Aleksejs Ponakovs was already an accomplished and respected player coming into the 2022 World Series of Poker, with millions in tournament earnings and a high roller bracelet he earned last fail on during the WSOP Online series. The 30-year-old Latvian poker professional’s success had primarily come online, though. In fact, he had not yet secured a title in the live arena before making his way to Las Vegas this summer. He crossed that goal off of his to-do list in style, defeating 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey heads-up to take down the 2022 WSOP $100,000 no-limit hold’em high roller event for his second career bracelet and a career-best payday of $1,897,363.
“I never had victory in live tournaments. Finally I did it. Nothing could be better at the moment.”
Even though he was up against a living legend of the game with the title on the line, Ponakovs was not afraid to square off against Ivey, who had 31 live titles and more than $35.4 million in career scores under his belt before entering this event.
“I’m battling the best players all over the world, all the time. It’s another legend, but still beatable,” he said.
2022 WSOP Event #42 Final Payouts
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1st
Aleksejs Ponakovs
Latvia
$1,897,363
2nd
Phil Ivey
United States
$1,172,659
3rd
Ben Heath
United Kingdom
$805,024
4th
Gregory Jensen
United States
$571,896
5th
Micahel Moncek
United States
$420,944
6th
Talal Shakerchi
United Kingdom
$321,437
7th
Mikita Badziakouski
Belarus
$255,001
8th
Masashi Oya
Japan
$210,485
9th
Nick Petrangelo
United States
$181,068
10th
Eric Worre
United States
$162,623
