Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club in Nottingham, United Kingdom, played host to the 2023 WPT500 UK festival, which includes a £560 buy-in £500,000 guaranteed Main Event. That Main Event attracted 895 entrants, of which 135 received a slice of the £500,000 prize pool, with Aleksandrs Golubevs claiming the lion’s share, namely £100,000.

Plenty of familiar names and faces navigated their way into the money places in the WPT500 UK Main Event. These included Waheed “Wadey” Ashraf, Timothy Chung, Bash Mahmood, Antonius Samuel, Matthew Davenport, and Nick Hicks.

Nineteen of those Day 2 players made it through to the final day’s play, and the nine-handed final table was set when Jonathan Sibley bowed out in tenth place.

WPT500 UK Main Event Final Table Results

The final table lost a player early doors when an anonymous player fell by the wayside.

The 2019 Battle of Malta High Roller champion Chris Da-Silva was next out of the door, followed by Radu Lita, Mihail Popa, and Adeniji Sonde.

Fourth place and a career-best £24,000 went to Andrei Dusu, whose only recorded cash prior to this event was a 41st place finish in the £440 Mystery Bounty at the Grosvenor UK Poker Open in February 2023.

There was also a new career-high for Ihor Haliuk, who finished in third for an impressive £40,000. Haliuk’s previous largest score weighed in at £610!

Heads-up pitted Dale Hancock against Golubevs. Hancock finished second in a £200 buy-in event in January for £9,000, and he had to make do with another runner-up finish this time around, although this one tipped the scales at £60,000.

Hancock’s elimination meant Golubevs was the last player standing and, therefore, the WPT500 UK Main Event champion, an accolade that came with the first six-figure prize of his career, namely £100,000.

High Roller Ends in a Three-Way Chop; Foggin Claims Title

The £1,100 buy-in WPT500 UK High Roller drew in 159 entrants, who created a £154,230 prize pool that the top 15 finishers shared. A min-cash weighed in at £3,000, with the nine finalists locking in at least £5,000 for their efforts.

Dutch veteran Marcel Luske was the ninth-place finisher, and he was joined on the rail by Gary Miller who you may recall won the 2018 WPT500 UK in London.

Popular grinder Charles Chattha bowed out in seventh before Jonathan McCann crashed out in sixth, and got his hands on the tournament’s last four-figure sum.

The 2022 888Live London Festival Main Event champion Bhavin Khatri clinched the £10,000 fifth place prize, with Matthew Davenport warming up for the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas with a fourth-place finish worth £13,230.

With Davenport out of the way, the final three heroes first discussed then agreed upon a deal for the remaining prize pool. Charles Akadiri picked up £29,420 before busting in third, then Marc Foggin defeated Phil Clarke heads-up to get his hands on the trophy and £29,615; Clarke collected £25,965 for his runner-up finish.

WPT500 UK High Roller Final Table Results

*reflects a three-handed deal

Next Up at Dusk Till Dawn

Tournament players do not have long to wait before the next major live event takes place at Dusk Till Dawn, the home of British poker.

The £120 buy-in £100,000 guaranteed DTD100 Live runs from June 7-11, with five starting flights taking place between those dates.

Did You Know the World Poker Tour is Online?

The launch of WPT Global means that poker players around the world now have the chance to win their way to WPT events, win prizes and enjoy exciting games such as Poker Flips. As one of the world’s largest cash game poker networks, WPT Global is available in over 50 countries and territories around the world.

WPT Global offers a large deposit match bonus: 100% on deposits up to $1,200 (using any payment method). New players depositing a minimum of $20 automatically receive this match bonus which is unlocked in $5 increments (credited straight to the cashier) for every $20 of rake contribution.

Both tournaments and cash games count towards bonus unlocking; new players have 90 days from the date of first deposit to unlock and claim their full bonus amount.

_{Images courtesy of Dusk Till Dawn and the excellent Mickey May}

The PartyPoker MILLIONS Online KO series concluded this week with the crowning of the No-Limit Hold’em Main Event champion. The 1,071-strong field was packed with stars, each chasing the largest slice of the $535,500 prize pool, although none of them shone as bright as Brazil’s Brunno Botteon.

Botteon is a seasoned tournament grinder who has more than $9.5 million in online poker earnings. The Brazilian enjoyed a phenomenal 2020, including finishing second to Damian Salas in the WSOP Main Event at GGPoker. Fastforward to today, and Botteon can call himself the PartyPoker MILLIONS Online KO Main Event champion among his many other poker accomplishments.

