On the day that the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event was playing down to a final table, and Bin Weng was busy winning his second World Poker Tour (WPT) title of the year, the $111,000 buy-in WPT Alpha8 for One Drop was kicking off at Wynn Las Vegas.

Day 1 attracted 39 entrants, though registration is open until the start of Day 2. After 10 levels of play, 15 players bagged with Aleksejs Ponakovs leading the pack with 1,455,000. Hot on his heels are Iaron Lightbourne (1,325,000) and Dan Smith (1,256,000).

Those players, and any who opt to late register, will play one-hour levels on Saturday until the final table of six is reached. The final six players will then return on Sunday to play it out on a live-streamed final table.

WPT Alpha8 for One Drop Day 1 Chip Counts

Check out the WPT Hub on PokerNews here!

Of course, not everyone was fortunate enough to survive Day 1. Among those to hit the rail were Cary Katz, Fedor Holz, Jason Koon, Justin Bonomo, Nick Petrangelo, Sean Winter, Seth Davies, Stephen Chidwick, Talal Shakerchi, Bill Klein, Justin Kindred, Mike Lang, Fahredin Mustafov, Chris Brewer, Leonard Maue, and Mikita Badziakouski.

In regards to Katz, “El Jefe” at PokerGO, he was set up by Brian Kim in Level 6. Katz got his chips all in on the turn holding pocket aces on a nine-high board, but Kim had turned a set of eights. The river failed to offer a reprieve to Katz, and he bowed out of the tournament.

Ivey Done and Dusted

In one big hand captured by the WPT Live Updates, it was Level 9 (4,000/8,000/8,000) when Davies min-raised to 16,000 from the hijack only to have Phil Ivey three-bet to 104,000 out of the small blind. Davies responded with an all-in four-bet to approximately 200,000 and Ivey wasted little time in making the call.

Davies was ahead with the J♠J♥ and was looking to hold against the A♠K♠ of Ivey. He did so through both the 10♣8♣5♦ flop and 10♥ turn, but Ivey got there on the river when the K♣ spiked.

Unfortunately for Ivey, he exited two levels later courtesy of Ponakovs. It began when Ponakovs raised to 22,000 from middle position and Ivey called on the button. Both blinds folded and the flop came down 9♦8♣2♦.

Ponakovs bet 23,000, Ivey called, and the 6♥ appeared on the turn. Ponakovs bet again, this time 75,000, and Ivey jammed for 304,000. Ponakovs thought for 30 seconds before calling wit the 10♥10♣ which was behind Ivey’s two pair with the 9♥8♥. Unfortunately for the Poker Hall of Famer, the 6♠ paired the board on the river to counterfeit him and give Ponakovs a bigger two pair.

PokerNews will offer daily updates on the WPT Alpha8 for One Drop, so be sure to check back throughout the weekend.

Sizzlin’ Hot Bin Weng Captures WPT EveryOne for One Drop Title for $2.2 Million

_{*Images courtesy of WPT / Drew Amato.}

Final Table Profile: Adam Walton

Adam Walton’s Main Event Story

Adam Walton is a poker player in the Las Vegas area (Henderson, Nevada), but is originally from Seattle, Washington. Prior to reaching the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, he had some previous success at the WSOP, including 20 cashes for $265,147 in bracelet events.

In 2018, Walton cashed in the Main Event, taking 407th place for $33,305. In all poker tournaments, the Washington native has $989,039 in previous cashes, according to Hendon Mob. His top score was for $283,072, a runner-up finish in the 2022 World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship Series at Wynn Las Vegas in a $3,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event.

“It’s been like the time of my life. It’s crazy.”

“I mean, honestly, it feels like a dream,” he told PokerNews at the end of Day 8. “It feels fake. I went from randomly playing the Main, I had like 12,000 chips in the beginning, and (now) this is happening. It’s been like the time of my life. It’s crazy.”

