Another stunning day of action at this year’s 54^th annual World Series of Poker took place at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casino yesterday, as the third week of action in Sin City saw a Gladiator pronounced champion and a WSOP legend shoot for glory. With drama from the first deal to the last river across seven WSOP bracelet events, we’ve got all the action from a scorching day of red-hot poker action.

Simon the Conqueror as Gladiator Event Ends in Glory

Jason Simon conquered the final table of Event #18, the Gladiators of Poker event which has captivated the Vegas crowds this summer. The poker tournament that has become the second largest in the game’s history, had 23,088 entries, with the winner, Jason Simon left standing with a top prize of $499,852 – life-changing money for a miniscule investment.

When the final table of nine began, Simon was sixth in chip, with just over a third of the stack of the colorful Eric Trexler at the top of the leaderboard. Trexler had 150 million chips, but while he would take out Thomas Reeves in ninth place for $46,051, but he would not hold onto his dominance for long. Wade Wallace took out Caio Sobral in eighth place for $58,456, then cut Trexler down by doubling through him. On a board of , Wallace led for a massive bet of 31.5 million into an already inflated pot.

“I really think you’re bluffing.” Trexler said, calling, but he was wrong. Wallace had and that pot gave him 241 million chips, Trexler dropping to 132 million. Jason Simon, meanwhile, won a crucial flip with against Jonson Chatterley’s when the board came dry and that vaulted him to almost Trexler’s stack size.

Both Trexler and Simon got active, and took it in turns, respectively busting Bohdan Slyvinskyi (6^th for $95,883) and Kfir Nahum (5^th for $123,831). Perhaps the most important pot of the day occurred when Simon busted Wallace with the former holding and Wallace only . Wallace was sent home in fourth for $160,818, while Simon grew in stature and chip stacks. He shot down Wesley Cannon in third place for $210,024 and the hard work had been done, Simon with a lead of 548 million chips to Trexler’s 144 million.

The end was near, and Trexler’s call all-in with was an act of desperation rather than control. He was behind Simon’s and couldn’t catch up on the six-high board, giving Simon the bracelet and half a million dollars. Trexler, still delighted, took a record score of $301,097 for his runner-up performance. Jason Simon grabbed the gold.

Lamb Laughs Last as Seidel Slides into Contention

Seven players remain in the Omaha Hi-Lo Championship and with every one of them more than capable of closing out a bracelet event, the gold could go to anyone on tomorrow’s final day. Before the action even kicked off, the equally-chipped John Hennigan teased Ben Lamb with the retracted offer of a sweat.

I thought it was odd no doubt. Coldest showers I’ve ever been hit with. Johnny world just made me rethink everything in 10 seconds. https://t.co/92zTtMfxU1

— Ben Lamb (@BenbaLamb) June 12, 2023

As if by magic, the World Series of Irony continued as Hennigan failed to make the final day and Lamb himself led the final day field, piling up 2,545,000 in protest of this admittedly brilliant needle. Lamb may be top… sheepdog?.. but he is followed by some GOATs in the list of players still in the hunt for gold.

Just behind him in third place is the durable Erik Seidel. Poker’s journeyman has been a boss since the 1980s and will shooting for a 10^th bracelet tomorrow, an achievement that would see him claim a tied second place on the all-time list behind only Phil Hellmuth on 16.

Mateos the Man to Beat in $100,000 High Roller

On a day where players such as Kristen Foxen, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Player of the Year favorite and leader Chad Eveslage all busted shy of the money, Spanish tournament crusher Adrian Mateos (3,650,000) built a formidable chip leader over most of the remaining 36 players. With 79 entries in total, Mateos was closely followed in the counts by Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen (3,620,000), with the three-time WSOP winner Chance Kornuth also over three million chips on 3,375,000.

