Toby Lewis
British player Toby Lewis starred on Day 7 of the 2023 WSOP Main Event.

A thrilling day of action satisfied poker fans around the world as the Main Event reached the final 15 players, and seven other bracelet events were in progress. With gold bracelets won on a day of drama at the Horseshoe and Paris casinos in Las Vegas, a continental feeling was in the air – especially in the World Championship.

Juan Maceiras Top 100 Million Chips, Build Huge Main Event Lead

After five levels of pure theatre, the Horseshoe played host to a day of big names and huge all-ins. All of the remaining 15 players in the 2023 World Championship have now been at the felt every day (depending on their Day 1 flight) for the past week, and one more day of play is required for them to take a day off knowing that they’ve reached the final table – the promised land of poker.

With just six American players reaching the final 15, it is the Spanish player Juan Maceiras (108,000,000) who leads the way to Day 8, having established a big lead over late riser Adam Walton (75,475,000), the highest-ranked home country player on the list. Behind the top two,  German professional and PLO heavyweight Jan-Peter Jachtmann (70.7m) is also a huge danger, while Arizona’s Steven Jones (67.9m) is in great shape too.

Completing the top five is British poker hero Toby Lewis. One of the most well-loved professionals from the other side of the Atlantic, Lewis lives in America and has the temperament for exactly this sort of situation. He’s made two big folds in the Main Event so far, one wrong and one right, but preserved his stack at all times and he is now in the perfect position to make a sprint for the line.

Lewis is not the only British player in the mix, and by a long way. A total of four players come from the United Kingdom and that’s one of the highest proportions any nation other than the United States has had at this stage for some time.

With the overnight leader Joshua Payne (31m) still in contention, there were bags for Daniel Weinman (21.7m) and Alec Torelli (14.2m) too.

From 15th place and up, the minimum amount won will be $430,000 with Maceiras leading the race to take home that magical $12.1 million top prize.

WSOP 2023 Event #76 $10,000 Main Event World Championship Day 7:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Juan Maceiras Spain 108,000,000
2nd Adam Walton United States 75,475,000
3rd Jan-Peter Jachtmann Germany 70,775,000
4th Steven Jones United States 67,900,000
5th Toby Lewis United Kingdom 50,050,000
6th Ruslan Prydryk Ukraine 45,750,000
7th Jose Aguilera Mexico 37,600,000
8th Joshua Payne United States 31,000,000
9th Sachin Joshi United Kingdom 27,775,000
10th Daniel Weinman United States 21,750,000

 

Alex Kulev Leads Final Five in High Roller With $2m Up Top

The $50,000 High Roller Event #84 saw a penultimate day full of drama as players such as Argentinians Damian Salas and Sergio Aguero both bowed out of the action inside the money places and a final five were formed for the last day of the event tomorrow.

The Bulgarian professional Alex Kulev leads the remaining players, with his stack of 19.8 million some way clear of second-placed Jake Schindler. The only American left in the tournament with one day to play and $2 million to the winner. Schindler has a stack of 13.5 million chips, with Kulev at the top of the leaderboard on 19.8 million.

There are three other players with great experience of final tables at this level still in the hunt for gold, as Hungarian star Gergely Kulcsar (12.35m) lines up alongside German former World Champion Koray Aldemir (4m) and Daniel Smiljkovic, who will begin with eight big blinds.

WSOP 2023 Event #84 $50,000 High Roller Leaderboard:
Rank Player Country Chips
1st Alex Kulev Bulgaria 19,800,000
2nd Jake Schindler United States 13,550,000
3rd Gergely Kulcsár Hungary 12,350,000
4th Koray Aldemir Germany 4,000,000
5th Daniel Smiljkovic Germany 3,150,000

 

Zamani Leads the Field in Hall of Fame Bounty Event

Martin Zamani is on top in the record-setting Poker Hall of Fame Bounty event, where his stack of 1.25 million chips is miles clear of his nearest competitor, Osman Ihlamur (897,000). All but five of the remaining 150 players from 1,417 entries have less than half of Zaamani’s stack, but Phil Hellmuth (281,000) is one of two remaining former World Champion bounties, so expect drama tomorrow as players battle for a top prize of over $400,000.

