Lou Garza
Lou Garza is all style as he shows off his freshly acquired $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship bracelet.

After a single day with no bracelets handed out, the 2023 World Series of Poker was back to shipping out hardware on Saturday night, with a trio of events coming to conclusion and a pair of longtime grinders finally finding WSOP gold. The H.O.R.S.E. Championship reached the money, and the second flight of the Milly Maker, Day 3 of the Seniors Championship and the start of the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo event were all on tap at Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos.

Garza Goes From Worst to First to Ship PLO Championship

It took a little under seven hours for a champion to be crowned in Event #50: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, and while overwhelming chip leader Stanislav Halatenko looked to be the favorite coming into the final day, it was start-of-the-day short stack AP “Lou” Garza who shimmied and shook his way with signature flair to his first WSOP gold bracelet, a $1,309,232 payday, and in the process also took home another prestigious title; fiancé!

It took almost three hours for the first casualty of the final five, as Peng Shan got his last ten big blinds in preflop with AcQcJh2d against Halatenko’s KdKcJd9d. Much like most of Day 3, Halatenko would have little sweat (for an Omaha hand, anyways) on a 3d8s4h6h8h runout to knock Shan out in fifth. Travis Pearson was out next a short time later, ripping JsJhTc7c in for 13 big blinds and failing to catch up to Garza’s AdKdQsQh on a 8c5h6d6sQd board.

With three players remaining, Halatenko and Garza were nearly even in chips, while Arthur Morris was well behind with just around 12% of the chips in play. A confident Morris was undeterred, and despite being left with just six big blinds at one point, quickly rallied up to the chip lead at one point. A limped pot would then send Morris’s fortunes up while crushing the dreams of Halatenko in one fell swoop. 

An innocuous looking 9s2d7c flop saw Halatenko check-raise a 1.5 million chip bet from Morris, who instantly went all in for around 13 million. Halatenko called with Ks9d4h2h for nines-up, but was actually an underdog to the AhTc9c8s of Morris, who told his rail, “I just whipped it in; never folding this hand!” Halatenko was looking to fade the overs and open-ended straight draw, but the 8d immediately sent Morris’s rail into a “HOLD! HOLD! HOLD!” chant. Their wish was granted on the 5c river, and Halatenko’s charge fell two spots short of a bracelet in third.

Morris took a slight lead into heads-up play in the battle of the Texans, and with 72 big blinds left between them, a fair amount of jostling for position ensued. Garza pulled away for a bit before an audacious bluff by Morris with just a pair of fives that set the room abuzz:

The final hand came a few hands later, when Morris got his last 20 or so big blinds in on a 4d2sQs flop with the AdQc9d9c for top pair, but had to fade the world against Garza’s As4s3h3d for a gutshot, nut flush draw, and a live pair. The 8c kept Morris in front, but a 4c plunked off on the river to leave Morris with a hefty consolation prize of $809,167 and send Garza his first WSOP gold bracelet and push his lifetime tournament earnings to over $3.5 million.

WSOP 2023 Event #50: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship Final Table Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st AP “Lou” Garza USA $1,309,232
2nd Arthur Morris USA $809,167
3rd Stanislav Halatenko Ukraine $570,307
4th Travis Pearson USA $407,915
5th Peng Shan China $296,154
6th Sam Soverel USA $218,297
7th Kosei Ichinose Japan $163,405
8th Ren Lin China $124,243

 

Pupillo Grinds His Way to Long-Awaited First Bracelet in Mixed Draw

With a staggering 348 cashes listed on his Hendon Mob, it may come as a shock to players who see Nick Pupillo on the grind that he doesn’t have a WSOP gold bracelet to his name. His 24th recorded victory finally saw the Arizona grinder achieve one of the last accolades left missing in his coffers, as he dominated Day 3 of Event #52: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw to earn $181,978 and his first WSOP gold bracelet. Pupillo flashed the cameras a photo of his family, including his young daughter, and told PokerNews, “I’m thankful for everyone that supports me and roots for me. I’ve had ups and downs, but I’m just grateful.”

The march to the final table of six saw notables Cary Katz (18th – $6,948), multiple WSOP bracelet winners Robert Mizrachi (17th – $8,495), John Monnette (16th – $8,495) and Joao Vieira ($10,690), and Ray Henson (9th – $13,834) all fall by the wayside, while two-time WSOP bracelet winner Anatolii Zyrin (7th – $18,398) just missed the official final table of six when his ninety-six was bested by the eighty-seven of Brant Hale in 2-7 Triple Draw.