Elsewhere in the counts, the reigning world champion Espen Jorstad is fourth in chips with 2.2 million chips, while Jeremy Ausmus (2,190,000) rounds out the top five. Talal Shakerchi (2,120,000) and Koray Aldemir (1.8 million) will be threats on Day 2, as will the current all-time money list leader Justin Bonomo, who sits on 1,795,000.

Elsby and Mao Move to Extra Day for Bracelet Battle

Matthew Elsby (118.9 million) and Renji Mao (71.1 million) will square off at the Horseshoe Las Vegas tomorrow for a bracelet showdown where the winner will take home over $402,000. That’s because at the close of the third and supposed final day, they were paused in their action to resume the next day. Mao is short stack in their heads-up clash, but even he has a stack of almost 24 big blinds to play with, so the powers that be decided to bring them back tomorrow to finish it off.

The day had been a very busy one, with players such as the 2013 WSOP Main Event winner Ryan Riess (16^th for $19,291) and overnight Day 1 chip leader Cosmin Joldis (10^th for $30,253) both crashing out before the final table. Once there, a strong performance for female Hall of Famer J.J. Liu saw her hopes ended in 4^th for $140,442.

Campbell, Mizarchi and Deeb Chasing Eight Game Gold

Shaun Deeb is still in there fighting after Day 2 of the $1,500-entry Eight Game Mix Event #27, with Chad Campbell (1,991,000) the leader. With just 21 players remaining, Daniel Strelitz (1,793,000) and Aloisio Dourado (1,705,000) are Chad Campbell’s closest challengers at the top of the leaderboard with the four-time WSOP winner Robert Mizrachi (1,198,000) hoping to make it a fifth WSOP title from fifth in the counts.

Bumper Field Again in NLHE Freezeout Event

There were 2,046 players who took part in the $1,500-entry NLHE Freezeout Event #28 on Monday, with Hao Zhau (970,000), Taylor Paur (876,000) and the fantastically named Turbo Nugyen (850,000) the top trio. In an event that enjoyed an attendance that was up by over 20% on last year’s showing, 188 players bagged up, with Ryan Leng (562,000), Italian professional Mustapha Kanit (437,000) and Chino Rheem (521,000) all making the cut for the Day 2 seat draw.

Monnette Chasing Another Deep Run

Finally, in Event #30, Jason Gola (221,500) bagged the chip lead in the $1,500 buy-in Limit 2-7 Triple Draw event. John Monnette (189,000) came in second when the klaxon sounded and with Hungarian Zoltan Gal (187,000) completed the podium places. Others such as Benny Glaser (126,500), Allen ‘Chainsaw’ Kessler (112,000) and Ryan DePaulo (106,000) all made Day 2 in good shape, while others such as Nacho Barbero and Joe McKeehen couldn’t survive.

How many bad beat stories does it take to accompany Norman Chad to the restroom?

Your latest @WSOP hourly update, presented by Fritos and Fresca:

The Gladiator final table — where else in the world can you walk in with $300 and walk out with $500,000 (other than, say, a Kardashian estate sale)? pic.twitter.com/40B5SyowyC

— Norman Chad (@NormanChad) June 12, 2023

Justin Bonomo ‘bit back’ against Ryan DePaulo, or to be fair, more in defence of choosing to dare to wear a mask in public.

. @JustinBonomo gives his thoughts on Ryan DePaulo and masks 👀

Follow our live coverage on https://t.co/eD3emYuD7i 🤝 pic.twitter.com/0pdjH3ysem

— Poker Org (@pokerorg) June 13, 2023

DePaulo, of course, was not about to take this expression of an opinion sitting down. Well, he was, but you get the meaning.

pic.twitter.com/cfOvDk3eGl

— Ryan Depaulo: Degenerate Gambler (@depaulo_ryan) June 13, 2023

Finally, and definitely best, was Greg Goes All In with this hilarious video imagining the origins of the fabled WSOP bracelets. We’re cry-laughing.

wsop trophy design meeting pic.twitter.com/BIJ7mJ3V3l

— Greg Goes All In (@GREGGOESALLIN) June 12, 2023

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