Casino Player August 2022

PLAYING POKER

B eyond those players mentioned earlier a few of the better-known pros also scored bracelets this summer. Poker Hall of Famer Eli Elezra was one of those and won his fifth bracelet in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship for $611,362.Elezra has been a regular in tournaments and televised cash games for years and was thrilled to add another bracelet to his poker resumé,which came just after his father Michel passed away in Israel. “I was very emotional there because my dad died 18 days ago,” Elezra said.“I wanted to win for him and I did it.” David Peters won his fourth bracelet in the $100,000 High Roller Bounty for $1.1 million.Scott Seiver also added his fourth bracelet in the $2,500 Freezeout No Limit Hold’em for $320,059.A few other regular high rollers won their first bracelets.Dan Smith took down the $25,000 Heads Up Championship for $509,717, and Jake Schindler won the $50,000 High Roller for $1.3 million.Alex Foxen also plays regularly in nosebleed stakes tournaments and scored his first piece of WSOP hardware by winning the $250,000 Super High Roller for $4.6 million. Three-timeWorld Poker Tour champion Brian Altman also found a victory in a $400 online event for $110,662. Perhaps one of the biggest wins of the summer came in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, considered a major bullet point among high-roller pros.Dan Cates scored his second bracelet after winning the event in 2021 and 2022.The first win brought him $954,020, followed by $1.4 million this year.Always ready to wrestle away a pot from an opponent, Cates dressed as WWE legend Randy“Macho Man”Savage for much of the tournament. BIG NAMES FINDING BRACELETS

Poker Hall of Famer Eli Elezra (above) won his fifth bracelet in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship for $611,362.

Dan Cates (l.) makes poker

history and goes back-to-back in Poker Players Championship for $1.4 million.

LAYNE FLACK NAMED TO HALL OF FAME

WSOP officials named the newest member of the Poker Hall of Fame in July as well. Layne Flack was inducted posthumously after passing away in 2021.Originally from Miles City,MT, Flack began his career as a casino dealer and played poker in the evenings.He later moved on to the game full time, eventually accumulating $5.1 million in live tournament winnings, sixWSOP bracelets, and oneWorld PokerTour title. Fellow Hall of Fame member and 16-timeWSOP champion Phil Hellmuth believes Flack definitely deserved to be inducted and told The Sporting News about a tough turn of events that might have cost Flack an even bigger poker record. “Layne Flack has the credentials to be admitted to the Poker Hall of Fame,”Hellmuth said.“SixWSOP bracelets, aWorld PokerTour title, and ‘Layno’ played high stakes poker for two decades. I was with Layne in Aruba when he was heads-up for anotherWPT title.He somehow was all in with 7-7 versus 2-2 for all of the chips,when his opponent hit a 2, on the turn.”

Almost a year after his death, six-time World Series of Poker champion Layne Flack received the game’s ultimate honor and was was named the latest member of the Poker Hall of Fame.

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