Waltons’s Run to the Final Table

Walton is the prime example of “survive and advance” in the World Series of Poker Main Event. After dropping to a small stack on Day 1c, he battled back and finished the session right about where he began the day. While in most tournaments that wouldn’t put the player in a very good position, in the Main Event, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

From there on out, Walton increased his stack significantly each day, except on Day 5, when he ended the session barely above his previous night’s bag. Day 7 is when things turned around for the better for Walton as he went from 12.2 million in chips to over 75 million, good for second out of 15 remaining players.

On Day 8, he went on an even bigger heater and overtook chip leader Juan Maceiras during the middle of the session. He finished the day first in chips with 143,800,000, worth 144 big blinds. With his stack size and playing chops, Walton goes into the final table as the odds-on favorite to win the Main Event.

How Walton Got to the Final Table

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payouts

2023 Main Event Final Table Player Stats

The 2023 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas may be headed into its last few days, but that doesn’t mean the action is letting up. In fact, these last few days are some of the busiest.

While the Main Event played down to its final table today, there were ten other events that either kicked off, plowed through, or closed out their action.

Four of the day’s events ended with one player holding all the chips, the first prize cash, and a gold bracelet. The most significant of these wins went to Bulgarian player Alex Kulev, who took home his first WSOP bracelet and $2,087,073 for first place in the $50,000 High Roller Event.

The day’s other bracelet winners were Joseph Roh in the $600 Ultra Stack, Matthew Parry in the $3,000 PLO 6-Handed, and Thai Ha in the $1,500 Short Deck.

Main Event Plays Down To Final Eight

Event #76: $10,000 MAIN EVENT No-Limit Hold’em World Championship played down from fifteen players to eight over the course of today.

The current chipleader heading up this final table is Adam Walton. He told PokerNews that his run in the WSOP “feels like a dream. It feels fake. I went from randomly playing the Main — I had like 12,000 chips in the beginning — and now this is happening. It’s been the time of my life. It’s crazy!”

When play resumes on Sunday, July 16, at 2 p.m. local time, Walton and his seven final table mates are all guaranteed a payout of at least $900,000. However, they will all have their eyes on first place with its $12,100,000 prize and the WSOP Main Event gold bracelet.

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating And Chip Counts

Alex Kulev Wins $2.1m In $50k High Roller

High-roller events tend to attract the best players in the world plus a few whales. Alex Kulev is definitely the among the former. He already had $4.6 million accrued in live tournament cashes before he took down Event #84: $50,000 High Roller today, now that number is $6,630,310 plus a bracelet.

The $50,000 High Roller pulled in 176 players, making for a total prize pool of $8,404,000.

Only 27 of those players were paid, but among them were big names like David Peters (27th-$80,920), Jeremy Ausmus (21st-$88,506), Jason Koon (15th-$101,149), Daniel Negreanu (14th-$101,149), and Damian Salas.

Kulev’s competition today at the final table was tougher still with Koray Aldemir (5th-$533,561) and Jake Schindler (3rd-$957,491) joining him for what must have been a tense final table.

Kulev ultimately won $2,087,073 for his first-place finish, beating Gergely Kulcsar heads up.

2023 WSOP Event #84: $50,000 High Roller Final Table Results

New Tournament Goes To An Old Hand

Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack is the first iteration of this event. Despite being a new addition to the schedule, it still attracted a whopping 7,207 entries for a prize pool of $3,675,570.

Joseph Roh is certainly not new to the series, the 55-year-old started playing poker in his teens and has three previous cashes at the WSOP. Roh’s heads-up opponent Denny Lee him plenty to worry about with the chip lead going back and forth in a hotly contested finale. However, Roh got a break and Lee didn’t.

Lee won $250,120 for second place and Roh won $401,250 along with the bracelet.

