse Lonis (8th), Anthony Zinno (7th), Beny Yu (6th), Shannon Shorr (5th), Stephen Song (4th), and bracelet winner Anthony Spinella (3rd) all making the money.

Event 31 – $600 NLH Deep Freeze

The 31st event on the agenda was a $600 buy-in no-limit hold’em freezeout dubbed the ‘Deep Freeze’. A total of 366 players signed up for the event, creating a $197,640 prize pool. After roughly eight hours of tournament action, Qinghai Pan came away with the bracelet and the top prize of $36,148.

This was the California resident’s 56th recorded WSOP cash, and the fourth-largest of his career. His biggest payday came when he placed third in the $7,777 buy-in event in 2021 for $183,754. With his latest victory, he now has ore than $880,000 in total tournament scores.

Several notables made their way into the money in this event, like two-time bracelet winner William Romaine (25th), recent bracelet winner Jesse Yaginuma (18th), bracelet winner Joseph Cheong (13th), bracelet winner Shawn Buchanan (6th), and bracelet winner Matthew Mendez (2nd).

Event 32 – $10,000 NLH Super High Roller 8-Max

The penultimate event of the WSOPO was the highest buy-in tournament of the US-facing segment. A total of 52 entries were made in the $10,000 no-limit hold’em super high roller eight-max event, building a prize pool of $499,276.

The smaller field was full of recognizable names, including eventual champion Justin Saliba. The Las Vegas resident earned $154,752 and his second gold bracelet for the win, increasing his lifetime earnings to more than $1.75 million.

Saliba’s first bracelet also came in an online high roller. That time, he beat out a field of 188 entries in the 2021 $5,300 buy-in event to win $253,800.

Only the top eight finishers made the money in this event. Seven of the eight players who cashed had previously won bracelets, including six-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings (6th) and high-stakes regular Dan Smith (5th). Matthew Wantman, a WPT champion with more than $4.2 million in career earnings, was the only player at the final table looking for his first bracelet victory.

Event 33 – $500 Fall Finale

The last event on the schedule was a $500 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. With 381 entries, there was $288,000 in prize money up for grabs in this final chance for gold. Hung Truong came out on top in the end, defeating Christopher Basile heads-up to capture his first bracelet and the top price of $52,675.

This was the second-largest recorded score for Truong, trailing only the $61,391 he earned as the ninth-place finisher in the 2013 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open.

Plenty of big names made it deep in the last-chance dance, including four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen (18th), Dan Smith (13th), Anthony Zinno (8th), and Matt Berkey (5th).

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