Brian Rast
Brian Rast won his third PPC crown and sixth WSOP bracelet on a dramatic day at the World Series poker felt.

The 24th day of action in the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw four bracelets won at the live felt and another taken online. With an additional four tournaments in progress, players such as Brian Rast, Yuri Dzivielevski and Yang Zhang all celebrated momentous days at the felt at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos.

Brian Rast Wins Third PPC, Strengthens Hall of Fame Claim

“My job is to come to the poker table and play.” ~ Brian Rast

Win the Poker Players Championship once and you become a poker legend. Win it three times on the day that the 2023 nominations for entry into the Poker Hall of Fame are released and you give yourself the best chance of winning that too. Brian Rast celebrated one of the best days in a glittering poker career as he won the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship for $1.3 million and the bracelet. He got his name on the Chip Reese Trophy after beating overnight leader Talal Shakerchi heads-up for the gold, denying the British player his first bracelet.

First of the final five to be eliminated was Kris Tong, who busted in fifth place for $303,071. All-in in No Limit Hold’em with 9d9c he lost a crucial flip to the eventual winner as Rast’s AcKc flopped a nut flush draw and spiked an ace on the turn of a board showing Th8c2cAh6d.

Out next was James Obst as the Australian fell to the overnight chip leader Talal Shakerchi in Omaha Hi-Lo for a score of $411,824. That pot was vital for Shakerchi’s stability in the event, but the stacks made for terrible reading for British poker fans. Matt Ashton had just 1.3 million chips, Shakerchi 5.3 million, with Rast miles clear on a lead of 23 million chips.

Ashton was out in third place unsurprisingly, cashing for $573,679 when he lost in Omaha Hi-Lo to Rast, and Shakerchi had less than a fifth of Rast’s chips heading into the final duel. It was all over when one final Razz hand for Rast pronounced him the winner. Shakerchi had to settle for the runner-up prize of $818,756. For Rast, it was a dream-come-true third win in the event and the emotions clattered into him after five “gruelling” days at the felt.

After his victory, Rast was asked about his chances of being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame on the back of another great result.

“What I think doesn’t matter, you know,” he said. “My job is to come to the poker table and play when I want to and compete and we’ll let the people in the Poker Hall of Fame make that decision. I just keep doing what I do, and we’ll see what they say.”

After such a huge win, surely this year is a close-run thing between Rast and Josh Arieh, with both men having won WSOP bracelets already in the first half of this year’s World Series.

WSOP 2023 Event #43 $50,000 Poker Players Championship Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Brian Rast United States $1,324,747
2nd Talal Shakerchi United Kingdom $818,756
3rd Matthew Ashton United Kingdom $573,679
4th James Obst Australia $411,824
5th Kristopher Tong United States $303,071
6th Phil Ivey United States $228,793
7th Ray Dehkharghani United States $177,294

 

Yuri Dzivielevski Wins Third Bracelet in Style

A terrific battle for the bracelet took place between victorious Brazilian Yuri Dzivielevski and American Randy Ohel in the Thunderdome as the Horseshoe Las Vegas was filled by raucous cheers upon completion of this latest WSOP bracelet event.

Dzivielevski, a former online poker world number one, is as impressive at the live felt as he is the online baize and last year finished as runner-up to Dan Cates in the Poker Players Championship. After outlasting stars of mixed games such as Serhii Popovyc (8th for $20,677) and Frankie O’Dell (4th for $91,221), Dzivielevski took on Randy Ohel for the bracelet.

It was in Limit Hold’em that the Brazilian got the better of his man, with Ohel’ s5h3h no good against Dzivielevski’s AsAh on a board of Ad6d3c. When the Ac fell on the turn, Dzivielevski celebrated, spinning round to go crazy with his Brazilian fanbase, his countrymen and countrywomen waving and cheering and he dived into their collective embrace. Magical moments for Dzivielevski but also the WSOP.

Can every Thunderdome rail be packed with Brazilians?

WSOP 2023 Event #47 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Results:
Rank Player Country Prize
1st Yuri Dzivielevski Brazil $207,678
2nd Randy Ohel United States $128,536
3rd Nghia Le United States $91,221
4th Frankie O’Dell United States $65,782
5th Stephen Savoy United States $48,146
6th Thor William Morstoel Norway $35,772
7th Denis Nesterenko Russia $26,987
8th Serhii Popovych United States $20,677

 

Yuri Dzivielevski
Yuri Dzivielevski won his third WSOP bracelet and celebrated wildly with his adoring Brazilian rail.

