WSOP 2023 Day 20 Recap: Chris Brewer Wins First Bracelet, Benny Glaser Captures Fifth Crown

Controversy, calling out and the crowning of a career-defining champion. It was all in a day’s work for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2023 as drama enveloped one event in particular and another half a dozen thrilled poker fans around the world. There was a fifth bracelet win for Benny Glaser, a first for Chris Brewer, but that was only part of the story on the most dramatic day of this summer’s WSOP so far.

Brewer’s Fair as Chris Takes Glory

Chris Brewer won the $5.2 million top prize amid a heated final table atmosphere as he conquered the $250,000-entry Super High Roller Event #40 in the Thunderdome at Horseshoe Las Vegas. With the final table playing down to a winner live on PokerGO, Czech player Martin Kabrhel was the source of anger for several players, and in particular Dan Smith at the final table. Smith, who busted to Kabrhel, called him out for what he believed was bad behaviour at the final table and specifically referenced allegations of cheating and card-marking made against the eventual third-placed player.

With Smith making an angry exit to the rail, everyone else tried to focus on doing as well as they could in the circumstances. Chance Kornuth, who had dominated the previous day, could only finish in 5^th for $1.2 million before the Bulgarian Alex Kulev (4^th for $1.6m) slid out ahead of Kabrel. That left Artur Martirosian and Chris Brewer to battle for the bracelet and in emotional circumstances, Brewer got the job done for his first-ever WSOP bracelet.

In his speech afterwards, the proud American broke down as he tried to put into words how hard the path had been to the gold. It was unmissable televised poker and for everyone at the final table – some for different reasons – the event would live long in the memory.

Benny Glaser Captures Fifth WSOP Title

A delayed heads-up battle saw Benny Glaser complete the job as he won Event #38, the $10,000-entry Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship for $311,428 and his fifth WSOP bracelet. Glaser, who hails from the United Kingdom, now has a 17-14 record in ranking heads-up matches and in the WSOP, that record is even better, with his five wins coming from just seven showdown duels for the bracelet.

Glaser took the title after a heads-up victory today against the Swedish player Oscar Johansson but deserves huge credit also for outlasting some absolute bosses in the final six. David ‘Bakes’ Baker is hard to beat and lost out in 6^th place, Julien Martini led the event at one stage before missing out in 5^th, and Portuguese player Michael Rodrigues fell just short of his second bracelet in three weeks when he busted in 3^rd for $139,048.

For Benny Glaser it was a hard-earned fifth WSOP crown, putting him in illustrious company in all-time terms. 

Josh Arieh Lead; Phil Ivey Second in 2023 PPC

The 2021 WSOP Player of the Year and a man who already has a bracelet this summer leads the $50,000 Poker Players Championship after Day 1 of the prestigious event. Josh Arieh (1,088,000) is the only player over a million chips after the opening day of action as 73 players battled down to 54 survivors in a bid to get their hands on the Chip Reese trophy.

On a dramatic day at the felt, Arieh’s closest rival was the 10-time WSOP champion Phil Ivey, who ended the day on 944,500 chips, with Australian professional James Obst 3^rd in chips on 929,500. Others to make the top 10 stacks included online phenom Viktor Blom (784,000), perennial powerhouse Jeremy Ausmus (737,500) and David Williams (585,500), with stars such as Jennifer Harman (393,000), Felipe Ramos (372,000) and Dan Smith (328,500) all healthy when the bags came around to be filled with chips.

Chris Moneymaker (226,500) and 2022 WSOP Player of the Year Dan Zack (184,500) were a little further back, but there was no bag for players such as back-to-back reigning champion in this event Dan Cates, with Nick Schulman and Daniel Negreanu both busting too.

Johnny Chan Chasing 11^th Bracelet in Big O Showdown

There’s no debating who grabbed the headlines on the penultimate day of action in Event #41, the $1,500-entry Big O event. Johnny Chan sits on 10 WSOP bracelet wins with Phil Ivey and the late, great Doyle Brunson for company on the number. While Chan, known as ‘The Orient Express’, is short in 12^th place of the 18 survivors in this event, he’ll be hoping to get the job done and capture his 11^th WSOP bracelet, putting him behind only his 1989 nemesis Phil Hellmuth in the all-time rankings.

Looking to stop Chan tomorrow are some great players, however. Gary Gwinn (4,570,000) is the chip leader and he has stellar company in the form of Victor Ramdin (3,495,000) and Scott Abrams (3.2m) in the top three, with Adam Owen (2,705,000) and Robert Williamson III (2.7m) not far back. Who’ll take the gold? All will be revealed tomorrow.

Vedral Leads Monster Stack with Jackson in Chasing Pack

There were 389 survivors from over 8,300 entries and 2,715 players on Day 2 of the Monster Stack. Austrian player David Vedral (4.35 million) led the remaining field, but with heavyweights such as British pro Kevin Allen (2 million) and David Jackson (1,995,000) hovering ominously in the top 50, it’s anyone’s guess who will get closer to that $1.16 million top prize when play resumes on Day 3 tomorrow.

Rheem on Top in Bumper NLHE Event

Bracelet winner Chino Rheem leads the 238 players who were still in their seats at the end of a tumultuous Day 1 of Event #42. Costing $800 to play, the NLHE event saw a record turnout of 3,778 entries, way more than last year’s showing of 2,820. Everyone still involved will cash for a guaranteed $1,977, but all of them are eyeing the top prize of $339,033, with the prizepool of $2.65 million showing just how well attended this year’s WSOP events have been.

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