Daily Updates from the 2023 WSOP – June 19

China took sole possession of 2nd place in this year’s national bracelet race after the Asian nation got its third from Qiang Xu, while Scott Abrams had to battle “ghosts of the past” to take down his first bracelet. In the massive PPC event, the Terminator, aka two-time defending champ Dan “Jungleman” Cates, was terminated on Day 2 ending his bid to become the first player to win three PPC titles on the trot, but Phil Ivey is making a run for his 11th bracelet in one of the toughest events on the whole summer schedule and Brian Rast is looking to join Michael Mizrachi as the only three-time winner (though not on the trot).

Event #41: $1,500 Big O

It was like a blast from the past in many ways on the final day of the first-ever Big O bracelet event. OG legend Johnny Chan was looking to bag his 11th bracelet to stand alone in second place in the bracelet hunt, while Robert Williamson III and Victor Ramdin also figured in the endgame of the split-pot five-card pot-limit Omaha game. There were just shy of 1,500 entries for this inaugural Big O bracelet game, putting the prize pool to beat for next year at $1,946,430.

When the dust settled on all the action, Scott Abrams was the player with all the chips, the $315,203, and the bracelet. He ended up in a bit of an old versus new battle when things got heads-up as he faced down Robert Williamson III, who seemed to be everywhere on televised poker in the 2000s and early 2010s. Abrams started heads up with a small advantage in chips. but quickly picked off a bluff to take a big lead. That led to a quick finish as the money went in a couple of hands later when Williamson III flopped top two with a flush draw against Abrams’ top-top and a low draw. Abrams turned flush outs and got there on the river for his first bracelet.

For his part, Chan got a decent start on the day with an early double and made the final two tables, but ultimately was unable to finish it out for his 11th, falling in 14th place for $13,982 and his deepest run in a decade at WSOP. Ramdin did a little better, making the final table and ending his day in 4th place for $105,383 while Williamson III bagged $194,814 for second. The $315k win comes in as Abrams’ second-biggest after his 12th-place finish in the 2012 Main Event for almost $600k, and brings his lifetime earnings to more than $1.6 million.

Event #42: $800 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack

China is now in sole possession of second place on the national bracelet board after Qiang Xu bagged his first bracelet for China’s third so far in this series. He described the win as a “dream coming true” and said his main goal coming over from China for this trip was to bag a bracelet, but he also admitted he “ran very good from start to finish”.

Xu’s tournament life was on the line when things were four-handed, and it might have all ended right there for him if he hadn’t been able to win a crucial flip to stay alive and when things got heads-up, Xu made pretty quick work of Jason Johnson who pocketed $209,547 for second place.

There was a whopping 3,773 entries for this game, putting the prizes at $2,656,192 and 566 players got a piece of the action in the endgame. Among the other players who pocketed cash from this one were 2021 Main Event Champ Koray Aldemir, who took 12th for $21k, and Donna Stutts, who busted the final table just before the dinner break in 9th place for $33,382. Other cashers included “World Famous” Pat Lyons, Santiago Plante, Chino Rheem, and Antoine Saout.

Event #39: $1,500 MONSTER STACK No-Limit Hold’em Day 3

There are just 43 players remaining from the monster starting field of 8,317 in the MONSTER STACK game. There is $11,103,195 to play for in this game, but a lot of the prizes have already been handed out with a total of 1,248 places paid in this one. Just before Day 3 ended, Justin Hankinson busted in 44th to hit the pay jump to $30,415, and that’s what the players returning for Day 4 are all guaranteed now. One player will finish this game as a millionaire however, with the top prize slated at $1,162,681.

Xuming Qi is in a great position to book China’s fourth bracelet of the series with more than 24 million and the chip lead going into what should be the final day of play after he shot up from the bottom turning a short stack to start Day 3 into the leading stack for Day 4. No one else has more than 24 million but Marcos Exterkotter has about 23.5 million for second, while Steven Snyder has just shy of 21.3 million for third.

