Alexandre Villeumier
Alexandre Villeumier won his first WSOP bracelet at the expense of a poker legend.

A busy day of action saw Swiss player Alexandre Vuilleumier win the $25,000-entry High Roller Event #2 in Las Vegas last night as Chance Kornuth was denied at the last. Having sold his action on PokerStake, Kornuth still made an incredible return for his investors, but will be devastated at getting so close to his fourth WSOP title.

Vuilleumier the Swizz Superstar as Kornuth Conquered

The Swiss player Alexandre Vuilleumier is the name on the lips of poker fans around the world today after he triumphed against Chance Kornuth in Event #2, the $25,000-entry High Roller, in thrilling fashion. Just six players reached the final table, but it was the fourth-placed player Vuilleumier who rose to the top of the leaderboard and saw off the competition to bag the $1.2 million top prize in Las Vegas under the lights.

The first final table to be played in the ‘Thunderdome’ at the Horseshoe Las Vegas is always an exciting one, and this was no different. Vuilleumier didn’t lead coming into the action but soon made waves. He took out the first player to leave too, as super short stacked Joey Weissman shoved with KsKd for a little under three big blinds and saw Vuilleumier’s Jc3h hit trips on the 7h3c3s flop. The 8s turn and 8d river made no difference and Weissman busted for $188,219 in sixth place.

Next to go was Ren Lin, as the Chinese, who earlier in the event had teased Kornuth that it was impossible to bust him fell victim to irony as he busted to that opponent. Lin was all-in with AhTh but lost to Kornuth’s KsKc as the brutal runout of Kd7d6sKh8d gave the three-time WSOP bracelet winner unassailable quad kings on the turn.

Villeumier Kornuth
Villeumier and Kornuth in action heads up in the Thunderdome in Las Vegas.

French player Axel Hallay had come into the day leading the field but busted in fourth for just over $363,000. His stack was short enough to call off his stack with Qh3h but he only had one live card as Sean Winter flipped over KdQc. A king on the flop was all she write and Winter, who had been down to less than two big blinds a short while earlier had laddered into the top three.

That was where Winter’s event ended, but not before a protracted battle he was a little unfortunate to leave. Eventually, his flopped top pair was out-kicked by the eventual winner and Winter collected $518,106 for his efforts, while the Swiss player edged into a heads-up lead of 19.8 million to 11.3 million.

The lead heads-up proved pivotal, as Vuilleumier saw off Kornuth, with the latter shoving when short with Ks3c. Vuilleumier called with AdQs and the board of JdTc8d9hJs gave the Switzerland player a turned straight to see him collect the $1.2 million top prize. Kornuth, for all his control in the latter stages of the competition, had to be happy with over $750,000 in second place and a near-miss. It is, however, a great start to the WSOP for the PokerStake participant. Look out for his latest offerings on the WSOP Staking page.

WSOP 2023 Event #2 $25,000 High Roller Final Table Results:

Place Player Country Prize
1st Alexandre Vuilleumier Switzerland $1,215,864
2nd Chance Kornuth United States $751,463
3rd Sean Winter United States $518,106
4th Axel Hallay France $363,326
5th Ren Lin China $259,220
6th Joey Weissman United States $188,219

 

Davis Leads Mystery Millions After Huge Day 1b

The second day of Event #3, the $1,000-entry Mystery Millions event, saw a bumper field swell the overall number to 4,980 as players battled to reach Day 2 and the possibility of drawing the million-dollar bounty. With Shaun Davis (2,475,000) marginally head of the Israeli player Tal Avivi (2,380,000) and American Joseph Dornish (2,250,000), other stars of the felt such as 2014 world champion Martin Jacobson (1,180,000) and German footballer Max Kruse (1,560,000) made the cut in style.

WSOP 2023 Event #3 $1,000 Mystery Millions Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Shaun Davis United States 2,475,000
2nd Tal Avivi Israel 2,380,000
3rd Joseph Dornish United States 2,250,000
4th Leo Sorma France 1,805,000
5th Daniyal Gheba United States 1,800,000
6th Jon Gisler United States 1,760,000
7th Roberto Bianchi United States 1,735,000
8th Cody Brinn United States 1,710,000
9th Jorge Hou France 1,700,000
10th Deborah Hinton United States 1,653,000

 

Tournament of Champions Reaches Final Day as Wilson on Course to Win

Scott Wilson (2,885,000) bagged the biggest stack on Day 2 of the three-day Tournament of Champions event. With three other players – Brent Gregory (2,000,000), Dakota Britton (1,400,000) and Vincent Moscati (1,120,000) – the only other hopefuls to bag a seven-figure stack, it is Jason Somerville (405,000) who is the only former bracelet winner still in with a chance of making it two when the final day takes place tomorrow.