PartyPoker MILLIONS Online KO Main Event Final Table Results

Dozens of household names were among the 162 players that progressed from the six starting flights. The likes of Dimitar Danchev, Ognyan Dimov, 2017 MILLIONS Online Main Event winner Jonathan Van Fleet, Tomi Brouk, Sami Kelopuro, and Team PartyPoker’s Jaime Staples were among those that saw a return on their $530 investment but fell short of gracing the final table with their presence.

None of the nine finalists took home less than $4,756 for their efforts if you include the bounty payments each collected before busting.

Denmark’s Christian Pedersen busted in ninth for the $4,756 mentioned above, with Jerry Odeen following Pedersen to the rail armed with a $12,206 score. Odeen triumphed in the Opening event at the start of the series, and came close to a spectacular double victory here.

Seventh place and $10,849 went to Cassandra Charles of the United Kingdom, the tournament’s last standing female player. Then came the elimination of Steven Van Zadelhoff, who scooped $8,400. Van Zadelhoff claimed only $625 in bounties, so must have played some solid poker throughout the Main Event otherwise, he would not have made it to sixth place without busting many opponents,

The exits of Georgi Sandev ($14,455), Victor Onizuka ($24,121), and Malta-based Swede Joakim Andersson ($30,017) left Botteon heads-up against his fellow countryman Henrique Coutinho.

Both players guaranteed themselves more than $34,600 from the main prize pool, but there was still everything to play for because the final bounty payments were worth more than first place.

Eventually, Botteon brushed aside his final opponent, the 13th foe left in his wake, and added a $38,754 bounty haul to his tally for a total score worth $73,417. Coutinho collected $42,616 for his runner-up finish.

MILLIONS Online KO PLO Main Event Title Heads to Hungary

It was not only the No-Limit Hold’em Main Event that crowned its champion this week, but the Pot-Limit Omaha Main Event concluded, too. The $215 buy-in event drew in 505 entrants, resulting in a $101,000 prize pool.

Hungary’s Benjamin Juhasz was one of those entrants, and it is fair to say that he bulldozed his way to an impressive victory. Juhasz sent 17 opponents to the rail as he marched on to victory, including claiming the scalp of the dangerous Finn Mathias Siljander.

Siljander had to make do with an $8,172 consolation prize, leaving Juhasz to clinch an $18,417 prize, which included $11,257 from the bounty prize pool.

MILLIONS Online KO PLO Main Event Final Table Results

Never Miss a PartyPoker Tournament Again With the PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar

MILLIONS Online KO may be done and dusted, but that is not the end for tournament lovers at PartyPoker. The long-running online poker giant has a massive selection of tournaments taking place around the clock, so many that it is easy to miss some of the value-packed events taking place.

Never miss a tournament again by using the PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar, a free-to-use tool that allows you to find tournaments taking place at 888poker, PartyPoker, and PokerStars.

Help Yourself to a PartyPoker Welcome Package

Download partypoker via PokerNews and make your first deposit of at least $10 to receive a matched welcome bonus of 100% up to $600. You will also earn up to $30 worth of tournament tickets.

A $10 deposit yields $10 worth of tickets over a week:

Day 1: 2x $1 SPINS tickets + 1x $5.50 MTT ticket
Day 2: 4x $0.25 SPINS tickets
Day 4: 1x $3.30 MTT ticket
Day 6: 4x $0.25 SPINS tickets

If your deposit is at least $20, and the following ticket package is yours:

Day 1: 1x $5.30 MTT ticket
Day 2: 2x $1 SPINS ticket
Day 3: 1x $5.50 MTT ticket
Day 4: 1x $5.50 MTT ticket
Day 5: 3x $2.20 MTT tickets
Day 6: 2x $3 SPINS tickets + 1x$3.30 MTT ticket

Residents of the United Kingdom can take advantage of a different partypoker welcome bonus. A first deposit of at least £10 nets UK players a 100% match up to £400 plus ten Party Dollars a day for six days. Party Dollars can be used in any of the site’s games.

To release the full Deposit Bonus amount, you must meet partypoker’s playthrough requirements. Check out partypoker for full details.

