There will be no “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oy! Oy! Oy!” at the final table of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Joe Hachem and Chris Moneymaker both busted early on Day 5, guaranteeing the eventual winner will be a first-time champion.
Tuesday’s session began with 441 players, including the two aforementioned previous champs. Moneymaker famously won it in 2003, which helped spark a massive poker boom. Hachem, the Australian poker legend took it down in 2005 when he defeated Steve Dannenmann heads-up.
2023 World Series of Poker Hub
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The 2023 WSOP Main Event had a record field of 10,043 players, smashing the previous record of 8,773 entries set in 2006. When a champion is crowned next week, one lucky and skilled individual will receive a whopping $12.1 million.
Former Poker Champs Headed Home
Joe Hachem
No one knows who among the remaining 390 players, at the time of publishing, will be crowned the 2023 world champion. But it won’t be either of the last two standing past winners.
Moneymaker entered the day with 435,000 chips, quite a bit below the average stack. With the blinds at 10,000/25,000, the former accountant put the last of his 345,000 chips in the middle early on Day 5 with 5♦5♥ but ran into the K♣K♥ of Ryan Brown, who scooped the pot when the board ran out 9♣7♥3♣K♦3♠, sending the former PokerStars ambassador home.
Despite the abrupt Day 5 exit, Moneymaker recorded his fourth straight cash in the Main Event, excluding the 2020 hybrid version, after failing to reach the money since 2003 when he won the whole thing.
As for Hachem, another popular figure from the poker boom era, he began what turned out to be his final session in better shape than Moneymaker with 1,485,000 chips. But he too would exit stage left rather quickly.
On a flop of A♠10♦2♠, the 2005 world champ appeared to be sitting pretty with AxQx, but had to dodge a spade and a straight draw as Mason Vieth was holding K♠J♠. Vieth, the preflop three-bettor, wagered 200,000 into an already bloated pot and received a call. When the 5♣ appeared on the turn, Hachem checked and then called off his remaining 600,000 chips.
After the 8♠ was turned over on the river, it officially ended any possibility of a former champion winning the Main Event this year. There are, however, still plenty of big names left in the field, including Pro Football Hall of Famer Richard Seymour, political polling expert Nate Silver, and past runners-up Dario Sammartino and John Racener.
Sports Illustrated has shared further detail and insight into the University of Alabama baseball betting scandal, citing sources close to the investigation.
According to SI, youth-league coach Bert Eugene Neff Jr. walked into a Cincinnati BetMGM in late April hoping to place $100,000+ on Alabama vs Louisiana State University. When the sportsbook refused the bet, the ex-college pitcher from Indiana got antsy with BetMGM staff.
Neff indicated that he had inside information, namely from now-fired Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon, that an untested pitcher was replacing the Tigers’ ace starter. Enlarged video surveillance footage of the incident actually revealed Neff and Bohannon’s text conversation. The sources stated:
It couldn’t have been any more reckless.”
It doesn’t end there. Neff’s son is a pitcher at the University of Cincinnati, which in May fired its baseball team’s assistant coach and director of operations following “an internal review of potential NCAA infractions.”
The sources also revealed that the NCAA has started an inquiry at another Cincinnati college, Xavier. Xavier spokesman Tom Eiser supposedly confirmed that the college baseball coaches are familiar with Neff.
The post Alabama Baseball Scandal Culprit Told BetMGM Staff He Had Inside Info, Say Sources appeared first on VegasSlotsOnline News.
The Grand Prix Summer series continues on PartyPoker, with three more championship titles earned in three more championship events. All three of these events (numbered events #07, #08, and #09) were pot limit Omaha eight-or-better tournaments. The buy-ins went from $1.10 to $33.
All three of these Grand Prix Summer events were progressive knock-out tourneys with player bounties sometimes being worth rather more than the cash prizes. This was certainly the case for “Alvaro Veritas” who won Grand Prix Summer #07 PLO8 PKO Championship for a total of $3,027. More than half ($1,659) of his win came from bounties he collected along the way.
This $33 buy-in event attracted 647 entrants creating a total prize pool of $19,410, half of which went into the main prize pool, half in bounties on the player’s heads.
“Alvaro Veritas” ultimately beat “Jumashouse” heads up to take the title. “Jumashouse” went home with $1,787 total. Their cash was made up of $1,366 for second place and $421 in bounties.