Despite the elimination, Hale would be first to go at the final table, unable to push Pupillo off an eighty-six in 2-7 Triple Draw. Hye Park would then fall down the counts, finally succumbing when he ran into the wheel of Ryan Moriarty. Pupillo would go back on the offensive next in Badugi, taking out Tomomitsu Ono in fourth and Aaron Mermelstein in third, and took a nearly 3:1 chip lead into heads-up play with Moriarty. Pupillo’s trademark aggression wore down Moriarity, and on the final hand of 2-7 Triple Draw, Pupillo made a ninety-seven after the second draw and patted, and Moriarity pulled two cards drawing to a seven. He found a worthless king and nine, and one call later, Pupillo was the latest to shake the crown of “best without a bracelet” at the 2023 WSOP.

WSOP 2023 Event #52: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Final Table Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Nick Pupillo USA $181,978
2nd Ryan Moriarty USA $112,472
3rd Aaron Mermelstein USA $74,545
4th Tomomitsu Ono Japan $50,608
5th Hye Park USA $35,212
6th Brant Hale USA $25,126

 

Team Savakinas Flips Out and Wins Tag Team

Only 26 teams from a record-setting field of 1,282 returned for the final day of Event #51: $1,000 Tag Team, and it took nearly twelve hours for Team Savakinas (Michael Savakinas and Satoshi Tanaka) to make their way from the middle of the pack to be declared the kings of the tag team, earning a pair of WSOP gold bracelets and $190,662 to chop between them. The duo employed a unique strategy at the final table that may have keyed them to victory, telling PokerNews, “We decided to switch on the levels and I think that gave us an edge, because no one else was doing that.

A flurry of teams found themselves heading to the exit in the early going, including Nipun Java – Ronald Phipps (24th – $6,426), Day 2 chip leaders Yuki Sako – Shunsuke Tokoo (16th – $7,850), and Robert Perelman – Joseph Cheong (13th – $9,718). Two of the more prominent teams in Justin Pechie – Ronnie Bardah (9th – $15,492) and David Williams – Theo Tran (7th – $26,000) were the first to go from the final table, and with six teams remaining, three teams had healthy stacks, while the trio of short stacks would all fall in order, leaving Team Savakinas to battle with Vincent Moscati – Tanner Bibat and Jonah LaBranche – Dustin Wills for the Tag Team titles.

Team Moscati drew the first blood and a swift KO in the triple threat match, with Moscati waking up with aces when LaBranche tried to three-bet jam light with king-seven of diamonds. LaBranche flopped a seven and turned a flush draw, but the bullets held for Moscati, taking a 4:1 chip lead into heads-up action. Savakinas would double twice in a hurry, setting up a climatic final hand for almost every chip in play. Tanaka four-bet ripped it in preflop with AsKd and got called by Moscati’s 7h7d, and it was a stone cold stunner of a flop: 4cKhKc, giving Tanaka trip kings and a huge lead. There would be no underdog comeback for Moscati on a Jh turn or Tc river, and a few hands later, Bibat’s last chips were pinned away by Tanaka to send the hardware to Team Savakinas.

WSOP 2023 Event #51: $1,000 Tag Team Final Table Results:
Place Player Country Prize
1st Michael Savakinas – Satoshi Tanaka USA $190,662
2nd Vincent Moscati – Tanner Bibat USA $117,872
3rd Jonah LaBranche – Dustin Wills USA $85,040
4th Rickey Evans – Roberto Valdez USA $62,090
5th John Ventre – Kenneth Gallo USA $45,884
6th Marcus Stein – Amber Donatelli USA $34,326
7th David Williams – Theo Tran USA $26,000
8th Carlos Inukai – Emmaniel Avila USA $19,942
9th Justin Pechie – Ronnie Bardah USA $15,492

 

Litany of Names Remain in H.O.R.S.E. Championship

It was time to make the money in Event #54: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, and 91 players returning, an additional 21 jumped in at the last minute, bringing the total number of entrants to 186. Only 17 of them would find a bag at the end of the night, and Brian Yoon, who already scored his fifth career WSOP bracelet earlier in the series in Event #14: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, has a chance to earn another bracelet and enter rarified air as he bagged the overnight chip lead of 1,465,000.

Connor Drinan (1,200,000), Scott Seiver (965,000), Carol Fuchs (865,000), Phil Hellmuth (700,000) and David “Bakes” Baker also managed to bag up healthy stacks. After Andrew Barber lost a flip in Hold’em to burst the bubble, Jerry Wong (28th – $16,351) was the first to get paid. Chino Rheem (27th – $16,531), Brandon Shack-Harris (21st – $17,887) and Phil Hui (18th – $20,442) all also managed to net a payday before play came to an end.

