The 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is now heads-up after Adam Walton shoved his deep stack all in with pocket eights and ran into pocket aces.

Entering today’s 10th and final session of poker’s world championship event, only three players remaining — Walton, Daniel Weinman, and Steven Jones. All three were vying for the $12.1 million first place prize, along with the glorious gold bracelet. Walton, however, will not be the lucky winner.

Aggressive Player Runs Into It

Walton reached the final table with aggressive play, but that aggression inevitably cost him on Monday. Shortly before busting, he jammed on Jones with AxKx and forced AxQx to fold. Although he knocked an inferior hand out of the pot, he won a crucial hand that helped bolster his stack to around 100 big blinds.

Moments later, with the blinds at 1,000,000/2,500,000, Walton, who was sitting on around 200 million chips, raised to 6,000,000 with 8♠8♣ before Weinman, who had him covered by a small amount, three-bet to 27,000,000 with A♥A♦. Without hesitation, the Las Vegas local then snap-jammed all in and was in turn snap-called by the preflop nuts.

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Walton was at risk and would get some help from the board when it came out 7♣5♥3♣9♠, giving him a gut-shot straight draw on the turn. But the K♣ on the river sealed the deal and sent Walton home in third place for $4 million, more than four times his prior Hendon Mob results.

Weinman moved into a massive chip lead, better than 2-1, but Jones still has 63 big blinds. The winner will receive $12.1 million and the runner-up will take home $6.5 million.

Follow Live Coverage of the WSOP Main Event Final Table

The 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas is winding down, but the action will heat up again come December with the first ever WSOP Paradise at the Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

In partnership with GGPoker, the winter series will include 15 bracelet events from Dec. 3-14. Via a Twitter video, GG’s top ambassador Daniel Negreanu shared some details about the upcoming major event.

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The full schedule isn’t out, but Negreanu teased a heavy dose of high rollers, including $50,000 and $100,000 buy-in tournaments. In total, the WSOP is guaranteeing at least $50 million in prize money to be awarded across all events in the Bahamas.

Warm Weather, Beaches, and Bracelets

With gorgeous beaches and warm weather, there aren’t many better places to be in December than the Bahamas. The island is a familiar spot for major poker events, most notably the popular PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA).

This coming winter, the Bahamas will host a WSOP bracelet series for the first time. The series will be highlighted by a $5,000 Main Event with $15 million guaranteed. Other events announced include a $1,500 Mystery Bounty, $25,000 GGMillion$, along with two pot-limit Omaha tournaments.

“GGPoker is delighted to launch WSOP Paradise and welcome hundreds of players from all over the world to Atlantis Paradise Island this December,” Negreanu said in a press release. “It’s going to be an absolutely amazing experience, the best of poker at one of the world’s most luxurious resorts.”

Negreanu hasn’t traveled much in recent years to play poker outside of WSOP Europe, but he’ll be chasing his first bracelet since 2013 this winter in the Bahamas, and is coming off a second straight disappointing summer World Series of Poker.

Speaking of WSOP Europe, prior to the Bahamas series, the bracelet-chasing action will resume in Rozvadov, Czech Republic from October 25 to November 16. There will be 15 bracelet events on that schedule as well.

In the words of UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer, who just so happens to be a poker enthusiast, “iiiittt’s tiiiime!” Well, almost time (depending on when you’re reading this) — 2 p.m. PT, to be exact — for the final day of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Three players will battle it out on the felt for a shot at $12.1 million and the world championship bracelet.

Steven Jones, Daniel Weinman, and Adam Walton, three Americans, will each be in for a grind tonight. Although Walton is technically the short stack with 165,500,000 chips, he’ll begin play with over 80 big blinds and isn’t far off Jones’s lead (238,000,000), while the second place stack is even closer at 199,000,000. Barring a couple of coolers or some out-of-character play from these skilled individuals, strap in for a lengthy affair.

Cards will be in the air at 1 p.m. but there will be a hour-long live-stream delay on PokerGO. PokerNews will provide hand-for-hand updates of the final day from start to finish.

Plenty of Dancing Chips

Last year, Espen Jorstad entered the final session of the Main Event with a commanding lead against Adrian Attenborough, while Michael Duek was on a true short stack. Jorstad used that big stack to his advantage and dominated play, much like he did throughout the entire final table, to win the 2022 world championship.

