Jeremy Eyer Event 12 2
Jeremy Eyer claimed Event 12 after an epic heads-up victory over Felipe Ramos.

The action was fast and furious in some events while being epic and long-reaching in others. On Day 8 of the 2023 World Series of Poker, two gold WSOP bracelets were won and four other events progressed towards the latter stages on a day of drama in Las Vegas. The Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos were packed to the back stalls as poker players of all levels took each other on in pursuit of gold and glory in the gambling capital of the world.

Felipe Ramos Comes Oh So Close, Eyer Has It

The $5,000-entry No Limit Hold’em Freezeout Event #12 ended with a cold deck as a three-hour heads-up came to a close with Jeremy Eyer on the right side of queens against jacks to win his first bracelet. Eyer’s victory came at the expense of Felipe Ramos, who was also battling for his debut bracelet, but the Brazilian lost his fourth WSOP heads-up (including online events) to cash for $401,460 instead.

Eyer’s win came at the end of a day where the two chip leaders had seemed on a collision course to a heads-up from the first card. Both men ended as they started the final day of the tournament, first and second respectively, as players such as Jeffrey Halcomb (6th for $114,102) and Jinho Hong (4th for $208,158) fell along the way.

Heads-up, both men held the advantage at different stages, but with Eyer ahead, Ramos three-bet shoved with pocket jacks, only for Eyer to call with the pocket queens. Five cards came and went without a hook to keep Ramos alive, and he left to the embrace of his rail. Eyer did the same, just in a completely different manner. The WSOP makes dreams and break hearts, with breaks inbetween.

WSOP 2023 Event #12 $5,000 NLHE Freezeout Results:

Place Player Country Prize
1st Jeremy Eyer United States $649,550
2nd Felipe Ramos Brazil $401,460
3rd Nozomu Shimizu Japan $287,106
4th Jinho Hong South Korea $208,158
5th Ronald Minnis United States $153,032
6th Jeffrey Halcomb United States $114,102
7th Ivan Galinec Croatia $86,300
8th Shiva Dudani United States $66,226
9th James Vecchio United States $51,769

 

Felipe Ramos
A crestfallen Felipe Ramos is comforted by his wife and fellow poker legend Natalie Hof-Ramos.

Joseph Altomonte Takes “Acceptable” PLO Deepstack Crown

“My ex said being a poker player wasn’t an acceptable occupation, so I quit for a very long time.”

Many poker players take time out from the game, but nine years is a long time. After almost a decade out of a game due to a former partner declaring poker a no-go area, Joseph Altomonte came back to the game earlier this year and started cashing right away, claiming four results in the WSOPC Online Series. Across 11 days in Hollywood, five more cashes followed at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown festival. Now Altomonte has the one they all crave – a WSOP bracelet.

Winning Event #13, the $600-entry PLO Deepstack event for over $217,000, Altomonte was quick to ‘credit’ his former partner’s words after the event.

“My ex said being a poker player wasn’t an acceptable occupation,” he told PokerNews reporters. “I quit for a very long time.”

Back with a bracelet, Altomonte took the title from other greats at the final table including the runner-up Michael Holmes ($134,171). Hardly an ‘elementary’ victory, Altomonte had to wade through 3,200 entrants to lift the prize, and a degree of retribution or those wasted years out of poker.

He certainly made the right decision to come back.

WSOP 2023 Event #13 $600 PLO Deepstack Results:

Place Player Country Prize
1st Joseph Altomonte United States $217,102
2nd Michael Holmes United States $134,171
3rd Stephen Wheeland United States $100,976
4th Jorge Ufano United States $76,516
5th Clayton Fletcher United States $58,382
6th Xing He Canada $44,856
7th Ardit Bitincka Canada $34,706
8th Jerome Hickel United States $27,042

 

Max and Maxx Top Two in Seven Card Stud Championship

The Seven Card Stud Championship, which costs $10,000 to play saw drama to the ‘Max’ as Max Hoffman (1,522,000) and Maxx Coleman (1,238,000) ended the day as the only two players with a seven-figure stack in their bid to win the $311,433 top prize.

