The 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack began with 8,317 entrants but on Wednesday night only seven returned to play down to a winner. Each was guaranteed at least $186,149 out of the $11,103,195 prize pool, but of course, everyone had their eyes firmly fixed on the $1,162,681 prize.

When the dust settled, 40-year-old family man Braxton Dunaway, who hails from Midland, Texas and works in the oil and gas industry, emerged victorious to claim the seven-figure first-place prize and his first WSOP gold bracelet.

His first order of business after the last card was dealt was to call his wife, Stephanie, and their four children – Jordyn, who just graduated college; Macy, who is 17 and a senior in high school; Hayes, who is in ninth grade; and eight-year-old, Sawyer.

“Our little girl who runs the whole show, the boss of the family, we call her Bossy Saucy.”

“Our little girl who runs the whole show, the boss of the family, we call her ‘Bossy Saucy,’” said Dunaway, who indicated he’ll be flying to Omaha, Nebraska in the morning to meet his wife and two youngest children.

“They’re at the College World Series,” Dunaway explained. “My son is in a tournament during that, which is for teenage boys. He won his first two games today and he’s guaranteed like five more games. I’ll be there, we’ll catch some games, and just hang out on vacation.”

Prior to the victory, Dunaway had $333,318 in lifetime tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob, which included a prior career-best of $62,500 for finishing in 142nd place in last year’s WSOP Main Event. While Dunaway is catching the first flight out in the morning, he did indicate he will be returning for the 2023 WSOP Main Event in July.

“I’ll be back to for sure play the Main, that’s the plan,” Dunaway confirmed. “I’ve just been gone so long I need to get home, do laundry, and sleep in my own bed. I still can’t believe it. It’s just amazing. I told my wife and she said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’”

2023 WSOP Event #39 Final Table Results

Others to cash the tournament were Day 3 chip leader Xuming Qi (11th – $89,644), Ashley Frank (16th – $56,980), Tyler Hancock (23rd – $45,980), Nate Silver (32nd – $37,233), Michael “BrockLesnar” Holtz (62nd – $20,730), Kyle Julius (79th – $14,540), and bracelet winner Gershon Distenfeld (93rd – $10,499), who once again donated all his winnings to charity.

Final Table Action

2009 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Cada started the day as the short stack, and unfortunately for the four-time bracelet winner, his quest at a fifth came to an end quickly when his ace-king was outdrawn by the ace-jack of Dunaway when a jack spiked on the river.

Not long after, Joshua Adcock three-bet jammed holding ace-king and was in prime shape to double through Dunaway, who had ace-queen. Unfortunately for him, Dunaway came from behind again, this time spiking a queen on the river to score another knockout.

Nicholas Gerrity, who began the final table as the chip leader was next to go after losing a flip with ace-six against the pocket deuces of Jesse Rockowitz, and then France’s Loic Dobrigna followed him out the door after three-bet jamming with ace-deuce only to run smack dab into the two red queens of Dunaway, who held to take a big chip lead into three-handed play.

The final three battled for a long time before Dunaway put Rockowitz to the test on the turn. The latter called it off with second pair and a gutshot straight draw, which was ahead of Dunaway’s open-ended straight draw and queen kicker. Unfortunately for Rockowitz, his tournament came to an end in brutal fashion when a queen spiked on the river.

Dunaway took a more than 3:1 chip lead into heads-up play against Colin Robinson, and it didn’t take long for the Texan to finish things off. In the final hand, Robinson called it off on the river with a pair only to see Dunaway roll over two pair for the victory.

“I want to say that all the people who were at the final table were really nice, great opponents, good players,” Dunaway concluded. “I got extremely lucky a few times, but you have to win one of these things. It was just my turn, it’s just awesome.”

Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

Event #46: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout at the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas attracted an enormous field of 5,342 runners, all hoping to capture a WSOP gold bracelet.

The majority of those hopefuls fell by the wayside on Day 1, with just 241 advancing to the second and final day. On Day 2, after nearly 12 hours of play, Austin, Texas native Jay Lockett was the only one left standing, having defeated Benson Tang in a short-lived heads-up match to claim the $262,526 first place prize and the honor of being able to call himself a bracelet winner.

Incredibly, this was only Lockett’s second-ever live tournament cash, with his only other score a $1,900 prize for cashing in the $600 Deepstack event at the 2021 WSOP.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” an emotional Lockett said after the win. “I was dead money coming in…this is amazing. You have to run so hot. I had quads twice at the final table. I had ace-queen that ended up beating ace-king earlier,” he continued. Although luck was certainly on his side, in the end, Lockett made a number of plays to help him get over the edge and is a deserving winner.

