John Holley was the bring-in, Thomas Taylor completed, Ali Eslami called, and Holley called. Taylor bet fourth street and both players called, which left Holley with just 20,000 in chips.
Taylor checked to Eslami on fifth, who bet 160,000. Holley called all in and Taylor called as well. Both active players checked it down on the remaining streets.
Taylor had sevens up for the best high hand, while Eslami had an eighty-seven for low. Holley had quite a few outs both ways and squeezed his final card.
"Nope," he muttered and flashed a complete brick with the . "Good game, gentlemen," he said while leaving the table.
Ali Eslami completed before Kenny Hsiung raised pre-draw. Eslami called bets on fourth street and then called his opponent's jam on fifth street.
Hsiung was in a strong position with trip aces and ended up making a flush. However, Eslami caught running fives to end up with a full house. It was a brutal beat for Hsiung and he exited the tournament area in sixth place.
Jeff Madsen was the bring-in, Thomas Taylor completed, and Chris Papastratis called. Papastratis bet fourth street and Taylor called. On fifth street, Papastratis bet and Taylor called all in for his final 160,000.
Papastratis had four cards to a wheel and hit the gin card on sixth street to leave Taylor drawing stone dead both ways. Taylor didn't even bother looking at his river card, instead making his way off the table to collect his $30k and change for finishing fifth.
Scott Lake: / /
Chris Papastratis: /
Jeff Madsen: /
Scott Lake was the bring-in, Chris Papastratis completed, Jeff Madsen made it two bets, Lake called, and Papastratis called as well. Papastratis bet fourth and fifth street and the others stuck around, with Lake calling all in for 40,000 total on fifth street.
Papastratis bet sixth street, Madsen raised, and Papastratis called. Papastratis check-called a final bet from Madsen on the river.
Madsen showed for a sixty-five low and Papastratis revealed his third jack in the hole to claim the high end of the pot. Lake picked up his cards and acknowledged he couldn't beat either hand. He then chucked them face-down into the muck and said his goodbyes.
Chris Papastratis completed and was called by Ali Eslami.
Papastartis check-called bets on fourth and fifth street before he ended up getting his whole stack in the middle on sixth street.
Papastratis saw he was drawing dead as Eslami had already made a wheel. The final cards were dealt and Papastratis congratulated Eslami on his victory.
Well done to Eslami, who has won his first-ever WSOP bracelet. Final Day recap to follow up shortly.
After three days of play, Ali Eslami claimed victory in the 2022 World Series of PokerEvent #36: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better for $135,260 and his first ever WSOP gold bracelet.
The event drew 471 entries and generated a prize pool of $628,785. Just 71 of those players made the money, and when all was said and done, Eslami took the biggest slice.
He overcame Chris Papastratis in heads-up play to secure the win inside Bally's Event Center. Papastratis, who just had $11,399 in recorded tournament earnings, took home his largest ever payday - cashing for $83,598.
Event #36: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Ali Eslami
United States
$135,260
2
Chris Papastratis
United States
$83,598
3
Jeff Madsen
United States
$58,537
4
Scott Lake
United States
$41,693
5
Thomas Taylor
Canada
$30,215
6
Kenny Hsiung
United States
$22,287
7
John Holley
United States
$16,737
8
David Arganian
United States
$12,801
Winner's Reaction
Eslami, who had just booked his first tournament win in over ten years, was buoyed by the experience.
"I'm feeling great actually, especially as I haven't been playing poker for six years or something, so to come back and get the win is great," he told PokerNews.
However, there was no time to waste for Eslami, who was already planning his next bracelet hunt.
"I don't know how late they're playing in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud 8 or better, but that started today. So I feel like I should go play, right? I mean, that's the championship event. Isn't this kind of like a qualifier today?" he said.
Eslami did indeed run off to play in that event after the interview. Before he left, Eslami gave a tribute to a friend who had recently departed and dedicated the win to him.
"I want to dedicate this to Chad Brown, who passed away from cancer. Many poker players knew him. He was a legend, and it [Stud] was one of his favorite games, too. We were very good friends, and we talked a lot about the game too. So this one goes out to Chad."
Final Day Recap
The day started with 15 players but that number was quickly slashed down to nine. Early exits in the day included Kirill Tsyngalev, Pearce Arnold, Brian Scholl, Chad Campbell, Teemu Kangasvieri and Jon Kyte.
John Bunch fell next and his elimination marked the start of the official final table. Kenny Hsiung ousted Bunch with two pair after the former failed to hit his full house and flush outs.
Short stack David Arganian was the first final table casualty. He could not make a low for half the pot with Jeff Madsen's sevens up remaining best.
One of the most talkative players at the table, John Holley, had entertained many throughout the last few days with his table chat, but he lost his voice after being despatched by Eslami and Thomas Taylor.
Hsiung, who had consistently been one of the bigger stacks, suffered the baddest beat of the day. He had trip aces on fifth street and ended up with an ace-high flush by seventh street. Eslami had other ideas and ended up catching running fives to make a full house to send the one-time WSOP bracelet winner out in sixth place.
Taylor quickly followed him out of the door to set up four-handed play. Then following the elimination of Scott Lake, the final three players took their positions.
The three finalists, Eslami, Papastratis and Jeff Madsen exchanged the chip lead several times before Madsen hit the rail. He could not beat Papastratis' two pair or Eslami's low to survive.
Heads-up play lasted for just under an hour, and in that time it was all Eslami. Papastratis failed to find any momentum against his nemesis. The last hand of the day saw Papastratis make aces up, but Eslami had already made a wheel on fifth street and held to see out the tournament.
This concludes PokerNews' coverage of the event, but there is still plenty more to come from the 2022 WSOP, so be sure to keep it locked in.