Day 8 of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas saw another three players capture gold WSOP bracelets, while four other events saw their field whittled to a more manageable number of runners.
Jeremy Eyer is on cloud nine right now having taken down Event #12: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout. Eyer came out on top of a 735-strong field to become a WSOP champion for the first time; his victory also came with a bankroll-boosting $649,550 prize.
Event #13: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack also crowned its champion, and that winner was none other than Joseph Altomonte. Some 3,200 players entered this event, a record turnout for a WSOP PLO tournament, and Altomonte left them all in his wake. Turning $600 into a $217,102 score plus a coveted gold bracelet is one hell of a return.
The fourth online bracelet-awarding event, the $600 No-Limit Hold’em Ultra Deepstack, may have taken 13 hours to complete due to 1,031 entries, but when the curtain finally came down, it was Danny “jackdaniels1” Wong who had all of the chips in play in their possession. Wong’s reward? A first career bracelet and $130,648.
High-Stakes Gurus Turn Out in Force for the $25K High Roller
Some 264 elite-level poker players bought into Event #16: $25,000 High Roller (8-Handed) but only 93 of them had chips requiring bagging and tagging at the end of the eighth level. Topping the chip counts at the end of Day 1 was Calvin Anderson.
Anderson channelled his inner Phil Hellmuth and bought in fashionably late during the second half of proceedings. Within three levels, Anderson had span his 150,000 starting stack into a tournament-leading 1,609,000, or 161 big blinds if you prefer.
The two-time WSOP bracelet winner leads from Freddy Deeb (1,440,000) and Brian Kim (1,291,000), who are on the overnight podium, while Isaac Haxton (1,195,000), and Alex Nguyen (1,060,000) also bagged up seven-figure stacks.
As you would expect, the field is littered with household names. Such luminaries as recent bracelet winner Alexandre Vuilleumier (774,000), Joao Vieira (620,000), Danny Tang (564,000), Stephen Chidwick (426,000), Adrian Mateos (389,000), reigning WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jorstad (377,000), Erik Seidel (248,000), and a short-stacked Daniel Negreanu (90,000) were among the Day 1 survivors.
Event #16: $25,000 High Roller (8-Handed) Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calvin Anderson | United States | 1,609,000 | 161 |
| 2 | Freddy Deeb | United States | 1,440,000 | 144 |
| 3 | Brian Kim | United States | 1,291,000 | 129 |
| 4 | Isaac Haxton | United States | 1,195,000 | 120 |
| 5 | Alex Nguyen | United States | 1,060,000 | 106 |
| 6 | Calvin Lee | United States | 979,000 | 98 |
| 7 | Ting-Yi Tsai | Taiwan | 947,000 | 95 |
| 8 | Biao Ding | United States | 790,000 | 79 |
| 9 | Nick Maimone | United States | 783,000 | 78 |
| 10 | Eric Wasserson | United States | 780,000 | 78 |
Day 2 shuffles up and deals at 12:00 p.m. local time, which is when late registration slams shut. The players sit down in Level 9, meaning blinds of 5,000/10,000 and a big blind ante of 10,000.
Max Hoffman Leads the Final 13 in the Seven Card Stud Championship
Max Hoffman (1,522,000) holds the chip lead going into the final day of Event #14: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship where only 13 players remain in contention for the tournament’s bracelet and $311,433 top prize.
Hoffman is one of two players armed with a seven-figure stack, Maxx Coleman (1,238,000) being the other.
No fewer than eight of the final 13 already own at least one piece of poker jewellery, including the aforementioned Coleman. Brian Yoon (800,000), Ben Diebold (684,000), David “Bakes” Baker (586,000), Chad Eveslage (472,000), Ben Yu (422,000), Alex Livingston (309,000), and Julien Martini (273,000) are all looking to add to their collection of WSOP hardware.
Event #14: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Hoffman | United States | 1,522,000 |
| 2 | Maxx Coleman | United States | 1,238,000 |
| 3 | Brian Yoon | United States | 800,000 |
| 4 | Johannes Becker | Germany | 744,000 |
| 5 | Ben Diebold | United States | 684,000 |
| 6 | George Alexander | United States | 652,000 |
| 7 | David “Bakes” Baker | United States | 586,000 |
| 8 | Chad Eveslage | United States | 472,000 |
| 9 | Ben Yu | United States | 422,000 |
| 10 | Dan Shak | United States | 417,000 |
| 11 | Alex Livingston | Canada | 309,000 |
| 12 | Leonard August | United States | 299,000 |
| 13 | Julien Martini | France | 273,000 |
The players return to their seats from 1:00 p.m. on June 7, and the action continues for as long as it takes to crown a champion.
