In a week where two professional musicians won World Series of Poker bracelets, two pros have set themselves up for a run at the 2022 WSOP Player of the Year.
Daniel Zack and Daniel Weinman are sitting one and two on the leaderboard with 17 cashes and three bracelets between them in this year’s Series. There’s still a lot of poker left to play, but if these two continue running like they are, there may not be much other competition for the POY trophy.
Daniel Weinman
$1,000 PLO 8-Handed
1,891 entries
$255,359
Weinman is having such a good run at this year’s WSOP that he is in contention for the Player of the Year. His first bracelet win vaulted him to second on the point’s list behind Daniel Zack. He’s cashed 10 times so far this year, and was the runner-up in a Stud event earlier this month.
Brian Hastings
$10K Limit 2-7 Lowball Championship
118 entries
$292,146
Things just keep going well for Hastings, who won his sixth WSOP bracelet last week. Hastings, who’s been transparent in describing what it’s like to live with bipolar disorder, now has more than $3.4 million in WSOP winnings. His appearance on the CardsChat podcast from January is fantastic.
Steve Albini
$1,500 HORSE
773 entries
$196,089
The recording engineer and musician from Chicago won his second bracelet in the mixed-game event by coming back from an 8-1 chip deficit in front of maybe the best rail so far at this year’s Series. Read more about Albini here.
Nino Ullmann
$3,000 6-Max No-Limit Hold ’em
1,348 entries
$594,079
Germany got on the tally board with Ullmann’s win, which is his first bracelet and his 13th cash. The win also marks his first live WSOP cash, as all of his other ones came online in 2020 and 2021. He has more than $620K in WSOP winnings.
Justin Pechie
$1,500 Freezeout
1,774 entries
$364,899
The man from Connecticut won his second bracelet in the Freezeout event, pushing his WSOP winning toward the $1.5 million mark. He’s cashed 33 times since 2006 with some near-misses, including a second, a third, and a fourth early in his career.
Lok Chan
$2,500 Mixed Big Bet
281 entries
$144,338
Making his first trip to the WSOP count in a big way, the 22-year-old from Hong Kong has three cashes and a bracelet, all this year.
Ali Eslami
$1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo 8
471 entries
$135,260
The Los Angeles-based poker professional won his first bracelet and pushed his WSOP cash total over the $1 million mark. If his name sounds a bit familiar, he and Phil Laak defeated a poker computer in 2007. He also has a WSOP Circuit ring.
Yuliyan Kolev
$1,500 Millionaire Maker
7,961 entries
$1,125,189
The man from the prettiest-named city in the world, Sofia, Bulgaria, won his second bracelet in the Millionaire Maker. The massive field built a prize pool worth more than $10 million, easily meeting the event’s $1 million first-place guarantee.
Pedro Bromfman
$10K No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship
121 entries
$294,616
Musicians have done very well at the WSOP this past week. Bromfman is an award-winning composer with dozens of film and video game credits to his name, including the score of the uber-popular Far Cry 6 video game. He had to beat a final table filled with monsters, including Scott Seiver, Alex Livingston, 2021 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Eli Elezra, and Farzad Bonyadi.
Fabian Brandes
$3,000 6-Handed PLO
719 entries
$371,358
The man from Raleigh, North Carolina, won his first bracelet while recording his seventh WSOP cash — all in PLO. The win pushes his tournament cashes over the $1 million mark, again, all won in PLO tourneys.
Daniel Zack
$10K Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
137 entries
$324,174
The current WSOP Player of the Year points leader won his second bracelet of the 2022 Series and pushed his winnings over the $2 million mark. In addition to this win, he also finished third in the $10K 2-7 Lowball Triple-Draw Championship.
Ramsey Stovall
$1,000 Super Turbo Bounty
2,227 entries
$191,223
A poker dealer at Running Aces Casino in St. Paul, Minnesota, Stovall made his one WSOP cash a beaut. Poker Hall of Fame nominee Josh Arieh finished 11th.
Aleksejs Ponakovs
$100,000 High Roller
62 entries
$1,897,363
The Latvian made mincemeat out of Phil Ivey heads-up in the nosebleed event where he sniffed out several aggressive moves by the crafty veteran on the way to his second WSOP bracelet. His last cash was also his first bracelet win, which came in last year’s $7,777 event. Ivey, who’s being filmed for a documentary and has been playing in many events, was going for his 11th.
David Perry
$500 Freezeout
4,786 entries
$241,729
Perry is another player who made his first cash a memorable one by scoring a victory. The Las Vegas resident ran through the enormous field like a young buck. It’s good to see a player with some grey in their beard get to the podium.
Matt Szymaszek
$1,000 WSOP.com PLO Online NJ/NV
470 entries
$141,705
Szymaszek closed the deal and won his first bracelet online on Sunday. He came close once before, but finished one spot short of the top in the 2018 $10K Limit Championship that was won by Scott Seiver.
John “HairyAce” Macleod
$500 WSOP.com PLO 6-Max Michigan
188 entries
$21,386
Macleod has been active on WSOP.com in Michigan. In 15 days, he’s played 18 tourneys, reached two final tables, and secured one win for the WSOP bracelet. See everyone, poker is easy.
Mark “MDD83” Dellavecchio
$500 WSOP.com PLO 6-Max Pennsylvania
152 entries
$17,292
Another player who secured their first bracelet online, the Drexel Hill resident made the 200th tourney he played on WSOP.com in Pennsylvania a golden one.