Date Time Event GC Guarantee

Mon 5 June 2023 19:30 Bounty Series 1-L GC 3,000,000 Guaranteed [Bounty] 11,000 3,000,000

Mon 5 June 2023 20:30 Bounty Series 1-M GC 6,000,000 Guaranteed [Bounty] 33,000 6,000,000

Mon 5 June 2023 21:30 Bounty Series 1-H GC 10,000,000 Guaranteed [Bounty] 99,000 10,000,000

Mon 5 June 2023 22:30 Bounty Series 1-L GC 2,500,000 Guaranteed [Bounty] 11,000 2,500,000

Tue 6 June 2023 19:30 Bounty Series 2-L GC 2,500,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty] 11,000 2,500,000

Tue 6 June 2023 20:30 Bounty Series 2-M GC 6,500,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty] 33,000 6,500,000

Tue 6 June 2023 21:30 Bounty Series 2-H GC 10,000,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty] 99,000 10,000,000

Tue 6 June 2023 22:30 Bounty Series 2-L GC 2,500,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty] 11,000 2,500,000

Wed 7 June 2023 19:30 Bounty Series 3-L PLO GC 1,500,000 Guaranteed [Super Bounty, 8-Max] 11,000 1,500,000

Wed 7 June 2023 20:30 Bounty Series 3-M PLO GC 5,000,000 Guaranteed [Super Bounty, 8-Max] 33,000 5,000,000

Wed 7 June 2023 21:30 Bounty Series 3-H PLO GC 7,500,000 Guaranteed [Super Bounty, 8-Max] 99,000 7,500,000

Wed 7 June 2023 22:30 Bounty Series 3-L PLO GC 1,000,000 Guaranteed [Super Bounty, 8-Max] 11,000 1,000,000

Thu 8 June 2023 19:30 Bounty Series 4-L GC 2,500,000 Guaranteed [Super Bounty, 6-Max] 11000 2500000

Thu 8 June 2023 20:30 Bounty Series 4-M GC 6,250,000 Guaranteed [Super Bounty, 6-Max] 33000 6250000

Thu 8 June 2023 21:30 Bounty Series 4-H GC 10,000,000 Guaranteed [Super Bounty, 6-Max] 99000 10000000

Thu 8 June 2023 22:30 Bounty Series 4-L GC 2,500,000 Guaranteed [Super Bounty, 6-Max] 11000 2500000

Fri 9 June 2023 19:30 Bounty Series 5-L GC 2,500,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, 6-Max, Deep] 11,000 2,500,000

Fri 9 June 2023 20:30 Bounty Series 5-M GC 6,250,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, 6-Max, Deep] 33,000 6,250,000

Fri 9 June 2023 21:30 Bounty Series 5-H GC 12,500,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, 6-Max, Deep] 99,000 12,500,000

Fri 9 June 2023 22:30 Bounty Series 5-L GC 2,500,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, 6-Max, Deep] 11,000 2,500,000

Sat 10 June 2023 16:30 Bounty Series 6-L GC 2,500,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, Deep] 11,000 2,500,000

Sat 10 June 2023 17:30 Bounty Series 6-M GC 4,000,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, Deep] 33,000 4,000,000

Sat 10 June 2023 18:30 Bounty Series 6-H GC 10,000,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, Deep] 99,000 10,000,000

Sat 10 June 2023 19:30 Bounty Series 7-L GC 1,750,000 Guaranteed [Bounty, 6-Max, Turbo] 11,000 1,750,000

Sat 10 June 2023 20:30 Bounty Series 7-M GC 4,250,000 Guaranteed [Bounty, 6-Max, Turbo] 33,000 4,250,000

Sat 10 June 2023 21:30 Bounty Series 7-H GC 6,250,000 Guaranteed [Bounty, 6-Max, Turbo] 99,000 6,250,000

Sat 10 June 2023 22:30 Bounty Series 7-L GC 1,750,000 Guaranteed [Bounty, 6-Max, Turbo] 11,000 1,750,000

Sun 11 June 2023 16:30 Bounty Series 8-L GC 7,500,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, Super Deep] 11,000 7,500,000

Sun 11 June 2023 17:30 Bounty Series 8-M GC 12,500,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, Super Deep] 33,000 12,500,000

Sun 11 June 2023 18:30 Bounty Series 8-H Main Event GC 50,000,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, Super Deep] 99,000 50,000,000

Sun 11 June 2023 19:30 Bounty Series 9-L GC 2,000,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, Turbo] 11,000 2,000,000

Sun 11 June 2023 20:30 Bounty Series 9-M GC 5,000,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, Turbo] 33,000 5,000,000

Sun 11 June 2023 21:30 Bounty Series 9-H GC 7,500,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, Turbo] 99,000 7,500,000

Sun 11 June 2023 22:30 Bounty Series 9-L GC 2,000,000 Guaranteed [Progressive Bounty, Turbo] 11,000 2,000,000

The $10,300 buy-in high version of the 2023 PokerStars Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event is now in the books and Felipe “lipe piv” Boianovsky took down the top prize for $1,036,199. He made it through 587 entries to take down the biggest share of the $5,870,000 prize pool.