Former Champ Reaches Day 2 of the 6-Max NLHE
Only 161 of the 2,454 starters managed to progress to Day 2 of Event #15: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em, and the champion of this tournament from 2021, Bradley Jansen (651,000) is among them.
Jansen’s impressive day at the felt sees him return on Day 2 with a top 20 stack and with a realistic chance of becoming a two-time WSOP champion.
However, Brandon Hall will have something to say about that happening because he bagged and tagged a colossal stack of 1,440,000 chips to claim the overnight chip lead. Only Stevens Chen (1,100,000) finished with more than one million chips.
Others still in the hunt include Allan Le (800,000), Matthew Wantman (774,000), Upeshka De Silva (709,000), John Monnette (640,000), Maria Ho (409,000), and Joseph Cheong (236,000).
Event #15: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brandon Hall | United States | 1,440,000 | 144 |
| 2 | Stevens Chen | United States | 1,100,000 | 110 |
| 3 | Mathew Moore | United States | 924,000 | 92 |
| 4 | Allan Le | United States | 800,000 | 80 |
| 5 | Michael Jagroo | United States | 798,000 | 80 |
| 6 | Matthew Wantman | United States | 774,000 | 77 |
| 7 | Adam Swan | United States | 765,000 | 77 |
| 8 | Jack O’Neill | United Kingdom | 762,000 | 76 |
| 9 | Eduardo Bernal Sanchez | Colombia | 762,000 | 76 |
| 10 | Dorian Rios | Venezuela | 752,000 | 75 |
Play resumes at 10:00 a.m. local time on June 7 with the blinds at 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante.
Charismatic Chris Tryba Among a Bunch of Omaha Hi-Low Specialists Progressing to Day 2
A record-breaking field of 1,143 players entered Event #17: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better but only 394 of those starters progressed to Day 2 after the completion of 15 levels.
Chris Tryba (146,500) enjoyed himself throughout proceedings and has bagged up an ample stack that should see him go much deeper in this event.
Although Tryba will be happy with his performance, his stack is almost half the size of the overnight chip leader, Adel Shakerian (239,000). Benjamin Vidal (210,500) and Colin Burton (202,500) ended Day 1 with over 200,000 chips each.
Plenty of talented players found a bag on the opening day of this popular event. Look out for Connor Drinan (157,000), Ismael Bojang (145,000), Max Pescatori (130,000), Linda Johnson (129,000), Marco Johnson (120,500), and Mike Matusow (68,500) on Day 2.
Event #17: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low 8 or Better Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adel Shakerian | United States | 239,000 | 60 |
| 2 | Benjamin Vidal | United States | 210,500 | 53 |
| 3 | Colin Burton | Canada | 202,500 | 51 |
| 4 | Sergey Zaporozhets | Russia | 187,000 | 47 |
| 5 | Nitesh Rawtani | United States | 177,500 | 44 |
| 6 | Jason Daly | United States | 176,500 | 44 |
| 7 | Ryan Scully | United States | 175,000 | 44 |
| 8 | Smith Sirisakorn | United States | 169,000 | 42 |
| 9 | Hlias Azakas | United States | 167,000 | 42 |
| 10 | Glen Munro | United States | 166,500 | 42 |
PokerNews‘ coverage of this event resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 7, so join us then for all the action, as it happens, from the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo event.
What to Expect on Day 9 of the 2023 WSOP
June 7 is the ninth day of the 2023 WSOP, and although we risk sounding like a broken record, Day 9 is going to be a busy one!
Event #14: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship will crown its champion, while we will be closer to learning who the winner of Event #15: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed is.
Follow all the action from Day 2 of Event #16: $25,000 High Roller (8-Handed), and the second day of Event #17: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low 8 or Better.
That’s not all because three fresh events shuffle up and deal in their respective Day 1s. PokerNews is reporting from Event #18: $300 Gladiators of Poker, Event #19: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout, and Event #20: $1,500 Badugi!