The long anticipated drawing for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event “Seat for Life” promotion was revealed prior to Sunday’s final table, and it went to Canadian poker player Jason Clarke.

Clarke will receive free entry into poker’s world championship event until 2053, valued at $300,000 — $10,000 each year — assuming he lives that long. The seat is non-transferrable.

The drawing held was for all 10,043 entries in the record-setting 2023 WSOP Main Event. Only one individual would win one of the most epic promotions in poker history. Clarke, who played but didn’t cash in his first Main Event, was handed a prop check from Jack Effel prior to “shuffle up and deal.”

While there wasn’t an option for the winner to trade in his prize to find out what’s behind Door #2, so at PokerNews our Phil Hourguettes pondered the question on social media — what if the winner could pick another prize? More specifically, what if that alternate reward was $200,000 in cash instead of the 30 free buy-ins.

What Would You Do?

There’s never a guarantee for anyone to cash in the Main Event, even over many years. Take Allen Kessler, for example, who broke a 15-year drought of failing to reach the money in 2019. So, in the “Chainsaw’s” case, had he won free entry, the monetary value for those 15 empty years would have been $0. Hence, why there could be some merit to taking the $200,000 guaranteed cash in our hypothetical scenario.

But we don’t want to influence your vote, so let’s get straight to it. If you won the drawing and were given an option from the WSOP to trade the prize in for the money, would you take it?

For a bit of reference, in this year’s Main Event, surpassing $200,000 would have required finishing in 44th place or better. One deep run or a number of small cashes is all it would take to make it more profitable taking the seat for life. Of course, in this hypothetical scenario, the only guarantee that you’d make any money off the prize would be to take the cash. That said, the entertainment value of playing in poker’s Super Bowl every year can’t be topped.

Clarke, who won a Daily Deep Stack for $19,500 to cover his Main Event entry, will no longer have to pay to play in the biggest poker tournament again. He said he’ll donate 5% of future winnings in the Main Event to various charities.

Follow Live Coverage of the WSOP Main Event Final Table

The PokerStars UKIPT Blackpool Main Event, running at Grosvenor Casino at The Sandcastle, has reached its conclusion.

A total of 262 entries were recorded across three starting flights, which made for a £258,990 prize pool. Of those, 40 players made it through to Day 2 to lock up the £1,710 min-cash.

Those 40 players were then whittled down to the last six players, who returned to the felt for the third and final day.

Tuan Le of the United Kingdom started Day 3 as chip leader and continued to add to his stack to emerge as the outright winner. He won the top prize of £53,630.

Ali Zia held on throughout the day and laddered up when Teodor Evstratiev clashed with Le for mountains of chips. Zia came second for £23,730 and Evstratiev finished third for £33,230.

UKIPT Blackpool Main Event Final Table Results

Final Day Recap

Although stacks were relatively deep, the Final Day of the Main Event was over in the blink of an eye. None of the final six players seemed scared to get involved in pots, and so the tournament concluded within just three hours of restarting.

Daniel Jackson was the first to bust. Zia eliminated him to finish in sixth place after his ace-ten got there against Jackson’s pocket nine.

Within the first hour and a half, Evstratiev chipped up to take the lead and then eliminated Beihao Wang in fifth place. Jacob Mulhern soon followed after his flush draw didn’t come in after Le flopped top pair.

As the action went three-handed, Zia was sitting on a short stack, while Evstratiev and Le were close to even.

It looked like Zia would be next to go until the two big stacks clashed for all of their chips. After a blind versus blind raising war, Evstratiev got his flush draw in on the flop against Le’s pocket aces. Le held to eliminate Evstratiev and enter heads-up with a significant chip advantage.

It was an advantage he would soon capitalize on. The first 20 hands of heads-up were uneventful, consisting mostly of single raises and bet-folds on the flop. Zia then took a hit to his stack before shoving from the button with a dominated ace. Le had ace-king and held out to win the tournament.

Tuan Le “Winging It” All the Way to the Win

Manchester-based Le works full-time as a beautician and finds time to play live poker four to five times a year.

“I’m a family man,” said Le. “I’d love to play poker professionally, but I know I’m not good enough. Also, I’d miss the kids too much”.

Despite playing a solid game and coming out on top, Le said, “I’m not as good as the players here. I feel like I’m winging it all the time!”

Le has had a second-place finish in a GUKPT event, but this is his first win in a major event. He will use the prize money to “get the Missus something” and has booked a trip to London. “That’s as far as I can see right now,” said Le.

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Don’t hide the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event live-stream behind a paywall, so says chess superstar Alexandra Botez, who has become an avid poker player.

