Pavel Plesuv
Pavel Plesuv leads the final seven players in the $1,500 buy-in Millionaire Maker, but can the Moldovan get over the line?

A dramatic day of action at the 2023 WSOP saw a slew of tournaments in progress as three bracelets were won on the day, two in the live arena and one online. In the online event, it was a great day for ‘Suki_The_Sav’, while the 2013 WSOP Main Event winner Ryan ‘BitC0in’ Riess came third for $100,740. There was another very prominent player in the top five, but you’ll find out all about that later, as we head to the live felt and catch up on two first-time WSOP gold bracelet winners.

Jason Daly Crushes Limits to Book First Bracelet

Jason Daly won his first-ever WSOP title for a top prize of $165,250 as he defeated Brent Mutter at an all-American final table in Las Vegas. With six players starting the final table, the brilliantly named Mavrick Yoo departed first when his 8d7h fell to Daniel Young’s AcJd, a seven on the flop only giving Yoo false hope before a jack on the turn did the damage.

After Young himself exited to Freddy Sageer, the latter was hoping it would give him the impetus he needed to kick on up the leaderboard but the reverse was true as he busted in fourth place for $52,056. Short-stacked, Sageer lost when dominated by Daly, and that gave the chip leader even more ammunition.

Another big win with two-pair and Daly was clear of the pair chasing him. Amassing 9,785,000 chips, his opponents Nick Pupillo and Brent Mutter, had only a tenth of Daly’s stack between them and after Pupillo busted, Mutter laddered into second as Daly completed a routine ending to a dream final table. In winning his first-ever WSOP bracelet, Daly also claimed the $165,250 top prize, the second largest of his career after his runner-up spot in this Spring’s The Lodge Championship series in Round Rock.

WSOP 2023 Event #58 $3,000 Limit Hold’em Results:

Place Player Country Prize
1st Jason Daly United States $165,250
2nd Brent Mutter United States $102,132
3rd Nick Pupillo United States $72,681
4th Freddy Sageer United States $52,056
5th Daniel Young United States $37,526
6th Mavrick Yoo United States $27,228

 

Fireman Genovese Gets Gold in Salute to Warriors

“If I can do it, you can do it.” ~ Steven Genovese

The popular retired firefighter Steven Genovese charmed his way to victory in the $500-entry Salute to Warriors event and enjoyed a similarly dominant close to proceedings as Daly did. Winning $217,921 up top, Genovese, used to fighting fire in his career, was able to stay cool in the heated atmosphere of a final table where a WSOP bracelet was on the line.

Initially, Genovese was ‘laddering’ but following the exit of the only previous bracelet winner in Dejuante ‘DJ’ Alexander in ninth place, Genovese stepped into the breach. Building a decent lead by the time Ali Alawadhi busted in fourth place, Genovese eventually went into the final heads-up battle with an unassailable 18:1 chip lead. Completing his mission, he paid tribute to serving members of the U.S. after declaring himself delighted.

“It feels amazing!” he told PokerNews in the aftermath of victory. “I was pinching myself the whole time. I’m going to be smiling for days. You can do it, too. If I can do it, you can do it.”

In emotional scenes, the much-loved Genovese was asked what it meant to him to finally win a WSOP bracelet after so long playing the game. A one-word answer laced with the tremulous rhythm of a man on the verge of tears said it all.

“Everything.”

WSOP 2023 Event #56 $500 Salute to Warriors Results:

Place Player Country Prize
1st Steven Genovese United States $217,921
2nd Kelly Gall Canada $134,643
3rd William Butcher United States $99,961
4th Ali Alawadhi United States $74,819
5th Ryan Stephens United States $56,464
6th David Elisofon United States $42,966
7th Raffaello Locatelli Italy $32,969
8th Youssef Hicham Morocco $25,512
9th Dejuante Alexander United States $19,910

 

Pavel Plesuv Leads Millionaire Makers to the Final Dance

Moldovan player Pavel Plesuv leads the final seven players into action on the final day of the Millionaire Maker determined to end his wait for a bracelet. All seven at the final have failed to claim WSOP gold so far in their careers, but perhaps none as high=profile as the Moldovan, who will begin play on the last day with 70.3 million chips, some way clear of closest challengers Florian Ribouchon(46m) and Myles Mullaly (43.6m).