Boianovsky battled through a gruelling heads-up battle against Laszlo “omaha4rollz” Bujtas, and both players had the lead at various points through the heads-up phase. Neither player was shy about getting chips into the pot either for value or on audacious bluffs.

Boianovsky took his final big lead after hero-calling a pair of queens on an ace-high draw heavy board. Bujtas couldn’t recover from that, and the game was done shortly after.

$10,300 SCOOP Main Event Final Table Results

Main Event Action

The four-day Main Event High kicked off on Sunday, May 28, with 515 entries by the time the day finished. Entries were still open until the start of Day 2, and in the end, there were 587 total entries in the game for a prize pool of $5,870,000.

Some 235 players returned on Day 2, and they made the 71 money spots before they bagged up for the night with 40 left. There was good representation from PokerStars Team Pro on Day 2, but none of them managed to make the money. Rafael “GM_VALTER” Moraes had the best result, but he fell about 15 places shy of the money spots.

Among the players with big dreams on Day 3 was Mike “SirWatts” Watson, who started May with his second EPT title in Monte Carlo. He brought the second-biggest stack to Day 3 of the Main as well as the biggest stack to the final table of the Super High Roller. Watson ended up third in that Super High Roller while coming 16th in the Main.

When the dust settled on Day 3 with nine players remaining, “Deiv4za” had the big stack of more than 28 million, and led three players with more than 20 million stacks. The action started quickly with two eliminations in the first full level of play. They got down to seven left before the end of the next level, with runner-up Bujtas building the biggest stack.

They were six-handed for almost an hour before defending champion “WelcomelNnferNO” got it in preflop with ace-three suited only to run into kings of Paulo “paulinhoo00” Brombin. Start of the day chip leader “Deiv4za” followed shortly after, and then they played four-ways for almost two levels.

Again, two quick eliminations got the tournament to the heads up, where things slowed down once again. The lead went back and forth, with both players making excellent calls, audacious bluffs, and thin value bets throughout.

The big turnaround for Boianovsky came when he turned the nut straight against an overpair for a huge double to more than 100m. Bujtas managed to claw some back with a double, but couldn’t manage to spin it back to the lead, ending his run on a bit of a heads-up cooler with king-nine suited into the ace-ten for Boianovsky.

Relive all the action from the $10,300 SCOOP High Main Event

“rolandinjo” Takes Down $1,050 SCOOP Main Event

Latvia’s “rolandinjo” is the 2023 PokerStars SCOOP $1,050 Main Event champion and recipient of a cool $600,640 payout. The Latvian sat down at the final table third in chips, with a stack less than half of the start-of-the-day chip leader Vicente “vicenfish” Delgado

“rolandinjo” eliminated Delgado in sixth place in cruel circumstances. A brief raising war between “rolandinjo” and Delgado resulted in the former four-bet jamming with king-jack, and Delgado calling with the dominating ace-king. Delgado’s hand remained best until a jack landed on the river, sending Delgado to the rail, and “rolandinjo” to what turned out to be an unassailable chip lead.

The champion elect went into the heads-up clash with “moffo13” holding an almost four-to-one chip advantage, and it proved too much of a bridge for “moffo13” to gap. “moffo13” emptied the clip after missing an open-ended straight draw, and “rolandinjo” called his bluff with middle pair to clinch the victory.

$1,050 SCOOP Main Event Final Table Results

Find all of the $1,050 SCOOP Medium Main Event updates here

“Sodaski” Wins the $109 SCOOP Main Event for Ukraine

Some 22,663 PokerStars players entered the $109 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event, and Ukraine’s “Sodaski” outlasted them all to claim the victory and the $232,581 first-place prize.

Start-of-the-day chip leader “PokerHorst” looked to be in danger of running away with the show, but “Sodaski” scored a timely double-up early into three-handed play before sending “BluffyRabbit” to the rail in third, which saw the eventual champion claw their way back into contention.

The final hand saw “PokerHorst” check-raise all-in with a pair of aces on the turn, only to discover “Sodaski” had turned a diamond flush, rendering the river inconsequential. “PokerHorst” took home $165,777 for second place, leaving “Sodalski” to claim the title and $232,581.

