In the last week, several pros added additional hardware to their collection as the 2023 WSOP chugs along. Shaun Deeb was the last player standing in Event #27 $1,500 8-Game Mix (6-Handed) and he joined an exclusive club of 6-time bling winners. Josh Arieh won Event #22 $10,0000 Limit Hold'em Championship for his fifth bracelet. Ben Lamb won a second bracelet in Event #25 $10,000 Omaha 8 Championship.
It's been a big week at the Horseshoe Casino and Paris Casino on the Strip as the WSOP continues in Sin City. Shaun Deeb winning his sixth bracelet was the big story along with Josh Arieh adding #5 to his collection. Alas, let's not overlook the latest running of the donks, the WSOP completed its first newly branded event -- Gladiators of Poker -- which had a $300 price tag. Yup, if you could outlast the onslaught, then you could've been named the Gladiator of the Year by prevailing in the newest gimmick event.
2023 WSOP Event #18 $300 Gladiators of Poker attracted 23,088 runners for the first-ever branded event. The prize pool was over $5.6 million with a half-mil set aside to the winner. Jason Simon won his first bracelet when he was the last Gladiator standing, and he banked $500K in cash for his epic efforts.
Event #19 $2,500 Freezeout NL attracted 1,137 runners in the old-school event where you had just a single bullet and shot at winning a bracelet. The prize pool was over $2.5 million and the top 171 places paid out. Bulgaria's Valentino Konakchiev picked off Andre Korn heads up to win the bling and $435K in cash. French pro Alexandre Reard finished in third place, and British pro Niall Farrell busted in seventh place. Among those going deep in the freezeout included Dinseh Alt, Adrian Mateos, Tony Miles, Justin Bonomo, Marton Czuczor, Jared Jaffee, Stephen Song, Fabian Gumz, and David the Dragon.
Event #20 $1,500 Badugi attracted 516 entries and a prize pool worth $688K. Michael Rodrigues from Portugal was the Badugi master and he banked $144,678 and his first bracelet. Only the top 78 places paid out. Among the notables in the top 30 were Matthew Vengrin, ODB Baker, David Bach, Adam Owen, Terrance Jan, Jon Turner, Dan Weinman, and DonkeyBomber.
Event #21 $1,000 PLO (8-Handed) attracted 2,017 runners. The top 303 places paid out of the $1.8 million prize pool. Canada's Stephen Nahm was the last PLO-combatant standing. Among those going deep in Event #21 included Mike Gorodinsky, Dario Sammartino, Eli Elezra, Max Pescatori, Will the Thrill, David Williams, Dylan Weisman, Amnon Filippi, Josh Arieh, and Daniel Negreanu.
Event #22 $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship attracted only 134 runners and a prize pool worth $12.5 million. Only the top 21 places paid out. Josh Arieh defeated Dan Idema heads-up for the bling, which marked his fifth bracelet win. The final table also included Nozomu Shimizu, Joe McKeehen, Lou Hillman, Nick Pupillo, Nick Schulman, Kevin Song, and Ronnie Bardah. Also cashing in this event were Ben Yu, Ians Johns, Mori Eskandani, Paul Volpe, and Koray Aldemir.
Event #23 $50,000 NL High Roller attracted 124 entries and a prize pool worth $5.9 million. The top 19 places paid out. Germany's Leon Sturm outlasted a final table that included Bill Klein, Jans Arends, Alex Foxen, Seth Davies, Justin Bonomo, Sam Soverel, and Sung Joo Hyun. Among those familiar faces who went deep and cashed in the $50K High Roller included Talal Shakerchi, Cary Katz, Dan Smith, Mas Oya, Kevin Rabichow, Kristen Bicknell, and Adrian Mateos.
Event #24 $1,500 Razz attracted 556 sadists. The pool was $742K and only the top 84 places paid out in Razz. David ODB Baker was the last player standing and he banked $152,991 and his third bracelet. The Razz final table included runner up Justin Liberto, Chris Hundle, Takasi Ogura, Jeff Lisandro, Everett Carlton, Bill Burke, Dzmitry Urbanovich, and Rafael Concepcion. Mickey Doft missed out on the final table when he bowed out in 12th place. Marco Johnson, Adam Owen, and Hollywood Dave also made deep runs in Razz.
Event #25 $10,000 Omaha 8 Championship attracted 212 runners and a prize pool worth $1.97 million. Ben Lamb won his second bracelet and outlasted a final table that included American James Chen, Luis Velador, Erik Seidel, Rob Yass, Brad Ruben, Johannes Becker, and James Obst. The top 32 places paid out, and among those earning a cash were David Williams, Johnny World, Sammy Farha, Bryce Yockey, and James Chen from Taiwan.
Event #26 $800 NL Deepstack attracted a whopping 4,747 runners and a prize pool that swelled to over $3.3 million. Renji Mao from China prevailed for his first bracelet victory. JJ Lui went deep and finished in fourth place.
Event #25 $1,500 8-Game Mix (6-Handed) attracted 789 runners and a prize pool that passed a cool million. The top 119 players earned a cut of the pie. Shaun Deeb emerged as the last player afloat in the 8-Game Mix. Deeb bagged his sixth-career bracelet after he picked off Brazil's Aloisio Dourado heads-up for the bling. Hollywood Dave bubbled the final table in seventh place. Also going deep were ODB Baker, Nick Schulman, Allen Le, Quin Do, Robert Mizrachi, Ian Johns, Max Pescatori, Walter Treccarichi, Sampo Ryynanen, Brian Yoon, and Jeff Lisandro.
Only eight players won seven or more bracelets and that elite eight includes Phil Hellmuth (16), Doyle Brunson (10), Johnny Chan (10), Phil Ivey (10), Johnny Moss (9), Erik Seidel (9), Billy Baxter (7), and Men the Master (7). Deeb joins the WSOP Six-Timer Club that includes six-time bracelet winners TJ Cloutier, Daniel Negreanu, Johnny World Hennigan, Layne Flack, Ted Forrest, Brian Hastings, Jay Heimowitz, Jeff Lisandro, and Jesus Ferguson.
