WSOP 2023 Day 25 Recap: Arieh and Negreanu Riding Hard in H.O.R.S.E. Championship

The 25^th day of action at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw six tournaments in progress as players such as Allen Kessler and Mike Matusow battled in the Seniors Championship, the final day of the Pot-Limit Omaha Championship was reached and over 4,500 entries flew into the books in the Millionaire Maker. With tables full at both the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Casino in Las Vegas, here’s a recap of what went down in Sin City on Friday night.

Loube on Top with Arieh and Negreanu Chasing in H.O.R.S.E. Championship

The first day’s play in the $10,000-entry H.O.R.S.E. Championship is in the books and with 165 entries, just 91 players made it to Day 2 from the opening day’s play. Among them were some of the biggest names in the game, with six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (163,000), 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Josh Arieh (159,500), Phil Long (153,000) and Jerry Wong (150,000) all ending the day inside the top 20.

Chip leader at the close of play was Steven Loube, who totalled 353,000 by the close of play, with Scott Bohlman (311,500), Scott Seiver (297,000), David ‘Bakes’ Baker (268,000), and Poker Hall of Fame member Mori Eskandani (238,500) all prominent in the top 10.

Other stars of the game were unable to survive, however, with recent Poker Players Championship winner Brian Rast, 2021 Hall of Fame inductee Eli Elezra, nine-time WSOP event winner Erik Seidel, former Full Tilt pro Jennifer Harman, double 2023 bracelet winner Chad Eveslage and WPT and WSOP crusher Anthony Zinno all failing to make the Day 2 cut.

Clementi in Control on Day 2 of Seniors Championship

Leonard Clementi (4.2 million) set the pace on Day 2 of the $1,000 Seniors Championship, where 1,227 players battled down to just 217 bracelet hopefuls by the close of play. Clementi was not the only poker boss at the felt on Friday, but his stack dominates most. Closest to him in chips was Chun Li, with 3,165,000, with David Palm third in chips on 2,335,000.

Plenty of big names survived a rollercoaster day the felt, with Victor Ramdin (1,005,000) Poker Hall of Fame nominee Mike Matusow (250,000), Allen ‘Chainsaw’ Kessler (105,000), and Female Poker Hall of Famer JJ Liu (145,000) all roaring into Day 3, where players will fight to reach the final table. The top prize of $765,731 is in front of every player now, and from a total field of 8,180 confirmed entries, one of the biggest returns on a $1,000 entry fee is now looming closer with every elimination.

Nicola Basile Flying High in Millionaire Maker

There were an incredible 4,575 entries on Day 1a of the $1,500-entry Event #53, also known as the Millionaire Maker. Someone will win a seven-figure top prize in this event – guaranteed – and the favorite to do so based on chips after 1,118 players survived the first Day 1 flight is Nicola Basile. The Canadian topped the leaderboard when play concluded with 480,000 chips, a little way clear of Paul Gunness (430,000) and Alex Greenblatt (405,400), with others such as Yake Wu (325,000), Osman Ilhamur (302,000) and Renan Bruschi (261,000) all making the top 10 chipcounts.

Other big names to progress included PokerGO’s own Jeff Platt (206,500), as well as former WSOP bracelet winners Jason Wheeler (184,500), Ryan Leng (174,000), Kristen Foxen (127,500) and Jessica Teusl (90,000), with former world champions Martin Jacobson (169,000) and Ryan Riess (42,000) hoping to grab more gold too.

Halatenko Leads Final Five in PLO Championship

The last five players in the $10,000-entry PLO Championship are racing towards the line and the WSOP bracelet, with Ukrainian player Stanislav Halantenko sitting on a massive chip led heading into the final day. Halatenko has a whopping stack of 19.75 million chips, with Travis Pearson (8.55m) his nearest challenger with less than half of his stack.

Elsewhere in the final table counts, Peng Shan of China has 6.8 million, with Arthur Morris (4.87m) and Ap Garza (3.77m) bringing up the rear.

Tag Team Tournament Down to Final 26 Teams

There are just 26 teams still in the hunt for gold in Event #51, with Yuki Sako and Shunsuke Tokoo (2.34 million) leading the field beyond David Williams and Treo Tran with 2.08m. It didn’t take long for the money bubble to burst on the day, with 252 teams coming back to the action on Day 2.

A grand total of 193 teams got paid and from that $801 minimum cash – a $199 loss on the entry fee – there is still some way to go on the final day to reach the promised land of two bracelets – one per member of the team – and a top prize of $95,331.

Pupillo on Top in Triple Draw

Nick Pupillo leads the final 19 players in Event #52 in Mixed Triple Draw, which cost $2,500 to play. With a whopping $181,978 up top, Pupillo’s stack of 1.5 million chips is ahead of everyone else’s.

Two-time bracelet winner Joao Vieira (1,040,000) is in the chasing pack, as are other stars such as Anatolii Zyrin (800,000), Robert Mizrachi (500,000) and John Monnette (410,000) with one day to play.

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