PokerGO holds the rights to all live-streamed coverage of poker’s most prestigious tournament, which is set to play down to a $12.1 million winner on Monday, with the final table beginning Sunday at 2 p.m. PT. Poker fans can catch all the action live (on delay), but viewing it isn’t free.

In this edition of The Muck, we share Botez’s tweet addressing the issue along with the response to it from the poker community. But before we do that, we’d like to invite you to follow our live reporting of the entire Main Event final table right here at PokerNews.

Chess Superstar Critical of PokerGO

When Poker Central (now PokerGO) first launched in 2015, the app was free and the company generated revenue exclusively through advertisement. As the platform grew, it eventually became a subscription-based service, and the commercials were eliminated. Poker fans who pay for PokerGO and it’s exhaustive library of programming — High Stakes Poker, WSOP, etc. — tend to enjoy it. You might even call it the Netlix of poker streaming.

Throughout the summer, PokerGO is the home for WSOP live-streams, but the final tables that don’t take place on the PokerGO YouTube channel air exclusively on the app, which costs money ($14.99/month or $99.99 per year, though there are easy-to-find promo codes that will make it cheaper). Some poker fans, especially the casual fans, have been critical of PokerGO for charging to view the World Series of Poker. Botez, however, didn’t go that far, but she did take aim at the streaming service for putting the Super Bowl of poker behind a paywall.

https://twitter.com/alexandrabotez/status/1680038570491531264

“Paywalling the greatest spectacle of any sport will inevitably lead to a decrease in its relevance,” Botez writes.

The 2023 WSOP Main Event had a record 10,043 entrants, so the tournament has become far from irrelevant. But Botez expressed concern for the long-term health of the game.

“50 years ago, half the human population watched Boxing’s heavyweight title (Ali’s most viewed fight had 2 billion viewers). Now the biggest fights are getting just over 1 million PPV,” she continued.

Prior to PokerGO taking over the live-streaming duties for the Main Event, and CBS Sports Network airing edited versions of the tournament, ESPN handled the TV coverage. The worldwide leader in sports played a crucial role in growing the game in the 2000s as the WSOP became readily available, for free, to millions of casual sports fans.

That differs greatly from the current broadcast deal that has the live-streamed coverage for much of the WSOP, including the Main Event, hidden behind a paywall, and the television coverage now on a network that isn’t even available with most basic cable packages.

Check out the latest episode of The Chad & Jesse Poker Show here!

Does the Poker Community Agree with Botez?

There’s no doubt that many hardcore poker fans and players are fine with paying to view the Main Event. In fact, a large chunk of them likely already have a PokerGO subscription anyway. But the pros and die-hards represent the tiniest fraction of the entire poker community, and many of the recreational poker playing segment — the largest segment by miles — likely won’t be watching the Main Event final table beyond the free hour on YouTube.

“Hard agree. Also can’t possibly be making much more than the ad revenue from youtube or getting a unique sponsor for the event. I’d have it on in the background (like i did the million $ cash games) but ain’t going out of my way for their app etc,” Drew Patchell wrote in response to Botez’s tweet.

“Meanwhile I’m watching chess tournaments streaming for free and the game has a far bigger place in my world than it used to. No doubt total unpaywalling of tournaments & influencers (hi Botez sisters!) has been a big part of the surge in interest in chess,” @wagefreedom shared.

“I’ve been a long time @PokerGO subscriber but I agree with this completely. By limiting access to the final table, the game risks losing its cultural impact and relevance over time. That is a huge blow to poker overall,” PokerGO customer @J_O_E_L wrote.

https://twitter.com/IHartSports_/status/1680043748049444864

While most responses were in agreement with Botez, there were some solid points made by those who are on board with PokerGO charging poker fans to watch the WSOP Main Event.

https://twitter.com/MazeOrBowie/status/1680048674343116803

“Give me a break. You putting up the funds for production?” @deeeegy asked Botez, a rhetorical question but a sound point about how expensive it is to air the WSOP.

“We used to not be able to watch the entire main at all. We had to wait for a polished edited version with added commentary to come out. @PokerGO made the whole thing available to die hards who wanted more,” Collin Capone tweeted.

https://twitter.com/pokeraaronmiles/status/1680231591388360705

“I think any interested poker player is comfortable paying the cost for PokerGo. If you’re referring to bringing in more casual players I’m not sure a $10,000 buy-in is the level of poker that would get them into the game,” Austin Herdina argues.

One final point that should be made is that the 2023 WSOP Main Event will be free in the fall for anyone who has CBS Sports Network on their cable package. So, even those who don’t want to pay to watch the final table on PokerGO can later catch an edited version on cable just like it’s been for decades. Many forget that until 2011 when ESPN began live-streaming the final table, it wasn’t until months after a champion was crowned before the public was able to watch any part of poker’s world championship.

