WSOP 2023 Day 23 Recap: Talal Shakerchi Knocks Phil Ivey Out as Poker Players Championship Reaches Final Day

The drama didn’t disappoint on Day 23 of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) as a mammoth nine events were in action across both the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos. The Poker Players Championship reached the penultimate day, while another WSOP Millionaire was crowned in the Monster Stack in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Monster Stack Won by Dunaway for $1.16 million

The final day of action in the $1,500-entry Monster Stack event saw seven play down to a winner as Braxton Dunaway took the title live on PokerGO. With seven players kicking off the action, it was the four-time WSOP winner Joe Cada who missed out in 7th place as he cashed for $186,149 but lost out on the chance to go deeper in the final.  

After the overnight leader Nicholas Gerrity lost in fifth, Braxton Dunaway from West Texas made his move up the leaderboard and beat Colin Robinson heads-up to take the first bracelet of his career and a top prize of $1,162,681.

Ivey Ousted in Poker Players Championship

Phil Ivey was busted last on a day of drama as the final dozen players were reduced to just five finalists as the $50,000 PPC reached its last stage. With players such as Josh Arieh (9^th for $141,125) heading out of the action once play was down to a last table in the tournament, the final day bubble was ramping up the pressure.

Poker great Ray Dehkharghani busted in 7^th place for $177,294 before six remained. One more player would depart and it was Phil Ivey who did so as the 10-time WSOP bracelet holder busted to chip leader Talal Shakerchi at the last, denied a seat at the final five and cashing for $228,793. Shakerchi, a prominent financial investor in Britain, has the chip lead with 10.1 million chips, with his compatriot Matt Ashton on just under 7.4 million.

With stars such as Brian Rast (4.5m) and James Obst (5.1m) still very much chasing glory, the final day could be anyone’s to define. Whoever manages to last out four more eliminations will claim the $1.3 million top prize and get their name on the Chip Reese Trophy.

Lockett Locks it Up in $500 NLHE Event

Jay Lockett won Event #46, the NLHE Freezeout event, which cost $500 to play and awarded Lockett the top prize of $262,526. On an entertaining final day, 241 players were reduced to an emotional winner as the overjoyed Lockett triumphed after an extraordinary comeback.

“I was dead money coming in,” he said after the event. “This is amazing. You have to run so hot. I had quads twice at the final table. I had ace-queen that ended up beating ace-king earlier.”

With others such as 3^rd-placed Diego Acquila ($121,085) going close, the longest-lasting female player Shannon Boone crashed out in 7^th place, winning $40,540 in the process. The furthest a former WSOP bracelet winner got was David Jackson who busted in 16^th place for $12,286.

Leffingwell Wins Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo Event

William Leffingwell won the $1,500-entry Event #45 as he conquered the Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo tournament for a first bracelet and top prize of $253,651. Beatig Zhen Cai heads-up, Leffingwell, from Texas, also managed to outlast final table players Shaun Deeb (5^th for $55,894) and overnight leader Joey Couden, who fell in 4^th place for $77,620.

Yuri Tops Two as Bracelet Winners Aim for More Gold

Yuri Dzivielevski from Brazil has 2.02 million chips and a big chip lead in Event #47, the $1,500-entry H.O.R.S.E. event with 28 players ending the penultimate day with chips. Dzivielevski has a healthy lead from Stephen Savoy (1,345,000) and Gershon Distenfeld (1,300,000) in the race for the line with others such as Andrew Barber (950,000), Frankie O’Dell (905,000), Denis Nesterenko (845,000) and Randy Ohel (805,000) all hoping to prevent the former online poker number one from claiming a third WSOP bracelet on tomorrow’s final day.

Oganyan Leads Last 15 in NLHE Event #44

Aram Oganyan leads the final 15 players in Event #44, the $3,000-entry No Limit Hold’em event, with Shannon Shorr, who is yet to become a bracelet winner in second place on the leaderboard. Talent sits right throughout the remaining players in the event, which had 1,735 entrants and now features just 15 hopefuls chasing the $717,879 top prize.

Elsewhere on the leaderboard, top 10 players include Jon Van Fleet (3.8m) and Ankush Mandavia (4.8m) as just one day is left in order to find a new bracelet winner.

Seniors Sees Bumper Field Topped by Harrington

There were 3,692 players who entered this year’s Seniors Championship on Day 1a, with just 730 of them surviving to Day 2. There is, of course, Day 1b to come, and with this event likely to break the attendance record of 2022 as well, yet more evidence is falling into place to suggest a record-breaking year in the Main Event too.

Top of the leaderboard after Day 1a was Frank Harrington (445,000), with strong showings from the brilliantly named Joshua Mountain (383,000), Allyn Shulman (220,000), Barry Shulman (180,500) and Ted Forrest, whose stack of 181,500 was enough for him to end the night in 67^th place on the leaderboard chasing his seventh WSOP bracelet.

Lococo Leads the Way in Fast Final

PokerStars ambassador Alejandro Lococo (15,550,000) has the chip lead heading into the final day of Event #49, as an extra day was added to accommodate the mammoth field of 2,226 runners. With a $270,700 top prize and a debut gold bracelet up for grabs, all the potential winners of this event have never claimed gold before.

Argentinian player Lococo is followed by Will Linden (8.85m) and Taiwan’s Chen An Lin (7.7m) in the counts, with the chip leader holding 39 big blinds and short stack Frank Lagodich just four.

Yockey in Top 10 of PLO Championship

With several of the world’s biggest mixed games players involved in other events, Event #50 saw the PLO Championship, which costs $10,000 to play feature 688 entries, five more than last year with Day 2 registrations still to come.

Top of the leaderboard after the end of Day 1 was Daniel Aharoni with 535,000 chips, but plenty of others finished strongly, with Bryce Yockey (479,000) in the top ten, Sean Winter (223,500), Jeremy Ausmus (279,000) and Alex Foxen (135,000), all making sure they are still in it to win it.

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