A stunning day of action on Day 13 of the 54^th 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.

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 5♥2♥ was no good on a board of 9♣8♦7♥5♣5♠. Sturm had put him to the test for all of his chips with the turned straight on 7♦6♣ 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 8♠6♣4♥. Foxen shoved with 9♦8♦, and Sturm called it off with the superior 8♣6♥ for a flopped two pair. The turn of A♠ and river of K♥ 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 9♠5♠4♣ with 10♠9♦ but while Sturm only had the same top pair with Q♣9♥, the Dutchman was a kicker behind. That stayed the same through the 4♦ turn and 3♣ 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 Q♦10♠3♦Q♥4♠. The betting had been aggro the whole way to the river, Klein holding A♣K♣ to Sturm’s 8♦4♦, but both players checked the river and Sturm leapt into the lead.

Soon afterwards, it was all over. On a board of J♦8♣3♠6♦, all the chips went in with Klein holding 8♥5♦ and Sturm Q♠J♦. No miracle arrived on the 2♥ river and Leon Sturm won his first WSOP bracelet and the $1.5 million top prize.

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 (4^th for $47,743) and Chris Hundley (3^rd 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.

Seidel and Hennigan Set to Battle for Omaha Glory

Erik Seidel will shoot for his 10^th 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.

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 68^th place for $5,840. We were entertained? We certainly were.

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.  

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.

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’.

This article originally appeared on PokerStake.com