Daily Updates from the 2023 WSOP – June 26

Lonnie Hallett collected Canada’s third bracelet so far this series after defeating a former champion and a seven-time bracelet winner to take down more than $750k and his first bracelet while Mike Gorodinsky further cemented his mixed game legacy with a win in the $10k HORSE Championship. It was another day of OG legends looking for hardware as Billy Baxter faced down Hallett for the Seniors title, while Mike Matusow was heads-up against Marcin Horecki for the Stud 8 bracelet. Both fell short in their quests, but they both added to the “year of the OG legend” that has seen several other players seemingly come from the past to book deep runs and challenge for hardware.

Event #48: $1,000 SENIORS No-Limit Hold’em Championship – Day 4

The final day of the Seniors game was chock-full of interesting questions. Could former champion Dan Heimiller hold on to his lead for the win? Could the last woman standing parlay a strong finish from the previous day into the bracelet? Could Billy Baxter come from nowhere to win his 8th bracelet, but first in more than 2 decades? Or, was a farmer from Alberta, Canada going to end up holding the hardware?

In the end, it was the Canadian farmer who stepped up with an answer as Lonnie Hallett ended up with all the chips. “I just can’t believe it, such a huge field it’s almost impossible to do, and somehow it happened. I’m grateful, can’t believe it, I’m so happy,” he said after a win where he was surrounded by friends for the post-bracelet celebration.

Baxter almost stepped up to the plate with his own answer, parlaying his third-place stack to start the final day into second place for a career-high score even while missing out on the bracelet. He was in rough shape against Hallett going into heads-up with Hallett on mountains and a 10:1 advantage.

One of the defining hands late in the game saw Hallett raise and then call a three-bet from Heimiller with play three ways holding queen-four. The flop lit the fuse as Hallett flopped two pair against the top-top for Heimiller, and the two big stacks were in a confrontation for around 100 million chips while Baxter watched on, no doubt thrilled to see the monsters clash. Hallett’s two pair held and he sent the former champ to the rail in third and took a massive chip lead into heads up against Baxter.

This was Hallett’s second live win after a win in a Venetian Deepstack earlier this year but this is by far his biggest score with his previous best sitting at about $50k. This win pushes his Hendon Mob earnings to just shy of $950k and shoots him up the list of all-time money winners for Alberta, Canada, putting him in sixth place in Alberta behind Karim Chatur while he pushes Jimmy Lee down to seventh place.

Event #53: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER No-Limit Hold’em – Day 3

Andreas Kniep of Germany leads the way in the Milly after three days of play with just 41 players left in the game. They got nearly 10,500 entries for this massive game, putting the prizes just shy of $14 million with two players tagged to win at least $1 million by the end,

Kniep bagged nearly 20 million at the end of Day 3, about 3.5 million more than second-place Champie Douglas. Canada’s Michael Smith and Moldova’s Pavel Plesuv are among the other top-ten stacks after three days while Erick Lindgren, David “ODB” Baker, Ian Matakis, and Blair Hinkle were among the other bags after Day 3. High-profile casualties on Day 3 with money in hand included defending Main Event champ Espen Jorstad, previous Main Event champ Martin Jacobson, and Winmax Team Pro Mustapha Kanit.

The final 41 players return to the felt at 10 am on Tuesday with all returning players guaranteed at least $36,576. The plan is to play down to five players before bagging up to return for the endgame on Wednesday.

Event #54: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship

The betting audience was likely able to predict the outcome of this one going into the final day just on the basis of chip stacks. With Mike Gorodinsky leading the final day of a mixed-game format, no matter who else made the final day, it would always be an uphill slog against one of the best mixed-game players on the planet with a huge stack.

And the final seven was full of worthy challengers, however, with every one of the returning players a certified mixed-game beast with a legitimate shot at taking down the game. Gorodinsky faced down Canada’s Alex Livingston in the heads-up phase. The bracelet winner who was third in the 2019 Main Event has a resume full of deep runs in mixed games, and he added another second to his list.

