WSOP 2023 Day 46 Recap: Adam Walton Leads WSOP Main Event Final Table, Alex Kulev Wins High Roller for $2 million

The final table of the WSOP Main Event has been reached and after a thrilling six hours at felt, 15 players managed to see six of their number eliminated. A final nine was confirmed early in the biggest World Championship in history, with three Americans topping the leaderboard. They are followed by a German, Spanish, Ukrainian and Italian with two British players in the bottom three to complete the set. On a day where a mammoth 10 bracelet events took place over the day, Friday night in Las Vegas set fire to the Strip!

 

Walton Leads World Championship after Weinman Miracle

 

The final nine players are set, and as the glitz and glamor of the world’s biggest Main Event is set in place, the nine men who will battle it out of glory on Sunday and Monday have a day off to contemplate their forthcoming fate. It’s that magical time of year again where poker fans around the world pick a favorite or two and prepare to root for their heroes in the cauldron of the Thunderdome.

 

After a tumultuous day at the felt, poker’s finest gathered on the rail to support their peers. At the close of play, the three surviving American players topped the nine-man leaderboard, with each man coming to their position of prominence via very different paths. Adam Walton was the most dominant player on the last day before the final, piling up a big lead with his stack of 143.8 million the only one in nine figures.

 

Behind Walton, Steven Jones (90.3m) got things done quietly as continued his placid yet no-less-impressive performance in the Main Event to head into the final second in chips. Finally, Daniel Weinman made it in third place on the leaderboard with 81.7 million chips after hitting a two-outer miracle card to triple up back into contention.

 

Behind the home country heroes, German player Jan-Peter Jachtmann (74.6 million) is the other player behind Weinman in the final who has won a WSOP bracelet before. More experienced in mixed game, Jachtmann’s vast knowledge of adapting to change has stood him in good stead so far.

 

The middle-ranking players all have great stories to tell should they prevail. Overnight leader Juan Maceiras (68m) lost some chips but remains a big threat. Ukrainian player Ruslan Prydryk (50.7m) will be doing everything to make his war-torn home country’s poker fans proud, while Italian farmer Daniel Holzner (31.9m) will be making the most of an amazing gift from his family.

 

Coming in short, two British players have experience to make any comeback hopes possible with one double-up. Dean Hutchinson (41.7m) still has 35 big blinds and Toby Lewis (19.8m) is one double away from that amount, arguably with more experience that anyone at the final table. Lewis has Weinman to his left at the table but before any of the drama begins, all nine players have a rare and deserved day to prepare.

 

One of them will become world champion in two days’ time, winning the biggest-ever prize of $12.1 million.  

 

WSOP 2023 Event #76 $10,000 Main Event World Championship Final Table:
Rank	Player	Country	Chips	Big Blinds
1st	Adam Walton	United States	143,800,000	120
2nd	Steven Jones	United States	90,300,000	75
3rd	Daniel Weinman	United States	81,700,000	68
4th	Jan-Peter Jachtmann	Germany	74,600,000	62
5th	Juan Maceiras	Spain	68,000,000	57
6th	Ruslan Prydryk	Ukraine	50,700,000	42
7th	Dean Hutchison	United Kingdom	41,700,000	35
8th	Daniel Holzner	Italy	31,900,000	27
9th	Toby Lewis	United Kingdom	19,800,000	17

 

Alex Kulev the King in $50,000 High Roller Event

 

Heading into the final day as chip leader, Bulgarian player Alex Kulev conquered the $50,000-entry High Roller Event #84, winning a top prize of $2.08 million as he celebrated what is easily the biggest victory of his career.

 

It was the German former world champion Koray Aldemir who busted first, eliminated in fifth place for $533,561 when his middle pair and flush draw failed to improve against Gergely Kulcsar’s set of nines. Out next was the shortest stack coming into play, as Aldemir’s fellow German Daniel Smiljkovic busted in fourth for $713,413, after losing unluckily to the Hungarian Kulcsar, whose ace-ten triumphed against Smiljkovic’s ace-jack.