On Monday, the final session will likely play out much differently as all three players are not only capable of aggressive play, but they all have plenty of chips to make some moves. It will be interesting to see who comes out swinging early and whose strategy will be to wait patiently for the right opportunity. Will either of these three individuals play tight early in hopes of getting heads-up for the bracelet? That question will be answered fairly early on.

Weinman, given his experience in tournament play, seems to be the favorite according to social media. If true, his edge given the stacks, situation, and opposition likely isn’t too wide. The poker pro from Atlanta had over $3.7 million in live tournament earnings prior to the start of the 2023 WSOP Main Event, according to Hendon Mob.

He’s also a previous bracelet and WSOP Circuit ring winner. Walton, with $989,000 in prior tournament cashes, and Jones, a real estate broker from Arizona, had just $245,000 in Hendon Mob results, and they don’t have near the pre-Main Event accolades of Weinman. But they’ve shown they’re capable of battling, and defeating, tough competition throughout poker’s world championship event.

Each of the three remaining players has a guaranteed minimum payout of $4 million, with $6.5 million going to the runner-up and $12.1 to the winner. The pay-jumps are massive and could impact their play.

Follow Live Coverage of the WSOP Main Event Final Table

Poker players can be superstitious, and it is not unusual to see them wear a specific item of clothing throughout a tournament or use a trinket as a card protector. The eagle-eyed among you who have followed PokerNews coverage of the 2023 World Series Of Poker Main Event may have noticed something unusual about Adam Walton‘s chips. No, it is not the way he stacks them, but rather the fact that there is a shiny rock taking pride of place on top of his chips.

PokerNews is unaware if Walton is a superstitious fellow, but we do know that the rock is of great importance and symbolizes something rather special. The rock was once in the possession of Cody Daniels, the young, terminally ill poker player who achieved his dream of cashing in the 2023 WSOP Main Event.

Daniels’ impressive run ended in a 635th place finish when he missed a flush and inside straight draw in a hand where Raj Vohra held an overpair to the board. Daniels received a round of applause from his former tablemates as he made his way to the cashier’s desk to collect $30,000, but Vohra received something of much greater value. Daniels handed Vohra a small piece of rock, pyrite, to be exact. You may know pyrite by its Fool’s Gold nickname.

https://twitter.com/CodyDaniels88/status/1678631633098887168

Pyrite is an abundant mineral with little monetary value, but this particular piece holds great sentimental value to Daniels. A lucky charm of sorts, Daniels planned to give the rock to whoever eliminated him from the Main Event and was hopeful that it would find its way to the final table.

For highly intelligent people, poker players can be forgetful souls. No doubt, Daniels thought a player would put the rock in their pocket and forget about it until they arrived at their hotel room and wondered what on Earth was digging into their leg. As luck would have it, the small piece of pyrite eventually found its way to Walton, who sat down at the WSOP Main Event final table with the chip lead in tow. Walton reached Day 2 of the final table and was responsible for bringing the curtain down on Day 1 when he woke up with pocket aces, which held against Jan-Peter Jachtmann‘s all-in squeeze. Could the rock have helped those aces appear in Walton’s hand?

Although he is third from three going into the grand finale, Walton has 83 big blinds at his disposal, plus possibly the luckiest, most talked about piece of rock in poker.

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Daniels learned that Walton had his beloved pyrite and took to Twitter as he attempted to track down Walton. Through the power of social media, Daniels managed to get hold of Walton, who called Daniels and promised that he would return the rock in person if he went all the way and became poker’s latest world champion. Furthermore, Walton offered to fly Daniels back to Las Vegas to watch the final table unfold.

Unfortunately, Daniels has decided against traveling back to Las Vegas to see if his beloved rock helps propel Walton to victory. According to a Tweet, Daniels is not feeling 100% and does not want to risk becoming more ill, mainly because he was invited to the Hustler Casino Live Family Meet Up Game on July 23, where money will be raised for him and his family.

https://twitter.com/CodyDaniels88/status/1680946714612760577

The cards are back in the air from 1:00 p.m. local time on July 17, and you can follow all of the updates from the final day of the 2023 WSOP Main Event from 2:00 p.m. local time due to a delay for the PokerGO stream. Keep an eye out for Daniels’ rock.

