World Poker Tour Ladies final table ahead of TV table at 2022 Wynn Las Vegas.
The World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship event is down to three tables and plays down to the final table today at the Wynn Las Vegas. The record-setting $29 million prize pool was produced from a field of 2,960 entries, and Day 5 begins with 37 players remaining including some notable pros.
The $10,400 entry championship event started Sunday at Level 27, with blinds of 100K-200K and a 200K ante. No-Limit hold ‘em play will continue until the televised WPT final table of six has been reached late Sunday night into early Monday morning.
I spoke to WPT Tournament Director Matt Savage Saturday night at Wynn with nearly 50 players remaining in the Encore Ballroom where the WPT events and WPT World Championship (WPTWC) is being played.
“What a spectacular setting and great turnout,” Savage said of the WPTWC $15 million guarantee event at Wynn that produced a record $29 million prize pool. “A full and exciting day tomorrow ahead of the much-anticipated WPT World Championship final table.”
2022 WPT World Championship tournament clock at Wynn Las Vegas.
The WPTWC was still near 50 players remaining late Saturday night. The Ladies Championship event was down to the final table (top photo) and playing down to the TV table of 6 players while the World Championship event was a few hours from finishing Day 4.
Follow WPT.com and WPT on Twitter for continuing live coverage and updates of the WPT Championship events at Wynn Las Vegas, including stories on poker players and personalities making this WPT World Championship a most memorable event.
That includes WPT Ambassador Brad Owen, who has 9,750,000 chips (49 big blinds) starting Day 5 Sunday in the World Championship event. Owen hosted the star-studded premier ‘Meet-Up Game’ (MUG) with fellow vlogger Andrew Neeme to kickoff the WPT Festival on Dec. 1.
The remaining poker players have earned at least $99,600 so far, and in-the-money payouts to the top 370 players started at $17,400. Live tournament updates with chip counts and eliminations are provided by the World Poker Tour team. The players who make the final six will take home at least $1 million, returning Tuesday to compete for the top prize of $4,136,000. Filming for TV of the WTP World Championship final table starts at 4 p.m. on Dec. 20.
Watch the WPT World Championship streamed live
Two-time WPT Champion Daniel Negreanu, who lives in Las Vegas, is second on the WPT all-time earnings leaderboard. Negreanu is one of the remaining 37 players and started Day 5 with 7,525,000 chips (38 big blinds) - update, Negreanu moved to more than 14 million and top 3 in chip count in the opening two hours Sunday as part of the featured table streamed live.
Negreanu has been working on a new strategy since the tournament started and it seems to be paying off. For some it might be reminiscent of the small ball poker he was such a proponent of 10 or 15 years ago.
“Day 1, I limped a lot. Day 2 and 3 I didn’t have chips, so I didn’t limp (as much). I’ve just started limping this last level, because now I have chips again and because of the dynamic,” Negreanu said. “I really feel like I’ve cracked the code on a limping strategy that not only I don’t think I could study, but I don’t think I could teach it because it’s way more complex.”
The WPT Ladies Championship final table along with the WPT Prime Championship and WPT World Championship final table will all be filmed for TV starting at 4 p.m. Dec. 18, 19 and 20.
In July of 2020, the WPT unveiled the Mike Sexton Champions Cup in honor of Sexton’s matchless achievements for the game of poker. The trophy carries the names of all historical WPT Champions and will add this year’s WPT World Championship winner on Dec. 20.
The World Poker Tour broadcasts Main Tour events throughout the U.S. The shows are currently commentated by Tony Dunst and Vince Van Patten along with anchor Lynn Gilmartin. World Series of Poker leading bracelet winner Phil Helmuth adds to the coverage and commentary along with WPT Tournament Director Matt Savage.
Gilmartin finished 91st in this year’s WPT World Championship at Wynn for $36,500. Dunst busted on the bubble with another player in 370th place and those two split $17,400. Van Patten recently became the latest WPT Honors Award recipient for 20 years as WPT commentator and his love and dedication to expanding the game of poker.
The luxurious Wynn Las Vegas - a Forbes Five Star Award-winning resort - partners with the World Poker Tour for this year’s end of the season tournament series. The WPT Championship Series events have been a huge hit, and will be a staple of the year-end WPT World Championship in Las Vegas in the years ahead.
You can bet on it.