WSOP 2023 Event #86 $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Martin Zamani United States 1,258,000
2nd Osman Ihlamur Turkiye 897,000
3rd Roman Hrabec Czech Republic 772,000
4th Xiaowen Zhao China 751,000
5th Jason James Canada 715,000
6th Valentyn Shabelnyk Ukraine 686,000
7th Marc Moukarzel France 612,000
8th Anthony Hu United States 580,000
9th Kevin Calenzo United States 579,000
10th Wayne Harmon United States 565,000

Thai Ha Wins Short Deck Bracelet for Vietnam

Vietnamese player Thai Ha won his first-ever WSOP bracelet as he took the title in Event #83 on the 2023 WSOP schedule. Winning $111,170, Ha got the better of the overnight leader going into the final, David Prociak, as the American fell just short of victory. At a truly continental final table, fellow Stateside player Ryan Laplante busted in 5th place for $21,863, while Malaysian Wai Kiat Lee couldn’t win a first bracelet, lasting two more places to reach the podium for $45,866.

WSOP 2023 Event #83 $1,500 Short Deck NLHE Results:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Thai Ha Vietnam $111,170
2nd David Prociak United States $68,712
3rd Wai Kiat Lee Malaysia $45,866
4th Robert James United States $31,307
5th Ryan Laplante United States $21,863
6th Moses Alosh Israel $15,629
7th Matan Gabay Israel $11,443

 

Parry Leads as Matakis Chases Second Bracelet This Summer

Just five players are felt chasing the title in the PLO 6-Max Event #82, which cost $3,000 to play and features the current front-runner in the WSOP Player of the Year race. With a big stack of 13,105,000 chips, Matthew Parry leads the all-American final five. That’s a fairly slim lead from overnight leader Dustin Goldklang (11,490,000) in second place. It’s the presence of WSOP Player of the Year leader Ian Matakis in third place that is most vital to anyone chasing that crown, as Matakis, who starts with 8.8 million chips, looks to win his second bracelet of the summer. Should he do so, it would require something phenomenal to stop him becoming this year’s POY.

WSOP 2023 Event #82 $3,000 PLO 6-Max Final Table:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Matthew Parry United States 13,105,000
2nd Dustin Goldklang United States 11,490,000
3rd Ian Matakis United States 8,835,000
4th Cuba Levenberry United States 4,915,000
5th Lawrence Wayne United States 2,200,000

 

Fagg Firing for Glory in Ultra Stack

John Fagg (91 million) is the big stack in the $600-entry Ultra Stack Event #81, with a top prize of $401,250 hanging in front of the final nine players in the event. All the players in the final hail from the United States apart from Min-Sung Lee (59m) who comes from South Korea and sits third in chips heading into tomorrow’ exciting finale. Second-placed Peyton Ethridge (70m) is the biggest immediate threat to Fagg’s stack, but even the short-stacked Logan Moon (24m) will be confident of doubling up a very playable stack.

WSOP 2023 Event #81 $600 Ultra Stack Leaderboard Day 2:
Place Player Country Chips
1st John Fagg United States 91,000,000
2nd Peyton Ethridge United States 70,000,000
3rd Min-Sung Lee South Korea 59,000,000
4th William Fisher United States 51,500,000
5th Lucas Tae United States 42,000,000
6th Joseph Roh United States 39,000,000
7th Skyler Thornton United States 28,500,000
8th Denny Lee United States 28,000,000
9th Logan Moon United States 24,000,000

 

Two More Day 1s Close on Day 45

Two more bracelet events ended on Day 45 of the 54th World Series of Poker. The $1,500-entry Event #85 Shootout event saw players such as Faraz Jaka, Chino Rheem and brian Hastings all win their tables. There were 987 entrants and 100 players progressed with controversial character and self-confessed poker cheat Ali Imsirovic allowed to bag up chips, with others such as Adam Friedman, Kevin Allen, Yuri Dzivielevski, and Katie Kopp joining him in tomorrow’s final day.

In Event #87, the $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo event, Patrick Leonard (211,500) led the remaining 247 players from a total field of 460. Other luminaries such as Daniel Strelitz (165,200), Nathan Gamble (148,000), and the four-time bracelet winner Max Pescatori (122,800) made the cut too.

The stunning WSOP Main Event record of Andrew Ostapchenko has surfaced and it’s an impressive one.

Tim Van Loo was a crowd favorite in the Main Event – this positive post had the ‘Jeff Platt’ effect – but imagine if this is just a great line to get his opponents to love him? The man’s a genius.

Ever hit a Royal Flush? What about two inside four hands?!

The fabled ‘Curse of Jeff Platt’ has left the WSOP Presenter unable to find players willing to speak with him…and we mean anyone.

If you’re still in the Main Event, then the next few days are the most important of your poker career. A solid plan is to sleep plenty, eat well… or be Joshua Payne.

Finally, Daniel Vampan is no longer in the Main Event, but don’t worry. He can breathe easy.

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