Taking down a prestigious poker tournament for a large score opens doors for poker players. Being known in the community as a poker champion gains the respect of your peers, while a bankroll-boosting score goes some way to giving you more freedom over which event you can play and where.

On September 5, 2022, Scunthorpe’s Kyle Jeffrey‘s poker dreams came true. After three intense days of poker action, Jeffrey had outlasted a record 10,583 opponents in the 10th anniversary edition of the Goliath Main Event, and turned his £150 investment into a colossal £200,000.

A Solid Day 2 Performance

PokerNews‘ Live Reporting team were on the ground from Day 2 of the Goliath X, the largest-ever Goliath tournament in history. Jeffrey finished Day 2 with a healthy 7,200,000 stack, which was enough for 11th place with only 42 players remaining. At that point, Jeffrey had locked in £1,460 and was only two pay jumps from a new career-high haul, which at the time stood at £1,695, his reward for a runner-up finish five years earlier.

Day 3 shuffled up and dealt at 11:00 a.m. on September 5, and Jeffrey got off to a blistering start, finding pocket kings when an anonymous player jammed with an inferior pair of fours in the hole.

He then won a flip with ace-queen against David Meager‘s pocket eights to find himself with 11,000,000 chips in the opening level of the final day’s play.

Jeffrey must have thought this way his day when his lowly king-deuce improved to a full house to beat the ace-four of Jack Harris with only three tables remaining, but there was still plenty of poker to be played.

Jeffrey’s stack dwindled, but he earned a reprieve when his king-jack came from behind to beat Sean Hopkins‘ pocket sevens, which kept Jeffrey’s Goliath dreams alive.

Final Table Reached

By the time the nine-handed final table was set, Jeffrey found himself armed with 28,000,000 chips, enough for fifth place, but he trailed the chip leader, David Reed (77,650,000) by a considerable distance.

The champion-elect was keeping his head above water in the early stages of the final table, but doubled through Young Seo Yoon with pocket fives against ace-jack to give his stack a boost; Jeffrey never looked back from that point onwards.

With only five players remaining, the tournament clocked was paused, and discussions about a deal followed. An ICM deal was dismissed, then the offer of everyone taking home £100,000 and playing on for £20,000 never gained traction, so play continued with the original payout structure.

Jeffrey sent Georgian Georgescu to the rail in fifth, and his stack swelled to 112 million. He then busted Reed in fourth before finding himself heads-up against Luke Cheslin after Cheslin sent Charlie Tarimo to the showers.

The Hand That Changed Jeffrey’s Life

Heads-up was a brief affair and saw Jeffrey open to 12,000,000 with ace-four, and Cheslin call with queen-eight of spades. The ace-nine-deuce flop contained two spades. Jeffrey bet 7,500,000, and Cheslin called. Another deuce on the turn resulted in Cheslin jamming for 75,000,000 and Jeffrey calling. Jeffrey faded the flush draw on the river when the nine of diamonds completed the community cards. Cheslin fell in second place, and Jeffrey became the Goliath champion and recipient of £200,000.

2022 Grosvenor Goliath X Main Event Final Table Results

A delighted Jeffrey spoke to PokerNews shortly after his incredible victory.

“When the payout got to £4,000, I was thinking that’s massive. Then it kept on getting bigger and bigger. When I was playing, I didn’t really think about the money. Once I got chips I just played because I felt like could win.

“I play a lot of hyper turbos online, so that was massive for me. So towards the end, I was just putting pressure on everyone; that’s what paid off. And I got some cards as well!”

Amazingly, Jeffrey’s friend, Elliott Marais, triumphed in the 2017 edition of the Goliath for £85,760. Jeffrey saw the difference such a sizable score did for his friend.

“The money is life-altering. I can do so much with it. I can’t wait. But I’m going to be doing a lot more poker, that’s what I’m looking forward to doing going forward.”

True to his word, Jeffrey has used his new-found fortune to travel far and wide playing tournaments. A trip to Belgium in May 2023 saw him finished 19th in the €800 buy-in PokerStars LIVE Belgian Poker Challenge, and a trip to the United States bore fruit.

Although Jeffrey did not manage to cash in a 2023 WSOP event, he did come out on top in a $300 buy-in Mystery Bounty tournament at the Golden Nugget for a $55,485 payday, overcoming more than 2,350 opponents. It seems large field events are now Jeffrey’s thing.

