Jeremy Ausmus Leads Poker Masters Event #1 Final Table with Erik Seidel Second

The opening event of the 2022 Poker Masters is down to the last seven players and the chip leader with the final table around the corner is popular poker professional Jeremy Ausmus. With a top prize of $204,000 on the line as well as setting the pace in the race for the Purple Jacket, everyone still in with a chance of victory will be hoping tomorrow is their day at the PokerGO felt.

Early Eliminations Lead to Dramatic Money Bubble

With 85 entrants paying the $10,000 buy-in, only a ‘lucky’ 13 players would be paid. With a number of big names missing out, one such luminary was Sam Soverel. The former 2019 Purple Jacket winner – the legendary prize given out to every Poker Master champion – busted to Cole Ferraro in unlucky fashion, Soverel’s pocket sevens losing out to Ferraro’s fives when all the chips were committed pre-flop and a five landed on the turn.

The next big name to crash out pre-bubble was the 2022 WSOP bracelet winner Alex Foxen. The former GPI world number one was all-in and at risk with ace-queen against Ausmus’ ten-six of hearts. The flop brought an ace, but with it two hearts and while the turn of an eight of diamonds was safe, the four of hearts on the river was the opposite and skittle Foxen’s chances of profit.

Some time later, the stacks were shallow and there was a lot on the line, with the min-cash for finishing 13^th a whopping $17,000, someone was about to go home with nothing. That player turned out to be Vikenty Shegal, whose pocket kings were slain by Ausmus’ king-jack after all the chips went in before the flop. The board of T-9-2-Q-6 had Shegal drawing to one of only three jacks for a chop after the turn and the river of a six confirmed his exit on the stone cold bubble.

Six Stars Make a Profit

Into the money places, then, and almost immediately, Ben Yu was on the rail with that min-cash amount. Yu check-called all-in on the turn of a board displaying J-7-5-9 with king-jack and was well behind Ausmus, who had trapped brilliantly with pocket fives in his hand flopping bottom set.

Kristina Holst was the next to bust, cashing for the same as Yu in 12^th place when her king-ten shove couldn’t toppled Nick Schulman’s ace-king. Then, just a short while later, Japanese player Masashi Oya was busted in 11^th place for $25,500 when his pocket sixes couldn’t hold against Jackie Wang’s ace-king, a king on the flop doing the fatal damage to Oya’s stack.

Matthew Wantman busted next in 10^th place for $25,500 when his short stack shove from the big blind with ten-nine on a flop of 8-7-7 ran into Michael Jozoff’s ace-queen, which held across the deuce turn and king river. He was followed from the felt by Jozoff himself in ninth place just after the final table began, with Jozoff’s ace-nine no good on a board of A-A-5-7-8 when Ausmus turned over ace-five to reduce the field to eight.

Jozoff had cashed for $34,000 and play ended for the day following the Spanish player Sergio Aido’s elimination for the same amount in seventh place when his pocket nines lost to Schulman’s ace-queen. The board of A-K-J-A-7 gave Aido little hope and his bust-out meant the final table was set.

Ausmus Leads the Superb Seven

Of the final seven, it is Ausmus who has the chip lead… but it is a slim one. Ausmus, who won his fourth WSOP bracelet in the summer only to this week extend his record with a fifth in the WSOP Online Series, will go into the final day’s play with 2,810,000 chips. That’s a mammoth amount, but he still only has a slim lead, and that’s because of the phenomenon that is Erik Seidel. The nine-time WSOP bracelet winner has 2,755,000 chips and after leading a High Roller at EPT Barcelona around six weeks ago and failing to seal the victory, will be looking to close out the win this time around.

Rounding out the top three is Jackie Wang (1,295,000) who may have less than half of the chips leaders’ stacks, but has plenty of momentum going into the last knockings of the tournament. Nick Schulman (1,125,000) likewise has plenty of inertia going into battle, and his many years of experience will help him pull in that chip deficit and make a run at the title.

Almost on Schulman’s heels are two more players in the aforementioned and fortunate Cole Ferraro (1,115,000), who struck it lucky to send Soverel to the rail. Anthony Hu (970,000) goes into the final under the radar retaining plenty of hope of doing similar to get the win, as will Cary Katz despite his slightly lower stack of 555,000.