WSOP 2023: Daniel Weinman Wins 2023 WSOP Main Event for $12.1 Million

For seventeen long years, Jamie Gold’s name stood tall as the winner of the largest WSOP Main Event purse in history, with his victory over 8,773 entrants netting him a $12 million payday. On Day 49 of the 2023 WSOP, that record was finally broken by Georgia’s Daniel Weinman in one of the quickest final tables in recent memory. Monday’s finale took just a hair under three hours to find a champion between Adam Walton, Daniel Weinman and Steven Jones, which mirrored Day 9’s breakneck pace.

With the average stack coming into the final day sitting at nearly 100 big blinds, there was some expectation that the race to crown a champion could be a lengthy affair. Instead, it took just six hands for Walton to get his stack in the middle, bluffing all-in with on a flop. Walton was bluffing with the best hand however, as Steven Jones held , and Walton was able to narrow the gap between himself and his opponents in a hurry.

Walton’s aggression would soon turn out to be his downfall, however, as on Hand 140 of the final table, Jones raised to 6 million on the button with the , and Walton called in the small blind with . Weinman took a few moments before three-betting to 27 million in the big blind with , and after Jones folded, Walton took less than a second before announcing a three-bet shove for 209.5 million; 84 big blinds at the moment. 

Weinman snap-called before Walton could get his chips across the line, and Walton was in dire shape to keep his Main Event hopes alive.

A flop brought no immediate help, but the turn added a gutshot to Walton’s outs. The river was clean for Weinman, and Walton settled for a $4 million consolation prize, while leaping to second on Washington’s all-time tournament earnings list behind Scott Clements.

? WOW! ?

Nearly 200 big blinds get in the middle before the flop between Daniel Weinman (@notontilt09) and Adam Walton.

And we are now heads up for the title in the 2023 @WSOP Main Event.

? – Watch Live Here: https://t.co/6Gci7QpvfH pic.twitter.com/izmKVuJTgL

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) July 17, 2023

There were a wide range of opinions about Walton’s shove with eights on social media, but Alex Livingston had one of the more nuanced responses to Walton’s final hand:

88 shove seems reasonable to me. Funny how everyone loves to bash these lesser known guys when they’re on the biggest stage. Dan has A7s or it’s a known respected pro who shoves the 88 and nobody says a word. Also @notontilt09 is the man: genuine humble guy and world class player

— Alex Livingston (@rumnchess) July 18, 2023

Weinman held a nearly 3:1 chip lead going into heads-up action with Jones, but with 64 big blinds left in his stack, Jones had plenty of playability left and even started out strong on the first five hands, clawing back to 202 million and just a 2:1 chip deficit. Hand 164, the 24th of heads-up action, started out innocently enough, as Jones raised to 7 million on the button with the and Weinman called with the . 

A flop brought both players top pair, and Weinman check-raised a 6 million bet from Jones to 18.5 million. Jones called, and the rolled off on the turn. Weinman fired out 38 million, prompting Jones to ask the dealer, “What is it?” before going into a four-minute tank. The words, “All-in,” finally came out of Jones’s mouth at the conclusion of the tank, and Weinman immediately and softly asked the dealer, “How much?” before wincing and standing up. 

Thirty seconds would tick by before Weinman nodded and pushed a stack of chips in to call, and once the cards were revealed, he pumped his fist, knowing he just needed to fade an eight to earn his second WSOP gold bracelet and the biggest cash prize in Main Event history.

The fell on the river, and amongst cries of “I knew you could do it!” and a bath of Twisted Tea and water from a boisterous rail including Matt Glantz, Shaun Deeb and Josh Arieh, Weinman etched his name in poker history as the 2023 WSOP World Champion, earning $12.1 million and high praise from many of poker’s elite in the process.

I went to main stage to congratulate our new World Champion of Poker—well done @notontilt09!!—and welcome him to the Club. @JoshuaArieh says, “A true nice guy won it,” me: “I know that! I’m proud of you Dan. Unlike you Josh, he is the nicest guy!” Josh, “True!”’?? #DWNiceLife pic.twitter.com/OIg0vmza7n

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) July 17, 2023

I remember playing $1/$2 full ring on poker stars with @notontilt09 16 years ago. What a story. What a victory.

Congrats to the 2023 main event Champ!

— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) July 18, 2023

Long time coming for the Weinman!! Lfg @notontilt09 pic.twitter.com/mbsFJHnU0v

— Jason Mercier (@JasonMercier) July 17, 2023

Had this bottle for a few years. 6L of 2007 opus gotta be opened for the ? ??!!!@notontilt09 pic.twitter.com/rAOqCETZx8

— Ben Lamb (@BenbaLamb) July 18, 2023

Steven Jones had to settle for one hell of a consolation prize, earning a mammoth $6.5 million for his second-place performance. The Arizona native instantly shot up to first on the all-time tournament earnings leaderboard for his home state with the cash, jumping ahead of another former WSOP Main Event final table member in Jacob Balsinger.

Congratulations to Daniel Weinman on an incredible accomplishment, overcoming a record-breaking field of 10,043 players, as well as everyone at the final table of the most prestigious tournament in poker! The poker community can only hope that momentum from “Poker Boom 2.0” will continue revving the field even further into five-figure territory in the 2024 iteration of the World Series of Poker Main Event, and if the trajectory continues to trend up, Weinman’s record-breaking top prize may only stay on top for one year instead of the 17 that Jamie Gold’s $12 million lasted.

Reard Rampages to Second Bracelet in 6-Max Championship

There was little drama to be seen in the bonus Day 4 of Event #90: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max Championship, unless you were interested in the positioning of the three players not named Alexandre Reard remaining. Despite losing the chip lead briefly at the start, Reard recovered quickly and eliminated Justin Liberto to reclaim his massive chip advantage. Stephen Chidwick did the honors of ousting AJ Kelsall, but it didn’t take long for Reard to bust Chidwick, as he turned a straight against Chidwick’s top pair to send Reard his second WSOP gold bracelet.

Lee Outlasts Mizrachi in Lengthy $1k Freezeout

It took a staggering 16 hours for a returning field of 124 players to be reduced to one in Event #92: $1,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em, but at the finish line before an additional day of play would be required, Kang Hyun Lee denied Eric Mizrachi the “Brothers Mizrachi” trifecta of bracelet winners, and earned $236,741 and his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Nielsen Bags Lead in Short Deck

A total of 22 new arrivals joined the 31 players who bagged Day 1 of Event #93: $10,000 Short Deck Championship, and only five players remained after a full day of play. Martin Nielsen, a native of the Faroe Islands, holds the chip lead with 2,007,000, ahead of Eric Wasserson (1,705,000) and five time bracelet winner John Juanda (332,000). Chris Brewer made a valiant effort to try and leap Ian Matakis in the race for WSOP POY, but ultimately bowed out in seventh for $36,648.

Peters and Reichard In Contention in $5k 8-Handed

Day 1 of the semi-turbo structured Event #94: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em (8-Handed) saw 813 entrants take to the felt in search of one of the final bracelets handed out at this year’s WSOP. David Peters (1,490,000) bagged up the chip lead out of the remaining 60 players, with Josh Reichard (1,340,000) lurking close behind in hopes of taking his name off the “best without a bracelet” list.

Miller and August in a Photo Finish in H.O.R.S.E.

Thirteen hours was not enough to reduce a returning field of 18 players in Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. down to a champion, with Ryan Miller and Leonard August staking claim to the last players standing over a field of crushers that included Poker Hall of Famers Barbara Enright (4th – $62,783) and Todd Brunson (8th – $18,429) and mixed game specialists Kevin Gerhart (7th – $24,363), Nick Guagenti (9th – $14,204) and Chad Eveslage (12th – $8,939).

Newly minted WSOP Main Event champ Daniel Weinman already shipped a tourney prior to the series…although it might not have had quite as high of stakes:

For anyone considering drafting me for #25kfantasy, I’ll be in Vegas most of the summer, playing most events but not going as hard as last year.

Also have played almost 0 poker since last wsop but I did win my company’s tourney last night pic.twitter.com/C0kL0OtSju

— Daniel Winmain (@notontilt09) May 17, 2023

Fun follow up for the new champ: he’s slightly more successful in the Main now than before:

0/10 in the main now. Achievement unlocked

— Daniel Winmain (@notontilt09) July 9, 2019

“BrockLesnar” F5’d the competition and set a WSOP record for number of cashes this summer:

With yesterdays cash I have officially broken the record for cashes in one WSOP series with 24. ??

— Mike Holtz (BrockLesnar) (@MikeHoltzPoker) July 17, 2023

You can never escape the WSOP, Salty…

Couldnt wait to get out of vegas today and never play another tourney again. Drove home to LA. Saw my dog, downed a box of crackers, checked updates from the 5k and want to go back and play more. #StockholmSyndrome

— Salty (@msalsberg) July 18, 2023

PokerGO is the place to be for live streaming the World Series of Poker 2023. Sign up today and access all the action from Las Vegas, Nevada, the home of the WSOP.