$109 SCOOP Main Event Final Table Results

Here’s how the $109 SCOOP Low Main Event went down

The 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas has wasted no time in upping the ante, with five events running across the vast tournament floors on the second day of the series.

Day 2 of the 2023 WSOP saw the first gold bracelet awarded in the $500 Casino Employees event, the $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed field reduced to nine, and three new events shuffle up and deal: the $1,000 Mystery Millions, the star-studded Tournament of Champions, and the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice 6-Handed.

Peter Thai Wins Event #1: $500 Casino Employees Event

Peter Thai will forever be known as the player that captured the first bracelet of the 2023 WSOP. Thai came out on top of a 1,015-strong field in Event #1: $500 Casino Employees, a fantastic result worth $75,535.

PokerNews‘ Chad Holloway (60th – $1,342), and Jesse Fullen (33rd – $2,029) reached Day 2 but fell short of a final table appearance.

You can read all about Thai’s fantastic victory in PokerNews‘ dedicated recap of the Casino Employees event.

Hallay Leads the Final Nine in the $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed Event

Only nine players remain in the hunt for the $1,215,864 top prize in Event #2: $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed, and it is Frenchman Alex Hallay who leads them back into battle on June 1.

Hallay was seemingly dead and buried at one stage as he found himself down to a meagre stack of 40,000. However, some good fortune and aggressive play later, Hallay bagged up 7,980,000 chips, almost double the number of his nearest rival!

Four of the final nine have already experienced the joy of capturing some poker hardware. Joey Weissman (4,150,000) is the best placed to win another bracelet. He is joined in the hunt for multiple bracelets by Chance Kornuth (2,605,000), the controversial Jake Schindler (1,205,000), and the 2017 Poker Players Championship winner Elior Sion (1,202,500)

Event #2: $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed Day 2 Chip Counts

Day 3 commences at 4:00 p.m. on June 1; the late start time is due to the action being streamed by PokerGO. PokerNews will provide you with text updates throughout until the champion is decided.

Follow the $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed here

$1,000 Mystery Millions Proves Popular; Day 1a Sees 2,023 Entrants

Mystery Bounty tournaments are hugely popular in the live and online poker worlds. The exciting format lures players and thrill seekers to the tables in droves. Event #3: Mystery Millions was no different, with 2,023 players turning out in force for Day 1a of the event.

The Mystery Millions field was whittled to a more manageable 102 over the course of 22 levels. Those surviving players progress to Day 2 on June 4, which is when the mystery bounties come into play.

Leading the way on Day 1a is Francis Anderson, who turned their 40,000 starting stack into a flight-leading 2,750,000 by the close of play.

Other healthy stacks include those in the possession of Bohdan Slyvinskyi (2,310,000), David Gonia (2,245,000), Dan Colpoys (2,000,000), Matthias Hansen (1,950,000), Justin Wright (1,925,000), Jimmy D’ambrosio (1,260,000), and Maria Konnikova (1,055,000)

Event #3: $1,000 Mystery Millions Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

Day 1b commences at 10:00 a.m. on June 1, and should see a similar-sized field descend on the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Of course, PokerNews will bring you live and exclusive coverage from the moment Day 1b shuffles up and deals until the curtain comes down.

Don’t miss any of the Mystery Millions action

Lon McEachern Bags Big in the Star-Studded Tournament of Champions

Event #4: Tournament of Champions is a $1 million freeroll that is invitation only. Only winners of WSOP Circuit rings and bracelets were eligible to enter.

Some 726 champions entered the fray, but only 224 of those emerged from their battle unscathed. Of those surviving players, nobody bagged up more chips than Boshuang Yao, whose initial 30,000 starting stack is now worth a cool 445,000

As you would expect from a Tournament of Champions, there are some stellar names among the overnight chip counts. Look out for the likes of legendary WSOP commentator Lon McEachern (133,000), Julien Perouse (268,500), Pete Chen (151,500), and Jeff Madsen (94,500),

End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

Day 2 starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 1, with the plan to complete another ten hour-long levels. By the time Day 2 concludes, we should have a much clearer picture of who the Tournament of Champions’ champion will be.

Find the Tournament of Champions updates here

Mixed Game Specialists Assemble for the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice 6-Handed

Mixed games are where its at if you want to catch a glimpse of your favorite poker pro because these top-tier grinders are attracted to mixed games like moths to flames. Event #5: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice 6-Handed was no different, with 456 stars taking to the felt, and locking horns over a wide variety of poker variants.