Heading to Coventry to Defend His Title

It goes without saying that Jeffrey is heading to Coventry in an attempt to become the Goliath’s two-time champion. There is every chance that this year’s Goliath will boast a £1.5 million prize pool by the time late registration slams shut on the final flight, and Jeffrey has plenty of ammunition at his disposal if he wants to take full advantage of the re-entry format.

Day 1A starts at 12:00 p.m. on July 29, with a turbo-structured Day 1H starting at 6:00 p.m. on August 4. Will Jeffrey manage to do the unthinkable and win back-to-back Goliath’s, or will it be your name displayed across PokerNews‘ pages after the final hand is played?

2023 GUKPT Goliath Schedule

Check out the full 2023 GUKPT Goliath schedule in the table below, which details the Goliath Main Event, all side events, and satellites.

It initially seemed like a tall order for the 2023 PokerStars MicroMillions Main Event to reach its ambitious $500,000 guarantee when one considered the tournament only cost $22 to enter. However, after 27,863 players bought in, the guarantee was smashed, with a $557,260 prize pool created, and a top prize that tipped the scales at $34,343.

The PokerStars software pitched the first cards at precisely 6:05 p.m. BST on July 16, with the tournament wrapped up and the champion crowned by 3:47 a.m. BST on July 17. When the dust had settled, it was Greece’s “deathcube77” who had all of the almost 700 million chips in play, which were exchanged for a top prize worth $34,343.

“deathcube77” took two bites at the cherry, having busted in 16,320th with their first bullet. They collected $12.50 in bounties before their untimely demise, and possibly parlayed that prize money into a second entry. It proved to be a case of second time lucky for the Greek grinder because they ultimately came out on top.

2023 PokerStars MicroMillions Main Event Final Table Results

With bounties payments included, none of the nine finalists, who hailed from six different countries, took home less than $2,245 for their effort, an impressive return for a $22 buy-in tournament.

A trio of Brazilian stars were the first casualties of the final table. “VittorRod” was the first of the three to bust; they collected the previously mentioned $2,245. “elerson10” and “Deyvson 97” fell by the wayside in eighth and seventh place, respectively, finishes worth $3,790 and $4,228.

Poland’s “Artiz89” had to make do with a $5,993 haul when their deep run ended in a sixth-place finish, with Belarusian “sviduslav” banking $8,837 when they came unstuck in fifth.

The prize pool was so vast that the top four finishers saw their PokerStars account balances swell by a five-figure amount. Iceland’s “makkarinn” collected the first of these chunky scores, namely $11,135.

Third-place went to Ukraine’s “sexinstruktor7.” Their singular $22 investment was now worth $14,682.

Heads-up pitted “deathcube77” of Greece against Irish player “RudyBee123.” Both secured more than $24,000 from the main prize pool, leaving the final bounty payments up for grabs. Both players had eliminated more than their fair share of foes before reaching the grand finale, so those last bounty hauls were substantial.

“RudyBee123” fell at the final hurdle and saw $5,016 added to their main prize, for a total payout worth $29,023. That elimination left “deathcube77” as the last player standing, and they scooped a total haul worth $34,343, with more than $10,000 of that sum stemming from fallen foes’ scalps.

Although impressive the $34,343 that “deathcube77” collected was not the largest score of the series. That honor went to “figalex25” of Peru, who outlasted 5,865 opponents in the $55 buy-in High Roller that ran alongside the Main Event. Victory in the high roller came with a cool $41,686.

Never Miss a PokerStars Tournament Again

PokerStars has so many multi-table tournaments running that it is easy to miss one, which is where the PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar comes in. Our free-to-use tool allows you to filter tournaments based on buy-in, game type, and more. It even allows you to fire up the PokerStars client via PokerNews so you can continue browsing all of the latest news, strategy, and promotions! Check it out today!

Day 48 was another thrilling day at the 2023 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. it saw the Main Event cut down to only three players, plus several events fill the vast tournament areas. Continue reading to discover what went down in Las Vegas.

Event #87: $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better required an addition day because Day 3 concluded with Nghia Le, Nick Pupillo, and Bradley Smith still in contention for the $221,733 top prize. The tournament finally crowned its champion and Smith is that man. In addition to the prize money, Smith captured the first bracelet of their career.