If you’re a consumer of poker content, there’s a chance you’ve seen Lexy Gavin-Mather during your YouTube scroll. That’s because the2022 GPI nominee for Rising Star in Content Creation has vlogged every step of here 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) journey to make her one of the most prolific content creators of the summer.

Since the start of the series, Gavin-Mather has put out dozens of vlogs documenting her run at the 2023 WSOP, which has brought her eight cashes so far, including a recent 332nd-place finish out of 10,430 players in the Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold’em for $7,069.

One Of the Most Active Vloggers at the WSOP

There are plenty of vloggers who have been filming in the 2023 WSOP action, including Frank Cucchiara of Next Gen Poker and Japanese star Masato Yokosawa, both of whom made deep runs in the record-breaking Main Event that recently reached a final table.

But Gavin-Mather’s content production has been so extensive that her output is matched only by poker’s highest-profile vlogger, Daniel Negreanu, who crashed one of Gavin-Mather’s first vlogs of the series.

Some of Gavin-Mather’s most popular videos include a June 9 video from Event #18: $300 Gladiators of Poker where she had “never been all-in more in my life,” as well as June 5 video where the vlogger and coach found herself at risk with a Royal Flush draw.

In another popular upload, Gavin-Mather played the Tag Team Event with her husband, fellow poker player Bob Mather. The duo managed to get a “major bluff” through but unfortunately could not advance past Day 1.

Other highlights of the summer’s vlogging include Gavin-Mather’s run in the $1,000 Ladies Event, navigating the money bubble on Day 2 of Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em and an action hand involving pocket aces.

More Than a Poker Vlogger

Gavin-Mather is more than a poker vlogger and player. She is also a poker coach who has worked with PokerCoaching.com and offers her own training course.

And Gavin-Mather has poker results to back up her coaching, with $584,488 in Hendon Mob earnings that includes a career-best score of $ 41,060 from a 10th-place finish in 2020’s $5,000 Bay 101 Shooting Star. The same year, Gavin-Mather finished third in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic for $40,058.

Gavin-Mather has also had success at the WSOP. In 2019, she finished sixth in the $1,000 Ladies Championship for $27,643. Later that summer, Gavin-Mather finished 11th in the $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em Pot-Limit Omaha event for $18,447.

Back in February, Gavin-Mather won her second RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) ring in February by taking down a $250 Deepstack Event for $8,618.

For more on Lexy Gavin-Mather, check out her YouTube channel at youtube.com/@LexyGavinPoker or follow her on Twitter at @LexyGavinPoker.

Read about other Featured Females at the 2023 WSOP, including the women in the field of the largest-ever WSOP Main Event.

While the players in the 2023 World Series of Poker Main Event were enjoying a well-deserved day off before the final table commences, there was plenty of side event action going on at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

The day brought three freshly minted bracelet winners, with poker coach Faraz Jaka finally capturing his maiden bracelet to round out an already stellar poker resumé. Jaka, returning from a significant health scare in recent months, won three single table Sit ‘n Go’s in a row to win the bracelet in a $1,500 Shootout event.

The South American country of Peru is no longer without bracelet winners as its number one player, Diego Ventura, captured gold in Event #86: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty NLHE. Ventura claimed a top prize of over $400k along with the coveted wristband.

The notorious Event #89: $1,000 Flip & Go Presented by GGPoker saw 128 players make their way through the fireworks portion of the tournament (click here to read some strat from Daniel Negreanu about the game). The 128 lucky survivors then continued in a regular poker format where Dong Meng prevailed over Hustler Casino Live notable Wesley Fei.

A fourth bracelet was also scheduled to be handed out, but the three remaining players in Event #87: $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better bagged to return for an unscheduled fourth day.

Keep reading to find out what else took place on Day 47 of the 2023 World Series of Poker.

Three Remain in Event #87: $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better

Three days were not enough to determine a champion in Event #87: $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, which means that three players will return to Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas to find out who will win $221,733 and a WSOP gold bracelet at the 2023 World Series of Poker.

Leading the final three is Nghia “3 Putts” Le, who bagged 7,400,000. Based out of Minnesota, the ever-talkative and jovial Le finished third in the $10,000 Razz Championship earlier this summer and looks to improve upon that finish and take home his first bracelet.

In second sits Nick Pupillo, who bagged 6,045,000. Pupillo won his first bracelet last month by capturing the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball title, and will look to join Chad Eveslage, Chris Brewer, and Josh Arieh in taking home a second bracelet this summer.

Coming into Day 4 as the short stack is Bradley Smith, who bagged 2,655,000. Smith, from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, has tied his best-ever finish at the WSOP and looks to improve upon his 2019 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. third-place finish by spinning up his stack when play resumes.