Larry Tull fared the best on Day 1, and he takes 217,000 chips through to Day 2 on June 1. Joining Tull on Day 2 are such luminaries as Phil Hui (175,000), Marco Johnson (168,000), Frank Kassela (151,000), Yuri Dzivielevski (150,500), Brandon Shack-Harris (143,000), and six-time WSOP bracelet winner Jeff Lisandro (104,000).

The one and only Phil Hellmuth also progressed, doing so with 98,500 chips. As did Hall of Famer Barry Greenstein (88,000), John Monnette (84,000), and Daniel Negreanu (39,000).

End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

Don’t miss any of the Day 2 action by heading to our live reporting pages from 12:00 p.m. local time on June 1. Ten levels are planned unless the tournament somehow concludes before then.

Click here for all the mixed game action you can handle

What to Expect on Day 3 of the 2023 WSOP

June 1 is the third day of the 2023 WSOP, and it is another action-packed day of poker action.

The first seven-figure score will be awarded when Event #2: $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed crowns its worthy champion, while Event #3 Mystery Millions Day 1b begins.

Event #4: Tournament of Champions returns for its Day 2, while three more events kick off their respective Day 1s. That trio are the first online event of the series, the $333 No-Limit Hold’em Triple Treys Summer Tip-Off, Event #6: $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha, and Event #7: $1,500 Limit Hold’em.

As always, fire up PokerNews in your favorite browser or via the PokerNews App, and follow all of the action from the 2023 WSOP from wherever you are in the world.

The first tournament of the 2023 World Series of Poker has come to an end, and the first gold bracelet of the series was held up high today by Peter Thai. Thai stood tall at the end of Event #1: $500 Casino Employees Event No-Limit Hold’em after he defeated James Urbanic ($46,690) in heads-up play.

A total of 1,015 entries turned out and generated a prize pool of $426,300.

Paul Blanchette finished in third, while Bruce Jiang was fourth and Day 1 chip leader Benson Tam bowed out in fifth place after a double elimination that propelled Thai to the top of the chip counts.

This was the third largest Casino Employees Event in the history of the WSOP and an excellent indicator that this summer will be one of the biggest yet.

Event #1: $500 Casino Employees Final Table Results

Winner’s Reaction

“I never expected to win,” Thai said in his post-win interview with PokerNews. “I came here just wanting to have fun and one thing led to another. It was an unforgettable experience.

Thai’s path wasn’t easy. He entered the table among the chip leaders, but he found a lot of adversity on his path to his gold bracelet.

“I went through a tough final table. I doubled up several people, and it was kind of ridiculous.”

Home is in California, where Thai is a table games dealer at Parkwest 580 in Livermore.

“I’m an avid poker player. I don’t play that often, but I still know how to play. I play more cash games than tournaments. I have a lot of tournament experience, mostly from playing a lot of online sit and gos from my college days.”

Thai is headed back to California after the big win, but he plans to return later in the WSOP to play more events.

“Overall, the experience is unbelievable and I can’t wait to share this with everyone back home.”

Day 2 Highlights

Other notables who made Day 2 of this event included PokerNews’ own Chad Holloway and Jesse Fullen, who both fell short of the final two tables but logged their first cash in the series, nonetheless.

Thai started Day 2 with 391,000 chips, enough for 19th place, but he battled his way through the field and got his hands on all 23,000,000 chips in play. His reward for achieving that goal? A coveted gold WSOP bracelet and the top prize of $75,535.

Lisa Eckstein was the first casualty of the final table, bowing out in ninth place after Tam put her at risk with his queen-jack and caught up to her pocket tens. Joe Pavan hit the rail next after he got it in with pocket sixes and lost when Jiang rivered a set of fours.

Seven-handed play went on for some time as the action tightened up, but eventually, it was Keith McCormack who was out in seventh when his ace-queen couldn’t beat Jiang’s pocket fives. Sean Balfour was next in sixth after Blanchette beat his ace-six with pocket tens.

The slow pace of the final table evaporated quickly in the endgame with the double-knockout of Tam and Jiang. Tam shoved with a suited jack-nine, but Jiang had pocket queens, and Thai had pocket kings. Thai held on to knock both players out and send the tournament to three-handed play.

Blanchette was out quickly in third when his suited eight-nine couldn’t beat Thai’s flopped pair of kings. Urbanic was the last obstacle for Thai, and the big moment came when Thai held on with king-ten to beat a short-stacked shove with queen-seven.

That wraps up coverage of the opening event of the 2023 WSOP, but be sure to keep it tuned to PokerNews for live updates from the floor of your favorite events throughout the summer.