Grand Prix Summer #07 PLO8 PKO Championship Final Table Results
Rank
Player
Bounties
Prize
Total Prize
1
Alvaro Veritas
$1,659
$1,368
$3,027
2
Jumashouse
$421
$1,366
$1,787
3
SaveMeJesus
$166
$912
$1,078
4
Samieli
$83
$596
$679
5
AllaboutAlan
$154
$410
$564
6
ourson69
$475
$318
$793
7
pokytrg
$166
$236
$402
8
Lyren
$238
$190
$428
9
LuckyJJ
$199
$153
$352
Big Turn Out For Grand Prix Summer #08 Mini PLO8 PKO Championship
1,598 entrants is a pretty good turnout for a pot limit Omaha eights-or-better event. However, after the counts were in from the five Day 1 flights, that is how many times players coughed up $5.50 to play Grand Prix Summer #08 Mini PLO8 PKO Championship.
The large turnout meant that the event comfortably smashed its $5,000 guarantee with a prize pool of $7,986.
From that $7,986, the appropriately named “BOMAHA77” took home $1,096 — $575 in bounties and $521 for first place. “BOMAHA77’s” victory came after a heads up chip with “CaliWeedFan1993” who took second place. “CaliWeedFan1993” only earned $37 in bounties meaning that despite a near-even split of the prize pool, they went home with a total of just $556.
Read More About The Previous Grand Prix Summer Champions
Grand Prix Summer #08 Mini PLO8 PKO Championship Final Table Results
Rank
Player
Bounties
Prize
Total Prize
1
BOMAHA77
$575
$521
$1,096
2
CaliWeedFan1993
$37
$519
$556
3
freemindplo8cz
$72
$343
$415
4
Hectormtd
$82
$221
$303
5
Howbizarre
$41
$150
$191
6
elarabi2021
$18
$115
$133
7
BOLODENOZES
$47
$84
$131
8
MOANDA1
$91
$66
$157
8
ElarnToPaly
$55
$52
$107
“UberSuper” Turns $1.10 Into $220 In Grand Prix Summer #08 Mini PLO8 PKO Championship
The Grand Prix Summer #09 Micro PLO8 PKO Championship attracted 1,549 entrants, making the field slightly bigger than the $5.50 event. This made for a prize pool of $1,549, $220 of which went to “UberSuper” for their first-place finish.
“UberSuper” took first place after a heads up chop with “Flossen”. “UberSuper” won $104 for first place (plus $116 in bounties), while “Flossen” took $103 (plus $30 in bounties).
As with the other events, players were allowed just one re-entry per flight. However, with twelve Day 1 flights available, there were plenty of chances for a PLO8 fan to jump into the action.
Learn How To Win A Package To Play The PartyPoker Grand Prix Bratislava
Grand Prix Summer #09 Micro PLO8 PKO Championship Final Table Results
Rank
Player
Bounties
Prize
Total Prize
1
UberSuper
$116
$104
$220
2
Flossen
$30
$103
$133
3
Deano_T8
$5
$68
$73
4
stromi6
$2
$44
$46
5
WazzRunner
$9
$29
$38
6
IChinDiapersLot
$18
$22
$40
7
Sentynel_Akk
$10
$16
$26
8
Jader-Good
$4
$13
$17
9
jhoni_u2
$11
$10
$21
The Grand Prix Summer Schedule Is Still Going!
The Grand Prix Summer kicked off on June 29 with the Grand Prix Summer #01 Opener PKO. With six events completed, there are still six to go, including the three main events (coming to you in three different sizes).
The flagship event, Grand Prix Summer #04 $55 Main Event, has a guarantee of $150,000. The event has Day 1 flights running daily (sometimes twice a day) until Day 2, which will be held on July 17.
Event
Buy-in
Guarantee
Start Date
Final Day
#04 Main Event
$55
$150,000
June 29
July 17
#05 Mini Main Event
$11
$40,000
June 29
July 17
#06 Micro Main Event
$2.20
$5,000
June 29
July 17
#10 PLO PKO Championship
$33
$15,000
July 10
July 17
#11 Mini PLO PKO Championship
$5.50
$5,000
July 10
July 17
#12 Micro PLO PKO Championship
$1.10
$1,000
July 10
July 17
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The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) has sounded the alarm over a sophisticated new cage scam that is sweeping the US casino industry.
In a notice published on Friday, the NGCB said the scammers often use social media and AI to pose as high-level casino executives. The scammers will then contact a casino cage employee via a PBX call, while a second fake manager would supposedly send a mobile text message to the employee to confirm the fraudulent instructions.