2023 WSOP Event #87: $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final Three

Follow along with live coverage of this event

The Closer Draws Over 3,500 Entries, 258 in Contention

After 22 levels of play on Day 1b of Event #88: $1,500 The Closer at the 2023 World Series of Poker, it was Jack Duong who claimed one of the top spots after bagging an impressive 1,485,000 in chips. After the dust settled, only 183 remained from this flight to join the 76 hopefuls from Day 1a for Day 2 tomorrow, July 16th at 10 a.m. local time.

Duong, who is no stranger to these fields with over $2.2 million in tournament earnings, will look to put his big stack to work on Day 2 in hopes of capturing his second WSOP bracelet. Duong won his first WSOP bracelet back in 2015 in Event #62: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Bounty for $333,351.

The overnight chip lead was a shared affair as both China’s Chen Feng Wen and American Mathew Moore bagged 1,750,000 in chips. Day 1a chipleader Benson Tang will take the overall chip lead into Day 2, which promises to be fast and furious given the shallow stack depth.

2023 WSOP Event #88: The Closer $1,500 NLHE Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1

Follow live updates of the Closer here

Phil Hellmuth Searching for Bracelet No. 18 in Event #90: $10,000 6-Handed NLHE Championship

Day 2 of Event #90: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship has come to an end with Jamie O’Connor leading the charge after bagging up 2,545,000 through an additional ten levels of play. Not far behind him is AJ Kelsall, who managed to amass 2,325,000 by the day’s end.

O’Connor has over $1.2 million in live tournament earnings, including a third-place finish in from a Six-Handed No-Limit event from back in 2019. A win for O’Connor would be his first bracelet and largest cash to date.

Phil Hellmuth will be among those to watch on Day 3 and sits in the middle of the pack with 860,000 in chips. Unsurprisingly, plenty of crushers are left in contention as well, such as Stephen Chidwick (1,615,000), Justin Liberto (1,355,000), and Alexandre Reard (1,250,000) in the top half of the board.

2023 WSOP Event #90: $10,000 6-Handed NLHE Championship Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

Follow all the action here

Andre Akkari Leads After Day 1 of Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.

Day 1 of Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. at the 2023 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas has come to a close, and for the second year in a row, Brazilian pro Andre Akkari ended the day as the chip leader, bagging up 232,300.

The tournament saw 332 players pony up the buy-in, slightly up from last year’s 328, generating a prize pool of $886,440, with first place taking home $208,460 and the coveted gold bracelet. From the 332, 195 will return for the second day, and 50 will walk away with a cash prize and Hendon Mob flag for their efforts.

Players bagged up 30 minutes early after one of the players needed medical attention late in the night.

2023 WSOP Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. Day 1 Chip Counts

Find all the H.O.R.S.E. live updates here

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

Senior Content Manager

A former professional poker player with a background in sports marketing and journalism. Yori has been a part of PokerNews since 2016 and manages the content team.

The 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event will play down from nine to four later today, and then to a winner on Monday. It has been two weeks since the record-breaking tournament began, and needless to say, there have been some memorable moments.

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team has been busy capturing all the action in our live updates, and they’ve witnessed some hands go down that proved to be either entertaining, game-changing or just flat out brutal.

Below is a look at some of the best hands of the week from the 2023 WSOP!

Click here to follow live updates from the 2023 WSOP Main Event!

Amarapu Hits a Royal – Twice!

Ok, so this first hand wasn’t in the Main Event, but it’s definitely worth sharing. On Day 1 of Event #87: $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, it was Level 5 (1,000/2,000/200) when reporter Geoff Paul caught a couple of doozies.

According to Vasu Amarapu, who provided pictures, he took down a huge pot in Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better on a board of Q♣J♦K♦2♦Q♦. Amarapu’s opponent showed AxK♠K♣3x for kings full of queens, but Amarapu turned over A♦10♦7♣2♥ for a royal flush.

Three hands later, Amarapu bet on the turn with the board showing Q♥A♥3♦10♥. Everyone folded, and he turned over K♥J♥Qx10x for a second royal flush.

Hoover Catches a Miracle

On Day 5 of the Main Event, it was Level 24 (25,000/50,000/50,000) when David Salituro reported how fortunes can change with the turn of a card, and that’s exactly what happened to Logan Hoover.

Hoover was all in for 2,385,000 from early position and up against Aditya Systla in middle position.

Logan Hoover: A♣K♦
Aditya Systla: Q♣Q♥

“Hold up,” Hoover cried out as he stood up from his seat to await the flop. He hit the K♥, but the rest of the flop came Q♠7♣ and Systla made a set as Hoover turned away in disgust.

The turn, though, gave him some hope as it came K♣. “Ace one time,” he yelled out. He didn’t hit an ace, but the dealer did turn over the K♠ as Hoover made running quads.

