The 10^th day of action in the 2023 World Series of Poker saw Isaac Haxton finally end his WSOP hoodoo as he captured his first bracelet and in doing so, topped the $25,000 High Roller for $1.7 million in prize money. Elsewhere, there were another half dozen events as gold was won and final tables were set at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos.

Haxton Takes the Title as Elias Goes Close

The final day of Event #16, the $25,000-entry High Roller saw two players reach the final three who might well have topped the ‘Best Never to Win a Bracelet’ list in Isaac Haxton and Darren Elias. When the dust settled, Elias lost out luck-wise and Haxton was the hero as the ‘Year of Isaac’ continued in stunning fashion at the final table.

When the final table got underway, there were eight players still in the hunt for final table gold, but just before a scheduled dinner break, that number became seven. Joao Vieira was short when he called with in the big blind. The aggressor in the hand, Brian Rast in the small blind, had moved all-in pre-flop with and the board favored the American, coming as it did to send the Portuguese player home with $155,037.

Despite that win, the dinner break was only respite for Rast, as he followed his repast with an exit in seventh for $202,532. All-in with , he lost to Lewis Spencer’s when the latter hit a five on the flop. Rast was hardly at the rail before another fell, Frank Funaro doubling up once but swiftly then losing out to Spencer too to cash for $270,238 in sixth place.

The overnight chip leader in the event, Roman Hrabec, busted next in fifth place for a score of $368,134. His couldn’t hit more than a jack against Darren Elias’ and the latter went one step closer to taking his own WSOP monkey off his back. Spencer fell next, cashing for $511,782 in fourth place when Elia’s pocket tens were too good for Spencer’s and three-handed poker looked to be anyone’s to profit from.

Elias led, with as many chips as his two combined at one point, but Haxton won a flip to double through his rival for a debut bracelet and on such moments do poker dreams die. Elias got it in extremely good soon in his final hand, but was no good against Ryan O’Donnell’s after a cruel board of gave the British player a Broadway straight on the river.

Elias was crushed, out for a little over $725,000, but there was still the matter of a debut bracelet to be won, and Haxton seized his chance. Working his way into a strong lead from having a slim advantage going into heads-up play, Haxton’s beat O’Donnell’s , though not without one last twist. The money was all-in pre and the flop was one to give O’Donnell hope of another miraculous three-outer recovery, coming . The turn of a [ was blank, but the river gave Haxton the superior pair and with it the first WSOP bracelet of an incredible poker career.

The ’Year of Isaac’ goes on.

Brazilian Rail Cheers Rafael Reis to Glory in Six-Max

The Brazilian player Rafael Reis also won his first-ever WSOP bracelet as he took over from overnight chip leader Sarah Herzali to claim gold in Event #15, the $1,500-entry No Limit Hold’em Six-Max event. The final day began with the French player Herzali in control, but her advantage ebbed away across a frustrating day at the felt for her and all fans of female poker players. No bracelets from 15 events seems an unjust return for some superb play from female players so far, and Herzali was unlucky to lose out.

Heads-Up was almost a battle of rails as much as it was between Reis and his Spanish challenger Daniel Barriocanal. At one point, Reis, led by his rail’s reaction, thought he had hit a straight to win, but it was a misread and he had to refocus, calling it “Coming back to Narnia from the WSOP”. Eventually, the win was real and the Brazilian rail went crazy, perhaps not for the last time this World Series.

Collopy Ends Epic Final Battle with Third Bracelet

Jim Collopy took four hours to win his third WSOP bracelet in the small hours of a dying Vegas night as he bettered Nick Kost in an all-American fight for gold in Sin City. At a final table that included both chip leaders from Day 2, Kyle Cartwright (7^th for $27,986) and Kyle Burnside (3^rd for $85,977), Collopy and Kost went at it after the experienced James Obst had bowed out in 5^th for $47,838.

Heads-up was not for the faint-hearted, and Collopy referenced his previous heads-up, which had been one of the longest in WSOP history. Kost told his rail that fact and that he was “going nowhere either”, which pre-empted the end as if by magic. Kost slunk, exhausted, to his rail $117,404 better off, but Collopy had the crown to go with a need for his head to hit the bed. That and the top prize of $162,266.

Gladiators Ready as Day 1b Books Another 4,500

An incredible day of poker saw 4,571 players take on the $300 buy-in Gladiators of Poker Event, also known as Event #18. With Justin Arnwine (3,080,000) Matthew Krieger (2,760,000) and Bernard Muhire (2,485,000) taking the podium places, only 151 players remained in the tournament after the day closed, with 687 players making the money.

Trio of Bracelet Winners Remain in Hunt for Gold

Three former WSOP winners remain in the chase for WSOP victory in Event #19, the $2,500-entry Freezeout event. Frenchman Alexandre Reard (4.8 million), Argentina’s Andres Korn (4.76m) and British poker legend Niall Farrell (1.7m) all remain on the lookout for their second bracelet, but it is the Chinese player Qiang Xu (7,760,000) who has a massive lead going into Day 2 with a top prize of over $435,000 up for grabs.

Baker Chasing Badugi Crown

Just 13 players remain from 516 total entries in Badugi’s inaugural ‘solo’ event at the WSOP, with Serhii Popovych (1,885,000) hoping to prevent David ‘ODB’ Baker (1,400,000) from claiming his third title at the World Series tomorrow. Others such as Hong Kong’s Danny Tang (1,180,000) and Owais Ahmed (620,000) will also be looking to use their experience in previously winning WSOP gold to do so again.

Suk Bang Explodes into Life on Day 1 of PLO Event

American player Suk Bang (1,465,000) and Israel’s Ibo Aboudi (1,020,000) were the only players top a ‘milly’ on Day 1 of the $1,000-entry PLO Event #21. Elsewhere in the Top 10, Mike Dentale (760,000) and Mike Gorodinsky (734,000) made their presences known as 2,017 entries were reduced to just 117 survivors as everyone who stayed in the hunt went to their rest dreaming of winning a bracelet tomorrow along with the $267,991 top prize.

Song Chasing In-Form Shimizu on Limit Leaderboard

Japanese player and third-place finisher from Event #12 Nozomu Shimizu (334,000) bagged the lead in another event ending in a two as Day 1 of the $10,000-entry Limit Hold’em Championship concluded with 104 players down to just 46 with Kevin Song (322,000) and 2021 world champion Koray Aldemir (266,000) completing the podium places.

TJ Jurkiewicz is a well-known nutrition and training coach in the poker world and his tips for some nutritious snacks at the World Series of Poker should get players heading for healthy food rather than the usual carb-heavy, slump-inducing fayre.

If you’re looking for some healthy snack options this summer at WSOP, check out this video from @tj_jurk! pic.twitter.com/OF0tIZzp5S

— PokerNews (@PokerNews) June 8, 2023

Bob Mather was full of positivity in the $300-entry Gladiators of Poker event… before the card came.

I would like to rescind this tweet. I am on max bullets and I hate everyone and the deck. pic.twitter.com/LHAKbwt8FN

— Bob Mather Poker (@BobMatherPoker) June 8, 2023

Ahead of Isaac Haxton’s heroics in the $25,000 High Roller, his wearing of a mask was highlighted as a positive thing by one player… and then denounced by many. Ike ended up smiling behind that mask with a $1.7m victory.

I love that @ikepoker is still wearing his mask despite no one else doing it and everyone just deciding to were over Covid (myself included honestly). Just an insane amount of self confidence and swagger. He inspires me to wanna mask up when I get to Vegas. https://t.co/DMo3vyfCPO

— Emceesandt (@EmceeSandt) June 8, 2023

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