Everyone else has less than half of Plesuv’s stack, with his aggression, that’s enough to make him a firm favorite to win the $1.2 million top prize. If everyone else was playing for second – they’re not yet – then another seven-figure score will drive them on, as that stands at a cool million dollars.

German player Andreas Kniep may be one to watch, starting in fourth place, the middle pin, with 34.8 million, almost exactly half of the chip leader. The maverick entertainer will be fun to watch as the final chips – and cards – fall.

WSOP 2023 Event #53 $1,500 Millionaire Maker Results:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Pavel Plesuv Moldova 70,300,000
2nd Florian Ribouchon France 46,000,000
3rd Myles Mullaly United States 43,600,000
4th Andreas Kniep Germany 34,800,000
5th Paul Gunness United States 24,100,000
6th Vitor De Souza Coutinho Brazil 20,800,000
7th Anton Smirnov Russia 19,800,000

 

Hong Kong’s Lau Leading Light in PLO

Hong Kong player Ka Kwan Lau also has a huge lead to take into the final day of action, this time in Event #57, the $25,000-entry PLO High Roller. Trailed by everyone, Lau has 28.2 million, some 10 million plus more chips than his closest rival, Sergio Martinez Gonzalez (17.45m).

With stars of the PLO felt such as Dylan Weisman (10th for $126,938), Chance Kornuth (9th for $161,585) and Jeremy Ausmus (8th for $209,392) all falling short of the final seven, Lau is favorite to claim the $2.29 million top prize. Norwegian Mads Amot (12.8m) and two short-stacked Americans, Roger Teska (6.4m) and Andjelko Andrejevic (3.4m) will all be hoping their luck changes on the final day.

WSOP 2023 Event #57 $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Ka Kwan Lau Hong Kong 28,200,000
2nd Sergio Martinez Gonzalez Spain 17,475,000
3rd Mads Amot Norway 12,850,000
4th Roger Teska United States 6,400,000
5th Andjelko Andrejevic United States 3,425,000

 

Wisbrod on Top in Freezeout as Lonis Lurks

Israel’s Barak Wisbrod leads the way in Event #59, as the $3,000-entry NLHE Freezeout event reached its final 18 players from 240 starters on Day 2 of the event. Wisbrod’s stack of 6.4 million chips is almost a million clear of Macedonian Ilija Savevski (5,435,000), with Kenny Smith (5.17m), Robert Burlacu (5.14m) and Frederic Normand (5.06m) completing the top five.

On a day where players such as Niall Farrell, Dimitar Danchev and Angela Jordison all busted just outside the final two tables, other big names survived, with Jesse Lonis (4.45m) and Brock Wilson (2.85m) both sure to be threats to the title on the final day.

WSOP 2023 Event #59 $3,000 NLHE Freezeout Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Barak Wisbrod Israel 6,400,000
2nd Ilija Savevski Macedonia 5,435,000
3rd Kenny Smith United States 5,170,000
4th Robert Burlacu United Kingdom 5,140,000
5th Frederic Normand Canada 5,060,000
6th Jesse Lonis United States 4,450,000
7th Robert Schulz Austria 4,080,000
8th Shon Aroeti Israel 3,465,000
9th Xuming Qi China 3,245,000
10th Julien Sitbon France 3,215,000

 

Moriarty and Guagenti Reaching Heights in Lowball

Ryan Moriarty (1,035,000) and Nick Guagenti go into the final day of action in the top two from just 24 players – the survivors after two days play from 548 entries in Event #60, the $1,500-entry NL 2-7 Lowball Draw event. Elsewhere in the top ten, Jonathan Glendinning  (835,000), Richard Ashby (800,000) and Adam Friedman (720,000) were strong while the nine-time WSOP event winner Erik Seidel (680,000) is also still chasing the top prize of $151,276.