“Yes,” Hoover yelled as he ran away from the table. A big crowd gathered around the table and took photos of the board as Hoover returned to rake in the pot.

“Excuse me, I just made quads in the Main Event,” Hoover said.

“That’s the sickest thing I’ve ever seen,” a tablemate told him.

Four-Way All-In Results in Two Casualties

On Day 6 in Level 28 (60,000/120,000/120,000, Christian Zetzsche reported that Steven Spunt had lost the vast majority of his stack in the previous hand and was in the big blind next. Yaroslav Ohulchanskyi raised from the hijack and Bradley Moskowitz jammed all-in from the cutoff with a shorter stack.

Allen Chang moved in from the small blind while Spunt was in there from the next seat. Ohulchanskyi called all-in to create a four-way all-in on a pay jump with three players at risk.

Steven Spunt: 6♥5♣
Bradley Moskowitz: A♥K♠
Yaroslav Ohulchanskyi: K♥K♦
Allen Chang: 9♠9♣

The board ran out 5♠3♣2♠7♦Q♠ and Spunt fell in 81st place, while Moskowitz earned the pay jump in 80th place. Ohulchanskyi won the side pots and soared past Chang.

“I was waiting for this hand all day long,” Moskowitz said before he and Spunt were escorted to the payout desk.

Torelli Celebrates with a Set of Crabs

In the same level, reporter Connor Richards saw Jose Aguilera opened to 250,000 in early position and Zachary Hall called from the next seat before Alec Torelli came along from the big blind.

Torelli and Aguilera checked on the 3♦6♥J♦ flop and Hall bet 175,000. Torelli check-raised to 700,000 and Aguilera folded as Hall called.

Torelli then bet 1,600,000 on the 8♣ turn and Hall took some time before putting out a stack of 500,000-chips to raise Torelli all in. Torelli quickly called with a stack of 4,785,000.

Alec Torelli: 3♥3♠
Zachary Hall: 5♥5♦

“I didn’t think you had that,” Hall said glumly after seeing Torelli was far ahead with a set.

The 7♣ bricked off on the river to avoid a gross two-outer and Torelli did a lap and clutched his heart after securing the big double-up through the start-of-day chip leader.

Hulme Rivers Straight Flush; Dunst Eliminated

One level later in Level 29 (100,000/150,000/150,000), Andrew Knowles saw Andrew Hulme open to 325,000 from under the gun and Ryan Tosoc put in a three-bet to 800,000 next to act. Tony Dunst called for his last 525,000 and it folded back to Hulme who made the call.

The flop came Q♦10♦6♠ and Hulme check-called a bet of 600,000 from Tosoc. On the A♠ turn both players checked their options to the J♦ river.

Hulme took a few seconds before sliding out a bet of 1,825,000 and Tosoc quickly let it go. Dunst tabled K♥Q♠ for a straight but was no good when Hulme rolled over 9♦8♦ for a straight flush to score the pot and send Dunst out in 66th place.

Max Pain for Payne as Final Table Nears

On Day 8, just 14 players remained in Level 36 (400,000/800,000/800,000) when Calum Grant reported that Joshua Payne made it 1,600,000 to go and Jose Aguilera three-bet to 4,500,000 on the button. Daniel Weinman on the button went into the tank and carefully studied the stack size of Aguilera before he four-bet jammed for 29,100,000.

Payne called all-in for 19,600,000 total and Aguilera looked up both opponents to create a three-way all-in!

Joshua Payne: K♠K♦
Jose Aguilera: Q♠Q♣
Daniel Weinman: J♠J♣

The A♥7♥4♠ flop changed nothing as Payne remained in the lead. Weinman then spiked the J♥ on the turn to send Payne into a world of pain.

Nothing changed on the 3♠ river and Payne was sent to the payout desk in agonizing fashion while Weinman sky-rocketed up the leaderboard, leaving Aguilera with a short stack.

Past WSOP Hands of the Week Recaps

Check out some of our past “Hands of the Week” recaps:

Executive Editor U.S.

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

After nine hours of final table play, Faraz Jaka won his first gold bracelet in Event# 85: $1,500 Shootout at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

Day 1 of the shootout saw 987 runners competing to win their table and advance to Day 2. Those lucky enough to win their shootout on Day 2 would get their shot at the final table, a WSOP gold Bracelet, and the $237,367 top prize.

After the dust settled Faraz Jaka battled heads up against Michael Finstein for WSOP glory and came out the winner for $237,367 and his first gold bracelet.

2023 WSOP Event #85 Final Table Results

Winner’s Reaction

“Pretty great and just taking it all in,” Jaka replied when asked about how he was feeling after winning his first bracelet. “I was so zoned in that, I’m still kind of decompressing. I mean, I’ve gotten a lot of seconds and thirds, not just in WSOP but also in like WPT events and so on. So, it’s definitely nice to kind of get that monkey off my back and I feel like it’s just one of those things and I’m gonna start shipping the rest now.”

