Day 23 of the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas saw three bracelets awarded, and Phil Ivey come close to bagging the 11th bracelet of his career. It was not meant to be for Ivey, but the following players are either celebrating epic victories, or could be over the next few days.
The first bracelet awarded on Day 23 went to Jay Lockett in Event #46: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout. Lockett outlasted 5,431 opponents on his way to victory, a result that bagged the champion a gold bracelet plus $262,526. Amazingly, this win was only the second time Lockett has finished in the money places in a live poker tournament; talk about living the poker dream!
Braxton Dunaway also became a WSOP champion after he triumphed in Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack. Dunaway became an instant millionaire thanks to the monster-sized $1,162,681 top prize. There is no doubt we shall see Dunaway again during the second half of the series.
William Leffingwell took down Event #45: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better after a long, arduous day at the tables. The final three players were going to bag and tag for the night and come back for an unscheduled fourth day, but Carlos Guerrero busted on that last hand before that happened. Zhen CaZhen Caii and Leffingwell chose to play on, and Leffinwell came out on top to become the tournament’s champion.
Ivey Busts From the $50K PPC Shakerchi Leads the Final Five
The field of Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship has been cut down to only five players as the race towards this event’s bracelet and $1,324,747 top prize continues.
A bunch of superstars were among the final 12 players that returned to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas for Day 4, including the legendary Phil Ivey, who was chasing his elusive 11th bracelet. Unfortunately for Ivey and his legion of fans, he bowed out in sixth place.
Talal Shakerchi (10,170,000) is the man to catch going into the final day’s action, and is the only player with a stack larger than 10 million chips. Two former winners of this event, Matthew Ashton (7,380,000) and Brian Rast (4,545,000) are keeping tabs on the leader. Should Rast take down this event, he will join Michael Mizrachi as a three-time PPC champion.
James Obst (5,100,000) and Kristopher Tong (2,500,000) make up the rest of the final five, but are not there to make up the numbers.
Play resumes at 1:00 p.m. on June 22 with a one-hour delay due to PokerGO streaming the finale. PokerNews will have all of the live text updates you can handle on Day 5 of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Final Day Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Talal Shakerchi | United Kingdom | 10,170,000 |
| 2 | Matthew Ashton | United Kingdom | 7,380,000 |
| 3 | James Obst | Australia | 5,110,000 |
| 4 | Brian Rast | United States | 4,545,000 |
| 5 | Kristopher Tong | United States | 2,500,000 |