WSOP 2023 Event #54: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Brian Yoon USA 1,465,000
2nd Connor Drinan USA 1,200,000
3rd Christopher Claassen USA 1,070,000
4th Scott Seiver USA 965,000
5th Carol Fuchs USA 865,000
6th Roman Verenko Ukraine 855,000
7th Brad Ruben USA 775,000
8th Phil Hellmuth USA 700,000
9th Mike Gorodinsky USA 635,000
10th David “Bakes” Baker USA 620,000

 

Hall of Famer Baxter Seeks Bracelet Eight in Seniors

Day 3 of Event #48: $1,000 Seniors Championship trimmed a field of 217 returning players down to just 29 returning for Day 4 action on Sunday. Gordon Eng (15,975,000) and Lonnie Hallett (15,300,000) are within a few big blinds of the chip lead, but all eyes will be on Hall of Famer and seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Billy Baxter (6,400,000), who is looking for his first gold bracelet in Hold’em (six of his bracelets are in lowball variants, one is in Razz). Brett “Pops” Reichard (5,000,000) and Dan Heimiller (3,625,000) are also still in contention.

WSOP 2023 Event #48: $1,000 Seniors Championship Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Gordon Eng USA 15,975,000
2nd Lonnie Hallett Canada 15,300,000
3rd David Stearns USA 10,575,000
4th Amin Mostafavi USA 10,525,000
5th Jamie Baker Canada 9,700,000
6th Ron Fetsch USA 8,700,000
7th Billy Baxter USA 6,400,000
8th Rudolf Fourie South Africa 6,000,000
9th Loren Cloninger USA 6,000,000
10th David Thompson USA 5,675,000

 

10,000+ Entrants Set Record Field For Milly Maker

With the 5,851 entrants that hit the felt for Day 1b of Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker, a total of 10,430 entries ensured that the 2023 Millionaire Maker was the largest $1,500 buy-in in poker history. 2,422 players will come back for Sunday’s Day 2, with 1,410 making it through today’s flight and Michael Holtz (420,000) logged in as the unofficial chip leader at press time. Stanley Lee (386,000), Taylor Howard (339,000), Jack Salter (222,500), Loni Hui (220,000), and Espen Jorstad (149,500) all bagged up heaps in hopes of netting a seven-figure payday and a WSOP gold bracelet.

 

WSOP 2023 Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Day 1b Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Michael Holtz USA 420,000
2nd Zilong Zhang USA 407,000
3rd Christian Vaca USA 405,000
4th Pei Li Canada 396,500
5th Stanley Lee USA 386,000
6th Claude Nganga Codru USA 370,000
7th Ky Nguyen USA 353,500
8th Artur Papazyan USA 352,000
9th Taylor Howard USA 339,000
10th Eugene Todd USA 329,500

 

Rodawig Bags Big in Stud Hi-Lo

Eric Rodawig’s first and only WSOP gold bracelet was earned in 2011 in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship when he bested Phil Hellmuth heads-up. Over a decade later, Rodawig is on the right track to getting some bling for his other wrist, bagging up a healthy 234,500 in chips for a big lead after Day 1 of Event #55: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better. 566 players started the proceedings, but just 183 would remain at day’s end, with John Esposito (163,500), Jon Turner (136,000), Scott Clements (129,000), Brian Rast (118,000) and Shaun Deeb (116,500) among those who accumulated stacks for Day 2 action.

WSOP 2023 Event #55: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Leaderboard:
Place Player Country Chips
1st Eric Rodawig USA 234,500
2nd Kevin Cote USA 187,000
3rd Constantine Zdanowich USA 186,500
4th Qibang Cheung United Kingdom 175,000
5th Michael Estes USA 173,000
6th William Buckley USA 164,500
7th John Esposito USA 163,500
8th Ivan Schertzer USA 161,000
9th Rafael Concepcion USA 155,500
10th Kao Saechao USA 155,000

 

Chris Moneymaker puts his money where his mouth is and goes double or nothing on a $5k Last Longer bet he won against the white-hot Chance Kornuth:

A+ for the chip stack pic, C- for putting the drink on the table and risking giving the table a White Claw bath:

Sound advice from Maria Ho for those of you suffering from some WSOP run-bad:

PokerPower’s Sarah Stefan leaps into the Milly Maker:

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