The Nevada regulator stated the scammers would direct targeted staff working in casino cages to withdraw cash “for emergency payments on behalf of the casino.” In the NGCB’s first statement about the thefts — one of which netted $1.17m from Vegas’ Circa Hotel & Casino — it deemed the “sophisticated” cage scam “surprisingly effective in defrauding casinos.”
This is an intimidation heist”
The scammers manipulate cage staff with specific emotion-inducing tactics, such as instilling the possibility they will lose their jobs or worse if they disobey orders. This has prompted the Founder of the World Game Protection Conference Willy Allison to argue the casino industry now needs to consider the safety of cage employees. He said: “This is an intimidation heist. They’re threatening violence against staff.”
The post NGCB Warns of Scammers Posing as Execs in Multimillion-Dollar Casino Cage Scheme appeared first on VegasSlotsOnline News.
When Liam W. Daily and I began looking at publishing strategy cards and later Winner’s Guides for a number of video poker games, we devised a terminology for discussing the various forms of 3-card straight flush combinations. We decided to start from zero, add one for every high card in the combination, and subtract one for every inside (which is usually, but not always, a gap).
Although the idea was original to us, in the sense that we didn’t read or hear about it from anybody, we later found out that other strong players were using very similar terminology among their teams. These notations weren’t published or otherwise publicized, so we hadn’t heard about them.
At the time (mid-1990s), I was a strong intermediate video poker player. Daily was much less of a player, but an Oxford-educated Ph.D. economist. He was a brilliant theoretician who had devised new ways of looking at a number of problems — including for the International Monetary Fund! By the time we finished the Winner’s Guides many years later, we could both call ourselves experts. Our expertise came from doing the hard work on so many strategies.
I was teaching and publishing articles (in Strictly Slots and Casino Player, at the time, plus a weekly blog that has morphed, more or less, into what you are reading now) which gave me a sort of trial by fire. When I published something that wasn’t quite right, there were a number of players who would trumpet the evidence that I wasn’t as good as I claimed I was. In addition to developing a thick skin, I learned from this. When the criticism was justified (sometimes, not always, and sometimes inconclusively), I improved my knowledge base.
I started to be recognized as an expert when Shirley and I had our $500,000 half-hour at the MGM Grand in 2001. Just hitting two big royals in short order didn’t mean I was a better player or any smarter than I was the day before (when I was $500,000 less wealthy), but there were a number of players who concluded that if I could hit such big jackpots, I must know what I’m talking about.
Enough of the background. Here is a complete list of 3-card straight flush combinations, and our terminology for them, for all games without wild cards where you get your money back for a pair of jacks or better:
There are two combinations in the SF3+1 category — namely two high cards and one inside (QJ9) and one high card and no insides (JT9). These are the most valuable 3-card straight flush combinations in this type of game. While having three high cards and two insides would also qualify as SF3+1, such a combination is physically impossible. Having three high cards in a 3-card combination makes some sort of an RF3 combination, rather than an SF3 combination.
There are three combination types in the SF3+0 category — with more than one combination in each type. You can see the list above. For those unfamiliar with our KH9notation, the H represents a high card lower in value than the first card listed. So KH9 represents both KQ9 and KJ9. These combinations have exactly the same value and can’t both co-exist in the same five cards (unless you had a 4-card straight flush draw) which is much higher on the strategy chart).
There are two combination types in the SF3-1 category. There are two unusual things here — both of which deal with insides. The combination 234 has an inside and is worth exactly the same as 235 and 245. Although 234 may look like it has no insides, the only straight flushes it can be part of are A2345 and 23456 – which are exactly the same two straight flushes which are possibilities for 235 and 245.
All six of the ace-low combinations listed have exactly the same value. Even though A23 has one gap and A45 has two gaps, the only straight flush either one may be part of is A2345. Sometimes players can understand that these combinations have equal value when they see a strategy listing something like SF3: A-low. But sometimes they need to be told explicitly,
It is my belief that understanding the previous two paragraphs, and applying the concepts to strategies, is a major difference between beginners and intermediate players.
The final SF3 category is SF3-2. These all have no high cards and two gaps. Sometimes they are the lowest valued category of cards worth holding. But in most games, you are better off holding them than throwing all of the cards away.
So far, we have just defined things. Next week I will show how these are used in strategies and show how they differ between games.
