Gorodinsky Wins Event 54
Mike Gorodinsky took his third WSOP title after winning an eventful Event 54 in the Thunderdome.

A fun-packed day of action at the 2023 WSOP saw Day 28 of the action produce three bracelet winners, two legends with 11 bracelets between them finishing as runners-up and six other tournaments as a PLO High Roller saw controversial players arrive at the felt.

Gorodinsky Grabs Third Gold as Livingston Falls Just Short

Mike Gorodinsky won his third WSOP bracelet in Event #54, the H.O.R.S.E. Championship that cost $10,000 to play and gave the winner a top prize of $422,747. An exciting final table saw early exits for Carol Fuchs (6th for $76,412) and Scott Seiver (5th for $101,319) before Gorodinsky and Livingston played their way into a ‘one-two’ formation that they started with. Livingston battled bravely but was behind the dominant Gorodinsky. In the final hand, Livingston had to make the last draw and promised a ‘no sweat’ swift reveal.

Here’s ‘Gordo’ in his winning moment, as Alex Livingston congratulates him after asking ‘Are you ready to win your third?’

Gorodinsky’s title means he now has three gold WSOP bracelets and although Livingston fell just short, his own World Series this year is certain to end very much in the black with a cash of $261,278 for finishing as runner-up.

WSOP 2023 Event #54: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Mike Gorodinsky United States $422,747
2nd Alex Livingston Canada $261,278
3rd Brad Ruben United States $184,406
4th Brian Yoon United States $136,649
5th Scott Seiver United States $101,319
6th Carol Fuchs United States $76,412
7th Christopher Claassen United States $58,633

 

Hallett Hails Heroic Win Over Idol Baxter

“You can make money, but you can’t buy a bracelet.”

Lonnie Hallett celebrated the crowning moment of his poker career as he quadrupled his lifetime winnings at the live felt in Event #48, the Seniors Championship. This year’s event had a record field and Hallett’s victory was worth an incredible $765,731 – an amazing return on his $1,000 entry fee.

Beating his poker hero, seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Billy Baxter heads-up, Hallett was dumbstruck at his incredible achievement. “I just can’t believe it, such a huge field it’s almost impossible to do, and somehow it happened. I’m grateful, can’t believe it, I’m so happy,” he said. “I’ve played with Dan a few times before and he’s always so tough. It was just incredible to play with Billy Baxter and to end up heads up with him, what more could you want? You can make money, but you can’t buy a bracelet.”

The final day began with seven of the nine official final table players still in seats. After David Stearns and Ron Fetsch had busted yesterday, Dan Heimiller and Hallett had gone into play way clear of the rest at the top of the leaderboard. That situation remained the same as South African player Rudolf Fourie (7th for $122,130) and Loren Cloninger (6th for $158,006) both lost their tournament lives. Baxter doubled through Hallett around the same time, but instead of putting the eventual champion off course, it saw him redouble his efforts to dominate.

Previous overnight leader in this event Gordon Eng was incredibly unlucky to bust how he did, all-in with KcKs against the KhKd of Shannon Fahey. The board of JhTh2h4h2d slayed the unfortunate Eng within the first four cards to reduce the field to four and send him home with $205,799.

Eng’s conqueror Fahey didn’t last much longer, busting to Heimiller when her Qc9c lost to the overnight leader’s 7h7s, the chips in pre and the board coming Ac7d3h2h9d to send play three-handed. Sadly for Heimiller, he lost the pivotal pot of the event, all-in on a flop of QhJh4h with AhJc against Hallett’s Qc4c. The turn of 3s and river of 5s did not bring in the flush and the chip leader when the final day began was on the rail.

Hallett’s heads-up lead made any comeback hopes for Baxter an outside possibility to say the least. With 146.1 million chips to Baxter’s 17.5 million, Hallett needed just a few hands to get over the line, his Ac8c good enough to hold against the seven-time WSOP title winner’s Qc2h after a board of 8d7d6c3s8s played out.

For Baxter it was bittersweet, a fantastic cash of $473,212 in second place tempered by the feeling that his last chance at another bracelet may have gone. Hallett, however, was a worthy champion and a gracious one too. He’d beaten his hero and in doing so, something of a poker flame had been passed between the men in a classic WSOP event that will live long in the memory.

WSOP 2023 Event #48: $1,000 Seniors Championship Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Lonnie Hallett Canada $765,731
2nd Billy Baxter United States $473,212
3rd Dan Heimiller United States $356,166
4th Shannon Fahey United States $269,841
5th Gordon Eng United States $205,799
6th Loren Cloninger United States $158,006
7th Rudolf Fourie South Africa $122,130
8th Ron Fetsch United States $95,040
9th David Stearns United States $74,464

 

Matusow Misses Out on Gold, Horecki Claims Maiden Bracelet

Mike Matusow finished in second place of 18 players who started the final day in Event #55, the Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better event which cost $1,500 to play. Matusow got to heads-up, but faced a chip deficit, even telling the filming Phil Hellmuth that Horecki “makes no mistakes” as the Poker Brat arrived at the table.

