Jeffrey Farnes en tête, Karim Rebei et Levy Tzur à 35 left
Day 6 of the 2022 World Series of Poker Main Event has come to an end and Jeffrey Farnes leads 35 players into Wednesday’s Day 7. The 2022 Main Event drew 8,663 runners and generated a prize pool of $80,782,475, from which the winner will take home $10,000,000. Day 6 welcomed 123 players, and 35 will return on Wednesday at 2 p.m. local time to play down to a final table.
Farnes is trailed at the top of the chip counts by Brian Kim, who ran hot all day and came up just short of the chip lead in the last moments of the evening. Philippe Souki, Karim Rebei, and Espen Jorstad round out the top five chip counts.
2022 World Series of Poker Main Event Day 6 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chip Count | Day 6 Big Blinds |
| 1 | Jeffrey Farnes | United States | 37,825,000 | 126 |
| 2 | Brian Kim | United States | 33,875,000 | 113 |
| 3 | Philippe Souki | United Kingdom | 32,475,000 | 108 |
| 4 | Karim Rebei | France | 31,475,000 | 105 |
| 5 | Espen Jorstad | Norway | 31,175,000 | 104 |
| 6 | Matija Dobric | Croatia | 29,550,000 | 99 |
| 7 | Adrian Attenborough | Australia | 28,625,000 | 95 |
| 8 | Andy Taylor | United Kingdom | 23,900,000 | 80 |
| 9 | Michael Duek | Argentina | 22,575,000 | 75 |
| 10 | John Eames | United Kingdom | 22,450,000 | 75 |
Day 6 Chip Leader
Farnes is the chip leader thanks to a day full of heroics and big hands.
“I guess it’s every poker player’s dream. It’s surreal. I think I’ll pinch myself when this whole thing’s over,” Farnes said about being the Day 6 chip leader.
The highlight of Farnes day came in the late stages of the evening when he made his charge up the leaderboard, first with the elimination of 2021 final table qualifier Alejandro Lococo. Lococo got it in with ace-queen, but Farnes called with pocket tens.
“I just kind of felt like it was time to get one of the toughest players in the field out, so I tried it,” Farnes said about his flip with Lococo.
“It was only, I think, 20 percent of my stack to do it so I went ahead and made the gamble. And it was right. So that was cool.”
A short time later, Farnes vaulted into the chip lead when he picked up quads to take a chunk of Tzur Levy’s chip stack and chip up to nearly 40 million.
“To get quad nines at the Main Event on Day 6. I don’t know if it gets any better than that.”
New Stars Emerge on Day 6
The most memorable hand of the day came when Haim Or Krief picked up pocket queens and cracked the aces of Gilbert Cruz in a three-way pot that also included Stanley Lee and his pocket jacks. The aces were in command, but runner-runner hearts brought a flush for Or Krief to send Cruz and Lee to the rail in early Day 6 action.
Among the others in the top ten is Matija Dobric, who made Day 7 last year and finished in 32nd place.
"There is no mindset, I just play hand by hand and whatever happens happens, that's poker like every other poker tournament,” Dobric said after bagging up his chips at the end of Day 6. “I mean, it's not like every other event but I play my best every hand and there is nothing special about it.
"Last year it was really hard. I couldn't sleep because I was full of adrenaline and when I woke up after four or five hours of sleep, I was trying to stay awake at the table. This year is different, I am calm, I can sleep, I can get good rest, everything goes smooth."
Dobric will return for Day 7 with more experience and the rare opportunity to get another shot at making the Main Event final table.
Among the other breakout stars on Day 6 was Rebei, who got involved in hands early and often throughout the tournament.
"I hope [my playing style] is disturbing for the other players," Rebei said, offering some insight into his playing style - a style that involves playing a lot of hands. "What a lot of players have forgotten, there are 52 cards in the deck. If we want to play short deck, we play for short deck. I play 52 cards."
Also returning is Brooklyn-native Efthymia Litsou, who has locked up her first career WSOP cash in this year’s Main Event.
"I'm feeling very good. My aim was to make it through Day 1 so Day 7 sounds great," Litsou said at the end of Day 6.
Litsou returns as the only woman remaining in this year’s Main Event after Shelby Wells bowed out just after the tournament reached its final 100 players.
"I wish there were more women playing the game, so maybe next year," Litsou said.
Her preparation plans for Day 7?
"Get some alcohol in me first, and then some good night's sleep."
Other runners that made it to Day 6 but couldn’t find their way to Day 7 include Dan Smith, Zilong Zhang, Day 2 chip leader Muhammad Abdel Rahim, Day 1A chip leader Cedrric Trevino and Day 5 chip leader James Hobbs.
Remaining Payouts
| 1st | $10,000,000 | 8th | $1,075,000 | ||
| 2nd | $6,000,000 | 9th | $850,000 | ||
| 3rd | $4,000,000 | 10-11th | $675,000 | ||
| 4th | $3,000,000 | 12-13th | $525,000 | ||
| 5th | $2,250,000 | 14-17th | $410,000 | ||
| 6th | $1,750,000 | 18-26th | $323,100 | ||
| 7th | $1,350,000 | 27-35th | $262,300 |
Players will return at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the Bally’s Event Center in Level 32 with blinds at 150,000/300,000 with a 300,000 ante. Action will continue on Wednesday’s Day 7 until the Main Event reaches its final table, and PokerNews will be there to carry all of the action.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews live reporting team all week long for coverage from the floor of the 2022 World Series of Poker Main Event in its new home at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.