Pittsburgh’s Nicholas Rigby made a name for himself in the poker community in 2021 when he ran deep in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event by playing deuce-three offsuit at every given opportunity. Known as the “The Dirty Diaper” in his local games, Rigby kept his opponents guessing by bluffing, value betting and doing everything else in between with the less-than-premium holding.
Two years later, Rigby again finds himself making a deep run in poker’s most prestigious event. And for those wondering, he hasn’t forgotten about The Dirty Diaper, a hand he used to build up a Day 1d chip lead that further grew on Day 2d to see him bag the second biggest stack in the room.
PokerNews caught up with Rigby on Day 3 to talk about his tried-and-true loose-aggressive strategy in the WSOP Main Event. Heading into Day 5, Rigby finds himself with a stack of 3,655,000 near the top of the chip counts.
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The Legend of The Dirty Diaper
The Diaper, which is any variation of deuce-three — “doesn’t matter, any direction” — came to be as Rigby played with friends “back in home games and at our local casino.”
Rigby rose to poker fame when he played several memorable Diaper hands at the feature table of the 2021 Main Event, including one where he lost a chunk of his stack late in the event after calling a four-bet shove from an opponent holding ace-king.
Nicholas Rigby
“We just always referred to it as the Diaper, so (I) just kind of ran with it last year once I started (playing it). I wasn’t getting aces, so I had to start playing two-three like I had aces,” said Rigby.
Now a notorious name in the poker community, Rigby is still up to his old tricks with the raggedy holding. He told PokerNews he’d seen The Diaper “more than ten” times during the Main Event, though he wouldn’t disclose how many times he played it.
“We’ll keep that a secret,” he said.
Find Out How Nicholas Rigby Bagged the Day 1d Chip Lead!
“It’s A Feel Game”
While there are few poker books that would advise aggressively playing deuce-three as a starting hand, it is a strategy that has clearly worked wonders for Rigby. And there’s a method to the apparent madness.
“A lot of players (in the Main Event) are going to play it a lot more passive,” Rigby said. “They can sit there using their charts all they want, they don’t know how to play poker. So they can do what they want, but at the end of the day it’s a feel game, it’s all about reading other players, putting them in uncomfortable spots, playing position and that’s my game. So hopefully it works out.”
And Rigby plays premium holdings as well. On Day 2, he flopped top two pair with A♠10♠ to beat out the inferior two pair of Phil Hellmuth with 10♣9♣ to cooler the all-time bracelet leader.
“That was great,” he recalled. “You can’t ask for much more on Day 2. I came in already getting a lot of coverage because I had the big stack, which is difficult to do on Day 1 … It was a great experience playing with Phil and even better to knock him out.”
Despite his trademark loose-aggressive style, there are hands even Rigby tosses into the muck preflop.
“There’s tons,” he said. “Ten-three off, two-seven off, the list goes on and on. You’re going to see me folding a lot more ace-mid ranges than The Diaper, I’ll tell you that.”
Rigby finished 52nd in the 2021 Main Event for $136,100. We’ll see if he can best that career-best cash during this year’s Main Event.
According to a report on CTV National News, the owners of the Great Blue Heron Casino, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation (MSIFN), north of Toronto, believe they got a raw deal from the government with the launch of iGaming in Ontario and new land-based operations in the area. The Great Blue Heron Casino is situated in Port Perry and it opened in 1997.
Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto opened recently and the billion-dollar property along with new venues in Ajax and Pickering, not to mention the advent of commercial “free-market” online casino gaming in the Ontarian province, have the First Nations operator more than a little nervous about the future of its operations that provide much-needed revenues for the tribe. Their Chief, Kelly LaRocca. States it a bit more boldly and believes the government has broken promises and shorted the community on agreed-upon operating terms.
Owned Operated and Managed by Three Different Entities
The MSIFN owns the casino which is managed by Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and operated by Great Canadian Entertainment. An agreement by all three parties entered into in 2016, and spelling out the MSIFN’s expectations does not rhyme with the reality on the ground today, according to the Chief.
“I’ve had major concerns around each casino opening and expansion,” LaRocca said. “It’s an existential threat for our economic driver and the community here. The community feels they were misled by the government.”
One bone of contention seems to be live entertainment that Great Canadian has booked at all properties in the area, except presumably Great Blue Heron, with Live Nation even though there is a new entertainment center slated for the older casino. Chief LaRocca said nobody has informed her of an opening date for the 500-seat venue, but other reports indicate an opening in the fall of this year.
The Chief said, “I’m not seeing a guarantee that the list of entertainers will be shared amongst the [Great Canadian Entertainment]
facilities.”
