The 2022 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event attracted a massive field of 1,213 entries, building a prize pool of $1,837,695 that was paid out among the top 182 finishers. After two starting flights and two more long days of action, Jared Ingles emerged as the champion. The 34-year-old poker player from Prospect, Louisiana earned a career-best $300,736 payday for the win, along with his first WSOPC gold ring.
Ingles now has more than $1.3 million in career tournament earnings to his name across 126 recorded cashes. His largest previous payday was for $138,285, which he earned as the 56th-place finisher in the 2010 WSOP main event.
“I have been grinding for over half my life,” Ingles told WSOP reporters after coming out on top. “I am mainly a cash game player but I have been firing these tournaments for a long time and finally was able to close one out.”
A total of 17 players returned to Harrah’s Cherokee in Cherokee, North Carolina for the final day of this event. Ingles entered the day in seventh chip position, but managed to work his way to the top of the counts by the time the unofficial final table of ten was set.
He scored his first knockout at the official final table when his A-10 won a preflop race against the pocket fives of Marshall White (9th – $31,634). Rohit Kwatra was the next to fall, with his 8-6 suited failing to overcome the A-K of Robert Hover. Kwatra took home $39,689 as the eighth-place finisher.
Ingles then found himself involved in another preflop coinflip, with his pocket fours beating out the K-J suited of John Gallaher (7th – $50,236).
Adam Ney’s run in this event came to an end when his A-Q ran into the pocket tens of Changlong Zeng. Neither player improved and Ney was eliminated in sixth place ($64,146).
Fikret Kovac got the last of his stack in preflop with pocket fives, only to find himself in trouble against the pocket sixes of Max Le. The larger pair held up and Kovac settled for $82,622 as the field was narrowed to just four contenders.
Despite earning that knockout, Le was ultimately the next player to hit the rail. He got all-in preflop with Q-J suited facing the pocket jacks of Hover. Le made a flush on the turn, but the river put three kings on the board to give Hover a full house and the pot. Le earned $107,339 as the fourth-place finisher.
Not too long after that, two of the final three got all of the chips in preflop with Zeng holding 10Heart Suit9Heart Suit against the ADiamond SuitQDiamond Suit of Hover. Zeng flopped top pair and turned trip tens to leave Hover drawing dead. Hover was awarded $140,648 for his third-place showing, while Zeng took a healthy lead into heads-up play with Ingles.
The tables turned thanks to a crucial preflop race, with Ingles’ A-K beating out the pocket threes of Zeng with a king on the river. That gave Ingles more than a 7:1 chip lead. Zeng was left on fumes and soon found himself at risk with 4Diamond Suit3Club Suit up against the AClub Suit10Spade Suit of Ingles. The board came down 10Diamond Suit7Club Suit4Club Suit6Spade SuitQClub Suit and Ingles made a pair of tens to lock up the pot and the title. Zeng earned $185,859 as the runner-up.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points |
| 1 | Jared Ingles | $300,736 | 960 |
| 2 | Changlong Zeng | $185,859 | 800 |
| 3 | Robert Hover | $140,648 | 640 |
| 4 | Max Le | $107,339 | 480 |
| 5 | Fikret Kovac | $82,622 | 400 |
| 6 | Adam Ney | $64,146 | 320 |
| 7 | John Gallaher | $50,236 | 240 |
| 8 | Rohit Kwatra | $39,689 | 160 |
| 9 | Marshall White | $31,634 | 80 |
Winner photo provided by WSOP.