After Brian Rast busted in seventh place for $18,709, the six-time winner and favorite to land this year’s Poker Hall of Fame berth was sanguine, saying on Twitter that he was “… very happy with how I played today. (Definitely better than yesterday!!) I made some pretty sick reads that were right. But ultimately just ran out of luck in this one. Tourney was a lot of fun! Onto the next!”

Mike and Shaun 2
Mike Matusow (left) is photobombed by WSOP Player of the Year leader Shaun Deeb at the felt.

It’s easy to be chilled about situations when you have recent gold in the rearview. For Matusow, the pain of not winning a bracelet in the past decade was laid bare as he got so close in this event. Ultimately, it was a fantastic performance and a great result for ‘The Mouth’ after he came into the day seventh of 18 players. It just won’t feel like that right now to a man who wears his heart on his sleeve.

WSOP 2023 Event #55: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Marcin Horecki Poland $155,275
2nd Mike Matusow United States $95,957
3rd Scott Numoto United States $66,950
4th James Cheung United Kingdom $47,475
5th Sergio Braga Brazil $34,225
6th Michael Estes United States $25,089
7th Brian Rast United States $18,709
8th Chris George United States $14,195

 

Marcin Horecki 2
Marcin Horecki won his first WSOP bracelet by defeating poker legend Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow heads-up.

Chance on Top in PLO High Roller

Chance Kornuth leads the field in the $25,000-entry Pot Limit Omaha High Roller Event #57. The Chip Leader Coaching owner bagged up an incredible 7,245,000 chips on a day where everything seemed to fall the three-time bracelet winner’s way. Second in chips – and some way back – is the popular Dylan Weisman (4,355,000), who ran Dan Zack so close for Player of the Year in 2022. Third in chips is Isaac Haxton, whose stack of 4.32 million may yet help him continue his most successful year in poker with another bracelet win.

Elsewhere in the top 10 chipcounts, there were ‘bags’ for overnight leader Firas Kashat (4,185,000) and Jeremy Ausmus (2,290,000) as just 31 players remain from the 449 total entries in this event. The top prize is confirmed as a mammoth $2.3 million, one of the biggest top prizes of the WSOP so far this summer.

WSOP 2023 Event #57: $25,000 PLO High Roller Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Chance Kornuth United States 7,245,000
2nd Dylan Weisman United States 4,355,000
3rd Isaac Haxton United States 4,320,000
4th Firas Kashat United States 4,185,000
5th Ka Kwan Lau Hong Kong 3,890,000
6th Sergio Gonzalez Spain 3,870,000
7th Mads Amot Norway 3,465,000
8th Bradley Anderson United States 3,225,000
9th Andriy Lyubovetskiy Ukraine 2,305,000
10th Jeremy Ausmus United States 2,290,000

 

Stephens Leading the Salutes as Final Day Looms

The last day of the $500-entry Salute to Warriors event is on the horizon, with a field of 14 remaining in the event. Overnight 661 players came back for Day 2 having survived the cut on Day 1 where a record-breaking 4,303 entries made the event so special.  After the second day of action, Ryan Stephens (28,775,000) has the chip lead heading into the final day with a top prize of $217,921 and the gold bracelet up for grabs.

DJ Alexander (20,625,000) in third place on the leaderboard is sure to be a threat, but he is the only remaining former WSOP bracelet winner, with Levi Berger (16th for $9,966) heading home after a late bust-out ended his hopes of repeat gold.

WSOP 2023 Event #56: $500 Salute to Warriors Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Ryan Stephens United States 28,775,000
2nd Youssef Hicham Morocco 22,550,000
3rd Dejuante Alexander United States 20,625,000
4th Ali Alawadhi United States 20,425,000
5th Raffaello Locatelli Italy 19,825,000
6th Kelly Gall Canada 19,275,000
7th David Elisofon United States 14,850,000
8th William Butcher United States 11,775,000
9th Lucas Lew Portugal 11,675,000
10th Steven Genovese United States 11,425,000

 

Kniep Leads Milly Maker with 41 Remaining

German player Andreas Kniep is the chip leader with one day’s play left in the biggest-ever poker tournament with a $1,500 buy-in. Kniep’s stack of 19.6 million is some way clear of most, with Champie Douglas (16.2m) and the experienced Pavel Plesuv (14.1m) his cloest challengers.

Others such as Arnaud Mattern (7.5m), Javier Zarco (7.25m), Roberto Romanello (6.7m), Blair Hinkle (6.6m) and David ‘ODB’ Baker (4.6m) will be hoping to win the top prize of $1.2 million, with $1m runner-up prize meaning this year’s Millionaire will give out not one but two seven-figure sums.