2023 WSOP Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack Final Table Results

Matthew Parry Wins $3k PLO 6-max Event

Short-handed pot-limit Omaha is usually a speedy business, but Event #82: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-Handed) took four days to crown a winner.

The event racked up 1,013 entries, creating a prize pool of $2,704,710.

Day 3 came to a close with Connor Drinan busting in sixth place ($75,517). The final five players returned for Day 4 today.

The event ended up with Matthew Parry heads up with Day 2 chip leader Dustin Goldklang.

Parry ultimately won the $480,122 first prize — helped along by a heads-up lead of 7:1 — while Goldklang took $296,746 for second place.

2023 WSOP Event #82 Final Table Results

Thai Ha Wins $1,500 Short Deck Bracelet

There were 363 players who bought into Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck making for a prize pool of $484,605. After three days of play, only Thai Ha remained. The Vietnamese pro won $111,170 for his first-place finish.

To get there Ha had to play through a final table that included experienced short deck players like Ryan Laplante, Wai Kiat Lee, and second-place finisher David Prociak.

“It feels great. Short Deck is one of the games I play the most,” Ha told PokerNews. Even so he said that Prociak is “good in every game and he’s picking up short deck very fast. He wasn’t an easy opponent.”

2023 WSOP Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck Final Table Results

Adam Friedman Chases Sixth Bracelet In $1.5k Shootout

Yesterday saw 987 players enter Event #85: $1,500 Shootout. Only 100 of them made it through to today (Day 2 of the event). Now, only ten remain. Players are returning with between 2,415,000 and 2,465,000 with the slight variations between stacks uneven tables and partially blinded stacks of Day 1.

There are several big names coming back to the final table at 11 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 15. Among those names are five-time bracelet winner Faraz Jaka (2,450,000), Yuri Dzivielevski (2,415,000), and Adam Friedman (2,415,000) who is looking for his sixth bracelet.

All eyes will be on this table to see if Friedman can make it to six!

2023 WSOP Event #85: $1,500 Shootout Final Table Seat Draw

Hellmuth Is Last Bounty In $1,979 Hall Of Fame Event

Only two Hall of Famers made it to Day 2 of Event #86: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty — Eli Elezra and Phil Hellmuth.

Elezra’s pocket queens got cracked by Nitis Udornpim early in the day, while Hellmuth managed to hold on until the field was down to 19 before someone claimed the bounty on his head.

There won’t be any bounties coming back Saturday, July 15, at 12 p.m. local time for the final table and Day 3 of the event. Even so, all nine players are guaranteed at least $32,897 for ninth place and can hope to make $402,054 for first.

Diego Ventura will lead the field with 13,350,000 in chips when they return tomorrow at noon.

2023 WSOP Event #86: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty Final Table Seat Draw

Nick Pupillo Leads Star-Studded Field In Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo

Today started with 247 players remaining from an original field of 460 in Event #87: $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better. The day ended with just 37 players still in the action.

The top three chipstacks are held by Nick Pupillo (1,298,000), Yuval Bronshtein (1,260,000), and Jeffrey Trudeau (1,106,000). They are joined in the top ten by Ari Engel (663,000), Patrick Leonard (651,000), and Timothy Frazin (634,000).

Among the shorter stacks at the end of the day were Todd Brunson (196,000), David “Bakes” Baker (173,000), and four-time bracelet winner Brad Ruben (167,000).

This star-studded field will return for Day 3 action on Saturday, July 15th, at 1 p.m. local time.

2023 WSOP Event #87: $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better End Of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

Benson Tang Leads Closer Fields After Day 1a

Day 1a of Event #88: $1,500 The Closer ended after 22 levels of play. By the time the bags were being handed out, there were 1,141 entries but just 76 survivors. As a result, there is $1,523,235 in the prize pool, with more to come on Day 1b.

