WSOP 2023 Day 12 Recap: Who Made the Final Five in the $50,000 High Roller?

It was another busy day in Las Vegas, as two bracelets were won and the final five players in the $50,000 High Roller were reached in dramatic fashion. The all-time money list leader was in action and a total of seven events took place on the day at Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos.

Foxen Leads Final Five in High Roller

Event #23 cost $50,000 to enter and comes with a top prize of over $1.5 million. As a result, some of the biggest players in the world turned up to play, and while there was no final table berth for participants such as Phil Ivey or Justin Bonomo, both men played and enjoyed varying success at the felt.

Of the Day 2 entries, Phil Ivey was the most well-known, but the 10-time WSOP bracelet winner did not make the money places that began at 19^th place. Ivey was joined on the rail by stars such as Brian Rast and Chance Kornuth, who was eliminated on the bubble by the man who would eventually lead at the close of the penultimate day, Alex Foxen. On a king-high flop, all the money went into the middle with Chance Kornuth holding pocket aces. Foxen, however, had flopped two pair and he rode out turn and river to send the three-time WSOP winner to the rail.

Shortly after the bubble burst, Jans Arends took out another Foxen as Alex’s wife Kristen, herself a three-time bracelet winner, crashed out in 18^th place for $81,983. Losing a flip to Arends, Foxen will have the chance to cheer on her husband as he bids to stop the Dutchman on the final day.

After eliminations for Dan Smith, Chris Brewer, Talal Shakerchi and Philip Sternheimer, the final nine were set and at that stage, Foxen had a big lead with 9.9 million chips, his closest challenger Arends with a little over half that amount. Justin Bonomo made moves to stop Foxen’s dominance but although he was successful in that aim initially, he would be the last to bust on the night in sixth place as his ace-queen was dominated then defeated by Arends’ ace-king. That set the final five in place before the crucial final day, with Foxen out for a measure of familial revenge against Arends.

Michael Rodrigues Wins First Gold Bracelet in Badugi

The 20^th event of the 2023 WSOP was taking place in a format never-before allocated its own slot on the schedule, the $1,500-entry Badugi tournament. Won by Portuguese player Michael Rodrigues in an Inter Milan shirt, the event was playing down to a winner on an unscheduled Day 4 of the initially three-day event.

Only three players remained in with a chance of victory when play resumed and when the former overnight chip leader Serhii Popovych exited in third place for $59,879, it was a two-horse race between the eventual winner Rodrigues and Chinese player Yingui Li. It was Li who led when the final duel began, but a strong call from Rodrigues after Li bluffed switched the stacks and the Portuguese players saw it out with a ‘seven badugi’ to take the title and top prize of $144, 678.

Nahm the Winner After Double Elimination for Victory

Stephen Nahm won his first-ever gold bracelet in Event #21, the $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha bracelet event with a top prize of over a quarter of a million dollars. There were two former bracelet winners in the final six players, but both Dutchman Ronald Keijzer (6^th for $53,182) and Dan Matsuzuki (5^th for $69,729) fell short as Nahm took over.

After Zachary Peay went in 4^th place for $92,231, play was three-handed and the final hand took place with dramatic consequences. All the chips went in on a low flop with two spades, but Nahm won out with a rivered high straight giving him all the chips.

Biggest Day Yet in Fighting Pits as Gladiators Battle

More players took to the felt than ever in the $300-entry Gladiators of Poker Event #18 on Day 1d, as 8,467 entries helped bring up a total field of 23,102 in this gargantuan event.

Top of the shop after 22 levels of play was Marcy Jo Phillips, who snagged 2,965,000 chips across a phenomenal day of action, with other big names such as Anatolii Kyrin, Renan Bruschi, Tony Sinishtaj, Tim Little, Ian Steinman and DJ Buckley all enjoyed stellar days at the felt.

Three Stars Remain in Limit Hold’em Championship Finale

Three players remain in with a chance of winning the $10,000-entry Limit Hold’em Championship as Josh Arieh shoots for his fifth WSOP bracelet and chip leader Daniel Idema goes for his fourth. With Idema’s stack top of the trio with 4,040,000, Nozomu Shizimu (2,310,000) and Arieh (1,060,000) are still in with a very good chance as the Limit Hold’em Championship prevents those all-in shoves that could make those stacks look impossible for the shorter of the three.

Earlier at the final table, former world champion Joe McKeehen (4^th for $107,540) and Nick Schulman (6^th for $48,198) came close to winning more gold on a day that stretched too long for Day 12 to have all to itself. Day 13 will be very lucky for one of the remaining three players.

Liberto and Lisandro Chasing Leader Burke into Razz Event Final Day

The final day of the $1,500-entry Event #24 in Razz will feature 15 players, as William Burke leads the remaining field to glory. Burke, who hails from Canada, built a whopping stack of 2,450,000 chips, good for a heathy lead from Justin Liberto (1,870,000), Everett Carlton (1,755,000) and Jeff Lisandro (955,000) in the top four players. Of those four, only Liberto (once) and Lisandro (six times) have won gold before.

Elsewhere in the remaining players, Marco Johnson (695,000) will look for his third bracelet when play resumes, while Polish superstar Dzmitry Urbanovich (630,000) will shoot for his first as he bids to finally get over the line in a bracelet event. David ‘ODB’ Baker will start play in 14^th position out of the 15 runners, with just 490,000 but all the experience as he bids to win his third WSOP title.

Omaha-Hi-Lo Championship Led by Connor Drinan After Day 1

The action was fast and furious on Day 1 of the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship, as Connor Drinan (340,000) led the remaining field of 102 players after 188 entries overall saw players such as Damjan Radanov (299,000), David Williams (293,000) and Jason Daly (286,000) remain in the hunt for gold.

There was also a late showing – and survival – from the reigning WSOP Player of the Year Dan Zack, who ended the day in the lower half of the chipcounts on 77,000. He’s seeking a fourth cash this WSOP, but others who are placed higher in this event such as Zachary Freeman (231,000) already have a lot of points on the board, meaning it looks very likely that for the 20^th consecutive year, the reigning Player of the Year won’t be retaining their crown.

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