Grateful for his students who came to support him, Jaka spoke about the community he built through coaching and how teaching others has helped him.

“These guys are representing. We’ve got a tight community and yeah, they’re all awesome. When you’re coaching other people and they ask you questions, sometimes you don’t have the answer and then you feel like, okay, I’ve got to figure this out. So, it kind of keeps you on it. Also just hearing so many different perspectives. How many different people think about the game, that’s obviously helpful when you’re planning against other people as well.”

Jaka spoke to his drive and determination to fix leaks and improve after a tough bust out.

“I have this personality where if I make a mistake or bust out deep in a tournament, it kind of annoys me in a way where I just want to jump right in and play better. So, I was kind of unhappy with my bust-out hand in the main and I just instantly went right to the Wynn and played the 10k there. Got kings into aces instantly, jumped right in here, and was just focused and determined to play better.”

Jaka had a medical scare leading up to the WSOP and he spoke about the recovery process and how he almost missed the series.

“Yeah, so I had two herniated discs. I was signed up for surgery. It got so bad that I was stuck on the floor one day for four hours. Couldn’t move. Any movement was a level 9 or 10 nerve pain and had to call 911. They gave me ketamine just so they could move me and that literally zapped away all the nerve pain that I had been having for four weeks. Then that put me in a position where I was able to do physical therapy and yeah, basically, recovered in about three, four weeks and made it out to the series. I thought I was gonna miss the whole thing. So yeah, this is awesome.”

Final Table Action

The 10-handed final table started off very slow. To start the day almost 15 minutes went by before the players even saw a flop, but the action would heat up. Edward Mroczkowski was the first player eliminated after a brutal set-over-set hand sent him to the rail in 10th place.

Allan Mello held the chip lead for a few orbits early in the day but after a few unfortunate hands, he would hit the rail in ninth place. That would be followed by an exit from five-time bracelet winner Adam Friedman in eighth place and then Mo Zhou in seventh.

Matteo Cavelier would also hold the chip lead for multiple orbits but would hit the rail in 6th after an unfortunate hand where his jacks could not hold up against Jaka’s ace-queen.

2023 bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski had a roller coaster day but would ultimately fall short of his fourth bracelet when he was knocked out in fifth place. Ao Chen would fall in fourth place after an impressive run and they were down to three-handed play.

Olga Iermolcheva capped off an impressive summer at the 2023 WSOP with a third-place finish on the final table after some amazing play to ladder up. The final elimination would happen when Jaka called the river jam of Michael Finstein and won with a straight, eliminating Finstein and earning Jaka the coveted WSOP gold bracelet.

The $111,000 buy-in WPT Alpha8 for One Drop at Wynn Las Vegas continued on Saturday with Day 2, which saw a half dozen players take advantage of late registration.

They included Cary Katz, Biao Ding, Nick Petrangelo, Christoph Vogelsang, Taylor von Kriegenbergh, and Phil Ivey, who had busted late on Day 1. Spoiler Alert – only one of them would make the final table.

That brought the total field up to 45 entries and generated a $4,612,500 prize pool. That was reserved for the top seven finishers with the winner slated to take home a $1,537,600 top prize.

At the end of the night, Jonathan Jaffe bagged the big stack with 4,085,000, which was twice as much as his next closest opponent. The final six players will return on Sunday to play it out on a live-streamed final table.

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Day 2 Action

Ivey’s re-entry into the tournament didn’t last long as he was dispatched in Level 11 (5,000/10,000/10,000). The WPT Live Reporting Team reported a hand where von Kriegenbergh raised to 25,000 under the gun and Ivey three-bet jammed for 295,000 one spot over.

Action folded to Jaffe in the big blind and he four-bet jammed for 650,000, which inspired von Kriegenbergh to fold. Ivey tabled two red eights only to have Jaffe roll over two black tens. The superior pocket pair held and that was all she wrote for the Poker Hall of Famer.

Another player to fall was Rick Salomon, who was bounced in Level 13 (10,000/15,000/15,000). That is when Aleksejs Ponakovs raised to 30,000 from the hijack and Salomon three-bet to 100,000 from the cutoff. Ponakovs responded by four-bet jamming and Salomon called off with the A♥K♣ which was flipping against 10♥10♣. Unfortunately for Salomon, the board ran out queen-high and he exited in 11th place.

Others to fall on Day 2 were Ramin Hajiyev, Artur Martirosian, David Stamm, Brian Kim, Kevin Rabichow, Santhosh Suvarna, Vogelsang, Adrian Mateos, Katz, Henrik Hecklen, Petrangelo, Ding, and Isaac Haxton.

