WSOP Day 23 Recap: Kolev Wins Millionaire Maker, Bumper Day in Seniors Fills Both Venues

A busy day of action at a packed Bally’s and Paris saw another champion crowned as Bulgarian player Yuliyan Kolev won his second WSOP bracelet and first in a live arena live on PokerGO in the Thunderdome. Elsewhere, five other tournaments worked closer to their winners as play reached the final table in other WSOP events.

Kolev Wins Millionaire Maker for $1.1 million

Bulgarian player Yuliyan Kolev took down the Millionaire Maker in Las Vegas last night amid a sea of red and white bucket hats in the Thunderdome. Kolev, who won his first bracelet nine months ago in the online $777 Lucky 7’s event for $146,163, took down Event #37 on the schedule this year for $1,125,141 and his first live bracelet win.

With 7,961 entries overall, Kolev’s success came at the expense of Oren Rosen heads-up, the Israeli player beaten by Kolev when pocket aces slayed Rosen’s queen-jack.

All the action played out on the streamed final table on PokerGO, which you can watch below, as Kolev’s win came to a backdrop of his friends wearing similar ‘bucket hats’ advertising a popular fried chicken emporium.

Kennedy Leads After Day 1a of Seniors Championship

Day 1 of the $1,000-entry Seniors Championship saw a mammoth field of 5,121 players pitch up at both Bally’s and Paris as the twin venues of the World Series swelled with dedicated poker players over the age of 50. Day 1a saw a prize pool of over $4.5 million reached, not far off the 2021 total with a whole Day 1b flight to come.

At the close of play, James Kennedy ended as chip leader with 452,000 chips, with Seongsu Kong (365,000) and Women in Poker Hall of Famer Allyn Shulman (350,000) in close pursuit.  With Schulman’s fellow Hall of Fame alumni Kathy Liebert (225,000) also high in the chipcounts, others such as Kevin Song (350,000), Barry Schulman (305,000) and Michael Abecassis (110,000) all survived too.

Others didn’t make Day 2, with 2004 Main Event winner Greg Raymer, Bruno Lopes, Perry Friedman, Humberto Brenes and Todd Witteles all failing to bag up any chips.

Yeh on Top in H.O.R.S.E. as Final Five Reached

Andrew Yeh (3,860,000) has the chip lead from luminaries such as Philip Long (3,630,000) and John Racener (2,520,000) as the final day looms in the $10,000-entry H.O.R.S.E. Championship. Just four opponents stand in Yeh’s way after a dominant last few levels saw him sneak the lead ahead of previous overnight leader Bryce Yockey (1,290,000).

Yeh was run close over the day, in particular by Long, with Racener one of three other players at the final table with hopes of overcoming those two leaders. Elsewhere, Craig Chait will hope to spin up his short stack of 1,245,000 just like Yockey will.

On a busy penultimate day of action, players such as Brad Ruben (12^th for $26,347), Ben Lamb (10^th for $31,327) and Mike Gorodinsky (7^th for $61,314) all busted as their dreams of lifting the latest bracelet faded on Day 3 of this four-day event.

Prociak Leads Weisman in PLO 8-Max Event

David Prociak leads the final 10 players in Event #45, the $1,500 buy-in PLO 8-Handed bracelet event. With a bulky stack of 6.4 million chips, Prociak is some way clear of many in the field, with Dylan Weisman (5,660,000) the only player truly close to him.

Elsewhere in the final 10 chipcounts of this popular event, Shane Nardiello (4,725,000), David Williams (2,980,000) and Dylan Smith (1,640,000) all feature, with former bracelet winners such as Randy Ohel (53^rd), Brandon Cantu (47^th) and Dash Dudley (26^th) all crashing out before the close of play.

Spinella Close to Lead After Day 2 of $5,000 NLHE 6-Max Event

Anthony Spinella sits in second place after Day 2 of the $5,000-entry Event #46, the 6-Max no limit hold’em event. It is Argentinian player Ezequiel Waigel who leads and it’s a big lead too, with him picking up 3,440,000 chips by the close of play. Spinella (2,575,000) will be confident that he can improve on his stack tomorrow as 46 players will return from the 928 total entries and 324 who began Day 2.

Elsewhere in the top 10 chipcounts, former bracelet winner Stephen Song (2,485,000) sits in third place, with another former winner, Robert Mizrachi (1,170,000), aiming for his fifth bracelet from 14^th position. With other bracelet winners Joey Weissman (985,000), Elio Fox (895,000), Jonas Lauck (605,000), Sandeep Pulusani (605,000), Chad Himmelspach (440,000), WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada (380,000), Anthony Zinno (360,000) and Joao Simao (60,000) all still in the hunt albeit with different expectations of success, it’s sure to be a bumper Day 4 to fight to the final table.

Dobbs, Leng and Arieh All Strong in Event #48

Finally, Event #48 closed out the action on Day 2 as Michael Dobbs (293,100), who leads from Jay Kerbel (269,000), Hoeu Liu (251,500) and Randy Ohel (237,000), with Jason Stockfish (235,500) closing out the top five. With WSOP bracelet runner-up Dustin Dirksen (227,000) looking to go one better than when he came second to Dan Zack in Event #15 after a seven-hour heads-up match, there is quality throughout the remaining 200 players from the Day 1 field of 695.

Other big names to survive include former WSOP Main Event winner Scotty Nguyen (161,800), Ryan Leng (151,500) and 2022 Poker Hall of Fame nominee Josh Arieh (119,300), who will be sat to the immediate left of an old foe and friend Shaun Deeb (60,900).

Others busted out on the first day of the event, with Phil Hellmuth, Yuri Dzivielevski, David Bach, Alex Livingston, Eugene Katchalov, Anatoliy Zyrin, Joe McKeehen, Amnon Filippi, Yuval Bronshtein and Jeff Madsen all leaving the party.

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