Josh 5
Josh Arieh won his fifth WSOP bracelet after a stunning comeback in Event #22 of the World Series in Las Vegas last night.

A stunning day of action on Day 13 of the 54th annual WSOP saw Josh Arieh capture his fifth WSOP bracelet, taking down the Limit Hold’em Championship after a stirring comeback win. Elsewhere, Leon Sturm beat Bill Klein heads-up to win $1.5m and the $50,000 High Roller bracelet, and the Gladiators of Poker event – the second biggest poker tournament attendance of all time – whittled the remaining field down to just 14 players.

Arieh On Top Again, Bags Fifth Gold Bracelet

One for each finger on a waving hand, Josh Arieh took down Event #22 the $10,000-entry Limit Hold’em Championship for over $316,000 on Sunday night in Las Vegas. Perhaps the best player outside the Poker Hall of Fame, Arieh’s latest win came the hard way. The man known as ‘Golfer Josh’ came into the action with just a million chips, the lowest of three remaining stacks in the event. With less than a quarter of the chip leader’s pile, Arieh performed a miraculous comeback and triumphed to grab gold yet again in Las Vegas.

Three-handed as play resumed on this extra final day, Arieh managed to double up early through Idema, but it was no plain sail to victory. Even after the Japanese player Nozomu Shimizu eventually busted in third place, Arieh was playing catch-up and had to grind it out heads-up. Arieh built a 2:1 chip lead only for Idema to double up to remain well in contention. The Canadian was as tenacious as anyone and Arieh had to rely on his years of experience to get his chips in ahead, eventually making a full house on the river to claim victory.

As he explained to PokerGO’s Jeff Platt after the event, some serendipity played its part in terms of positive thinking as 24 years earlier, Arieh won his first bracelet in the same discipline when the exact same player busted in eighth place.

WSOP 2023 Event #22 $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Josh Arieh United States $316,226
2nd Daniel Idema Canada $195,443
3rd Nozomu Shimizu Japan $144,069
4th Joe McKeehen United States $107,540
5th Louis Hillman United States $81,298
6th Nick Pupillo United States $62,255
7th Nick Schulman United States $48,298
8th Kevin Song United States $37,967

 

Leon Sturm King as Klein Falls Short

Bill Klein missed out on the chance of winning his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet as Leon Sturm from Germany achieved that statistic instead on Day 13 of the WSOP. At the $50,000-entry High Roller final table, which was five-handed from the start of the final day, Alex Foxen and Jans Arends were the two big stacks, so it was a shock when neither man made the final two.

First to bust was Seth Davies, who cashed for $385,617 in fifth place when his 5h2h was no good on a board of 9c8d7h5c5s. Sturm had put him to the test for all of his chips with the turned straight on 7d6c and jumped to second on the leaderboard after winning the pot.

Alex Foxen also fell to Sturm, this time going all-in on the flop of 8s6c4h. Foxen shoved with 9d8d, and Sturm called it off with the superior 8c6h for a flopped two pair. The turn of As and river of Kh did nothing to help Foxen who slid to the rail for $512,824, far behind his expectations of the day when he started the final as chip leader.

Jan Arends busted in third place for $694,019 when he lost to Sturm too, who busted everyone at the final table to win. Arends was all-in on a flop of 9s5s4c with Ts9d but while Sturm only had the same top pair with Qc9h, the Dutchman was a kicker behind. That stayed the same through the 4d turn and 3c river, leading to Sturm’s third elimination of the night.

Last to go was Bill Klein, but not before the American businessman and 75-year-old high roller legend came close. Klein built a lead of 23.2 million to Sturm’s 13.9 million chips, only for the German to make a pair of fours on a board showing QdTs3dQh4s. The betting had been aggro the whole way to the river, Klein holding AcKc to Sturm’s 8d4d, but both players checked the river and Sturm leapt into the lead.

Soon afterwards, it was all over. On a board of Jd8c3s6d, all the chips went in with Klein holding 8h5d and Sturm QsJd. No miracle arrived on the 2h river and Leon Sturm won his first WSOP bracelet and the $1.5 million top prize.

WSOP 2023 Event #23 $50,000 High Roller Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Leon Sturm Germany $1,546,024
2nd Bill Klein United States $955,513
3rd Jans Arends Netherlands $694,019
4th Alex Foxen United States $512,824
5th Seth Davies United States $385,617
6th Justin Bonomo United States $295,169
7th Sam Soverel United States $230,066
8th Sung Joo Hyun South Korea $182,662

 

David ‘ODB’ Baker Wins Bracelet Number Three in Razz

David ‘ODB’ Baker won his third World Series bracelet last night as he overcame Justin Liberto in an amazing comeback. Starting the final table in bad shape chip-wise, Baker used all of his mixed game nous to grind his way back into contention, with a handy double-up then elimination of Australian player Jeff Lisandro in fifth for $34,752 contributing to his comeback.

After Takashi Ogura (4th for $47,743) and Chris Hundley (3rd for $66,659) both lost their tournament lives, Baker came back from 10:1 down in chips to stun Justin Liberto and claim his third WSOP title in a third separate variant of the game. Liberto will be disappointed, not only due to the blown chip lead but the opportunity; had he won instead, he would be level on bracelets with the legendary Baker. Instead, he is now two behind.

