The last year in poker has thrilled poker fans like never before. From legends reaping the rewards of their hard work at the felt to the best hand in poker being shot down, 2023 has had it all. We’ve taken a look back at the archives and scoured the game for 20 of the year’s most memorable moments, including some that you may have missed.
In this article, we’ll be looking at numbers 10 to 6 on our end of the year countdown, having already broken down numbers 20 to 11 for your entertainment. From premature celebration to a poker legend moving in behind Phil Hellmuth on an all-time list, we’ll find out who got the gold as some of the biggest poker tournaments in the world produced winners who’ll be remembered forever.
10 – Andreas Kniep’s Premature Celebration
Have you ever celebrated something too early? Perhaps you were one number away from completing the board in Bingo only for an old lady with a blue rinse and steely glare to beat you to the shout with the next number. Maybe you met the finishing line with your eyes closed in high school only to open them and find that George Smylie had crossed it a second before you while you were basking in glory. Just us? OK fine.
Andreas ‘Rayo’ Kniep can top both of those stories. Having doubled up once with the superior hand, the German player committed his chips once again with the best of it, against the same opponent, Moldovan crusher Pavel Plesuv, in the WSOP Millionaire Maker back in June. This time, Kniep had pocket aces and went crazy with his rail. IT turns out that the Poker Gods really don’t like that sort of hasty heroics, and duly punished Kniep with a brutal elimination.
9 – Brian Rast Makes Poker Hall of Fame
To say that Brian Rast has earned his place in the Poker Hall of Fame is an understatement. With three Poker Players Championship victories, six WSOP bracelets in all and almost $9m in live earnings in World Series events alone, Rast is a master of his craft. Adept at virtually every variant known to man, he was inducted int the HOF this year after a controversial process only awarded one place, with many in the industry calling for two.
For Rast, it was a case of ‘about time’ as his incredible poker career was rewarded under the lights at the Thunderdome, and he made an emotional call to loved ones to celebrate his latest PPC win and eventually becoming the latest inductee into poker’s most exclusive club.
8 – Wild December Crown Three Huge Winners
If you thought the summer was a busy time in poker, no-one could have predicted how huge the Winter became. Many observers considered a trio of high-profile major live tournament festivals all taking place in the final month of the year to be an exercise in autocannibalism. After all, wouldn’t the crowds at one take away from the other events on offer? As it turned out, they didn’t.
The WPT World Championships saw Daniel Sepiol win the life-changing top prize of $5.28 million, EPT Prague broke more records before Padraig O’Neill was crowned the winner of the Main Event and WSOP Paradise was claimed by qualifier Stanislav Zegal for $2 million. More poker is better? You bet.
7 – Erik Seidel Wins 10th Bracelet
Erik Seidel has been a poker legend for as long as any poker fan can remember. Since his first result, coming second to Johnny Chan in the 1988 WSOP Main Event, Seidel’s name has been intrinsically linked with the World Series of Poker. This year, Seidel finally won his 10th bracelet after a long wait and having done so in the inaugural WSOP Paradise festival was even more special.
After conquering the $50,000-entry Super High Roller event for $1.7 million and his 10th gold bracelet, Seidel was his predictably modest self, calling it ‘beautiful’ to join a club populated by the late Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey and his old nemesis Chan, all of whom now only sitting behind Phil Hellmuth at the top of the All-Time WSOP Bracelet List.
6 – Maria Ho Wins Game of Gold
In the winter of 2022, a new blend of poker and reality TV hit YouTube and took the poker world by storm. Game of Gold brought drama, angst, anger, happiness, disappointment and drama to the poker table and green rooms nearby and blew it up. So did the show. To date, it is by far the most successful poker show of the last few years and plans for Season 2 are already underway.
Across the 12 episodes, it was Maria Ho who proved to be ‘The Queen’ of the show, with that title even extending to one of the episodes. From showing her heads-up skills to being an integral part of Team Fedor, to finally beating Jungleman for the title, it truly turned into the Maria Ho Show. Here’s how the final episode went down:
Which five moments of the year were better than those? Stay tuned to PokerStake this holiday season to find out!