The casino has seen other recent capital improvements including an expanded gaming area with new slot machines and table games as well as a 100-key hotel that opened a free short years ago.
However, the Chief must look out for the welfare of the Nation that relies on revenue from the property it owns – in fact, it’s so important that all of the parties will be involved in a mediation that will take place to see if all the terms of the 2016 agreement are being met. The mediation could also result in more gaming seats being opened at Great Blue Heron to help it meet the targets promised. The casino transitoined from a “charity casino” to a commercial casino in 2016 with the agreement.
According to the Chief, the casino is“the economic foundation and lifeblood of <the>community. It has brought us clean drinking water, enhanced health-care services and education,” she said.
No Delusions about Mediation
LaRocca explained that the community has clarity in their expectations of what mediation can bring,
“You know, if parties come willingly to the table and open to all matters of possibility, then a mediation works well. If parties come to the table closed and with preconceived notions of how things ought to go, with no room for movement, then really, it’s not meaningful open discussion. So we’re just trying to be cautious with what our expectations are and willing to go the distance should we need to go to mediation.”
The Chief says the Pickering casino violates a proximity agreement in the 2016 document and says they were not consulted on that before the Pickering venue was approved and opened.
“We’d like the agreements that we entered into in 2016 to be honored. What that means is to have a protected territory that is honored by the OLG.
“The way they handled Pickering and Ajax… we will be looking for them to acknowledge it and for some kind of compensation for that.”
She’s also concerned about the effect of iGaming on the market, fearing the opportunity for people to simply go online to play casino games is costing them money.
“We’re interested in discussing iGaming and the rollout of that and the impact on gaming in our community, in our facility, and on other land-based facilities,” LaRocca said.
“I’d be mighty upset at the onset of iGaming, especially after having poured in hundreds of millions of dollars into various land-based gaming facilities, only to turn around and have their market share scuttled. But I suspect that the service providers have been compensated for that.”
The 2016 agreements states in part: “The Province and the First Nation intend that the Great Blue Heron continue to operate and be commercially viable.”
However, the Chief sees the proliferation of newer and bigger casinos as an existential threat to the Great Blue Heron.
“The Ford government have broken their word to our community. It’s hurting a lot of Indigenous people and we are going to have to take issue and fight against the cannibalization of gaming.”
Source: Facing commercial competition, Great Blue Heron tribal casino owners look for better deal with Ontario government, CDC Gaming Reports, July 5, 2023
The post New Toronto Casino, Ontario iGaming Stifling First Nations Ops Like Great Blue Heron – Seeks Better Deal appeared first on Casino News Daily.
I recently received an offer from Southwest via my Chase Rapid Rewards Priority Visa Card. I received two coupon codes which are good for 20% off the points needed for a flight, round trip or one way. The big catch is that you must travel within 14 days of booking the flight.
Anyone who flies Southwest even a little bit knows that SWA fares tend to increase as you get closer to the departure date. And they increase a LOT within a month of departure. So, this is one of those offers that sounds good but isn’t typically all that usable.
I booked a one way flight from Reno to Detroit on 7/24 for 33,879 RR miles. I checked the last week of June, and the flight was almost 50,000 RR miles. I figured I would not be able to use this offer. But in today’s email was a SWA flight sale notice. I get these regularly. So, I checked online, and my flight had decreased by about 400 RR miles. No big deal. However, I could use my 20% off coupon and now my flight is 7023 RR miles less. Using 1.5 cents per mile, this is $105 savings.
The coupon code I used is CMD2UHFDAK. I don’t know if that code is unique to me or not.
For future flights, if I get a SWA email announcing a fare sale and that email is within 2 weeks of my flight departure, I will check to see if I can save some miles. It is good to periodically check SWA to see if your flight cost has decreased but I typically do this at least one month out. Now, with this coupon offer, checking within 2 weeks could be a money saver, especially if SWA is having a fare sale (a pretty frequent occurrence).
I didn’t see a straightforward way to modify my flight to now include the coupon code. I ended up purchasing the new flight and then cancelling the old flight. A call to SWA may have allowed me to do the flight modification but hold times on SWA have been very long so I just decided to do it online.
One quirk about SWA is you can’t easily book a round trip, multi city flight online easily. You can book a one way flight with a stop in between but I haven’t found a way to make it work for a roundtrip ticket. We are going on a cruise out of Los Angeles in October. Our flight plan is DTW to LAX, then take the cruise, then LAX to LV for 2 days then finally to DTW. With the 5 day gap in the middle, plus the extra stop, I didn’t see a way to do this online. I am going to call SWA and see if it can be done. I’ll report out when I find more information.