WSOP 2023 Event #60 $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Ryan Moriarty United States 1,035,000
2nd Nick Guagenti United States 990,000
3rd Jonathan Glendinning United States 835,000
4th Chad Himmelspach United States 815,000
5th Robert Campbell Australia 805,000
6th Richard Ashby United Kingdom 800,000
7th Adam Friedman United States 720,000
8th Robert Massman United States 715,000
9th Erik Seidel United States 680,000
10th John Holley United States 650,000

 

Durgin Leading Super Seniors, Bonyadi and Perry Close By

Event #61 broke records, as the $1,000-entry Super Seniors kicked off with an incredible 3,121 players. Only 808 players survived to Day 2 with Kevin Durgin (392,000) top of the leaderboard with Greg White (384,000) just behind. The top three was completed by French player With Christian Guittier (366,500) but plenty of other big names lurk close by, with Farzad Bonyadi (261,000), David Perry (198,500) and Daniel Orr (198,000) all inside the top 5% of the remaining bracelet hopefuls.

WSOP 2023 Event #61 $1,000 Super Seniors Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Kevin Durgin United States 392,000
2nd Greg White United States 384,000
3rd Christian Guittier France 366,500
4th Geoffrey Gault United States 308,000
5th Michael Thorpe United States 294,500
6th Dieter Dechant United States 288,000
7th Rassoul Malboubi United States 280,000
8th Farzad Bonyadi United States 261,000
9th John Haddad United States 252,500
10th James Guziak United States 248,500

 

Two More Events Close on Day 1 After Massive Fields

Event #62 saw a new record attendance of 2,076 a massive increase of over 800 extra players on last year’s total, and with a prizepool of $2,771,460and a top prize of $410,659, 259 players remained in the hunt – and in the money – as Day 1 concluded.

Justin Jones ended the opening day’s play with the lead, holding 756,000 when the bags came round to be filled up. Close behind him was Philip Wiszowaty (708,000), with others such as David Prociak (518,000) and Belgian Bart Lybaert (481,000) all making the top 10.

WSOP 2023 Event #62 $1,500 Mixed NLHE / PLO Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Justin Jones United States 756,000
2nd Philip Wiszowaty United States 708,000
3rd Eric Pfenning United States 585,000
4th Michael Kuney United States 540,000
5th Guofeng Wang China 526,000
6th David Prociak United States 518,000
7th Robert Wells United Kingdom 512,000
8th Tomas Soderstrom Sweden 502,000
9th Pushpinder Singh Canada 498,000
10th Bart Lybaert Belgium 481,000

 

Last but by no means least, some stellar names gathered in the $10,000-entry Seven Card Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, otherwise known as Event #63 of 95 this summer. France’s Bruno Fitoussi (355,000) led the field in his quest to win a bracelet for the first time, but he was pursued by several legends who survived with above-average stacks.

Six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (264,000) was fourth in chips of the 57 players who survived from 124 entries, while Scott Seiver (218.500) and Dzmitry Urbanovich (216,500) both made the top ten too.

WSOP 2023 Event #63 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Bruno Fitoussi France 355,000
2nd Maximilian Schindler United States 310,500
3rd Dan Colpoys United States 285,000
4th Daniel Negreanu Canada 264,000
5th Connor Drinan United States 246,000
6th Ryan Miller United States 245,500
7th Qibang Cheung United Kingdom 237,000
8th Eric Rodawig United States 230,000
9th Scott Seiver United States 218,500
10th Dzmitry Urbanovich Poland 216,500

 

The atmosphere at any WSOP final table is electric but possibly never more so than at the Millionaire Maker so far in 2023.

Poker professional Max Silver thinks he’s hit on the perfect way to buy and sell action (might stick to using PokerStake’s Staking Platform ourselves!)

 

Phil Galfond decided that enough time has elapsed for him to give his thoughts on alleged poker cheat… wait, Justin Bonomo?

The Moreno household decided to turn their WSOP luck around by.. not leaving the house. It worked!

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