Pierre Shum became champion of Event #88 The Closer, helping themselves to a $606,810 score and a coveted gold bracelet. Some 3,531 players bought into one of the last events of the 2023 WSOP, and Shum outlasted everyone on their way to an impressive victory.

Steven Jones Leads the 2023 WSOP Main Event With Only Three Remaining

We almost know who the 2023 WSOP Main Event champion will be because only three players remain in contention to take down Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship.

Day 9 of the Main Event saw the nine-handed final table whittled to only three hopefuls, with each of that trio now guaranteed a whopping $4,000,000. The pay jumps are astronomical, with the runner-up collecting $6,500,000 and the champion taking home a record-breaking $12,100,000.

One of Steven Jones (238,000,000), Daniel Weinman (199,000,000), or Adam Walton (165,500,000) will be poker’s world champion for the next 12 months. Check out our dedicated WSOP Main Event recap right here to find out what went down at the final table.

Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Chip Counts

$10K NLHE 6-Max Requires an Additional Day

Event #90: $10,000 6-handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship was meant to conclude on July 16 but the tournament staff decided to call it a night with four players still in contention for the $1,057,663 top prize.

All four remaining players have already captured some poker goals during their glittering careers, so victory on July 17 will see them become a two-time champion.

Frenchman Alexandre Reard (18,450,000) is the man to catch going into the unscheduled Day 4, and by some distance. Reard has almost three times as many chips as Stephen Chidwick (6,950,000), and is way ahead of AJ Kelsall (4,500,000), and Justin Liberto (3,100,000). Indeed, Reard holds more chips than the other three players combined.

July 17 at 1:00 p.m. is when the cards are back in the air in this event, so return to PokerNews then to discover who wins this huge event.

Event #90: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship Chip Counts

August Gallops into Day 2 Lead in the $3K H.O.R.S.E.

Leonard August (1,926,000) leads the final 18 players into the final day of Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. and is on course to collect $208,460 and his first gold WSOP bracelet. Although August leads, the chasing pack is crammed full of supreme talent, so an August victory is far from guaranteed.

The overnight top ten includes the likes of Nick Guagenti (1,700,000), Calvin Anderson (1,388,000), Todd Brunson (1,285,000), Barbara Enright (1,040,000), Kevin Gerhart (966,000), and Chad Eveslage (785,000)!

The last 18 players return to their seats from 1:00 p.m. local time on July 17, with play continuing until a champion is crowned. Stay with PokerNews to discover who that champion is.

Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. Top 10 Chip Counts

Bumper Crowd of 1,710 Turns Out For the $1K NLHE Freezeout

Although many poker players have returned home with the 2023 WSOP rapidly nearing its conclusion, some 1,710 players bought into Event #92: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout, creating a $1,521,900 prize pool as a result.

After 17 levels, Ian Steinman (883,000) bagged up the most chips of the 124 survivors, and has done his chances of becoming a two-time WSOP champion no harm at all.

Dylan Wilkerson (691,000) ended Day 1 second in chips, with Russia’s Nikolai Tulin (646,000) bagging up the third-most chips.

Bin Weng, fresh from banking a $2,227,054 score a couple of days ago, finished Day 1 in fifth place with a stack of 611,000.

Others safely through to the business end of this event include Vanessa Kade (511,000), Tony Gregg (428,000), Mustapha Kanit (393,000), Benny Glaser (266,000), Jason DeWitt (144,000), and Phil Laak (122,000).

Day 2 starts at 10:00 a.m. local time on July 17, and PokerNews will be with you from the first hands through to the crowning of the champion.

Event #92: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout Top 10 Chip Counts

Ermin Bags $10K Short Deck Championship Day 1 Chip Lead

A compact yet stellar field participated on Day 1 of Event #93: $10,000 Short Deck Championship. Eighty-four players bought in, but only 31 navigated their way to Day 2. Nobody bagged more chips than the 411,000 found in the overnight bag of Russia’s Ivan Ermin.

Unsurprisingly, with Short Deck being the game of choice throughout Asia, there are several Asian players with substantial stacks.

Japanese Duo Nobuaki Sasaki (378,300) and Shota Nakanishi (336,300) occupy spot in the top four, while Indonesian legend John Juanda (240,900), and China’s Dong Chen (238,800) find themselves in the overnight top ten.