Zhang the Man as Shorr and Van Fleet Go Close Again

Yang Zhang won his first-ever WSOP bracelet in Event #44, the $3,000-entry NLHE event, denying both Jon Van Fleet and Shannon Shorr the chance to claim their own maiden WSOP title. Of the trio, perhaps Shorr was seen as the man for whom the title ‘never won a bracelet’ felt cruellest, but he crashed out in seventh place for $101,928 when his Ad7c lost to Zhang’s 8c8d.

Van Fleet made it all the way to fourth place for $238,546 after three double-ups to survive couldn’t turn into a fourth. Van Fleet joked that he was ‘Hard to Kill’ but like so many phrases that reference Steven Seagal movies, Van Fleet’s words didn’t age well. All-in with Kc2h, he crashed out to Zhang’s 6h4h after the eventual winner paired up on the flop.

Zhang himself need to double-up with pocket queens through Alex Lynskey’s pocket tens, and after the Australian was busted in third place for $323,610 by Zhang’s pocket aces, the Chinese rail swelled forward, anticipating victory for their hero. Zhang didn’t let them down, using a 2:1 chip lead over the overnight chip leader Aram Oganyan to devastating effect, Zhang’s As9h dominating and defeating Oganyan’s Td9d in the final hand.

WSOP 2023 Event #44 $3,000 No Limit Hold’em Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Yang Zhang China $717,879
2nd Aram Oganyan United States $443,680
3rd Alex Lynskey Australia $323,610
4th Jon Van Fleet United States $238,546
5th Frederic Normand Canada $177,732
6th Aleks Dimitrov Bulgaria $133,862
7th Shannon Shorr United States $101,928
8th John Marino United States $78,475
9th Levente Szabo Hungary $61,098

 

Pengfei Wang Wins Super Turbo for $270k

“I was worried but when I reached the top three, I felt the bracelet was more important.” ~ Pengfei Wang

A fast finish was always guaranteed in the $1,500 buy-in Super Turbo final, as only nine players lasted to the final day. The second day of the event was added due to the sheer number of entries on Day 1 of the 49th event of the WSOP, and it was Pengfei Wang who overcame the odds and triumphed for a first-ever bracelet win.

Argentinian player Alejandro Lococo led the final nine when play began but the PokerStars ambassador quickly lost momentum as his lead went the way of others like Frank Lagodich (9th) and Danny Scott (8th). Lococo busted in seventh place and it became the Wang show as he rose highest and saw off Will Linden heads-up to win his first WSOP bracelet and incredible $270,700 top prize for the moment of his poker career so far.

“It means a lot to me,” he told PokerNews after the event’s conclusion. “In the beginning, when I barely got to the final table, I had a short stack. I was worried but when I reached the top three, I felt the bracelet was more important to me than the money.”

Wang captured both on a hugely enjoyable final day of fast-paced WSOP Super Turbo action.

WSOP 2023 Event #49 $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Pengfei Wang United States $270,700
2nd Will Linden United States $167,339
3rd Chen An Lin Taiwan $123,198
4th Kenneth Maurer United States $91,558
5th Michael Burns United States $68,693
6th Tony Gargano United States $52,034
7th Alejandro Lococo Argentina $39,799
8th Danny Scott United States $30,760
9th Frank Lagodich United States $23,978

 

Huge Field Wraps Seniors Championship’s Day 1 Flights

A total of 8,180 will have competed for the 2023 Seniors Championship, a clear record from the 7,188 who played last year. Top of the shop on Day 1b was Joseph Workman with 510,000 chips, as he made it to the top just ahead of Francisco Corrales (508,5000). On a day where 1,624 survived to Day 2 overall, the money bubble was not reached, with ‘only’ 1,227 players going to make profit in this $1,000 buy-in event.

Of the players who made Day 2 from Day 1b, stars such as Dan Heimiller (221,000), Fred Berger (186,000) and James Calderaro (172,000) will all feel confident of reaching the money places in good chip health, as will Men Nguyen, who ended the day on 169,000.

WSOP 2023 Event #48 $1,000 Seniors Championship Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Joseph Workman United States 510,000
2nd Francisco Corrales United States 508,500
3rd Amin Mostafavi United States 391,000
4th Osmin Dardon United States 386,000
5th Gary Herstein United States 357,000
6th Scott Dobbs United States 351,000
7th Clinton Hartshorn United States 342,500
8th Iliodoros Kamatakis Greece 338,000
9th David Palmer United States 333,000
10th Karen Sarkisyan Russia 325,000

 

Danchev Delivers on Day 2 of PLO Championship

Bulgarian professional Dimitar Danchev bagged up an amazing stack of 3,705,000 chips to lead the remaining 42 players in Event #50, the $10,000 buy-in PLO Championship at the close of Day 2. With Americans Sam Soverel (2,034,000), William Kopp (1,890,000) and Dylan Weisman (1,855,000) the only players to amount over half of the Bulgarian’s stack, Danchev has put himself in a great place to challenge for bracelet number two the day after tomorrow.