Benson Tang leads the field with 2,185,000 in chips. He already has two cashes in hand from this summer’s series and he is looking to earn his first bracelet. He will be watching tomorrow’s Day 1b flight carefully, hoping to maintain his lead

Day 1b is set to start at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 15. It will be held in Paris Las Vegas and there will be 22 levels of 30 minutes each. Registration will close at the end of the dinner break.

The survivors of both Day 1 flights will then come back for a combined Day 2 on Sunday, July 16th at 10 a.m. local time.

2023 WSOP Event #88: $1,500 The Closer End of Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Pete Chen Leads Flip & Go Field

One of this year’s most unusual events, Event #89: $1,000 Flip & Go Presented by GGPoker, saw players start their tournament with a forced all-in pineapple hand. Each table continued flipping like this until there was a single winner who was then entered in the “Go” flight.

The Go flight started at 7 p.m. and proceeded as a normal tournament for 12 levels. However, those early flips seemed to set the tone, with the field quickly whittled down from 128 survivors to 18.

Pete Chen leads the final 18 with 2,990,000 when they return for Day 2 at 12 p.m. local time on July 15.

2023 WSOP Event #89: $1,000 Flip & Go Presented by GGPoker End of Day 1 Top Ten Stacks

Tobias Schwecht Has Chip Lead In $10k 6-max

Today, during Event #90: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship, we saw Austrian pro Tobias Schwecht climb the chip rankings to top out the field with 546,000 in chips when bagging time came around.

He is closely followed by Frank Lagodich (535,500) and Justin Liberto (500,500). They are the top three of 197 Day 1 survivors from a field of 495 entries so far. With late registration available until the start of Day 2, the number of players (and therefore the current prize pool of $4,603,500) could still grow.

Some of the players who were unable to find a bag today were Alex Foxen, Kristen Foxen, five-time bracelet winner Brian Yoon, and poker legend Erik Seidel.

The remaining players will return for Day 2 on July 15th at 1 p.m. local time. Blinds will start at 1,000/2,500 and play will continue for ten levels.

2023 WSOP Event #90: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts

What To Expect On Day 47

The action will be a little quieter tomorrow (Saturday, July 15) than it was today, but there will still be six live events one online event (Online Event #18: $2,000 Freezeout Championship) on the go.

Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. will kick off along with the Day 1b field of The Closer. The latter of these events has a combined Day 2 scheduled for Sunday, so tomorrow is your last chance to hop into the action.

Meanwhile, Event #89: $1,000 Flip & Go Presented by GGPoker, Event #85: $1,500 SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold’em, and Event #87: $2,500 Mixed: Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better are set to crown bracelet winners tomorrow. Plus, the WSOP has also scheduled Event #90: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship to play out its Day 2.

The final 8 of the WSOP Main Event have the day off. However, they will be back on Sunday, July 16, at 2 p.m. local time to pick up the action again.

Stick with PokerNews to stay up to date on all these events and more!

Final Table Profile: Steven Jones

Steven Jones’ Main Event Story

Steven Jones is an American poker player and real estate broker that resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Prior to his run to the WSOP Main Event final table in 2023, Jones had $245,346 in live tournament cashes. The biggest of these was $57,425 for a 9th place finish in 2018’s WSOP Event #07: $565 No Limit Hold’em Colossus. Jones also had a deep run to eighth place in the 2021 Tag Team event with his partner Zachary Erdwurm.

‘This has been a life goal of mine since I was a kid.”

“There’s nothing that is going to beat this I don’t think. This has been a life goal of mine since I was a kid. It really hasn’t sunk in yet all the way but I’m going to try to be present in the moment and enjoy every second.”

Jones’ Run to the Final Table

Jones was in early form on Day 1c when he nearly finished in the top 200 in a field of 3,080. From there, he maintained the pace with top-200 finishes on Day 2abc and Day 3, but he fell to the bottom quarter of the pack on Day 4 with only 29 big blinds in the bag for a field of 441 returning on Day 5.

