Three bracelets were won and six other events reached the latter stages of their tournaments as Day 23 of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) supplied the most action yet. The Poker Players Championship reached the final five players with a dramatic exit for 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey and the Monster Stack saw off Joe Cada late in the day as an amateur won the $1.16m top prize.

Dunaway Wins Monster Stack for $1.16m

Braxton Dunaway won $1.16m as his poker dreams came true in the $1,500-entry Monster Stack, also known as Event #39. Dunaway, not the biggest name at the final table, saw the youngest-ever world champion Joe Cada bust in seventh place before the Texan put on a run and claimed gold.

Cada came close to his fifth WSOP bracelet and was unlucky to lose his stack when he did, busting with to Dunaway’s , a jack on the river sending Cada home for a score of $186,149. After Joshua Adcock (6^th for $240,695) busted, the overnight leader Nick Gerrity lost with to Jesse Rockowitz’s , winning $313,297 but missing out on the top four.

Rockowitz would eventually bust in 3^rd for $541,376 when Dunaway got his chips and that left the Texan with a better than 2:1 lead. In the final hand, Colin Robinson’s saw him call it all off on the river of a board showing . Bottom pair wasn’t nearly good enough, however, as Dunaway showed for two pair to take the bracelet and seven-figure top prize.

Ivey Sent Home Late in PPC as Talal Tops Leaderboard

The penultimate day of action in the Poker Players Championship saw 12 reduced to five as Phil Ivey bubbled the final day of the tournament. A dozen players showed up to play down to the final five, and after players such as Johannes Becker (12^th for $97,209) and Daniel Alaei (10^th for $115,477) both departed, the 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Josh Arieh busted to James Obst in Omaha Hi-Lo to leave in ninth place for $141,125.

Only seven stars of the felt made the official final table and Ivey was one of them, but after Ray Dehkharghani busted in seventh place for $177,294, Ivey was all-in with and lost out to Talal Shakerchi’s , the board of sending the 10-time winner home for $228,793 and settting the final five in place.

With Shakerchi (10.1 million) holding a large lead, Matt Ashton (7.38 million) also represents the United Kingdom at the final table. Behind the two Brits are overnight leader and Australian James Obst (5.1m), five-time bracelet winner Brian Rast (4.54m) and Kris Tong (2.5m). Rast would put himself in pole position for this year’s Poker Hall of Fame induction should he claim victory.

Leffingwell Loves Mixed Games, Celebrates Maiden Win

“Poker down [in Houston] is the best in the world.”

William Leffingwell from Houston, Texas won the 45^th event of the 2023 WSOP, claiming victory in the Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo event for a top score of over a quarter of a million bucks.

“I love these people, and I love Houston,” he said after taking the title. “We’ve been through a lot these last couple of years, and poker down there is the best in the world.”

To get the victory, Leffingwell certainly did the work, getting past Shaun Deeb in fifth place and overnight leader Joey Couden in fourth before beating Zhen Cai heads-up for the bracelet.

“PLO is our game,” said Leffingwell of his home city of Houston. “We invite everyone in the world to come play at any stakes.”

Lockett Takes Freezeout Title for $262k

“I was dead money coming in.”

A bust-out busy final day of Event #46 saw Jay Lockett win the Event #46 NLHE Freezeout title for $262,526. Outlasting 240 other players on a frantic final day, the American beat country Benson Tang heads-up to claim the bracelet in the $500 buy-in event which also saw Diego Acquila (3^rd for $121,085), Shannon Boone (7^th for $40,540) and the highest-placed former bracelet winner David Jackson (16^th for $12,286) make some deep runs.

“I was dead money coming in,” said Lockett after taking the title in a thrilling final showdown when his ten-nine suited won the event for him. “This is amazing. You have to run so hot. I had quads twice at the final table. I had ace-queen that ended up beating ace-king earlier.”

Shorr in the Hunt for First Bracelet in Event #44

Shannon Shorr will enter the final day second in chips as he bids to win his first-ever WSOP bracelet in Event #44. The $3,000-entry NLHE event sees 15 players still in seats from the 1,735 who began the day pursuing the $717,879 top prize.

