WSOP 2023: Maximum Payne as 49 Remain in Main Event, Josh Arieh Wins Sixth WSOP Bracelet, Second of the Summer  

Two bracelets were won and another five WSOP events were in progress on a packed Day 44 of the 2023 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Action in the Horseshoe and Paris casinos was red hot as Josh Arieh won his second bracelet of the summer and sixth in his glittering career. In the WSOP Main Event, players such as Tony Dunst, Nicholas Rigby and the overnight chip leader all lost their stacks as new players emerged, while five other events saw a first-time bracelet winner and familiar names in contention elsewhere.

‘The Day of Joshua’ Starts with Payne’s Gain in The Main

Two players named Josh or Joshua starred on Day 44 of this year’s WSOP and Joshua Payne was the name on everyone’s lips in the Main Event. Payne, knocked out the overnight chip leader Zachary Hall on his way to building a mammoth top stack of just under 48 million chips on Day 6 as 149 players became 49 after five two-hour levels.

Payne, who came 553^rd and in the money on last year’s Main Event, leads the field but will know from the experience of his predecessor Hall that a lead can go as quickly as it comes. Other big stacks on Day 6 included Juan Maceiras Lapido (40.5 million) and the dangerous American professional Daniel Weinman (24,375,000) with Alec Torelli (21m) – who has attracted some negative press from a reported former employee on Twitter this week – ending the day in sixth place of the 49 who remain in the hunt for $12.1 million.

Big stacks include that of Daniel Scroggins (20,800,000) and Nick Gerrity (18,075,000), with  Daniel Vampan (17,000,000) not far behind. Vampan bluffed Toby Lewis to stay alive on Day 5, but the British player proved the level of his professionalism is far better than tilting after one big hand and ended Day 6 on an ominous 15.2 million. His performance was one of several strong ones from British players with no fewer than one in every seven of the remaining players hailing from the United Kingdom.

On a day where players such as Tony Dunst, Nicholas Rigby , ‘Barstool Nate’ Silver and the aforementioned Zachary Hall all lost their tournament lives, so too did the remaining two female players, with India player Nikita Luther (96^th for $78,900) and French Winamax player Estelle Cohuet (68^th for $130,300) both busting before the close of play meaning that there is an all-male feel to proceedings from Day 7 through 11 this year in the Main Event.

Josh Arieh Wins Sixth Bracelet After H.O.R.S.E. Triumph

Josh Arieh got over the line yet again as he claimed his second bracelet of the summer and sixth across his poker career. Winning Event #80, the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. High Roller event for $711,313, Arieh’s phenomenal success in the past three years means that he has now won four of his six bracelets in the past 21 months. Alongside his bracelet victory was the fact that Arieh’s performance puts him into second place on this year’s WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard. Having won it in 2021, Arieh is looking to do what no player has done since the award’s inception, which is to win it in two out of three years.

At an exciting final table, Scott Seiver slid out in 8^th place for a score of $81,337 and was followed to the rail two places later by John ‘Johnny World’ Hennigan, whose induction in the Hall of Fame is surely one that Arieh will copy in the next year or so. If he falls to Brian Rast in that race as many predict, the addition of Arieh to that honor roll will surely follow in 2024.

Joao Vieira, who was duking it out with Arieh for the lead in this event on several occasions eventually fell in fourth place, while the Seniors Event 3^rd-place finisher Dan Heimiller went oh so close again, losing to Arieh heads-up.

After the event, Arieh was humble in victory.

That would be @wsop Bracelet Number SIX for @JoshuaArieh: pic.twitter.com/J95EmKyKbW

— Jeff Platt (@jeffplatt) July 13, 2023

Bernabeu Binks First Win in NLHE $2,500 Event

Sam Bernabeu may share a name with the Real Madrid home stadium, but he showed that in No Limit Hold’’em, he’s a Galactico too. Conquering Event #79, Bernabeu won the top prize of $682,432 after getting the better of James Anderson heads-up.

Overnight, it was the American high stakes regular Seth Davies who dominated the headlines after building an impressive lead coming into the final day’s play. Davies, however, was unable to hold onto that lead and busted in fourth place when his lost to Bernabeu’s after a nine-high board fell.

After an extended period of play three-handed, Zlatin Penev lost out for $310,528 when his lost to Bernabeu’s as a board of fell. That gave Bernabeu a lead heads-up of 56.7 million chips to Anderson’s 15.6m and it was all over shortly afterwards when Anderson’s lost to Bernabeu’s , a sweaty flop of followed by two cool cards for the winner, a on the turn and on the river.

Malboubi on Top in Ultra Stack  

Day 1b of the $600-entry Ultra Stack saw 4,116 players reduced to just 312 survivors, as the American player Rassoul Malboubi (3,615,000) piled up enough chips to grab the lead over Leonard Clementi (3,500,000) in second place. With players such as David Rich (2,950,000), Qiang Xu (2,940,000), Brett Apter (1,520,000) and Scott Bohlman (1,205,000) all still alive, it could be some Day 2 tomorrow with previous bracelet winners everywhere in the 555-player total field.

Matakis Chasing POY Points in PLO 6-Max Event

Ian Matakis continues his quest to become this year’s WSOP Player of the Year in fine from, after reaching the next day of the $3,000-entry Event #82, the PLO Six-Max event. Top of the charts after Day 2 was Dustin Goldklang (4,225,000), with Connor Drinan (3,270,000) next on the leaderboard.

With the second day of action reducing 216 players to 35 across a busy day at the felt, others such as the Day 1 chip leader Tyler Gaston (1,745,000) and Kane Kalas (795,000) are still in the hunt for what would be their first WSOP gold bracelets.

Two More Day 1s in the Bag

Two more bracelet events saw Day 1 flights end on the night, with David Prociak the boss on Day 1 of Event #83, the $1,500-entry Short Deck NLHE event. Prociak piled up 2 million chips, with Robert James (1,622,000) and Ryan Laplante (771,000) also bagging up in the final nine.

Finally, in Event #84, the $50,000 High Roller saw 137 entries, 30 more than last year’s total field. Top of the leaderboard was Yang Wang (2,175,000), with Fedor Holz (1,990,000) Dylan Linde (1,770,000) and the 2022 WSOP world champion Espen Jorstad (1,340,000) all starring in the top 10.

Dylan Weisman was enjoying the floor show in his event… especially when Jeff Platt showed up.

Just hurt my throat from laughing so hard. @RealKidPoker gets moved to my table, gets interviewed by @jeffplatt, then snap busts within 5 mins. The look on Jeff’s face when Daniel started screaming his name after dying made me lose my shit A+ @WSOP moment.

— Dylan Weisman (@Dweisman13) July 13, 2023

Here’s that moment from Platt and Negreanu’s perspective.

Oh this is not good folks pic.twitter.com/QMUbfdUi8r

— Jeff Platt (@jeffplatt) July 13, 2023

Jennifer Newell came up with a pretty deep analysis of the number of female players who took part in the WSOP Mina Event this year.

Special thanks to @WSOP for giving me the number of women in the Main Event.
Sadly, it's not what we wanted. There were 395 women in the field…only 3.93%, down from an all-time high of 4.33% last year. pic.twitter.com/XNDJTt8LBt

— Jennifer Newell (@WriterJen) July 13, 2023

Jeff Platt found a big name on the rail. A very big name in the context of this year’s Main Event.

Just a casual walk & talk on the rail and OH IT'S @GTO_Diaper pic.twitter.com/xZJich8AgK

— Jeff Platt (@jeffplatt) July 13, 2023

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