WSOP 2023 Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Andreas Kniep Germany 19,600,000
2nd Champie Douglas United States 16,225,000
3rd Pavel Plesuv Moldova 14,175,000
4th Paul Gunness United States 13,850,000
5th Andras Matrai Hungary 12,875,000
6th Michael Smith (SK) Canada 11,425,000
7th Powen Fang Taiwan 10,175,000
8th Arnaud Mattern France 7,565,000
9th Michael McNicholas United States 7,550,000
10th Javier Zarco Spain 7,250,000

 

Daly Leads from Pupillo and The Gunslinger

One day remains in the $3,000-entry Limit Hold’em 6-Max Event #58, as Jason Daly (1,119,000) leads from Daniel Maczuga (1,100,000) and Nick Pupillo (1,040,000) in the race for the $165,250 top prize with just 17 players surviving Day 2.

Several big names will not feel they’re out of contention a little lower down the leaderboard, however, with David ‘The Gunslinger’ Bach (775,000) hoping to win bracelet #4, Dan Shak (325,000) looking to win his first and the former WSOP Main Event winner Joe McKeehen (150,000) hoping for a miracle way back in as he battles for his fourth bracelet too.

WSOP 2023 Event #58: $3,000 Limit Hold’em 6-Max Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Jason Daly United States 1,119,000
2nd Daniel Maczuga United States 1,100,000
3rd Nick Pupillo United States 1,040,000
4th Mavrick Yoo United States 920,000
5th Tom Koral United States 805,000
6th David Bach United States 775,000
7th Kuenwai Lo China 740,000
8th Alex Torry United States 680,000
9th Brent Mutter United States 660,000
10th Milfred Sageer United States 615,000

 

Kuhn the King After Freezeout Day 1

Robert Kuhn was the only player to end the day in seven figures as he bagged up a frankly ludicrous pile of 1,410,000 chips on Day 1 of Event #59 The $3,000-entry NLHE Freezeout event was cold for many of Kuhn’s victims as his stack ended the day well ahead of anyone’s, even his nearest challengers Giorgii Skhulukhia (999,000) and Juan Duenas (967,000).

With plenty of superstars of the game making the top 20% of the remaining 240 players (from 1,598 total entries), luminaries such as Ryan Leng (874,000), Triple Crown winner Niall Farrell (607,000), Anthony Spinella (584,000) and Upeshka De Silva (570,000) all ended the day with high hopes of not only making the money but a very deep run during tomorrow’s Day 2.

WSOP 2023 Event #59: $3,000 NLHE Freezeout Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Robert Kuhn United States 1,410,000
2nd Giorgii Skhulukhia Russia 999,000
3rd Juan Duenas United States 967,000
4th Ryan Leng United States 874,000
5th Johan Schumacher Belgium 820,000
6th Kazuhiro Shirasawa Japan 806,000
7th James Mackey United States 805,000
8th Jonathan McCann United Kingdom 770,000
9th Alvaro Puchol-Vina Spain 769,000
10th David Decker United States 765,000

 

Seidel Chasing Glory in Single Draw

Erik Seidel ended Day 1 of the $1,500-entry No Limit 2-7 Single Draw Event #60 in second place from 160 survivors as he once again bids to end his bracelet drought and win going #10. Michael Trivett (401,000) bagged the overnight chip lead after Day 1 saw 566 runners trimmed to just a third of their number, but the presence of superstar and humble journeyman Seidel in second place on 259,000 chips will thrill his many fans.

Seidel’s stardom aside, the field is one packed with talent, a lot of very experienced players making the upper limits of the overnight counts. Mike Watson (208,000) is third in chips, Nick Schulman (195,000) sits in fifth and Michael Moncek (165,500) sixth as he bids to win the second WSOP bracelet of an extremely impressive summer so far.

WSOP 2023 Event #60: $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Single Draw Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Michael Trivett United States 401,000
2nd Erik Seidel United States 259,000
3rd Mike Watson Canada 208,000
4th Hugh Joiner United States 201,000
5th Nick Schulman United States 195,000
6th Michael Moncek United States 165,500
7th Will Berry United States 160,500
8th Daniel Tafur Spain 158,500
9th Jon Turner United States 154,500
10th Sami Bechahed France 154,000

 

If you ever wondered what happened to the character ‘Worm’ from the popular 1998 movie Rounders, Faraz Jaka has the answer.

Shaun Deeb isn’t just photobombing other players’ final table pictures, he’s over the moon to have taken over at the top of this year’s POY race.

It never gets old to bust Phil Ivey and the GPI Female Player of the Year Angela Jordison proved that despite her luminous personality she can still get starstruck.

Phil Hellmuth wasn’t content with being Mike Matsuow’s lucky charm at the final table, he took time out to meet a couple of old frenemies at the felt, too!

PokerGO released the footage we all wanted to see from yesterday – Lou Garza proposing to his very shocked – but delighted – now fiancé.

Meanwhile, want to be called ‘Dealer of the Day’ at the Horseshoe or Paris Casinos? There is a very literal prize on offer.

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