Jones stayed in the back of the pack on Day 5, turning in a 96th-best bag of 2,770,000 in a returning field of 149. Day 6 was much of the same with a bag of 6,250,000 for Day 7, good for 36th of the returning 49.

It was on Day 7 that Jones won over 60,000,000 chips and found himself in the fourth spot on the leaderboard with 15 players coming back on Day 8 for their shot at final table glory.

Jones secured his spot on Day 8 with another remarkable run that included a gutsy call with ace-high to catch the bluff of Adam Walton. Jones will sit down in Seat 1 at the 2023 Main Event final table with the second-most chips at the start of the day.

“It’s the craziest thing. I don’t even feel like I’ve accomplished anything yet. I’m not even looking at the money. I haven’t looked at pay jumps since there were 20 people left. My goal is the first place.”

How Jones Got to the Final Table

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payouts

2023 Main Event Final Table Player Stats

Final Table Profile: Daniel Weinman

Daniel Weinman’s Main Event Story

Daniel Weinman is an American poker player from Atlanta, Georgia. He is both a WPT Champions Club member and a WSOP bracelet winner.

The 35-year-old got into poker thanks to the Moneymaker boom while he was at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He decided to get out of college and used poker to make his living, which he still does today.

With over $3.7 million in career earnings, Weinman has career cashes dating back to 2010. Having won titles in Spain and Australia during the early 2010s, Weinman won the 2015 WSOP Circuit Cherokee Main Event for over $280,000.

Two years later, he joined the WPT Champions Club with victory in the 2017 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open for $892,433.

He would go on to the be the eventual victor of the WPT Tournament of Champions for $381,500.

In 2022, he added a WSOP bracelet to his collection. He won Event #30: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha for $255,359.

Weinman’s Run to the Final Table

Weinman sat down on Day 8 of the 2023 WSOP Main Event tenth in chips from the 15 returning players. The mixed game specialist secured the second elimination of the day which saw him soar to the upper echelons of the chip counts.

Weinman was involved in the biggest pots of the day, which was also the most dramatic. He found himself on the wrong the side of a preflop cooler in a three-way all-in against Joshua Payne and Jose Aguilera.

Weinman was all in and at risk with pocket jacks and was up against kings and queens. He had one foot out of the door until he spiked a jack on the turn to win the 60,000,000+ pot.

Weinman then took chips off Juan Maceiras in two pots before play closed to cement his place as one of the top three chip stacks heading into the final table.

Weinman chipped up with jack-four as he made a six-high straight and further dented the Spaniard’s stack after he rivered a full house.

On the Kings versus queens versus jacks hand, Weinman said, “As soon as Josh [Payne] went with his hand, I knew I was dead there, but at least I had Josh covered. Once Aguiera called, I knew my hand was completely dead.”

“And now you’re like it [the Main Event] was a fun run, and it’s over now. But everyone talks about their one time, and I’ve never really used my one time, so I kind of internally had a little feeling that something might happen.”

And despite being almost two decades into the game, making the WSOP final table is still a dream come true despite his accomplished career.

“As a poker player, this is the event. I’ve played it for 16 years now and you never think you’re gonna get there,” Weinman told PokerNews.

“It’s like you see it every year on TV, you know, see all these guys on the final table. And you think it’d be so cool to have a chance once. To make it feels so surreal.”

Weinman will also have a star-studded rail with the likes of six-time bracelet winners Shaun Deeb and Josh Arieh in his corner. His girlfriend is also making the trip to Las Vegas to cheer on from the spectator side of the rail.

How Weinman Got to the Final Table

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payouts

2023 Main Event Final Table Player Stats

Jan-Peter Jachtmann’s Main Event Story

Perhaps the best-dressed player left standing in the 2023 WSOP Main Event, Jan-Peter Jachtmann is looking to pick up his second bracelet by becoming Main Event champion, as well as the third German in five years to win it all following Hossein Ensan in 2019 and Koray Aldemir in 2021.