As always, if you are interested in sharing a credit card referral, you can email me at [email protected]
When you hear the term, G.O.A.T., who comes to mind? The G.O.A.T. aka Greatest of All Time is an acronym that’s used to praise exceptional public figures, like athletes, musicians, and celebrities. Some would argue that Michael Jordan is the G.O.A.T. for basketball, Michael Jackson for singing, or dare we say…Messi for soccer?
We’re putting an end to this by asking an unbiased tool to settle the debate – ChatGPT. Since the A.I. Chatbot has no personal biases and is a data-driven source, we know we can get fair and interesting results. Here are the top 10 Greatest of All Time American and Canadian celebrities, according to A.I.
Key Findings
America’s Greatest of All Time celebrity is Oprah Winfrey, with a perfect score of 10.00/10.00.
Canada’s Greatest of All Time celebrity is Celine Dion, with an overall score of 9.40/10.00.
Muhammad Ali is America’s G.O.A.T. athlete, while Wayne Gretzky is Canada’s G.O.A.T. athlete.
Beyoncé is America’s G.O.A.T. musician and Celine Dion for Canada’s G.O.A.T. musician.
Top 10 G.O.A.T. American celebrities
Being titled the greatest of all time is no small feat, as each celebrity has to rank highly on a scale of 1-10, in the following criteria: talent and skill, achievements and awards, integrity and professionalism, positive influence, authenticity, charitable contributions, cultural representations, longevity and consistency, resilience and overcoming challenges, and pop culture influence.
However, there is only one celebrity who scored a perfect 10 across all criteria. The Greatest of All Time goes to, drum roll please…Oprah Winfrey! The All-American talk show host, tv producer, actress, author, and media proprietor is an industry trailblazer, winning 18 Emmy awards and the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. With a record like that, a perfect score comes as no surprise.
It’s time to get into formation because following very closely behind is a music pioneer – the one and only, Beyoncé. Queen Bey achieved 10’s in every category, except in charitable contributions – where she scored a nine. Her role in American society contributes to her artistry by addressing various issues such as feminism, stopping sexism, encouraging female empowerment, and more. Who runs the world? Beyoncé!
Not afraid to hit a few punches and a high note to win a nice (bronze) medal are Muhammad Ali and Dolly Parton, as they tie for third. Nicknamed “The Greatest”, Muhammad Ali of course, bagged 10’s across every quality, except for three – where he striked high nines in charitable contributions, cultural representation, and pop culture influence. Some of his greatest achievements include being the first fighter to win the World Heavyweight Championship on three separate occasions and for his social activism.
Dolly Parton, on the other hand, has been named the most successful female country singer of all time and it shows as she scored 10’s across every category, with the exception of nines in cultural representation, resilience and overcoming challenges, and pop culture influence. The country star continues to dedicate her life to the music industry as she continues to write more than 3,000 songs with her shiny 10 Grammy Awards.
Honorable mentions
Tom Hanks (4th), Lebron James (4th), Bruce Springsteen (4th), Meryl Streep (5th), Denzel Washington (5th), Serena Williams (5th), Martin Luther King Jr. (5th), Michael Jackson (6th), Madonna (6th), Steven Spielberg (6th), Taylor Swift (6th), Barack Obama (6th), Ellen DeGeneres (7th), Bob Dylan (7th), Johnny Cash (7th), Morgan Freeman (7th), Michael Jordan (8th), Angelina Jolie (9th), and Clint Eastwood (10th).
Top 10 G.O.A.T. Canadian celebrities
Similar to the U.S, ChatGPT created another set of criteria that determines a Canadian celebrity’s greatness. Every category remained the same, but swapped out “pop culture influence” for “international recognition”.
Canadians’ hearts will go on for as long as Celine Dion’s legacy reigns, as she is officially the G.O.A.T. amongst Canada’s celebrities. Often referred to as the “Queen of Power Ballads”, the singer scored quite a few nines and tens across the chart – with the exception of an eight in cultural representation. The French-Canadian’s perseverance in her musical craft serves as an inspiration to millions.
Margaret Atwood, Gord Downie, and Michael J. Fox all tied in second for Canada’s Greatest of All Time! All three Great White North celebrities share an overall score of 9.20, yet, are all celebrated for different reasons. Margaret Atwood, born in the nation’s capital, is the country’s most illustrious novelist, poet, and feminist icon – as she is the author of The Handmaid’s Tale.