With a massive $1.3 million up top in an event attended by 731 players, who will win the event taken by Sean Troha in 2022 will not be decided tomorrow, with the remaining 42 players battling down a final day of five.

WSOP 2023 Event #50 $10,000 PLO Championship Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Dimitar Danchev Bulgaria 3,705,000
2nd Sam Soverel United States 2,034,000
3rd William Kopp United States 1,890,000
4th Dylan Weisman United States 1,855,000
5th Elliott Kampen United States 1,800,085
6th Bogdan Capitan Romania 1,760,000
7th Ioannis Angelou Konstas Greece 1,700,000
8th Jay Harwood United Kingdom 1,580,000
9th Ap Garza United States 1,570,000
10th Arthur Morris United States 1,515,000

 

Jesse Sylvia and Ashley Sleeth Chasing Glory in Tag Team Event

With a huge increase on entries from last year’s 913 runners, this year’s $1,000-entry Tag Team Event #51 saw 1,282 entries as 252 teams survived to tomorrow’s money bubble-bursting day, with 193 players or teams paid.

This year’s top prize is over $95,000 as a result and some very strong duos made the Day 2 cut, with former Main Event runner-up Jesse Sylvia and his teammate Ashley Sleeth making the top 10 with 281,500 chips. Elsewhere, other top teams were Julie Marriott and Dara O’Kearney (196,000) and poker couple and former bracelet winners Jessica Teusl and Stefan Lehner (152,500).

WSOP 2023 Event #51 $1,000 Tag Team Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Mark Evangelista United States 562,000
2nd Kenneth Gallo United States 382,000
3rd Richard Ali United States 325,500
4th Amber Donatelli & Marcus Stein United States 325,000
5th Jeremy Palvini & Jean-Paul Pasqualini France 305,000
6th Peter Zolnai & Patrik Ciklamini United States 286,500
7th Jesse Sylvia & Ashley Sleeth United States 281,500
8th Ronald Phipps United States 273,000
9th Eduardo Nejaim & Marcello Serioz Brazil 266,000
10th Shahin Shayesteh United States 261,000

 

Nacho Chips Up in Mixed Triple Draw

Argentinian player Nacho Barbero is on some roll in 2023. The talented poker professional has won millions already this year and is second in chips in Event #52 as the Mixed Triple Draw event, which costs $2,500 to play, heads into Day 2. Marco Johnson (228,500) topped the overnight counts, with Barbero (216,500) followed by Maxx Coleman (210,500) in the top three.

With other poker bosses such as Bryan Micon (208,5000) and Joseph Wagganer (200,500) in the top five, the top prize of $181,978 is sure to go to an extremely talented mixed game player. After 145 players survived from 353 entries on Day 1, tomorrow will see the $785k prizepool pay out just 53 players.

WSOP 2023 Event #52 $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Marco Johnson United States 228,500
2nd Nacho Barbero Argentina 216,500
3rd Maxx Coleman United States 210,500
4th Bryan Micon Antigua and Berbuda 208,000
5th Joseph Wagganer United States 200,500
6th John Bunch United States 196,500
7th Drew Scott Canada 179,000
8th Sokchheka Pho United States 178,000
9th Senh Cong United States 176,000
10th Jake Schwartz United States 175,500

 

Shaun Deeb was in full multi-tabling troll mode as he declared sixes, turned over queens then, wait, flopped quads?! You can’t keep the former WSOP Player of the Year down.

Scotty Nguyen had to miss the first half of this year’s WSOP, but you can’t keep a former world champion away from the felt for long. Welcome back, baby!

Daniel Negreanu has nailed his colors to the mast for this year’s inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Lon McEachern is delighted with his nomination for the Poker Hall of Fame. Or Norman Chad’s, we’re not 100% sure.

It’s not often you bump into both Pikachu and Luigi from the Super Mario Bros., but when Phil Hellmuth is filming them, you know his outfit is going to be even more ridiculous.

Finally, Greg Goes All-In really does go all-in or does he when he’s dealt ace-five suited. What would GTO say to do here? Find out!

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