With other strong players such as overnight leader Yang Zhang (6,875,000), Ankush Mandavia (4,800,000) and Jon Van Fleet (3,800,000) all after the bracelet, there’ll be no easy ride for the chip leader or Shorr. Whatever happens its sure to be a dramatic ending to the latest WSOP story.

Brazil Burning Hot as Yuri Leads H.O.R.S.E. Field

Yuri Dzivielevski is the only player over two million chips in the $1,500-entry H.O.R.S.E. WSOP Event #47 in Las Vegas. With 28 players still in with a chance of victory, Dzivielevski (2,020,000) is well clear of Stephen Savoy (1,345,000) in second place, with Gershon Distenfeld in third place on 1.3 million.

Elsewhere, legends of the game such as Andrew Barber (950,000), Frankie O’Dell (905,000) and Randy Ohel (805,000) will all look to win another bracelet to add to those already in their cabinets at home, while Jeff Lisandro busted late in the day to miss out on the chance to make it seven wins tomorrow.

Seniors Championship Field Tops 3,600

In this year’s Seniors Championship, the $1,000 buy-in Event #48 field on Day 1a was a massive 3,692, with Day 1b still to come. Huge attendances have been nothing new this year and the Seniors Championship, while it doesn’t count for Player of the Year points, being age restricted, still carries a lot of clout.

Top of the chipcounts after Day 1a was Frank Harrington on 445,000, with Allyn Shulman (220,000) followed into the books by Barry Shulman on 180,500. Six-time bracelet winner Ted Forrest (181,500) and Victor Ramdin (167,5000) both made the top 100 too. 

Lococo in Charge for Finals Day in Super Turbo

Alejandro Lococo is not only the star name at the final table of Event #49, he’s the chip leader too and will contest for the bracelet with eight other potential first-time winners tomorrow afternoon. Lococo, who hails from Argentina, has 15.5 million chips with which to attack the final table of nine, with Will Linden (8.85m) and Chen An Lin (7.7m) completing the podium places.

Bryce Yockey Chasing PLO Championship Lead

A total of 688 entries filled seats on Day 1 of the $10,000-entry PLO Championship, with the 8-max event welcoming some of poker’s biggest names to the WSOP felt. Overall, last year’s corresponding event saw 683 players take part, so with late registration available on Day 2, expect the event to clear at least 700 on its way to becoming the latest bumper field mixed game event at this year’s WSOP.

Top after Day 1 of the event which saw 266 players already survive to Day 2 was Daniel Aharoni (535,000), with big performances from Bryce Yockey (479,000) Sean Winter (223,500), Jeremy Ausmus (279,000) and Alex Foxen (135,000) along the way.

Martin Kabrhel’s legal representation filed this interesting document as the Super High Roller final table row spilled over into another day.

NOTICE OF LEGAL CLAIMS & PRESERVATION DEMAND

To @JustinBonomo @ChancesCards @PokerGO @Andrew_Robl @DanSmithHolla

Re: Your Defamation of @martinkabrhell

To The Above-Named Parties:

This firm represents Martin Kabrhel with respect to your false and defamatory statements that… pic.twitter.com/3gfG1cimi3

— Daniel B. Ravicher (@danravicher) June 21, 2023

Phil Hellmuth admitted it, he’s finally revealed that he… cares too much.

I wonder why?

Was feeling low, stayed up all night watching movies, eating pizza and candy; slept 2 rocky hours.

Oh yeah, busted @WSOP “Players” at 12:40 AM. Had high hopes. Some say that “I care too much.” Guilty as charged pic.twitter.com/nS15vUgcfM

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) June 22, 2023

Ebony Kenney was the latest female player to ‘out’ a disturbing trend of male players breaching privacy at the WSOP.

Another guy went into the women’a restroom during a tourney break, this time on the Paris side @WSOP. He said he was told men could use the women’s room.

Seriously, stop.@PokerNews @PokerGO

— Ebony Kenney | Poker & Purposeful Pleasure (@Ebony_Kenney) June 22, 2023

Finally, you can trust Daniel ‘Kid Poker’ Negreanu to give everyone a giggle. He made a crucial lay down after getting a good perspective on his opponent’s cards.

I ended up making the lay down.

Sick read. https://t.co/0EjbAQeTtc

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) June 21, 2023

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