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.
You are all class @RonnieBardah Here are the WSOP ME result’s filtered for Andrew. pic.twitter.com/MJyLCloWQa
— TARK (@TARKPOKER) July 14, 2023
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.
Tim Van Loo is fifth in chips in the Main Event. I played with him in the $1,500 PLO8. At one point, I said to my table “Let’s all share a fun fact about ourselves!”
Tim’s fun fact: He calls his mother everyday. ? pic.twitter.com/g8IfBAlB4O
— Angela Jordison (@Angelajordison) July 13, 2023
Ever hit a Royal Flush? What about two inside four hands?!
? Many poker players dream of hitting a royal flush in a @WSOP event…
Well, Vasu Amarapu just hit not one, but TWO royal flushes.
Inside four hands. pic.twitter.com/3jqGmGphvA
— PokerNews (@PokerNews) July 14, 2023
The fabled ‘Curse of Jeff Platt’ has left the WSOP Presenter unable to find players willing to speak with him…and we mean anyone.
Out in the field where I can talk with…
Nobody pic.twitter.com/2sCz7O6uHg
— Jeff Platt (@jeffplatt) July 14, 2023
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.
Guess what Joshua Payne was doing until 3am on Day 7 of the Main Event?! pic.twitter.com/AuNjnF9MYi
— Kara Scott (@KaraOTR) July 14, 2023
Finally, Daniel Vampan is no longer in the Main Event, but don’t worry. He can breathe easy.
Let us all join in on @danielvampan's collective breathing exercise.
?????? pic.twitter.com/VGoj8cRyt8
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) July 13, 2023
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