Kevin Martin snapped a video from the table he was at, which he shared on Twitter Thursday, of what just might be the craziest hand played thus far at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

The hand involved four premium pocket pairs and took place on Day 1 of Event #37: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em. PokerNews’ live reporting team was also at the table to record the wild action.

The hand took place on Day 1 well before the money bubble burst in a $2,000 buy-in WSOP event, so the impact wasn’t felt near as much as when the 2018 WSOP Main Event final table was set thanks to a double elimination when aces defeated kings and kings. But it was still quite entertaining.

Follow the $2k NLH Day 2 Action Live

The free-to-play WSOP poker App is not only crammed with features, promotions, and incredibly realistic but fun poker online games, but it is also the home to a stable of elite-level poker players known as the Thrill Team.

The WSOP App Thrill Team is made up of seven poker superstars who have won several millions dollars, World Series of Poker bracelets and circuit rings in the live poker world, and are now going all-in to win virtual bracelets, rings, and trophies on the free-to-play WSOP App.

All seven members of the Thrill Team are ready and raring to go at the virtual tables of the social WSOP App, giving you the opportunity to play poker for fun against some of poker’s most recognizable names and without risking a single cent of your bankroll.

You’ll instantly know when Thrill Team members are seated at your table, thanks to their life-like avatars. Imagine taking on some poker superstars from the comfort of your own home. Even better, imagine being able to tell your friends and family that you not only took on poker’s best but beat them at their own game!

Who are the seven WSOP App Thrill Team members? Keep reading to find out!

Patrik Antonius

Patrik Antonius is one of the greatest poker players to have ever picked up playing cards. Hailing from Helsinki, Finland, Antonius is both feared and respected in equal measure, mostly because of his fearless approach to the game.

Antonius is approaching 30 cashes in live WSOP events, including a trio of final table appearances. The super-talented Finn is yet to win a gold WSOP bracelet in Las Vegas, but will be looking to win more than his fair share of virtual bracelets on the WSOP App.

Espen Jorstad

Espen Jorstad had a glowing reputation before his incredible performances at the 2022 WSOP in Las Vegas. The Norwegian grinder won his first WSOP bracelet in the Tag Team event before going on to become the 2022 WSOP Main Event champion.

Jorstad is the reigning poker world champion, and will take some beating if you find him on your WSOP App tables.

Vanessa Selbst

Vanessa Selbst needs no introduction. The New Yorker is not only one of the best female poker players ever, but one of the greatest, period. The three-time WSOP bracelet winner is the first and only female player to be ranked number one in the world by the Global Poker Index.

Selbst retired as a professional poker player in 2018 to pursue a corporate job and start a family. However, in a recent interview with PokerNews, Selbst revealed that the excellent free-to-play WSOP App has reignited her love for playing poker, and she will be gracing us with her presence at the 2023 WSOP in Las vegas.

“Honestly, I was just looking for an excuse to get back (to poker). I’ve been looking for an excuse to get back for a while. I’ve missed it,” Selbst exclusively told PokerNews.

Samantha Abernathy

Samantha Abernathy absolutely loves playing poker and interacting with her fellow poker players. The Las Vegas native enjoyed a breakout series at the 2021 WSOP, where she cashed in three tournaments, including the Main Event.

Adam Hendrix

Adam Hendrix first cash in a WSOP event in the live arena in 2017, and has since racked up more than 80 in-the-money finishes. Hendrix hails from Anchorage, Alaska, but spends a large percentage of his time traveling the world playing in the biggest tournaments available.

When Hendrix does have some free time, he often kicks back and keeps his poker skills sharp by playing on the WSOP App.

Landon Tice

Landon Tice called Boca Raton, Florida, home, although he is often spotted playing in cardrooms up and down the country. Tice has more than 30 cashes on the WSOP live circuit, including a coveted gold WSOP Circuit ring, which he won in March 2023.

Tice is hungry for more poker jewelry, especially the virtual rings and bracelets you can win for free on the WSOP App.

Ethan Yau

Ethan Yau is better-known to some as his “Rampage” nickname. Quincy, Massachusetts, is where Yau mostly plays poker for free on the WSOP App when he is not getting his grind on in live poker events.

Yau is a hugely popular player, one that won the Best Vlogger and Best Poker Personality at the 2022 Global Poker Awards. he is also supremely talented, having won a WSOP bracelet and four WSOP Circuit rings! Both Yau and Abernathy began their illustrious poker careers by using the WSOP App; will you follow in their footsteps?

Mike Holtz came up a bit short of his second bracelet on Wednesday, but the Las Vegas online poker crusher appears to be destined for his second major online poker award in three years.

Those who play on WSOP.com know of Holtz under his screen name “BrockLesnar,” a tribute to former WWE pro wrestling legend Brock Lesnar. Over the years, he’s been one of the poker site’s top tournament performers, so much so that he won Player of the Year in 2021.

As of mid-June, he’s on pace to win the award again in 2023 even though there’s still plenty of play remaining. PokerNews caught up with the local poker pro to discuss his online poker prowess at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas at the Horseshoe.

On Wednesday, Holtz was busy playing some live poker in Event #31: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack. We caught up with him on a break during the final table. At the time, he admitted his odds of winning weren’t great given he was down to just seven big blinds. He’s instincts were correct as he busted in seventh place out of 2,758 entrants for $30,081.

Scott Dulaney went on to win the bracelet and the $194,155 first place prize.

The Shaun Deeb of WSOP.com?

Winning the WSOP.com Player of the Year award is quite valuable. The champion receives a $10,000 prize, along with a ring and $1,500 worth of online poker tournament tickets. Last year’s winner was “sacakewalk.”

Holtz is, in some ways, the Shaun Deeb of the WSOP.com poker site in that he’s motivated to chase Player of the Year, much like Deeb is each summer in Las Vegas. According to the internet poker grinder, he plays about six multi-table tournaments per day with an average buy-in of around $180.

Despite his online success, Holtz’ opinion on which type of bracelet is more meaningful to him might surprise you.

“Even though I won the online bracelet, it would still mean more to win (this one),” he said of the bracelet he was competing for on Wednesday.

In 2022, he won his lone bracelet online in the $777 Lucky 7s on WSOP.com for $76,157. He also has three World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) rings, all three of which took place online. He’s already won two rings this year, a huge part of why he’s running away with the WSOP.com Player of the Year award.

At present, “BrockLesnar” has 38,035 points in 2023, which is significantly higher than his closest competitor — “011POKERDR” — who has 30,317 points. The defending champ is having another strong year, but is 10,500 points off the lead.

Tony Dunst (“Panoramic”), the co-host of the World Poker Tour (WPT), is in sixth place with 25,559 points.

Current 2023 WSOP.com Player of the Year Standings

The deficit between first and second place might not seem insurmountable given the year is only half over. But Holtz is confident that he’s about to become a two-time WSOP.com Player of the Year.

“He’d have to basically win back-to-back bracelet events to catch me,” he said of his closest competition. “I’m like a -750 or -800 to win probably.”

The battle hasn’t been won yet, but Holtz is going to continue putting in the volume, much like Deeb does during the WSOP, so perhaps he’s right that beating him for POY at this point is an improbable task.

Follow live updates from the 2023 WSOP here!

Day 17 of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, saw no gold bracelets awarded, but several events vastly reduced their fields to such a degree that a bunch of bracelets will be dished out on June 16.

Event #33: $10,000 Razz Championship was scheduled to crown its champion, but the last remaining trio of players decided to bag up their chips and return for an unplanned fourth day due to the clock ticking around to 3:00 a.m. local time.

Jerry Wong (lead image) (3,025,000), two-time bracelet winner Michael Moncek (2,760,000), and Carlos Chadha (1,590,000)return to the tables at 3:00 p.m. on June 16, and whoever comes out on top will capture a WSOP bracelet plus $298,682 in cold, hard cash.

$1,500 PLO Field Cut Down to 10; Mizrachi Leads

Four-time WSOP bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi (5,680,000) is the man to catch going into the third and final day of Event #34: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha. Only nine players stand between Mizrachi and him joining the group of players with five bracelets to their name.

Matthew Beinner (5,175,000) is hot on Mizrachi’s heels thanks, in part, to busting start-of-the-day chip leader Josh Arieh during the last level of the evening.

In addition to Mizrachi, Sean Troha (3,935,000) and Antonin Teisseire (2,210,000) are looking to add to their bracelet collection.

Return to PokerNews from 12:00 p.m. local time on June 16 as we bring you the thrilling conclusion of this event.

Event #34: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Day Chip Counts

WSOP Lets the Bounties Loose; Klodnicki Leads the Final Eight

The final table of Event #35: $10,000 Secret Bounty is set, and it is Chris Klodnicki (6,615,000) who leads the finalists back into battle. Klodnicki won a WSOP bracelet in 2017, and now has every chance of becoming a two-time champion.

Players such as five-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (6,475,000), Angel Guillen (4,150,000) and Barak Wisbrod (4,135,000) are also still in contention, and have a major role to play in where this event’s bracelet ends up.

The biggest bounties have already been won. Ali Shahni pulled the $250,000 top bounty, while Artur Martirosian and Tyler Cornell each collected a $100,000 payment.

Play resumes at 4:00 p.m. local time on June 16, and PokerNews will be with you every step of the way until a champion is crowned.

Event #35: $10,000 Secret Bounty Final Table Chip Counts

Long is the Man to Catch After Two Days of Nine Game Mix Action

British pro Philip Long (1,225,000) has a legitimate chance of winning his second bracelet because he is the chip leader with only 22 players remaining in Event #36: $3,000 Nine Game Mix.

Long won his bracelet in 2018 in the $1,500 Eight Game Mix event, so he will be the favorite going into Day 3 in this tournament.

Jean Gaspard (1,100,000) and Justin Liberto (999,000) are Long’s nearest rivals in the chip counts, with Allan Le and Per Hildebrand (875,000) making up the top five.

Further down the counts but still in the hunt are Shawn Buchanan (856,000), Scott Clements (814,000), Christopher Vitch (557,000), Anatolii Zyrin (492,000), and Andres Korn (317,000).

Play resumes at 2:00 p.m. local time on June 16, and PokerNews will be on hand to bring you all of the action, as it happens, from the Nine Game mix event.

Event #36: $3,000 Nine Game Mix Top 10 Chip Counts

Seif Second in Chips in the $2K No-Limit Hold’em After Day 1

Some 1,962 players bought into Event #37: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em, but the number of players with chips in front of them after the completion of 15 levels was only 321. Bagging up enough chips for the overnight chip lead was Lee Piniatoglou (7,380,000).

Two other players finished Day 1 with more than 100 big blinds in their stacks. Mark Seif (711,000) and Josh Reichard (666,000) being that pair.

Plenty of other established pros punched their Day 2 tickets, including Ireland’s Marc Macdonnell (561,000), Ankush Mandavia (396,000), Jim Collopy (369,000), Steve Zolotow (276,000), Jake Schwartz (222,000), and four-time bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche (201,000).

The cards are back in the air from 10:00 a.m. local time on June 16, so join PokerNews then for all the action from this event.

Event #37: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Top 10 Chip Counts

Stacked Field Formed in the 2-7 Triple Draw Championship

Mixed game specialist Adam Friedman (279,000) is second in chips after Day 1 of the star-studded Event #38: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship. The field was cut down from 106 to 45 over the course of ten levels, but those numbers are set to increase as late registration remains open until the start of Day 2.

Only Michael Wagner (284,000) has more chips than Friedman at the restart, although his lead is a solitary big bet. Also in the top 10 chip counts are the likes of Ryan Leng (273,000), George Wolff (242,000), Ren “Tony” Lin (238,000), and Rep Porter (188,000).

Also among the Day 1 survivors but further down the leaderboards are such luminaries as Daniel Negreanu (177,000), David “Bakes” Baker (153,000), Farzad Bonyadi (137,000), Scott Seiver (132,000), and John Monnette (113,000).

June 16 at 1:00 p.m. local time is when Day 2 commences, so return to PokerNews then if high-stakes 2-7 Triple Draw is your favorite game.

Event #38: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 18 of the 2023 WSOP

The PokerNews Live Reporting team will bring you live and exclusive coverage of two new events on June 16, which is the 18th day of the 2023 World Series of Poker.

Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack should prove immensely popular thanks to the 50,000 starting stack. Last year’s event saw 6,501 players enter, and it would no surprise anyone in Las Vegas if this year’s tournament hits 7,000 runners.

The biggest buy-in tournament of the 2023 WSOP, Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller, should be a compact yet stellar field. Alex Foxen came out on top of a 56-strong field in 2022, and walked away with $4,563,700 for his troubles.

Of course, there will be bracelets awarded in most of the other events mentioned above, so be sure to head to our 2023 WSOP hub for everything you need to know about this year’s series.

Following three days of poker action at the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino, the 2023 Bar Poker Open Vegas World Championship (BPO) has come to an end with Edward Holt being the last player standing from the 1,053 entry field.

Holt, from the Eastern Poker Tour, defeated New York’s Ryan Surdi in heads-up play to capture the $100,000 first prize, the biggest in the BPO’s history, as well as this year’s title.

Like Holt, the journey for many of these hopefuls started in bars all over the United States, where over one million BPO members took part in daily tournaments online and at their favorite local watering holes for a chance to qualify for the event.

Final Table Results

Action of the Final Day

Eight players returned on Day 3 to compete for the title, and the action was fast and furious from the off. It didn’t take long for the first elimination to take place as John Carr was first to exit the feature table, which was streamed by Gorilla Gaming. Carr’s ace-queen couldn’t overtake the ace-king held by Anthony Lundy.

Moments later, Jeffrey Bowden was ousted by champion Holt after the latter cracked Bowden’s pocket queens with ace-ten.

The place of play then began to slow down at six-handed play until Saverio Biancardi‘s queen-ten was no match for Lundy’s queen-two.

The bust-outs then came in quick succession with fan favourite Dawna Blyleven exiting in fifth. Day 3 chip leader Brian Lerner fell in fourth place, and Day 1a chip leader Lundy departed in third place.

Heads-up play started slowly, which each player feeling the other out until Surdi found ace-jack and ran into Holt’s pocket aces. This left Surdi with less than ten big blinds and made Holt the overwhelming favorite. A few hands later, Surdi called Holt’s jam with queen-ten suited and was up against ace-eight. An ace on the flop was enough, and a safe runout saw Holt seal the victory. He then celebrated the win with his daughter on Facetime and even shared a winner’s photo with his wife.

Bar Poker Open PRO-AM Ongoing

PokerNews are also on the floor for the BPO Pro-Am Event, which sees a mixture of amateurs and pros battle it out. At the time of writing, the amateur players have made quick work of the pros, with Joey Ingram the only player remaining from the pro category.

Day 1 for the tournament is entering it’s twilight hours, but more action is to follow with tomorrow’s Day 2. The second day will play down to a winner so be sure to stick with the live updates.