WSOP 2023 Day 34 Recap: Chris Brewer Makes it Double Delight, Tamar Abraham Wins Ladies Event for First Bracelet

There were eight WSOP bracelet events in progress on the last day before the WSOP Main Event takes the focus on Las Vegas and makes it all about who will win the likely eight-figure top prize and become world champion. Day 34 of the WSOP was not only an entertaining one but could also prove pivotal in the destiny of the WSOP Layer of the Year race, as one player won his second bracelet of the summer.  

Chris Brewer Wins Second Bracelet After Comeback in Single Draw  

Chris Brewer came into the action on the final day of the No Limit 2-7 Single Draw Championship second in chips but eclipsed both David ‘ODB’ and unlucky runner-up Alex Livingston to become the second player this summer – after Chad Eveslage – to win two WSOP bracelets in the same series.

Before this summer, Chris Brewer was high on the list of great players never to win a bracelet. Inside a few weeks, the American now has two after he followed up on his high roller victory earlier in the Series with this comeback victory in Single Draw. The action on the final day began with only three men still in with a chance of adding to their bracelet collections.

David ‘ODB’ Baker had the chip lead, but after doubling through his more experienced opponent early, Brewer then eliminated ‘ODB’ to take the lead. That gave him a massive advantage heads-up and for the second time this summer, Canadian pro Alex Livingston came second in a WSOP Event.

Afterwards, Brewer explained that on the day, fortune seemed to be with him.

“I coolered and probably shoved a hand that was too strong to shove,” he said to reporters. “He happened to have a hand to call. There wasn’t much that I did. The deck just said ‘Hey, Chris, you get to win the tournament today. The other one was a $250,000 tournament with $5 million on top. I wanted to win the bracelet and it still means a lot, but the stakes were very different, and it definitely was a lot less intense.”

After such a great second victory, Brewer’s thoughts will undoubtedly turn to a run at Player of the Year. In this form, who’d bet against him?

Lonis Wins Second Bracelet for $2.3 million in PLO

The PLO High Roller Event #71 was the time and Jesse Lonis was the player. Everything came together for the American as he bagged a second WSOP bracelet of his career and in doing so, claimed the $2.3 million top prize. Getting the better of overnight hip leader Tyler Smith heads-up, Lonis ended his wait for another bracelet and after being tipped as a poker great by Daniel Negreanu recently, lived up to that nod yet again as he closed it out to win the biggest single prize of his professional poker career to date.

At an entertaining final table, Isaac Haxton busted in seventh place, before the exit of Adam Hendrix in fifth opened it up for Lonis. Completing his first $50,000 title, he described his feelings after the event to waiting reporters.

“It’s incredible. It’s my first $50,000, so I can’t start better in the high rollers,” he said. “It just feels great because it’s a tough tournament. Obviously, every player in it, 99 percent of them, are great players. It was a mental battle and nice to come out on top.”

A great field it may have been, but Jesse Lonis is now rightly known as a great player. There’ll be many more titles to come for this exciting pro.

Awesome Abraham Wins Ladies Event for $193k

Tamar Abraham conquered the $1,000 Ladies Event on Sunday as she beat the overnight runaway chip leader Shiina Okamoto from Japan heads up for the $92,167 top prize. With everyone seemingly fighting to keep up with Okamoto, Abraham went on a tear to put herself in a great position to take on the Japanese player heads-up. Down to two players, Abraham had a 4:1 lead, but Okamoto battled back before eventually being defeated.

After celebrating with her friends on the rail, a delighted Abraham could barely find the words.

“It’s surreal. I don’t even know what to say, I don’t have any words right now,” she managed. “It was awesome. I couldn't have done it without , to be honest.”

After an incredible victory and her first WSOP title being confirmed, Abraham comforted a crestfallen Okamoto and the first female bracelet winner this series in Event #67.

Colossal Day 2 Field Reduced to 80

An incredible day of action in Event #70, the $400-entry Colossus, saw 1,980 players reduced to just 80 survivors by the close of Day 2. From a total field of 15,983, the chip leader heading into the Day 3 denouement is Jesse Kertland (26,150,000), who leads Colin Robinson (22,300,000) and Darrick Arreola (19,750,000).

Kertland, heading for his fifth cash this World Series come what may, will do anything he can to take down the $501,120 but still has plenty of dangerous opponents to best if he is to be successful. N8 Ambassador Pete Chen (10,075,000), Konstantinos Nanos (9,200,000) and Ian Steinman (7,700,000) all sit in the top half looking to win a bracelet for the first time, while former winners James Dempsey (8,275,000), John Gorsuch (4,075,000), Jason Wheeler (2,375,00) and Ashkan Razavi (1,525,000) will all hope to make their experience count tomorrow.

Turner on Top in Mixed Big Bet Event

Jon Turner (1,433,000) leads the final 24 in the $2,500-entry Event #73 in Mixed Big Bet. Erick Lindgren (803,000) is chasing hard, while dangerous professionals with mixed game experience such as Benny Glaser (746,0000, Stuart Rutter (553,000) and Anthony Zinno (308,000) all hover looking for a bracelet win.  

With 377 total entries and a prizepool of $836,000 in this event, the top prize is a mouthwatering $190,240, and everyone will have their eyes on the prize as the likely final day of action takes place tomorrow on the same day that the WSOP Main Event kicks off.

Opening Day of Mini Main Event Sees 5k Play

An insane number of players took to the halls of the Horseshoe and Paris casinos in a bid to become the Main Event champion today... or rather the Mini Main Event champion. Yes, the $1,000 cousin of the ‘Big One’ began today and after a monumental day of entries, 5,257 players were reduced to 426 in the tournament famed for its similar structure to the Main Event, which starts tomorrow.

Top of the pile after 22 mammoth, energy-sapping levels was the Indian player Avneesh Munjal, who amounted 3.25 million chips by the close of play. He’ll be dreaming of the $549,555 top prize and attendant WSOP bracelet that will be awarded to the winner of this event.

Banducci Leads with Paur and Josephy Top Five in PLO

The final event of the day to come to a close was the $10,000-entry PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, which ended with Michael Banducci in charge. The popular U.S. pro bagged up 387,500 on Day 1 of this Championship event and was closely followed in the counts by Michael Wang (364,500) and Taylor Paur (361,500), with Cliff Josephy (296,000) also in close attendance.

Other crushers such as Dylan Weisman (276,000) and Maxx Coleman (233,500) made the upper limits of the leaderboard too, with a prizepool of $2.47 million on the line.  

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