Jason Mercier became the 21st player in WSOP history to win six bracelets when he survived a stacked final table in 2023 WSOP Event #60 $1,500 NL 2-7 Lowball Draw. Mercier also denied Erik Seidel a shot at winning a tenth bracelet when Seidel finished in fifth place. Hong Kong's Ka Kwan Lau won Event #57 $25,000 PLO High Roller for a juicy score worth $2.3 million. Also, Mike Gorodinsky won his third bracelet with a victory in the Event #54 $10,000 HORSE Championship.
The 2023 WSOP finally reached the end of June, and the Main Event just around the corner. The final week of June saw the conclusion of the $25,000 PLO High Roller, the Milly Maker, and the $10K HORSE Championship. Erik Seidel advanced to the final table of NL 2-7 Lowball Draw, but the Hall of Famer whiffed at bracelet #10. Instead, Jason Mercier became the fourth pro to join the exclusive WSOP Sixth Timer Club this summer.
Event #60 $1,500 NL 2-7 Lowball Draw attracted 548 entrants and a prize pool worth $732K. The top 83 places paid out, and among those who cashed included Maria Ho, Richard Ashby, Matt Vengrin, Phil Helmuth, Adam Friedman, Phillip Hui, Jim Collopy, Brian Hasting, Bryan Micon, Taylor Paur, Maxx Coleman, John Monette, Andrew Yeh, Scott Bohlman, Benny Glasser, and Barry Greenstein.
With five to go heading into the final day of action, Erik Seidel was second in chips behind Brad Ruben. Seidel couldn't get anything going and he busted in fifth place.
Mercier held off Mike 'SirWatts' Watson to win Event #60 for $151,276. The lowball victory marked a sixth time that Mercier was the last player standing at the WSOP. With six bracelets, Mercier became only the 21st player in history to win six times.
Mercier stepped into the winner's circle for the first time in 2009 with a victory in $1,500 PLO. He added a second PLO bracelet in 2011 with victory in $5,000 PLO 6-Handed. In 2015, Mercier snagged a third bracelet in $5,000 NL 6-Handed. In 2016, Mercier added two more bracelets to his collection. He was the last player standing in $10,000 NL 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship which marked a fourth bracelet win. Four days later, Mercier binked $10,000 HORSE Championship for a fifth win. After a seven-year layoff, Mercier added a sixth bracelet and a second lowball win in $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw.
Mercier also has two runner-up finishes and one third-place finish at the WSOP. Mercier has now won $5.4 million at the WSOP, and he has over $20.7 million according to Hendon Mob.
This summer has been kind to four players who began the series with five bracelets but managed to snag a sixth. Shaun Deeb, Brian Rast, Jeremey Ausmus, and now Mercier are the newest additions to the WSOP Six Timer Club.
Crazy to think that only 17 players before this summer had won six or more bracelets. However, in the last three weeks, four more players added their names to the history books.
Moving on...
Event #53 $1,500 NL Millionaire Maker attracted 10,416 runners, who generated a prize pool worth over $13.9 million. The top 15,61 players earned a payout, but all of the cheesecake was set aside to the champ with $1.2 million at stake. Moldova's Pavel Plesuv defeated France's Florian Ribouchon to win his first bracelet. Plesuv banked $1.2 million, and Ribouchon earned $1 million for a runner-up finish. Not too shabby, eh?
Event #54 $10,000 HORSE Championship attracted 185 entries and a prize pool worth $1.7 million. Mike Gorodinsky won his third bracelet and snagged $423K in cash for shipping the $10K HORSE championship. The top 28 places paid out, and some of the notables who went deep and cashed included Alex Livingston, Brian Yoon, Scott Seiver, Carol Fuchs Phil Hellmuth, Wil Wilkinson, Connor Drinan, Bakes Baker, Esther Taylor-Brady, Phillip Hui, Maxx Coleman, John Racener, and Chino Rheem.
Event #55 $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo attracted 566 runners and a prize pool worth $755K. The top 85 placs earned a cut, and among the familiar faces who cashed included Brian Rast, Max Pescatori, Chris Bell, Shaun Deeb, Walter Treccarichi, Norman Chad, and Jon Turner. Polish pro Marcin Horecki won his first bracelet and denied Mike Matusow from winning a fifth bracelet. The Mouth will have to wait another day to join the Five Timers Club.
Event #56 SALUTE to WARRIORS - $500 NL attracted 4,303 entrants and a prize pool in excess of $1.9 million. Firefighter Steven Genovese was the last player standing and he won his first bracelet and nearly $218K. DJ Alexander made the final table but busted in ninth place.
Event #57 $25,000 PLO High Roller attracted 449 runners and a juicy prize pool worth $10.5 million. Ka Kwan Lau from Hong Kong was the last player standing and he banked nearly $2.3 million. Only the top 68 places paid out and among those big names who cashed in the $25K PLO High Roller included Cary Katz, Jeremy Ausmus, Chance Kornuth, Dylan Weisman, Ike Haxton, Ben Lamb, Joni Jouhkimainen, Chad Eveslage, Dan Zack, Brandon Schaefer, Joao Vieira, Sean Winter, Jake Schindler, Paul Volpe, Josh Arieh, Johnny World, Brandon Adams, Kane Kalas, and Noah Schwartz.
Event #58 $3,000 Limit Hold'em (6-Hnaded) attracted 263 runners and a prize pool worth $702K. Jason Daly won his first bracelet and denied Nick Pupillo from winning another piece of hardware when Nicky P busted in third place. David Bach finished in eighth place and other notables who went deep and cashed included Dan Shak Joe McKeehen, Maria Ho, Alex Queen, Jameson Painter, and JJ Liu.
Event #59 $3,000 NL Freezeout was an old-school event that attracted 1,598 runners and a prize pool worth $4.26 million. The top240 places paid out. Austria's Robert Schulz binked the freezeout and edged out France's Julien Stibon for the bracelet and $675K in cash. Italy's Dario Sammartino busted in fifth at a final table of nine that included two Americans, two Brits, an Italian, an Israeli, one Frenchman, one player from India, and the Austrian.