WSOP 2023 Event #24 $1,500 Razz Final Table Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st David ‘ODB’ Baker United States $152,991
2nd Justin Liberto United States $94,558
3rd Chris Hundley United States $66,659
4th Takashi Ogura Japan $47,743
5th Jeff Lisandro Australia $34,752
6th Everett Carlton United States $25,714
7th William Burke Canada $19,347
8th Dzmitry Urbanovich Poland $14,805
9th Rafael Concepcion United States $11,527

 

Seidel and Hennigan Set to Battle for Omaha Glory

Erik Seidel will shoot for his 10th WSOP bracelet tomorrow in the Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, as John Hennigan will duke it out for bracelet #7 too. Both poker legends will be part of a 21-strong party to reconvene on the final day of this $10,000 buy-in Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship event, with a top prize of $492,795 up for grabs.

Jay Kerebl (1,065,000) leads the field, with Jose Luis Velador (1,040,000) a big bet away from Seidel and Johannes Becker, both of whom have 1,010,000 chips. Those will not be the only big names to battle it out, as not only Hennigan (630,000) but other stars such as Ben Lamb (630,000) and Kyle Cartwright (880,000) sit in the top 10. Of the remaining 21 players, over half of the field (11) have won at least one bracelet before, with an incredible 30 WSOP titles between the players left battling for this one.

WSOP 2023 Event #15 $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips:
1st Jay Kerbel United States 1,065,000
2nd Jose Luis Velador Mexico 1,040,000
3rd Johannes Becker Germany 1,010,000
4th Erik Seidel United States 1,010,000
5th James Chen United States 925,000
6th Kyle Cartwright United States 880,000
7th Robert Yass United States 650,000
8th John Hennigan United States 630,000
9th Ben Lamb United States 595,000
10th Aaron Kupin United States 595,000

 

Gladiators Assemble for Final Day in Arena

The final day of the $300-entry Gladiators of Poker event has been reached and no existing bracelet winners are on the list, meaning a new hero will be the last fighter standing (or sitting) when battle concludes tomorrow. Eric Trexler (97.4 million) will step onto the sand (sit down at the felt) with the lead, but he’s one swing of the retes (or a three-bet) away from nearest challenger Ciao Sobral (94 million) from Brazil.

Although no former bracelet winners ended up making the final day, Kid Poker himself came closest. Daniel Negreanu came out swinging but eventually departed in 68th place for $5,840. We were entertained? We certainly were.

WSOP 2023 Event #18 $300 Gladiators of Poker Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Eric Trexler United States 97,400,000
2nd Ciao Sobral Brazil 94,000,000
3rd Kfir Nahum Israel 83,600,000
4th Jason Simon United States 77,800,000
5th Jonson Chatterley United States 66,300,000
6th Bohdan Slyvinski United States 55,200,000
7th Wade Wallace United States 41,400,000
8th Salvatroe Boi Italy 37,300,000
9th Wesley Cannon United States 36,000,000
10th Bien Nguyen Australia 31,200,000

 

Joldis Tops Deepstack Event with Boivin Close

Romanian player Cosmin Joldis tops the leaderboard in the $800-entry NLHE Deepstack Event #26, which saw an 80% attendance uptick on last year’s corresponding event. Joldis’ stack of 2,040,000 was the only one over two million chips and sees him well ahead of his nearest challengers, William Pappas (1,680,000) and Stefan Rolfe (1,655,000). Belgian Thomas Boivin (1,575,000) hovers ominously in the top five.  

WSOP 2023 Event #26 $800 NLHE Deepstack Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips:
1st Cosmin Joldis Romania 2,040,000
2nd William Pappas United States 1,680,000
3rd Stefan Rolfe Canada 1,655,000
4th Daniyal Gheba United States 1,655,000
5th Thomas Boivin Belgium 1,575,000
6th Wade Fink United States 1,520,000
7th Nanhua Jin United States 1,450,000
8th Christopher Battenfield United States 1,410,000
9th Sriharsha Doddapaneni United States 1,380,000
10th Tamas Lendvai Hungary 1,365,000

 

Deeb Leads with Hellmuth and Negreanu Both Alive

The last event of the day on the WSOP schedule was the $1,500 Eight Game Mix Event #27 and it was perennial WSOP Player of the Year threat Shaun Deeb who led the way after Day 1, amassing 311,200 chips. That was good for a healthy lead over fellow podium placers Sampo Ryynanen (282,000) and Daniel Vargas (261,700), with stars of the felt Anthony Zinno (177,800), Phil Hellmuth (84,700) and Daniel Negreanu (63,900) all making the Day 2 cut.

WSOP 2023 Event #27 $1,500 Eight Game Mix Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips:
1st Shaun Deeb United States 311,200
2nd Sampo Ryynanen Finland 282,000
3rd Kao Saechao United States 279,500
4th Chad Campbell United States 263,400
5th Daniel Vargas United States 261,700
6th David “Bakes” Baker United States 238,000
7th Hugh Joiner United States 211,800
8th Nicolas Barthe France 208,800
9th Paul Martino United States 205,600
10th Ryan Roeder United States 202,600

 

Don’t think for a second that just because Shaun Deeb is crushing it at the felt that he’s not maintaining his training for his million-dollar weight loss bet. He’s crunching numbers and iron.

We might already have seen some of the best bluffs in WSOP history, and Bill Klein submitted his entry to that list on Sunday night. Wow.

Justin Bonomo and Isaac Haxton have both advocated the wearing of masks in recent days. It would be fair to declare Ryan DePaulo a ‘non believer’ in that stance.

Phil Hellmuth’s mindset is the key to his success… and the Poker Brat took time out for the fans to explain how he has to hold back his poker ‘ego’.

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