Others such as Brian Yoon (800,000), Johannes Becker (744,000) and Den Diebold (684,000) to name just three will feel they have the stack to compete for the crown, with double bracelet winner in 2023 Chad Eveslage (472,000) somehow still alive in pursuit of what would be a never-seen-before third bracelet inside the first 14 events of the Las Vegas World Series.

WSOP 2023 Event #14 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Max Hoffman United States 1,522,000
2nd Maxx Coleman United States 1,238,000
3rd Brian Yoon United States 800,000
4th Johannes Becker Germany 744,000
5th Ben Diebold United States 684,000
6th George Alexander United States 652,000
7th David ‘Bakes’ Baker United States 586,000
8th Chad Eveslage United States 472,000
9th Ben Yu United States 422,000
10th Dan Shak United States 417,000

 

Calvin Anderson and Freedy Deeb in Command in $25,000 High Roller

Pick a poker hero and they were likely playing in Event #16 on the schedule, the $25,000-entry High Roller event. Of the 264 total entries, only 93 made the Day 2 cut, with Calvin Anderson (1,609,000) ahead of Freddy Deeb (1,440,000), with Brian Kim (1,291,000) completing the podium places.

Other stars to bag chips included WSOP Event #2 winner Alexandre Builleumier (774,000) and two former world champions in Espen Jorstad (377,000) and Joe McKeehen (320,000), several other former Main Event winners busted on the day, as Phil Hellmuth (1989), Ryan Riess (2013), Martin Jacobson (2014), Koray Aldemir (2021) and  Joe Cada (2009) all failed to end the day still in their seats.

WSOP 2023 Event #16 $25,000 High Roller Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Calvin Anderson United States 1,609,000
2nd Freddy Deeb United States 1,440,000
3rd Brian Kim United States 1,291,000
4th Isaac Haxton United States 1,195,000
5th Alex Nguyen United States 1,060,000
6th Calvin Lee United States 979,000
7th Ting-Yi Tsai Taiwan 947,000
8th Biao Ding United States 790,000
9th Nick Maimone United States 783,000
10th Eric Wasserson United States 780,000

 

Two Day 1s Close in No Limit Hold’em and Omaha Hi-Lo

Two other events concluded their Day 1 flights as Events #15 and #17 ended on Tuesday night. Brandon Hall (1,440,000) was top dog in the $1,500 Six-Max NLHE Event #15, as others such as Maria Ho (409,000) and Joe Cheong (236,000) made Day 2 in sparkling form.

WSOP 2023 Event #15 $1,500 Six-Max NLHE Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Brandon Hall United States 1,440,000
2nd Stevens Chen United States 1,100,000
3rd Mathew Moore United States 924,000
4th Allan Le United States 800,000
5th Michael Jagroo United States 798,000
6th Matthew Wantman United States 774,000
7th Adam Swan United States 765,000
8th Jack O’Neill United Kingdom 762,000
9th Eduardo Bernal Sanchez Colombia 762,000
10th Dorian Rios Venezuela 752,000

 

In the $1,500-entry Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Event #17, Adel Shakerian (239,500) led from Ben Vidal (210,500) and Colin Burton (202,500) as others such as Jason Daly (176,500) and Connor Drinan (157,000) also made sure they will return tomorrow.

WSOP 2023 Event #17 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Adel Shakerian United States 239,000
2nd Benjamin Vidal United States 210,500
3rd Colin Burton Canada 202,500
4th Sergey Zaporozhets Russia 187,000
5th Nitesh Rawtani United States 177,500
6th Jason Daly United States 176,500
7th Ryan Scully United States 175,000
8th Smith Sirisakorn United States 169,000
9th Hlias Azakas United States 167,000
10th Glen Munro United States 166,500

 

Today, we’re looking at what makes an elite poker player tick during the World Series.

For the Run It Once owner and three-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Galfond, food makes a big difference.

For Angela Jordison, it’s all about giving back.

But for some, the key ingredient is to cause yourself a serious injury then tool up with some heavy building equipment. Step forward, Gus Hansen.

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