Lead singer/songwriter of The Tragically Hip and 15-time JUNO Award winner, Gord Downie, is the only celebrity out of the three that scored a 10 in the cultural representation category. Considered a “national hero”, he used his platform to advocate on behalf of Indigenous Peoples.
Marty McFly, aka Michael J. Fox, is recognized for his dozens of blockbuster films and respected for his advocacy towards Parkinsons’ disease. He established his own foundation, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, to help accelerate scientific progress toward the cure.
Canada’s third G.O.A.T. celebrity is Sandra Oh, a beloved Korean actress who portrayed the legendary Grey’s Anatomy character, Dr. Cristina Yang. Like Gord Downie, she is the only other Canadian star that received a 10 in the cultural representation criteria. With several awards to her name, such as a Golden Globe, and being listed in TIME100: The Most Influential People of 2019, she continues to break barriers for Asian women in the entertainment industry by portraying powerful female characters in her artistry.
Honorable mentions
Sarah McLachlan (4th), Wayne Gretzky (4th), Sandra Bullock (5th), Jim Carrey (5th), Joni Mitchell (5th), Leonard Cohen (5th), Keanu Reeves (6th), Michael Bublé (7th), Justin Bieber (7th), Shania Twain (7th), Drake (8th), Rachel McAdams (9th), Mike Myers (10th).
Methodology
In July 2023, we asked ChatGPT to create general criteria for the best qualities an American celebrity should have. Once created, we asked the A.I. tool to score every American celebrity on a scale of 1-10 based on the 10 qualities it created for us earlier. We gathered the overall score by calculating the total average for each celebrity to find the final rankings.
The same methodology was repeated for Canada.
Fair use
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For any press questions, please contact rhiannon.odonohoe[at]itech.media
There were no gold bracelets awarded on Day 42 of the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, although one event did whittle its field down to only five players. Four tournaments took place across the sprawling venues, including Day 4 of the record-breaking Main Event, and Day 1 of the star-studded $25,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E.
Want to know what went down on Day 41 of this incredible record-setting WSOP? Then keep reading to find out.
Arieh Shines on Day 1 of the $25K H.O.R.S.E
Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. attracted 98 entrants on Day 1, but with late registration remaining open until the start of Day 2, it is almost a given that we will see a three-figure attendance.
After the completion of ten levels of high-stakes mixed game action, Josh Arieh (621,500) claimed the overnight chip lead, as he hunts down his sixth bracelet. Arieh secured his fifth bracelet earlier in the summer, and is now the man to catch yet again.
Japan’s Motoyoshi Okamura (565,000) led the event for some of the day, while the likes of Yehuda Buchalter (511,000) and Nacho Barbero (504,000) can also be delighted with the starts they have made.
The 56 Day 1 survivors read like a who’s who of the poker world. Matt Glantz (463,000), Andres Korn (461,000), Michael Noori (445,000), and Michael Moncek (415,000) all finished in the top ten.
Further down the counts you find such luminaries as Marco Johnson (373,500), Paul Volpe (326,000), Viktor Blom (319,500), Mike Matusow (309,000), David “ODB” Baker (302,500), Jason Mercier (262,000), Brian Hastings (254,500), John Hennigan (215,000), and 17-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (213,000).
Tune back into PokerNews from 1:00 p.m. local time on July 11 if you love the H.O.R.S.E. format.
Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Josh Arieh
United States
621,500
2
Motoyoshi Okamura
Japan
565,000
3
Yehuda Buchalter
United States
511,000
4
Nacho Barbero
Argentina
504,000
5
Hal Rotholz
United States
478,000
6
Matt Glantz
United States
463,000
7
Andres Korn
United States
461,000
8
Max Hoffman
United States
451,000
9
Michael Noori
United States
445,000
10
Michael Moncek
United States
415,000
Tosoc Take Narrow Lead Into Day 5 of the Main Event
Ryan Tosoc
Only 441 players from the 10,043 that started Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship remain in contention for the $12.1 million top prize after four intense days of poker action.
Day 4 started with 1,518 players, and ended with Ryan Tosoc holding the chip lead, albeit a very narrow one. Tosoc, a WSOP bracelet winner and World Poker Tour champion finished Day 4 with 5,120,000 chips, while Mitchell Halverson bagged up 5,100,000 chips, which is fewer than one big blind less than Tosoc.