Nate Silver and David Vedral were both among the players to end Day 3 with a top-ten stack while 2009 Main Event Champ Joe Cada bagged just under 9 million for 21st place. Canada’s Jimmy Setna, who led for much of the Day 2 play, is still in the hunt as well with just under 11 million to start the final day.

Final day action from the MONSTER STACK starts at noon on Tuesday, and PokerGO has cards up coverage of the endgame starting at 7 pm.

Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship

Ten-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey is still looking good to book his 11th bracelet and take over second place in the all-time bracelet race. He bagged the third-biggest stack after the second day of play in the $50k Poker Players Championship, but he’ll have some tough competition to turn that third-place stack into a bracelet. Above him on the chip counts for Day 3 are Daniel Alaei and James Obst, both in the 2 million range.

Bracelet winner Obst is the biggest for Day 3 with just shy of three million, but it’s no surprise that the rest of the field is littered with some of the most dangerous names in poker. One of the dangerous names that won’t be back for Day 3 is two-time defending champion Dan “Jungleman” Cates. Dressed up as the Terminator for this event, Cates had a rollercoaster ride through much of his two days of play, getting very short early on Day 1, then spinning that back up to a decent Day 2 start stack only to see it fall away again on the second day.

That means the field is open to a new winner this year, but it doesn’t mean there won’t be a repeat. two-timer Brian Rast is still sitting behind a top-ten stack and there’s little doubt he’d love to join Michael Mizrachi in the triple club. Recent five-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh, OG legend Lyle Berman, Dzmitry Urbanovich, and Nacho Barbero are just a few of the other players with top-ten stack while Matthew Ashton, Maxx Coleman, John Monnette, John Racener, past PPC champ Elior Sion and 16-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth are just a few of the other players outside the top ten but looking for a chance to strike on Day 3.

Entries were open for a few levels to start Day 2, and once the gates came down there were 99 entries on the board for a final prize pool of $4,727,250. See below for a look at the payouts for the PPC.

Place	Payout (USD)
1	$1,324,747
2	$818,756
3	$573,679
4	$411,824
5	$303,071
6	$228,793
7	$177,294
8	$141,125
9	$141,125
10	$115,477
11	$115,477
12	$97,209
13	$97,209
14	$97,209
15	$84,255

Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem

Argentina’s Ramiro Petrone is the chip leader after the opening day of Event #44. He led the 1,511 entries recorded on Day 1, but there will be a few more players in this one with entries open for two levels on the second day so the $4,034,370 current prize pool is expected to grow. Petrone is one of five players with 300k or more and there are a few marquee names still alive in this field including Kristen Foxen (98,000), Maria Ho (97,500) and Daniel Negreanu (72,000).

Day 2 action starts at Level 11 and players will be able to enter until the end of Level 12 with the first hand being dealt at 10 am on Tuesday.

Event #45: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi Low

It’s officially a trend at the 2023 WSOP for events to crush their 2022 numbers. There were 1,091 entries for Event #45 before the desk closed, more than 300 entries above the 2022 number of 771. That means the pie contains $1,456,485 and will be cut into 164 different-sized pieces. Scott Clements bagged the second-biggest stack of Day 1 with 274k, but that’s still miles behind the leader, Yusheng Lin of Taiwan with 455k.

Among the other players to bag a stack for Day 2 were Shaun Deeb, on the hunt for his seventh bracelet and second in this series alone, as well as Sam Farha, recent winner Jerry Wong, and Ben Lamb. The second day of play gets underway at 1 pm on Tuesday with bracelet winners galore littering the field.

Upcoming Events on June 20

Event #46: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Holdem

• Start: 10 am
• Late Entry: 11 Levels
• Start Stack: 25,000
• Reentries: 0

Event #47: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.

• Start: 2 pm
• Late Entry: 9 Levels
• Start Stack: 25,000
• Reentries: 0

Online Event #8: $3,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller

• Start: 3:30 pm