Four-time bracelet winner Scott Seiver hardly needs an introduction, but while many casual fans might be aware of his abilities in NLHE, they may be more surprised to find his results page full of mixed-game deep runs. Carol Fuchs, who was the last woman standing but nearly had a compatriot at the FT before Esther Taylor bubbled the final day in 8th place, has a bracelet in Dealers Choice from 2015 and multiple other big finishes in non-NLHE events. And with Brian Yoon, Brad Ruben, and Christopher Claassen rounding out the mix, it was really a final seven that could have gone to any of them.

This was Gorodinsky’s third bracelet and pushes his lifetime earnings over $4.25 million.

Event #55: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better

Poland bagged its first bracelet of the series so far after Marcin Horecki took down the $1,500 Stud8 game for his first bracelet and more than $150k. There were 566 entries in this one for a total prize pool of $755,610, split between 85 players. Kevin Cote was the first player to exit with money in his pocket after bagging the $2,421 min-cash spot.

There were 18 players who returned on the final day, and among them was a bit of a blast from the past. Mike Matusow had most of his success in the 2000s and early 2010s, winning four bracelets from 1999 through 2013. One of his previous bracelets, from 2013, was in the $5k version of this event, so Matusow was well positioned to bag his fifth bracelet and first in more than a decade. He made it as far as second place, but couldn’t make it over the final Polish hurdle on his drive for five.

Another notable to figure in the endgame was Brian Rast, who was looking for his seventh bracelet and second in a week. Rast recently became a six-time bracelet winner after taking down the Poker Players Championship for the third time, but he had to settle for seventh place instead of his seventh bracelet.

Horecki pushed his Hendon Mob earnings to less than $1k away from $1.6 million with the win, and while it was his first bracelet, it was far from his first big score. He has 11 total wins on his record, and while this was technically his biggest win, he had two previous third-place scores in EPT events that eclipsed this one in terms of dollar value.

Event #56: $500 SALUTE to Warriors – No-Limit Hold’em

There are 14 players left in the SALUTE to Warriors game and one of them will walk away with $217,921 in their pockets. There were 4,303 entries for this game, putting the prizes at just shy of $2 million. A total of 646 players got a piece of that pie, and most of the payouts have already been spoken for, at least by volume. By weight, there is still a lot of money waiting to be won by the final 14 players, with $771,361 still in play.

Ryan Stephens bagged the biggest stack at the end of Day 3 with almost 29 million. There are three other players with 20 million or more to start what should be the final day of play for this one. Among the other players still alive in this one are Canada’s Kelly Gall in sixth place, as well as Rajesh Goyal and Timothy Deering, while some of the players to exit on Day 3 with money in hand included Levi Berger, Dominick French, Kenny Hallaert, Ari Engel, and Paulina Loeliger.

The final 14 players for this one will be back at it at 10 am on Tuesday to finish it out.

Event #57: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha

There are just 31 players remaining out of the starting field of 449, and it is Chance Kornuth with the biggest bag to start Day 3. He has a massive stack of 7.245 million, compared to Dylan Weisman in second with nearly 3 million less. Isaac Haxton, Firas Kashat, and Jeremy Ausmus are among the other players to bag top-ten stacks at the end of Day 2. Yuri Dzivielevski, Ben Lamb (who already won the O8 Championship this series for his second bracelet), and Chad Eveslage, who is, so far, the only player to win two bracelets this year, are also in the Day 3 mix of this one.

While Kornuth hasn’t found a win yet in this WSOP, he’s still having a pretty solid summer in Vegas. He’s been at the final tables of two high-roller events and an online event so far, and padded that with a Mystery Bounty win at the Wynn a few days ago. That said, Lamb is waiting in the wings and both his bracelets came from four-card poker, including his first bracelet in the $10k version of this event in 2011, while Eveslage had a blistering start to the series with two Dealers Choice bracelets and Weisman, Haxton and Ausmus are always dangerous in any event they sit down in.