A whole host of stars remain in contention to become the 2023 WSOP Main Event champion. They include the 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up John Racener (3,710,000), the entertaining Nicholas Rigby (3,655,000), Nikita Luther (3,550,000), Chance Kornuth (3,200,000), Christian Harder (2,345,000), two-time bracelet winners Rami Boukai (1,580,000) and Christopher Vitch (1,575,000), and 2005’s champion Joe Hachem (1,485,000).
Another five levels of play take place from 12:00 p.m. local time on July 11 as the march towards the life-changing final table continues.
Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Ryan Tosoc
United States
5,120,000
205
2
Mitchell Halverson
United States
5,100,000
204
3
Aditya Systla
India
5,075,000
203
4
Scott Berko
United Kingdom
4,700,000
188
5
Bradley Moskowitz
United States
4,145,000
166
6
Juan Maceiras Lapido
Spain
3,985,000
159
7
Jon Cohen
United States
3,815,000
153
8
Gabi Livshitz
Israel
3,800,000
152
9
John Racener
United States
3,710,000
148
10
Quan Zhou
China
3,705,000
148
Scarborough On Course for Lucky 7’s Title
Anthony Scarborough
Only four players stand between Anthony Scarborough and his maiden bracelet, which also comes with a welcomed $777,777 top prize. Scarborough holds a commanding lead going into the final day of Event #77: $777 Lucky 7’s, a lead so vast his stack is double the size of his nearest rival.
Scarborough holds a colossal stack of 140,000,000, with Julien Montois (70,700,000) being his nearest rival. Shawn Daniels (47,400,000), Istvan Briski (32,400,000), and Charles La Boissonniere (13,400,000) are not only there to make up the numbers, but you have a feeling that they may all be playing for second place when play resumes.
The cards are back in the air from 1:00 p.m. local time on July 11, and PokerNews will provide updates right through to the champion being crowned.
Event #77: $777 Lucky 7’s Final Day Seat Draw
Seat
Name
Country
Chips
Big Blind
1
Shawn Daniels
United States
47,400,000
19
2
Charles La Boissonniere
Canada
13,400,000
5
3
Istvan Briski
Hungary
32,400,000
13
4
Julien Montois
France
70,700,000
28
5
Anthony Scarborough
United States
140,000,000
56
Davies Leads as the Bubble Bursts in the $2,500 NLHE
Seth Davies
Seth Davies finished Day 1 of Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em with 1,113,000 chips and the title of overnight chip leader. The 2,068-strong field was reduced to only 310 players over the course of 17 levels, with 312 entrants receiving a slice of the 4,601,300 prize pool.
Davies won a huge coinflip with pockey jacks against ace-king in the penultimate level of the night, which propelled him to the chip counts’ summit. Davies added a few more chip to his stack before play ended, which kept him ahead of Spain’s Ramon Fernandez (1,025,000).
British duo Alex Lindop (858,000) and Daniel Rudd (774,000) finished with top five chip counts, while Galen Hall (743,000) returns in the top ten.
Others still in contention going into Day 2 include Brett Shaffer (615,000), Joey Couden (516,000), David Miscikowski (394,000), Roberto Romanello (331,000), Isaac Baron (276,000), and Calvin Anderson (209,000).
The 310 surviving players return to action from 10:00 a.m. local time on July 11 under the watchful eyes of the PokerNews live reporting team.
Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Seth Davies
United States
1,113,000
111
2
Ramon Fernandez
Spain
1,025,000
103
3
Alex Lindop
United Kingdom
858,000
86
4
Valentyn Shabelnyk
Ukraine
776,000
78
5
Daniel Rudd
United Kingdom
774,000
77
6
Diego Vazsorgatto
Brazil
757,000
76
7
Galen Hall
United States
743,000
74
8
Alex Greenblatt
United States
739,000
74
9
Elias Fisz
Netherlands
690,000
69
10
Ignas Jasinevicius
Lithuania
682,000
68
What to Expect on Day 43 of the 2023 WSOP
Day 42 of the 2023 WSOP will see two champions crowned. Event #77: $777 Lucky 7’s and Online Event #17: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max Championship being those two events.
Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship’s Day 5 will see the record-breaking field reduce even further, while Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em should progress to somewhere near its final table.
Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. is where you want to be if you love seeing poker’s stellar names duke it out for vast sums of money.
Two new events enter the mix, too. Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack and Event #82: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-Handed) are those two new tournaments; each should be very well attended.