Jachtmann, a Hamburg University graduate who works as a marketing manager and publisher of PokerBlatt Magazine, won his first bracelet in 2012 when he took down the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event for a career-best $661,000 after by defeating heads-up opponent Andrew Brown.

“I don’t really like No-Limit Hold’em that much but now it looks like I might play some more,” Jachtmann told PokerNews on Day 8. “Maybe I am good at it; I don’t know. It is totally different, especially the preflop action. You open small and reraise, in Omaha, after the flop you have to find out where you stand and what outs you have, and what combinations there are. I needed some hours to get into it; there is not really that much I can use from Omaha.”

Despite being an Omaha specialist, “Mr. Omaha” improved his No-Limit Hold’em chops heading into the $10,000 Main Event.

“Every day, I felt more comfortable and confident in my game,” he said. “I rarely play NLHE and learned that many years ago. But for the past ten years, I only focused on Omaha. But now, every day … if you are a good poker player, I am convinced that you can play every game, but you have to know what you are doing.”

Jachtmann’s Run to the Final Table

Jachtmann had a slow and steady start to the Main Event that saw him bag a decent stack on Day 1d before really climbing up the counts on Day 2d.

“It was at the beginning of Day 2 and maybe I was a bit tired still,” he told PokerNews. “During one of the first hands, I told the dealer he cannot raise that much. The pot is only this? And someone joked … hey Jan, this is not Pot-Limit Omaha.”

The German did not have the best Day 3 and ended the night toward the middle of the counts. But things only got better for Jachtmann as he climbed up the counts the next several days to ultimately end up fourth in chips heading to the final table.

Jachtmann received a late-night boost on Day 8 as he eliminated Jose Aguilera on the final table bubble. After three-betting before the flop, Aguilera was all in and at risk with ace-jack on a board of 6♥5♠4♦ and Jachtmann hit a straight with ace-eight on the turn to confirm his spot at the final table.

“He left some chips behind and gave me the odds to call,” he said. “If he jams, I will probably think about folding.”

Heading into the final two days of the record-breaking Main Event final table, Jachtmann had family and friends in mind.

“First, I am happy to see my son and then maybe go to the pool for a few hours, of course, have a good sleep and then go for some nice dinner. But some people gonna arrive from Germany for the final table so let’s see when they are coming and what we are doing.

I am happy that I reached the final table; everything that comes now is on top.”

How Jachtmann Got to the Final Table

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payouts

2023 Main Event Final Table Player Stats

Final Table Profile: Juan Maceiras

Juan Maceiras’s Main Event Story

Juan Maceiras, the son of legendary online poker player Juan Antonio “Vietcong01” Maceiras, hails from Spain and has a deep passion for the game of poker. The 39-year-old can almost exactly double his career live tournament cashes with an eighth-place finish. But given his current stack — 68 big blinds — he’ll be hoping for an even better finish.

Maceiras currently has $1.12 million career earnings in tournament play, according to the Hendon Mob (plus his final cash in the WSOP Main Event). He is no stranger to a massive score as he won $467,532 in 2011 for fifth place in a European Poker Tour (EPT) event in his native land.

“It’s amazing. The final table of the Main Event … There’s no word to explain the feelings. The only thing I can say is that I’m so proud of myself for the way I’ve been playing the whole tournament. And it’s time to finish the job I just started,” Maceiras told PokerNews upon reaching the final table.

Maceiras is a former PokerStars ambassador and left the Red Spade back in 2011. Now, 12 years later, he finds himself back in the spotlights wielding a sizable stack at the WSOP Main Event final table.

Maceiras’ Run to the Final Table

Maceiras had a fairly smooth run to the final table, although there were some bumps along the way. After Day 2d, he was well above the average stack and the same followed on Day 3.

