WSOP 2023: Year of Isaac Continues as Haxton the Hero in $25,000 High Roller for $1.7m

The 10th 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 Qc2c in the big blind. The aggressor in the hand, Brian Rast in the small blind, had moved all-in pre-flop with KhTd and the board favored the American, coming as it did AhQh3hJdKd 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 JsTc, he lost to Lewis Spencer’s Ah5d 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 AcJc couldn’t hit more than a jack against Darren Elias’ KcKd 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 Kd9h 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 AcJd was no good against Ryan O’Donnell’s KsJs after a cruel board of QcTc7dQhAh 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 AcJs beat O’Donnell’s AdTh, 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 Tc3h3d. The turn of a Qd[ was blank, but the river Jd gave Haxton the superior pair and with it the first WSOP bracelet of an incredible poker career.

The ’Year of Isaac’ goes on.

WSOP 2023 Event #16 $25,000 High Roller Results:

Place Player Country Prize
1st Isaac Haxton United States $1,698,215
2nd Ryan O’Donnell United Kingdom $1,049,577
3rd Darren Elias United States $725,790
4th Lewis Spencer United Kingdom $511,782
5th Roman Hrabec Czechia $368,134
6th Frank Funaro United States $270,238
7th Brian Rast United States $202,532
8th Joao Vieira Portugal $155,037

 

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.

WSOP 2023 Event #15 $1,500 NLHE Six-Max Results:

Place Player Country Prize
1st Rafael Reis Brazil $465,501
2nd Daniel Barriocanal Spain $287,679
3rd Sarah Herzali France $207,720
4th Nikolaos Angelou Greece $151,559
5th John Monnette United States $111,755
6th Grant Wang United States $83,289

 

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 (7th for $27,986) and Kyle Burnside (3rd for $85,977), Collopy and Kost went at it after the experienced James Obst had bowed out in 5th 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.

WSOP 2023 Event #17 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Results:

Place Player Country Prize
1st Jim Collopy United States $162,266
2nd Nick Kost United States $117,404
3rd Kyle Burnside United States $85,977
4th Qinghai Pan United States $63,737
5th James Obst Australia $47,838
6th Aubrey Gilbert United States $36,358
7th Kyle Cartwright United States $27,986

 

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.

WSOP 2023 Event #18 $300 Gladiators of Poker Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Justin Arnwine United States 3,080,000
2nd Matthew Krieger United States 2,760,000
3rd Bernard Muhire United States 2,485,000
4th Handrianto Minderman United States 2,265,000
5th Dylon Chafin United States 2,245,000
6th David Dunlap United States 2,230,000
7th Lee Johnson United States 2,145,000
8th Mateusz Moolhuizen Netherlands 2,070,000
9th Weston Pring Canada 2,060,000
10th Henry Theiling United States 2,030,000

 

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.

WSOP 2023 Event #19 $2,500 NLHE Freezeout Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Qiang Xu China 7,760,000
2nd Alexandre Reard France 4,800,000
3rd Andres Korn Argentina 4,760,000
4th Girish Reknar United States 4,285,000
5th Timothy Miles United States 3,775,000
6th Ankit Ahuja India 3,505,000
7th Adam Swan United States 3,080,000
8th Valentino Konakchiev Bulgaria 2,475,000
9th Ruben Costa United States 2,185,000
10th Niall Farrell United Kingdom 1,700,000

 

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.

WSOP 2023 Event #20 $1,500 Badugi Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Serhii Popovych United States 1,885,000
2nd David ‘ODB’ Baker United States 1,400,000
3rd Lee Horton United Kingdom 1,220,000
4th Jack O’Neill United Kingdom 1,200,000
5th Danny Tang Hong Kong 1,180,000
6th Jon Turner United States 1,100,000
7th Yingui Li China 860,000
8th Michael Rodrigues Pires Santos Portgual 860,000
9th Matt Vengrin United States 830,000
10th Terrence Chan Canada 655,000

 

WSOP Chips
Day 10 of the 2023 World Series of Poker saw a Series-high eight events in progress at Horseshoe and Paris casinos.

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.

WSOP 2023 Event #21 $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Prize
1st Suk Bang United States 1,465,000
2nd Ido Aboudi Israel 1,020,000
3rd Jorge Hou Panama 913,000
4th Mike Dentale United States 760,000
5th Nicolas Gola United States 740,000
6th Amnon Filippi United States 735,000
7th Mike Gorodinsky United States 734,000
8th Eric Fields United States 730,000
9th Thomas Taylor Canada 725,000
10th Matthew Hamilton United States 635,000

 

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.

WSOP 2023 Event #22 $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Nozomu Shimizu Japan 334,000
2nd Kevin Song United States 322,000
3rd Koray Aldemir Germany 266,000
4th Cary Katz United States 251,000
5th Brian Lieberman United States 238,000
6th John Elliott United States 238,000
7th Carlo Van Ravenswoud Netherlands 220,000
8th Nate Silver United States 199,000
9th Joe McKeehen United States 194,000
10th Ronnie Bardah United States 188,000

 

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.

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

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.

PokerGO is the place to be for live streaming the World Series of Poker 2023. Sign up today and access all the action from Las Vegas, Nevada, the home of the WSOP.

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