Day 3 action kicks off at 1 pm and they’ll play down to five players remaining before they bag up for the day.

Event #58: $3,000 6-Handed Limit Hold’em

Jason Daly leads the final 17 players after two days of play in Event #58. He has 1.119 million and is one of three players with more than 1 million. Nick Pupillo, fresh off his victory in the Mixed Triple Draw Lowball game on the weekend, is one of those millionaires to start Day 3.

This game saw 263 entries for a total prize pool of $702,210 with 40 players getting a piece of it. Kyle Dilschneider was the earliest player to exit with cash after taking 40th spot for $4,837 while players returning for Day 3 are all guaranteed at least $8,061. Clayton Mozdzen, James Chen, Justin Lapka, Thomas Taylor, Noah Bronstein, Maria Ho, and JJ Liu were among the other players to cash out on Day 2.

Dan Shak and Main Event champ Joe McKeehan both have stacks to play on Day 3 as well, and they, along with the rest of the final 17, will get back underway at 1 pm on Tuesday and the expectation is that one of the remaining 17 will be holding a bracelet before play stops for the day.

Event #59: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’emo 8 or Better

Robert Kuhn leads nearly 1,600 original runners and 240 returning players after the first day of action in Event #59. He bagged up 1.41 million and is the only player with more than 1 million. Giorgii Skhulukhia of Russia and Juan Duenas of the USA both have stacks in the 900k range for second and third places respectively. Ryan Leng also bagged a top-five stack with 874k for fourth place.

Upeshka De Silva, Matt Berkey, and Alex Foxen are among the other players still in the field for Day 2 action. With 240 players remaining, that means they ended Day 1 with players in the money, though none of the payouts have yet been spoken for. Expect a lot of early action in this one, as short-stacked players who know they are now guaranteed at least $4,812 will be looking to double up and go deep for bigger scores, and that will invariably mean some of them go home early on Day 2.

They are fighting for shares of the $4,266,660 prize pool and the winner of the game will pocket $675,275. They won’t get there during the 10 levels of play scheduled for Day 2 starting at 10 am, but by the time they bag, there will likely be four tables or less remaining in the game.

Event #60: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw

They got 548 entries for the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw game, a larger field than expected. They combined for total prizes of $731,580, which puts $151,276 up top for the winner of this game. A total of 83 players will win $2,404 or more at the end of this game, and after the first day of play, Michael Trivett is leading the way with 401k.

He has a lot of daylight between him and second place, with OG legend Erik Seidel sitting with almost 150k less than Trivett, but Seidel is far from the only crusher sitting with chips for Day 2. Canada’s Mike Watson is on third with more than 200k while Nick Schulman, Michael Moncek, and Daniel Tafur are all lurking lower in the top-ten. Maria Ho, Alex Epstein, Robert Campbell, Dustin Dirksen, Ryan Moriarty, Phillip Hui, Benny Glaser, Koray Aldemir, Christopher Claassen, Matt Vengrin, Scott Bohlman, Taylor Paur, and Brad Ruben are among the crushers with 100k or more after the opening day, so the field is wide open in this one.

Day 2 gets going at 1 pm on Tuesday and the expectation is to play all the way down to five players remaining on Day 2.

Upcoming Events on June 27

Event #61: $1,000 SUPER SENIORS No-Limit Hold’em

• Start: 10 am
• Late Entry: 8 Levels
• Start Stack: 20,000
• Reentries: 1
• Must be 60+ to enter

Event #62: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha

• Start: 12 noon
• Late Entry: 9 Levels
• Start Stack: 25,000
• Reentries: 2

Event #63: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship

• Start: 2 pm
• Late Entry: Start of Day 2
• Start Stack: 60,000
• Reentries: 0

Online Event #11: $888 No-Limit Hold’em Crazy 8’s

• Start: 3:30 pm