2022 WSOP Predictions
The biggest Main Event, zero tolerance for cheaters and a Phil Hellmuth penalty are some of Barry Carter's WSOP predictions this year.
The Mystery Bounty is a hit
The Mystery Bounty format has taken over live poker in 2022 and it finally gets its debut at the series this year. It was actually planned for the 2020 WSOP but we all know what happened there.
I expect huge numbers for this event and a buzz afterwards that will make Mystery Bounty a format that is simply demanded at every major live poker stop thereafter, as well as online.
Unless, of course, the very first bounty won is the $1 million bounty. That might sting a little for the players left in the field and take a bit of momentum out of the event.
The biggest Main Event
I'm calling it. The biggest field in Main Event history was 8,772 in 2006 when Jamie Gold won it and I think we will, just, beat that.
This is the first year that travel restrictions have been lifted including vaccine and mask mandates. Add to that the sheer pent up demand for live poker and we should get a new record.
Plenty of factors could prevent this, not least the war in Ukraine and the increasing cost of living crisis. But poker tends to surprise you in bad economic times and I think we will be blown away by the numbers this year.
The year of calling out cheaters
I think we will see the likes of Ali Imsirovic, Jake Schindler and Bryn Kenney this year at the series, but we will also see a pushback against alleged cheaters.
Imsirovic and Schindler are rumoured to have been banned by the EPT and Triton, so there is a shot that they may be turned away at the series too.
However, I think what this WSOP will be remembered for is the players no longer accepting it. Expect to see more alleged cheaters exposed, confrontations and even fisticuffs at the 2022 WSOP. The tolerance for alleged cheaters playing high stakes events is very low this year.
Hellmuth gets a penalty
Speaking of things that are getting hard to tolerate, it seems Phil Hellmuth is acting worse than ever on live streamed poker tables.
It may be 'good for TV' but his antics last year at the WSOP, for which most people would have been banned, really highlighted the special treatment he gets in poker tournaments.
It is the Tournament Directors and event operators to blame here, turning a blind eye because of his percieved marketability.
Even the biggest Hellmuth fans are getting pissed off with it and this year might finally be the year that the Poker Brat gets penalised for doing something that would get the rest of us banned for life.
Or he will continue to act terribly and win a bracelet.
What are your WSOP predictions? Let us know in the comments:
