Fans are welcome to come celebrate the life of the late poker legend Doyle Brunson at Horseshoe Las Vegas on July 2 at 11:30 a.m.

Many high-profile poker players will speak at the memorial, which will take place inside the Jubilee Theater near the Horseshoe poker room, about a two-minute walk from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament area.

Brunson, a 10-time WSOP bracelet winner and 1988 Poker Hall of Fame inductee, passed away last month at 89. He left behind quite a legacy in poker and will forever be remembered as one of the all-time greats.

Remembering a Legend

Some former Brunson opponents and long-time friends such Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Dewey Tomko will speak at the event. Jack Binion, former owner of Binion’s Horseshoe, the original site of the WSOP, will also give a speech.

Brunson and Binion, along with Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, spoke to reporters together in March at the Horseshoe’s grand opening ceremony. It was Doyle’s last public appearance.

This won’t be the first time Brunson has been honored since his passing. During a recent Vegas Golden Knights game, his son and fellow Poker Hall of Famer Todd Brunson, turned the crank on the videoboard at T-Mobile Arena to fire up the crowd and honor his late father, one of the all-time legendary gamblers in Las Vegas history.

Once Doyle began playing poker over 60 years ago, he was a poker player for life. He played right up until his passing, even still occasionally stopping by his favorite card room, Bellagio, to battle in some of the highest stakes games in the world deep into his 80’s. The “Godfather of Poker” is widely considered one of the greatest poker players ever.

Brunson, a World Poker Tour (WPT) ambassador, was a WPT champion, 10-time bracelet winner (tied for second all-time), and considered a fierce and difficult opponent in high-stakes cash games. He was also a colorful character and respected member of the poker community. The stories at the Celebration of Life memorial should be quite entertaining.

Jennifer Harman Remembers Friend Doyle Brunson

There may have only been one bracelet awarded on Day 21 of the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, but there was no shortage of action. Several events fill the vast tournament areas, and plenty of stellar names find themselves still in the hunt for some poker gold.

The eighth online event of the 2023 WSOP, the $3,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller, revealed its winner, and Jeremy “ChipChecka” Ausmus is that champion. Ausmus outlasted a star-studded field of 321 entrants, and captured $360,036 of the $1,489,600 prize pool plus a much sought-after piece of WSOP hardware, the sixth of his career.

Poker Players Championship Reaches Day 4; Ashton Leads Final 12

Matthew Ashton (4,450,000) is looking to join an exclusive club of stars that have won the $50,000 Poker Players Championship more than once. Michael Mizrachi has won this event three times, while Brian Rast and Dan Cates are both two-time champions.

Ashton clinched the title in the 2013 edition of this prestigious event, and is now the chip leader of Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, where only 11 opponents stand between him and a place in poker’s history books.

Eight of Ashton’s remaining 11 opponents are bracelet winners. The aforementioned Rast (3,365,000) is hot on his heels, while Phil Ivey (3,135,000) has his eyes on an 11th piece of poker gold.

Josh Arieh (2,360,000), Ray Dehkharghani (2,285,000), Daniel Alaei (1,885,000), James Obst (1,805,000), Johannes Becker (1,520,000), and Marco Johnson (375,000) are the other bracelet-sporting competitors.

This star-studded tournament resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 21. Join PokerNews then for all the PPC updates you can handle.

Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Chip Counts

Cada Reaches Final Seven of the Monster Stack But Is Short

The 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada (16,600,000) navigated his way to the final table of Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack, but he did so with the shortest stack of the seven remaining players.

Cada, a four-time bracelet winner, enters the final table with a meager eight big blinds at his disposal, while the chip leader has 57 big blinds.

Nicholas Gerrity (112,300,000) is that leader. Gerrity and Cada are joined at the table by Jesse Rockowitz (94,500,000), Braxton Dunaway (54,900,000), Colin Robinson (47,400,000), Loic Dobrigna (47,100,000), and Joshua Adcock (43,200,000).

Cards are back in the air at 5:00 p.m. local time on June 21, a later time than usual due to PokerGO streaming the final table action. You can follow the text live updates here at PokerNews.

Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack Final table Seat Draw

Simao in the Hunt for the $3,000 NLHE Bracelet

Brazilian sensation Joao Simao (1,830,000) finds himself second in chips going into Day 3 of Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em, where only 108 opponents stand between him and a third bracelet.

Simao won an online bracelet in 2021 before adding to his collection in 2022, doing so in the $5,000 Nixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha event. Can he capture his third piece of WSOP hardware?

China’s Yang ZhYang Zhangang (1,880,000) is the only player with more chips than Simao at the restart.

Other stellar names still in contention include Eliot Hudon (1,340,000), David Miscikowski (1,005,000), Shannon Shorr (975,000), start-of-the-day chip leader Ramiro Petrone (735,000), British star Chris Moorman (695,000), and reigning WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jorstad (505,000).

The action resumes at 11:00 a.m. on June 21, with the plan to play another ten hour-long levels. As always, PokerNews is the place for your WSOP live updates.

Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Top 10 Chip Counts

Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 2 of Event #44

Couden On Course for the $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo Title

Joey Couden (2,885,000) has given himself every chance of becoming a two-time WSOP bracelet winner by bagging up the Day 2 chip lead in Event #45: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better.

Couden leads the final 33 players back into battle on June 21, and what an elite group they are. Nick Kost (2,010,000) is second in chips and the only other player with more than two million chips.

Elsewhere in the overnight top 10, you find Shaun Deeb (1,490,000), Alex Livingston (1,340,000), Allan Le (1,290,000), and Raj Vohra (1,020,000).

The you have such luminaries as Vangelis Kaimakamis (850,000), Martin Zamani (625,000), and Leif Force (320,000).

The 33 bracelet hopefuls return to their seats from 1:00 p.m. on June 21, with the PokerNews live reporting team watching them like a hawk.

Event #45: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Top 10 Chip Counts

Huge Crowd of 5,342 Turn out for the $500 NLHE Freezeout

Another huge crowd of 5,342 players entered Event #46: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout but only 238 of those starters remained after the completion of 22 levels. Weathering the storm the best was Preston McEwen, who bagged and tagged a stack of 2,040,000 at the close of play, the only player with at least two million chips.

Nicholas Ronalds (1,960,000) almost eclipsed two million, but had to settle for 1,960,000.

As you would expect from a $500 buy-in live event, most of the field comprised of keen amateur and recreational players. However, a host of the game’s stars jumped into the fast-paced event, with some progressing to Day 2.

David Jackson (805,000), Erik Cajelais (615,000), Jamie Kerstetter (495,000), Justin Pechie (365,000), Brett Richey (280,000), and Ian Matakis (270,000) being some of those high-profile survivors.

10:00 a.m. local time on June 21 is when the Day 2 players return to their seats, where they hope to remain throughout the day. A champion will be crowned, so stay tuned to PokerNews to discover who that champion is.

Event #46: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout Top 10 Chip Counts

Thorpe Gallops Off With $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Chip Lead

Event #47: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. kicked off with 836 players but only 260 had chips requiring bagging and tagging at the end of 15 levels of mixed game fun and frolics. Mike Thorpe (252,500) bagged the most chips, closely followed by Yueqi Zhu (243,000), and Israel Garcia (237,000).

Non-hold’em events always attract well-known pros, and this tournament was different. Phillip Hui (212,000), Dan Colpoys (193,500), and Yuri Dzivielevski (189,500) return to the Day 2 action with top ten stacks.

Lower down the counts, you find such luminaries as Frank Kassela (164,000), Joao Vieira (158,000), David “Bakes” Baker (130,000), the 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir (130,000), six-time bracelet winner Jeff Lisandro (120,000), and five-time WSOP champion Brian Yoon (101,000).

The surviving horses are back under starters orders from 1:00 p.m. local time on June 21, with PokerNews bringing you all the twists and turns as the players navigate their way through another ten 60-minute levels.

Event #47: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Top 10 Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 23 of the 2023 WSOP

Hold onto your hats because Day 23 of the 2023 WSOP is going to be huge. In addition to Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack, Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em, Event #45: $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Event #46: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout, and Event #47: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E continuing, another three tournaments shuffle up and deal for the first time; each should attract big crowds.

Event #48: $1,000 Seniors Championship will be massive; last year’s event drew in 7,188 entries. Event #49: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em should also see circa 3,000 entrants, while Event #50: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship will feature a more compact field in the region 700-800 players. All-in-all, the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas could see close to 8,000 players dotted across both venues!

After 13 and a half hours of play, a new WSOP Online champion has been crowned. Event #8: $3,200 No-Limit Hold’em saw a total of 321 players come out and create a prize pool of $1,489,600 to divvy up between 54 players.

At the end of it all it was Jeremy “ChipChecka” Ausmus taking home his sixth WSOP bracelet for $360,036. Ausmus’ fourth cash of the series sees him collect his first piece of jewelry for the summer. The Las Vegas resident and family man has a long list of poker accomplishments, and now he joins the ranks of only 18 other men in the history of the WSOP to collect at least six bracelets.

Ausmus began the tournament strong and hung around the top of the chip counts for a bit, but after the bubble burst, Ausmus found himself quite short in dire straights. He was able to bounce back, and his years of experience paid off in spades as he carefully maneuvered his way to the final table to come in second in chips.

The final table lasted just over two and a half hours, and Ausmus found himself heads up with fellow WSOP bracelet winner Christopher “Ccast93” Castiglia in a battle that would swing quite a bit. When it was all said and done, Ausmus’ pocket kings held up for the win, and he joins Shaun Deeb in becoming a six-time bracelet winner at the 2023 WSOP.

Final Table Results

Tournament Action

A star-studded group managed to fight their way into the money in this tournament. Some of the stars fell early like Adam “PHsGoldShoes” Hendrix (54th – $7,001), Frank “thewholefunk” Funaro (38th – $7,596), Justin “Jsaliba2” Saliba (32nd – $8,490), Nick “cashusklay” Schulman (24th – $9,831), Jason “EddieVedder” Koon (14th-$14,151.20), and Tom “looter” Marchese (9th – $22,492). All of their runs came to a halt prior to the final table, but they were able to secure a cash for their efforts.

The final hand before the final table saw a double elimination after Ausmus had taken almost all of the chips of “wildace_hun”. He raised with pocket queens in the hijack, and “wildace_hun” moved all in for his last big blind while Fred “staeks” Li moved all in for his final chips with ace-king and Ausmus called, with the queens holding against both of their hands which saw the final table set with “wildace_hun” collecting $29,196 for his eighth place finish, and Li collecting $38,878.56 for his seventh-place finish.

Final Table Action

WSOP 2021 Main Event Champion Koray “seatscramble” Aldemir impressively bagged a stack in Event #47: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. while playing this event. Aldemir came into the final table as a short stack, but seemed to gain some momentum early on, separating himself from the other short stack Ioannis “Cheeecha” Angelou Konstas. It all came to an end when he got in his pocket queens in against Chance “BingShui” Kornuth’s pocket jacks and quad jacks on the turn gave the start of final table chip leader a boost, while Aldemir ended his first final table of the series in sixth place for $53,029.

Following him out the door was “Cokinaalcubo”, who ended the tournament in fifth place. They had moved all in over an open from Konstas and a call from Ausmus with ace-queen, only for Ausmus to call with pocket eights and be racing for their tournament life. An ace-high flop looked as if the double would be going to “Cokinaalcubo”, but an eight on the turn saw the double-up chances go up in smoke, and they collected $73,735 for their efforts.

Next to go was the start of the final table chip leader Kornuth. Kornuth had put on a dominant performance throughout the later levels of the day, never relinquishing the chip lead as players got closer to the final table. Once arrived, a few costly pots with Konstas saw his chips go from first to last. His final hand saw Kornuth flop top pair with queen jack against Christopher “Ccast93” Castiglia, who held pocket tens. The turn put Castiglia in the lead with a straight, and Kornuth missed his chop outs on the river to send the three-time WSOP bracelet winner out in fourth place for $108,442.

What started out as an even three-way battle quickly changed as Ausmus pulled ahead of both Konstas and Castiglia. Having each of them out chipped 3:1 saw Ausmus open-shoving against the field. Konstas called one of those shoves with ace-eight, only to watch Ausmus’ king-nine make two pair against him, and the Greek player ended his run in third place for $151,939.

Ausmus began heads up against Castiglia with a 4:1 lead, but that quickly shrank as two double-ups put Castiglia in the lead to make a more even match. What followed was a series of lead changes, where either one could have ended the other if the flips just went more their way. In the end, Ausmus did pull into the overall lead, and eventually Castiglia moved in his seven big blinds in with ten-seven suited, only for Ausmus to wake up with kings and hold. Ausmus won his sixth bracelet while Castiglia was denied his second, and he finished his impressive run in second place for $224,631.

Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates regarding the 2023 WSOP.

After the huge success of last year’s Summer Festival Malta, PokerStars is heading back to the island for more fun in the sun. 2023’s Summer Festival Malta will build on last year’s success, featuring 19 events played out between June 27 and July 2.

The Intercontinental Hotel in St Julian’s will play host to the event, situating the poker festival right in the heart of a district full of bars, restaurants, and beachside relaxation. Players who want to combine a little pleasure with their poker will find plenty of tourist and holiday activities. From bust to the beach in no time at all.

The highlights of the Summer Festival Malta include:

• The €2,200 High Roller event (starting June 27);
• The €1,100 Main Event (starting June 28);
• The €330 Cup event (starting June 30);
• The €550 Live on Stars event (starting June 30); and
• The €5,300 Super High Roller event (starting July 1).

On And Off The Felt

There are plenty of good reasons to enjoy the Summer Festival Malta. The busy week of tourneys means there’s always some action going on in a variety of poker variants.

Plus, with many top pros away in Vegas at this time of year, the fields for European festivals are often a little softer.

However, one of the major reasons for the success of poker events in Malta is the variety of activities away from the table. Step outside The Intercontinental Hotel, and you’re a short distance from some of Malta’s best beaches. There is something for everyone from modern nightclubs to a five-thousand-year-old burial complex, from power boat rentals to leisurely walks through medieval castles.

The local food scene is excellent, and the weather in the summer is blue-sky perfect — though with highs of 32^oC, you will definitely want to remember your high SPF sunblock.

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PokerStars Summer Festival Malta Complete Schedule

Keep Track Of PokerStars Online Poker Tournaments With The PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar

If you can’t make it to Malta this summer, that doesn’t mean you need to miss out on the PokerStars action. If you need a tool to keep track of upcoming online tournaments on PokerStars and some of the other biggest operators in the poker industry, then you should give the PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar a try.

This free-to-use tool is fully customizable, allowing you to set filters for each online poker site’s tournament schedule, helping you to find the events you want as quickly as you like.