On day 4, Maceiras made his big move, increasing his stack from just over 1 million chips to under 4 million at the end of the day, putting him in sixth place. But it was Day 6 where he put himself in position to reach the final table, building a stack up to 40,500,00, good for second place out of 49 remaining players.

“The ten-handed was a little bit complicated, but it happens. I’ve been playing the same way I’ve been playing the whole tournament, but this time those pots didn’t go well. And there’s nothing to regret; I’m just thinking I’m in the final nine. I’ve got more than 50 blinds,” Maceiras said.

On Day 7, the Spaniard bagged the chip lead and then would increase his stack to over 140,000,000 for quite some time on Day 8. He would, however, run into some misfortune on the final pre-final table session and lost about half his stack by the end of the day.

Still, he’ll enter the final table with 68 big blinds and is in a great position to win the Main Event.

How Maceiras Got to the Final Table

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payouts

2023 Main Event Final Table Player Stats

Final Table Profile: Dean Hutchison

Dean Hutchison’s Main Event Story

Dean Hutchison is a Scottish poker player with $723,865 in live tournament earnings. His first tournament score came in 2010, and he has racked up cashes from tournaments worldwide.

The first four years of his poker journey saw him mainly play in the United Kingdom and Ireland. His first major tournament win was on home soil, where he took down the 2014 UKIPT Edinburgh Main Event for $154,000. This score propelled Hutchison’s career to greater heights and has since become a regular fixture at the European Poker Tour and World Series of Poker.

Hutchison, who is single, nearly completed back-to-back wins in the UKIPT Edinburgh Main Event as he notched a fifth-place finish the following year from his win.

Prior to Hutchison making the 2023 WSOP Main Event final table, he had just 11 WSOP cashes to his name. His cashes are split between the live and virtual felt.

At the 2020 WSOP Online, he finished in 110th place in that year’s Millionaire Maker for $8,214, which is his best online result. At the 2023 WSOP, he also made his first WSOP final table in the $1,500 Freezout for $35,773.

Hutchison’s last live tournament win was in April 2023, where he collected $25,100 in a $600 Deepstack event at WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.

Hutchison’s Run to the Final Table

Hutchison, a professional poker player, has been in Las Vegas all summer long battling in the poker streets alongside friends. He played the Day 1d flight and managed to more than triple his stack. He lost some back on Day 2, but then caught fire on Day 3 when he quadrupled his stack and then doubled that against on Day 4. Amazingly, he did so while being ill.

“The first four days I wasn’t feeling well, I had some nasty flu,” Hutchison told PokerNews after making the final table. “So, I was just playing and then going to the house to rest.”

A crucial hand for Hutchison took place on Day 8 in Level 36 (400,000/800,000/800,000) when he five-bet jammed with pocket aces and was called by Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who had two red tens. The all-heart flop was dangerous for Hutchison as he didn’t have a heart, but fortunately for him his pocket rockets held to give him a much-needed double.

In the late stages of the tournament, Hutchison hung out towards the middle to back of the pack. While he was never really among the biggest stacks, Hutchison has given himself a shot at the title and will begin the final table seventh out of the returning nine players.

How Hutchison Got to the Final Table

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payouts

2023 Main Event Final Table Player Stats

Final Table Profile: Daniel Holzner

Daniel Holzner’s Main Event Story

Daniel Holzner is an Italian poker player with $39,517 in recorded live tournament earnings.

His first tournament score came in 2012, and he has since added 12 more recorded cashes to his resume.

Most of his scores have come in small-stakes events in Austria, with a couple coming from Czechia. At the 2023 World Series of Poker, he secured his first-ever WSOP cash in the Millionaire Maker. He came in 652nd for $4,070.

Also, at the 2023 WSOP, he made the final table of the Main Event. It was his first time playing poker’s World Championship event, which could mark the start of a Cinderella story.

Based in the very North of Italy, Holzner’s exploits on the felt are a far cry away from his usual routine.

