WSOP 2023 Day 21 Recap: Two Bracelets Won in Las Vegas, Phil Ivey Pushing for Lead in Poker Players Championship

The latest day of action at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is in the books and there was a deposed champion in the Poker Players Championship, there were two more WSOP bracelet winners and in three more events, the final table where glory awaits got closer at both Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos in Sin City.

Scott Abrams Wins Big O Bracelet in First for WSOP

There has never been a WSOP bracelet winner in Big O before, but now there has, and it is the American player Scott Abrams. At an entertaining final table, he toppled fellow United States player Robert Williamson III to take the title, the top prize of $315,203 and his first-ever WSOP bracelet. The professional player put it all down to his wife in the aftermath of his victory in his winner’s interview.

“I feel like I have been at the top end of variance for the last year and a half more than I have in my entire life,” he said. “My wife will confirm that basically since the week we got married I have been on the biggest heater of my life. I’m pretty sure she did it.”

Credit where it’d due, and that ethic was in place the whole day as 18 played down to a winner. There was an early double-up for the 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan, but the two-time WSOP Main Event winner eventually slid out in 14^th place for $13,982, whereupon his fellow players all applauded his efforts – and his legend. It was the closest the Orient Express had got to an 11^th WSOP bracelet in over a decade, and he appreciated the gesture.

Xu Earns a Dramatic Win in Deepstack Victory

Chinese player Qiang Xu won Event #42, the $800-entry NLHE Deepstack event, after coming back to beat Jason Johnson heads-up and defeat a final table including Richard Smith and Christian Cheng. On the final day, 219 players battled for the bracelet, and it played down to a winner in dramatic fashion.

Jason Johnson had control of the final table, busting namesake Charles Johnson – also from the United States – as well as others. Heads up, Johnson had the chip lead against Xu, but an almost instant double-up changed all that and Xu took over, eventually winning with pocket sixes when Johnson’s suited ace-king failed to hit, leading to wild celebrations on the rail from the Chinese player’s supporters.

Obst in Charge as Defending Champ Cates Sees Hopes Exterminated

A dramatic day’s action in the $50,000-entry Event #43, also known as the Poker Players Championship saw a total of 99 entries lock the field before the reigning champion lost out. It was a re-entry for Daniel Cates, but the man dressed as ‘Terminator’ found himself shot down instead as he busted outside the money places in his bid to make it three in a row.

That lofty ambition might have been too tough for ‘Jungle’, but others thrived on Day 2, which ended with 32 players still in with a chance of getting their names on the Chip Reese Trophy this year.

Australian pro James Obst (2,972,000) leads the field, with Daniela Alaei (2,064,000) the only other player over two million in chips. The 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey (1,655,000), high roller regular Talal Shakerchi (1,598,000) and Josh Arieh (1,365,000) all made the top six players, with other huge names such as Brian Rast (1,306,000) and Phil Hellmuth (933,000) in the top half looking to win their first ‘PPC’.

Tomorrow should put players through the mixed game mill as they fire towards the money places, which begin at 15^th. Who’ll win the eventual $1.32 million top prize is the question on everybody’s lips at the close of the second day of action, and with Ivey still involved, interest has never been bigger.

Cada on Course for Fifth Bracelet?

Event #39, the $1,500 buy-in Monster Stack event ended Day 3 with just 42 players in seats from 389 who started the day pursuing a top prize of $1.16 million. The Chinese player Xuming Qi (24.3 million) is leading overnight, with Marcos Exterkotter (23.5m) and Nate Silver (13.2m) making the top 10.

Joe Cada (8.95m) still has a shot at winning his fifth gold bracelet, as the 2009 WSOP Main Event winner – still the youngest winner in poker history – shoots for gold with around 35 big blinds to his name. Other former bracelet winners Arash Ghaneian (6,575,000) and Jesse Rockowitz (2.25mare all well below the average stack of 10 million but will have nothing to lose as they push for glory tomorrow.

Petrone on Fire in NLHE Event #44

Argentinian player Ramiro Petrone was on top in the 44^th event of this year’s 95 to take place at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Petrone ended Day 1 of the $3,000-entry NLHE event with 367,000 chips, good for a slim lead over Portuguese player Luis Faria (360,500). Andrew Moreno (239,500) hovers ominously for others in the top 10 as 1,511 players were reduced to just 600 survivors by the close of play.

Scott Clements Chasing Lin in Mixed Omaha Event

The American player Scott Clements (274,000) is chasing down the overnight leader Yusheng Lin from Taiwan (455,000) in a day dominated largely by the Taiwanese player. Building an incredible lead in this mixed Omaha Hi-Lo event, Lin is the one to beat amid a day of departures, with 1,091 players started and only 316 will return on Day 2. That’s a huge increase from the 771 players who took on the corresponding event in 2022.

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