While Hecklen was eliminated on the money bubble, Haxton was able to sneak into the money before falling in seventh place, the result of losing a race with pocket sixes against the ace-queen suited of Michael Lim. Haxton earned $222,600 for his performance.

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

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

Executive Editor U.S.

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

Always an entertaining debacle for most, Event #89: $1,000 Flip & Go presented by GGPoker was a smashing success for one Dong Meng, who not only won it outright but also managed to do it on just one bullet. Meng unfortunately missed the Main Event because he was under the weather but he more than made up for it with his spectacular run in this very unique tournament.

The tournament, a part of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) hosted by Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas saw 128 players make it through the flipping stage of the tournament, which has 1,022 entries, and those survivors were guaranteed a cash of at least $2,000 from the $1,182,810 prize pool.

A software engineer by trade, Meng described poker as a hobby that he takes quite seriously, mentioning he’s still a student of the game. Meng was able to defeat popular Huster Casino Live personality Wesley Fei heads up, who at one point seemed poised to run what was left of the field.

Fei created a light-hearted environment, attributing “energy” as the most important part of winning all in altercations. Perhaps Fei’s good karma was only less than the humble Meng, who was able to find the victory after just five hours of play on Day 2, winning a hefty $160,490 for his efforts, the largest cash of his career.

2023 WSOP Event #89 Final Table Results

Day 1 Action

Oftentimes, it’s the professional poker players who take a particular liking to the faster tournaments in the series so it’s no surprise that plenty of notables made it into the money, willing to fire the necessary amount of entries to guarantee a shot at the gold. Scott Seiver was one that list and made a marked improvement from last year when he fired 43 flips to no avail. This year saw Seiver make it into the money with just seven attempts.

However, Seiver wasn’t fortunate enough to make it through the day and neither were several other multiple-time bracelet winners, including Benjamin Yu, Shaun Deeb, Josh Arieh or Yuval Bronshtein.

The action’s pace was brisk, as this tournament was slated for 30-minute levels from beginning to end, and by the time bags were passed out, only 18 hopefuls remained after 12 levels of play.

Day 2 Action

Pete Chen entered the day with the chip lead and it took all of six minutes from the beginning of Day 2 for the final two table redraw to be initiated; Christopher Battenfield and Connor Heelis fell in quick succession when their overcards were unable to overcome their opponents’ pairs, leaving them both to settle for a $6,680 prize.

Not long after, Meng managed to score a double knock out when Jesse Lonis and Jack Salter ran into his A♠J♦.

As the final table approached, consummate poker professional and Master Chef runner-up David Williams, a recent guest on The Chad & Jesse Poker Show, caught heat, eliminating James Bullimore in 12th place ($8,240) and Taylor Black in 10th place ($10,300). That brought players down to the unofficial final table, as the tournament had played 8-handed.

Final Table Action

Kevin Eyster had managed to overtake the lead (5,300,000) despite all the chaos, with Williams close on his heels (4,725,000).

Williams was able to bust yet another player when Andrew Sandomire ran his short stack into Williams’ jacks. This was good news for Drew “BetOnDrew” Gonzalez and Brady Hinnegan, who had also entered the final table short. Sanomire was sent to the payouts in ninth place and Fei congratulated him on making the final table on his way out.

Just a few hands later, Gonzalez went all in over the open of Eyster but the latter wasn’t able to make the fold and ended up sucking out on Gonzalez’s jacks with a suited ace. Gonzalez is a popular YouTube Vlogger who made mention that this was his first big live final table.

Fei had gotten short and had shown some light shoves leading to that when he tripled up with red aces against Hinnegan and Meng for a huge momentum shift. Fei had spent the day joking about the equilibrium between ‘skill’ and ‘good energy’, sometimes changing his tune and making mention that ‘skill was a scam’.

Eric Wasserson took a bad beat when Meng caught a ten against him and the very next hand he committed the rest of his chips blind, running into the suited ace of Eyster. Wasserson was heard joking (sort of) that he would need to win this tournament four times over to end up even for the summer. Fei told him he also played the $50,000 High Roller and that he was in the same boat.

Chen had a tremendous opportunity to take over the tournament when he woke up with kings and two all-ins in front of him. Instead, a miraculous chopped pot saved the tournament life of both Fei and Hinnegan. Chen took it in the chin but was well aware of the opportunity he missed out on.

Williams was next to fall when he ran into Eyster’s A♠Q♣ with an inferior A♥J♠. A competitor through and through, Williams obviously had a bracelet weighing heavy on his mind from the beginning but did take time to let the people know he was about even on Flip & Go’s tournament lifetime with this finish, as it took him over twenty attempts the first time he ever played one.