Others to look out for on Day 2 include Dario Sammartino (217,900), Chris Brewer (213,700), Danny Tang (162,000), Sam Soverel (157,000), Mikita Badziakouski (137,200), the newest Hall of Famer Brian Rast (128,900), and mixed game specialist Adam Friedman (43,000), although the latter is the tournament’s short stack.

Play resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time on July 17, which is also when late registration closes. Stay with PokerNews for all the updates from the Short Deck Championship event.

Event #93: $10,000 Short Deck Championship Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 49 of the 2023 WSOP

Day 49 is all about the crowning of our amazing game’s new world champion. Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship is down to only three players, and all but one of them will be eliminated on July 17. We cannot wait to discover who the 2023 WSOP Main Event champion is.

Event #90: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship will award its bracelet, as will Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E., and Event #92: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout.

Updates will also come from Event #93: $10,000 Short Deck Championship, while Event #94: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em (8-Handed) shuffles up as deals, it being the penultimate tournament of this record-breaking series.

Event #88: $1,500 The Closer has come to an end at the 2023 World Series of Poker and America’s Pierre Shum was the winner of one of the last bracelets of the summer and a refreshing $606,810. The event drew 3,531 entries in just two days and generated a prize pool of $4,713,885.

2023 WSOP Event #88 Final Table Results

Shum outlasted 258 returning players on the tournament’s final day to defeat Peter Nigh in heads-up play to win $606,810 and his first WSOP gold bracelet. More surprising is the unlikely result, as this is Shum’s first ever poker tournament. With a blaze of glory like that PokerNews can only imagine what more could follow such a young talent with a taste of victory.

Winner’s Interview

When asked where did he and this run come from Shum replied:

“I was born in Jamaica, and my parents moved there for work. I’ve played poker for a pretty long time, but mostly with friends. I started playing cash games more recently this year. I came in here today to try and win the tournament. The money wasn’t even in my mind”

Talking about his inspiration and start in poker, Shum said:

“I started off mostly because my friends played it. I’ve definitely made lots of friends from the poker table. Where I play, it is very social, so it’s fun.”

When asked about plans aside from poker, Shum responded:

“I haven’t even thought about it. I was mostly just focused on the day and taking the tournament down.”

PokerNews mentioned that Shum is a software engineer, but perhaps those aspirations would be put aside to chase more bracelets. To this, Shum replied:

“We’ll see!”

Lastly, Shum was asked if there was anything else he’d like to say to those reading at home. Shum considered before mentioning:

“I don’t think so… well, if you like poker, try a tournament. You never know.”

Shum defeated Nigh in heads-up play after the two players survived the treacherous final table of the event. Nigh was followed in third place by Roongsak Griffeth, and in fourth by Jack Duong, As Griffeth eliminated Duong then fell to Nigh shortly after.

Final Day Action

The day kicked off with 258 players, and the tournament saw players being eliminated left and right. Chris Moorman made an impressive run to 15th until he was eliminated by Mateus Carrion De Moraes. It was one of several cashes for Moorman at this year’s WSOP.

Sanjeev Kapoor and Peter Hengsakul were the first from the final table to go in ninth and eight, respectively. Kapoor found himself losing a flip against Amirpasha Emami. Hengsakul was less fortunate, finding himself in a cooler of tens against jacks.

In seventh was Jixue Yin, who became the first player to cash over $100,000. Unfortunately, Yin couldn’t avoid making the second best hand despite flopping two pair.

Mihai Niste was joined by a fan club donning tiger print shirts. Even with this help, Niste’s Kings couldn’t hold on an ace-high board.

Fifth, fourth, and third all fell in rapid succession. First, Emami was drawing dead on the turn against Shum’s turned nut flush. Just after, Jack Duong called an all-in that had all ends of the rail questioning his decision. He could not find a four or five to survive and was out in fourth. Lastly, was Griffeth who lost with the dominating hand against the larger stacked Nigh.

The two heads-up players traded pots until Shum found quads with his tournament life on the line. Finally, Shum’s queen-deuce flopped a monster after being all in against Nigh to take down the tournament.

Congratulations to Pierre Shum of Chicago, Illinois, for winning his first tournament and bracelet in Event #85: $1,500 The Closer at the 2023 WSOP in its new home at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas!

Be sure to keep it here for the rest of the week as PokerNews will be on hand to provide live updates for the remaining events.