Event #46: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout Final Table Results

Coming into the day, the average stack depth was at a shallow 25 big blinds and only got shorter from there. As a result, the action was fast and furious, with the final table of nine set after only eight hours. Nicholas Ronalds was the unfortunate player to fall just shy of that mark after losing a classic race with queens against the big slick of Muaaz Gani.

Final Table Action

Ibrahim Tarim was a short stack for much of the latter stages of the day, so it was not surprising to see him fall first at the final table when his pair of threes came up short against Benson’s sixes.

Next to go was Australian David Hirst, who only entered the event after the airline he was traveling on lost his luggage. Unlike Steve O’Dwyer, it is likely he will not be too upset with those responsible for the misplaced items.

The last woman standing, Shannon Boone, fell in seventh place after getting it in on the flop with a flush draw against Benson’s sevens but failing to connect.

Byambajav Bandi demonstrated a good deal of patience while making several pay jumps but did end up hitting the rail with his top pair outkicked by Gani.

It was Gani who was next to be sent to the payout desk when his fours were crushed by the sixes of Lockett. Not long after, Matthew Thom hit the showers in fourth place, his flopped top pair outdrawn by Tang, who at that point had started to put some distance between himself and the rest of the field.

Diego Acquila had quietly stuck around, avoiding big pots for the most part, and as a result, was able to lock up a six-figure score by making it to three-handed play. His luck did run out when a seemingly invincible Lockett went runner-runner to make a straight. That elimination set up a heads-up showdown between Lockett and Tang, with the former, courtesy of making quads against Tang a few hands earlier, entering with a 2:1 chip lead.

It did not take long for Lockett to prevail when Tang bricked on straight and flush draws against Lockett’s pair. Although he will no doubt be disappointed at coming up just short, Tang does walk away with $156,773, not bad for a $500 investment.

Lockett, meanwhile, was left with a look of disbelief at his incredible accomplishment. Congratulations to Jay Lockett on winning Event #46: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout! Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as its live reporting team continues to provide comprehensive coverage of all bracelet events at the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

Phil Ivey could make history Thursday at the $50,000 Poker Players Championship if he were to take down the bracelet, which would be his first title at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) since 2014.

The widely accepted poker G.O.A.T. is one of three players — Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson are the others — tied for second all-time with 10 WSOP bracelets. Phil Hellmuth, with 16 titles, is the record holder. But there could be just one player sitting in second place within the next 24 hours.

Ivey has reached the final table of Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, arguably the second most important poker tournament each year (WSOP Main Event is the most prestigious, of course).

On top of Ivey’s presence there are a few other major stories to follow. James Obst, who left poker four years ago to pursue a tennis career, is back and with a vengeance. Brian Rast, who has six bracelets, is also at the final table and is seeking to become the second three-time Poker Players Championship champion (Michael Mizrachi won it in 2010, 2012, and 2018). Equally important, it very well could put him over the hump in his quest to reach the Poker Hall of Fame in 2023.

Erasing a Forgettable Summer

Entering the Poker Players Championship, Ivey, who now has 77 bracelet event cashes lifetime, had cashed in exactly zero events this summer. He even bubbled the $250,000 Super High Roller. Suffice to say, it had been a forgettable summer up to this point for the Poker Hall of Famer.

It no longer is a forgettable summer for the poker legend. And if he were to go on and win the PPC, regardless of what he does the rest of his 2023 WSOP, it will be a successful series.

At the time of publishing, with eight players remaining, Ivey was sitting in second place with 4,750,000, just behind Matthew Ashton (5,700,000), who began Day 4 with the chip lead.

First place will pay $1,324,747 and would put Ivey to just under $40 million lifetime, according to Hendon Mob. But more importantly, he’d claim arguably the most prestigious win of his illustrious career. In doing so, he’d end a nine-year drought without a bracelet.

Poker Hall of Fame for Rast?

Rast told PokerNews in 2021 that reaching the Poker Hall of Fame was a passion of his. He felt that he deserved induction in 2022, the first year he became eligible at age 40. Layne Flack, however, was selected instead one year after passing away.

Flack had six bracelets, one more than Rast has currently. But a third PPC title and sixth overall bracelet just might get him over the hump in the Hall of Fame voting this summer.

Arieh, who won his fifth bracelet earlier in the series, is also on the short list of candidates. The 2021 WSOP Player of the Year busted in ninth place on Wednesday.

Jeremy Ausmus is another player who is in contention especially after winning his sixth bracelet on Tuesday in Online Event #8: $3,200 No-Limit Hold’em for $360,036. Other commonly mentioned candidates include Matt Savage, Isai Scheinberg, Kathy Leibert, Michael Mizrachi, and Mike Matusow.

Rast, sixth in chips at the time of publishing (2,955,000), will be difficult to beat if he were to go on and win the 2023 Poker Players Championship.

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