“I am a farmer. I work with my dad, who is over there. And yeah, we have apple trees, we work there, and this is my work besides poker,” he told PokerNews.

Holzner’s Run to the Final Table

Holzner’s journey to the Main Event table has not been painless, with him being one of the shortest stacks over the last few days. His journey was nearly cut short on several occasions, but Holzner always found a way to survive.

Since Day 6, he has propped up much of the pack and does the same when play resumes.

With ten players left, he had less than a handful of big blinds and was all in and at risk on the first hand of the unofficial final table. He got in with ace-queen and was up against the ace-ten held by Juan Maceiras. A ten on the flop had him with one foot out of the door, but a queen on the river kept him in contention for poker’s most sought-after prize.

“It’s crazy,” Holzner said when reliving the hand. “I mean, if I would have passed with that hand, that would have hurt a lot. I mean, he’s dominated. The ten on the flop did not look that good, but I called for my one time before the queen came in.”

Holzner scored another double through Daniel Weinman before play concluded which saw him bag and tag 31,900,000, which is good for 27 big blinds.

Interestingly, Holzner received entry into the Main Event after his family and friends pooled together the buy-in as a present for his 30th birthday.

“It’s nice to be out here on the final table. I guess I have to make a really big, big, big party for them, all of them.”

Can the possibility of a raucous Italian rail spur Holzner to victory, and can he go one stop further than compatriot Dario Sammartino, who finished as the runner-up in poker’s World Championship in 2019?

How Holzner Got to the Final Table

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payouts

2023 Main Event Final Table Player Stats

Final Table Profile: Toby Lewis

Toby Lewis’s Main Event Story

Toby Lewis’s run to the 2023 WSOP Main Event final table is no fluke. The British poker pro has been a crusher for years and is the most accomplished tournament player among the nine remaining players. He has over $8.2 million in live tournament cashes, per Hendon Mob, and is chasing his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet.

Lewis has cashes dating all the way back to 2009, his largest being a $1.2 million score for winning the 2018 Aussie Millions Main Event, his crowning achievement as a poker player. Lewis followed that up with an A$818K win the next year, and then won a third title in Melbourne in 2020.

https://twitter.com/SquidPoker/status/1679958814261428226

The King of Melbourne now has a shot at becoming the Emperor of Vegas after reaching the 2023 WSOP Main Event final table.

“Obviously it’s the best tournament of the year and it’s just a marathon, a grind, mental exhaustion. I think to make it this far is an achievement, you have to be very disciplined for a long time so I’m proud of that,” Lewis said after reaching the final table.

Lewis’s Run to the Final Table

Lewis didn’t exactly get off to a strong start to his Main Event. In fact, after Day 2d, he wasn’t much above his initial starting stack and was well below the average stack. On Day 3, he bumped it up a bit but was still only around an average stack.

What Lewis did exceptionally well throughout his run to glory was to keep grinding and patiently await his opportunity to build up his stack. That occurred on Day 5 when he increased his stack up to 4,275,000 by the end of the session. Despite his fantastic run on Day 5, one highly publicized fold with the nut flush against a crazy eight-high bluff stood out.

https://twitter.com/PokerNews/status/1679011943498272769

Still, the British pro shrugged it off, sticking with his reads throughout including a very disciplined fold against Jan-Peter Jachtmann with top two pair against a flopped flush on Day 7.

By the conclusion of Day 7, the British poker star was up to over 50 million chips, good for fifth out of 15 remaining players. As the final table approached on Day 8, he hit a rocky patch and finished with 19,800,000, the smallest stack entering Sunday’s second-to-last session.

“It didn’t go very well 10-handed, but maybe if we get shorter-handed. It’s not a huge advantage,” Lewis said when asked if his experience will give him an edge over the competition at the final table.

How Lewis Got to the Final Table

2023 Main Event Final Table Seating

2023 Main Event Final Table Payouts

2023 Main Event Final Table Player Stats