WSOP 2023 Event #4 Tournament of Champions Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Scott Wilson United States 2,885,000
2nd Brent Gregory United States 2,000,040
3rd Dakota Britton United States 1,400,000
4th Vincent Moscati United States 1,120,000
5th Katelin Koper United States 990,000
6th Dustin Wills United States 905,000
7th Justin Hotte-Mckinnon Canada 880,000
8th Patrick White Ireland 870,000
9th Barry Schultz United States 795,000
10th Wissam Gahshan United States 780,000

 

Kelsall King After Day 2 of Dealer’s Choice

There are only 11 players left in Event #5, the $10,000-entry Dealer’s Choice event, where Phil Hellmuth finished 20th on the day. That’s a great result from 456 entries but for the Poker Brat, it was all disappointment as he slid out of contention.

Of the remaining 11 players, bracelet winners Chad Eveslage (1,095,000) and John Racener (565,000) will both be major threats to anyone hoping to claim gold, but Andrew Kelsall (1,950,000) holds a big chip lead heading into the home straight.

WSOP 2023 Event #5 $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Andrew Kelsall United States 1,950,000
2nd Clayton Mozdzen Canada 1,555,000
3rd James Johnson United States 1,465,000
4th Nick Pupillo United States 1,105,000
5th Chad Eveslage United States 1,095,000
6th Ryan Roeder United States 960,000
7th Nick Kost United States 905,000
8th Gregory Kelley United States 695,000
9th David Levi United States 645,000
10th John Racener United States 565,000

 

Two More Events Complete Exciting Opening Days

Two more bracelet events wrapped up on Day 3 of the WSOP, with the $5,000-entry Mixed NLHE/PLO Event #6 seeing 567 entries whittled down to 50 survivors, with Swiss player  Fernando Habegger (1,625,000) leading from Ukraine’s Roman Rogovski (1,325,000) and Christian Harder (1,125,000) in the top five. Kristen Foxen (895,000), Alex Livingston (785,000) and Joao Vieira (750,000) all remain in the hunt for gold, but Ryan Riess, Stephen Chidwick and Shannon Shorr all failed to make Day 2.

WSOP 2023 Event #6 $5,000 Mixed NLHE/PLO Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Fernando Habegger Switzerland 1,625,000
2nd Roman Rogovski Ukraine 1,325,000
3rd Michael Moncek United States 1,210,000
4th Michael Banducci United States 1,200,000
5th Christian Harder United States 1,125,000
6th Zhen Cai United States 1,090,000
7th Greg Kolo United States 1,040,000
8th Ferenc Deak Hungary 1,025,000
9th Kristen Foxen United States 895,000
10th Tyler Brown United States 880,000

 

In Event #7, 527 entries were reduced to 169 survivors as Dana Davidson (208,500) led from Canada’s Mike Leah (200,000) at the close of play. Other star names to make the cut included Nick Schulman (180,500), Jim Collopy (85,000) and Patrick Leonard (79,500), while Humberto Brenes and Nick Guagenti bowed out short of glory.

WSOP 2023 Event #7 $1,500 Limit Hold’em Leaderboard:

Place Player Country Chips
1st Dana Davidson United States 208,500
2nd Mike Leah Canada 200,000
3rd Nicholas Goedert United States 186,500
4th Mack Khan United States 184,500
5th Phil Goatz United States 182,500
6th Nick Schulman United States 180,500
7th Joe Nalbandyan United States 178,500
8th Jason Duong Canada 175,500
9th Aaron Barham United States 170,000
10th Omar Mehmood United States 169,500

 

With Phil Hellmuth encamped in Las Vegas for two straight months, you might be wondering what is fuelling the Poker Brat’s incredible mission to win his 17th gold bracelet. Wonder no more (it’s a sweet tooth!).

If you stay at a Vegas Air B’n’B over the next seven weeks, it might be an idea to give it a once over, especially considering food options in cupboards.

Finally, WSOP Main Event final table player Alex Livingston needs to up his fruit consumption. Or at least his conversion.

PokerGO is the place to be for live streaming the World Series of Poker 2023. Sign up today and access all the action from Las Vegas, Nevada, the home of the WSOP.