Soon after Williams’ elimination, Fei took consecutive bites out of the stacks of Eyster and Chen to further cement his new found philosophies. Chen seemed unable to catch a break, as he was next to fall when his pair of jacks were outdrawn by Eyster’s A♣Q♣, which left Chen ironically finishing in fifth place, the exact same finish he had in 2022’s Flip & Go tournament.

An agitated Eyster was next to run into the wall of Meng, losing a massive pot when his top pair was bested. Just after the color up, Eyster shoved what was left of his chips in preflop and Meng collected the rest of his chips when he made a straight on the turn. Eyster ended up settling for fourth place despite entering the final table with the chip lead.

Hinnegan remained good-natured for the entire ride, granted he had luck shine on him in multiple ways, as he had entered the final table short stacked but either got lucky when he needed or had other people busting, providing him plenty of pay jumps. In the end, he was priced in against a shove from Fei but wasn’t able to catch the cards he needed, eliminating him in third place.

Early on in heads-up play, Meng flopped a flush and was able to take a nice pot off Fei to switch the momentum and push him into the lead.

Just like everything else in this tournament, heads-up play was a quick battle that saw Fei run his inferior ace into the A♥K♥ of Meng. Fei shouted for a seven, willing all his energy, but ultimately fell short of his first bracelet.

Winner’s Reaction

PokerNews caught up with Dong Meng just after claiming his victory and he had this to say: “I feel surreal… You know, I’m just really excited. I’m very grateful for this opportunity and I know a lot of people [who wish they were competing] couldn’t be here, so I feel very fortunate.”

It wasn’t until he got heads up that he really felt like he had a chance to win it but upon further elaborating he explained that he mostly was just focused on playing his best. He went on to say he did the best he could with the cards he got dealt, got value when he could, and induce mistakes from his opponents. This is only Meng’s second time at the series and while has a huge passion for poker, it comes secondary to his career. Meng moved to the states from China in 2010 and said that what he loves about poker is that it brings people from all walks of life together. It’s his dream to be able to compete with the best and he’s grateful for his friends who he’s able to discuss strategy with.

Diego Ventura has a long list of accomplishments in his poker career, but a major series title had always eluded the Peruvian all-time money list leader. It took an extra day, but that drought finally came to an end in Event #86: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-Limit Hold’em at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Ventura outlasted a record-breaking field of 1,417 entries at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, including 15 Poker Hall of Fame members, to score the largest piece of the $2,465,590 prize pool and earn the first live WSOP bracelet for his native country of Peru.

Ventura told PokerNews that he envisioned being the first from his country to step into the winner’s circle in Las Vegas. “I think I always wanted to kind of open that door for other Peruvians to get inspired by that, and hopefully, everyone feels worthy of achieving big things in life”.

The victory over Thomas Kysar earned Ventura the $402,054 top prize along with his first piece of WSOP hardware. “Sometimes I used to doubt myself, because you know, how can I be playing for so long and I haven’t won many live tournaments,” Ventura said after his winner photos, “but then I was like God’s timing is the perfect timing”.

2023 WSOP Event #86 Final Table Results

Hall of Fame Field

The field was full of Poker Hall of Famers, with each holding a bounty on their head equalling the year that they were inducted. That list included the newest member Brian Rast, who was the first to be eliminated on Day 1.

Three Hall of Fame members made their way into the money, with Phil Hellmuth and Eli Elezra advancing to Day 2 before hitting the rail. Barbara Enright beat the bubble before exiting with a min-cash on Day 1.

Final Table Action

The final nine returned for action on an unscheduled Day 3, with the slow pace of play from the previous night a thing of the past. Jimmy Setna was the first to hit the rail after running into aces. Israel’s Leonid Yanovski finished eighth after moving in against 2014 Main Event winner Martin Jacobson, though those chips didn’t last long as Jacobson would fall next when his pocket kings were cracked.

A similar fate awaited Louie Torres, who also his kings come second best to finish in sixth. Ventura and Kysar then took turns eliminating the next three players, with Jose Nadal calling for his tournament life in the big blind before Francis Anderson ran into pocket jacks. Jason James followed by raising into pocket queens to finish in third place.

Kyser took a sizeable chip lead into heads-up play, with both players trading the advantage several times. A break in the action let Ventura shift his focus, taking the lead for good and turning up the pressure. “After the last break I felt like I had a better idea of his strategy,” said Ventura, who let the emotion pour out after winning the final hand.

The Peruvian reflected on the moment after getting his hands on the bracelet. “I was actually getting emotional way before, like when I got to the final table I already wanted to cry. I was like, wait it’s not the moment yet, so I was trying to calm myself down. So when the moment arrived I was like so calm that I couldn’t let my emotions out until, I just started to look back at my life and in that moment I got emotional.”