 

Out in third place was Jake Schindler, and that left Kulev heading into play heads-up with a big lead. He sealed the deal with ace-nine against Kulcsar’s ace-five and in doing so won his first-ever WSOP bracelet and a signature win in his poker career, along with the top prize of $2,087,073. Kulcsar’s $1,289,909 runner-up result still counts as the biggest win of his career.

 

WSOP 2023 Event #84 $50,000 NLHE High Roller Results:
Rank	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Alex Kulev	Bulgaria	$2,087,073
2nd	Gergely Kulcsar	Hungary	$1,289,909
3rd	Jake Schindler	United States	$957,491
4th	Daniel Smiljkovic	Germany	$713,413
5th	Koray Aldemir	Germany	$533,561
6th	Johannes Straver	Netherlands	$400,562
7th	Brandon Wittmeyer	United States	$301,859
8th	Moshe Refaelowitz	Israel	$228,347

 

Roh Wins First Bracelet Aged 55 in Ultra Stack Drama

 

A thrilling final table in the 81^st event of the 2023 World Series of Poker saw American player Joseph Roh beat a previously dominant Denny Lee to the title for the top prize of $401,250. Lee had taken out plenty of the competition by the time the final two players remained and led for the most time during the nine-handed final table.

 

Players such as overnight leader John Fagg, who ran pocket queens into the pocket kings of Lee, lost their stacks, but Roh hung in there and heads-up managed to grind his way into the lead. Having done so, Roh was able to get all the chips into the middle pre-flop when his ace-queen was dominating Lee’s ace-five and he held to win his first-ever WSOP bracelet aged 55.

 

WSOP 2023 Event #81 $600 NLHE Ultra Stack Results:
Rank	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Joseph Roh	United States	$401,250
2nd	Denny Lee	United States	$250,120
3rd	John Fagg	United States	$184,720
4th	Peyton Ethridge	United States	$139,360
5th	William Fisher	United States	$105,890
6th	Logan Moon	United States	$81,030
7th	Min Sung Lee	South Korea	$62,450
8th	Lucas Tae	United States	$48,480
9th	Schuyler Thornton	United States	$37,910

 

Matthew Parry Wins PLO 6-Max Event for $480k

 

Matt Parry closed out the 82^nd event of the WSOP as he won the 6-Max PLO event for a top prize of $480,122 and his first bracelet event. Denying WSOP Player of the Year leader Ian Matakis the victory, Parry also kept that race more than alive, with previous overnight leader Dustin Goldklang taking second place for $296,746.

 

The five-handed final table said goodbye to Lawrence Wayne and Cuba Levenberry first, as three-handed play threw up the possibility of the current WSOP POY leader winning his second bracelet and leading the WSOP Player of the Year race by such a margin that the final stages of that race might have been a formality. With players such as Shaun Deeb and Josh Arieh chasing Matakis down, the race is not a formality now.

 

WSOP 2023 Event #82 $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha 6-Max Results:
Rank	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Matthew Parry	United States	$480,122
2nd	Dustin Goldklang	United States	$296,746
3rd	Ian Matakis	United States	$205,696
4th	Cuba Levenberry	United States	$144,890
5th	Lawrence Wayne	United States	$103,738

 

Shootout Finale Includes Dzivielevski, Friedman and Jaka

 

The final ten players have been reached in the exciting $1,500-entry Shootout Event #85. With everyone winning their second table of the event, Adam Friedman, Faraz Jaka and Yuri Dzivlievski all made the ten-handed showdown for the bracelet. Up top is $237,367 and the bracelet, with others such as Mo Zhou and Matteo Cavalier from France also present in the final Shootout battle.

 

WSOP 2023 Event #85 $1,500 NLHE Shootout Leaderboard:
Rank	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Mo Zhou	China	2,465,000
2nd	Ao Chen	United States	2,465,000
3rd	Adam Friedman	United States	2,415,000
4th	Faraz Jaka	United States	2,450,000
5th	Matteo Cavelier	France	2,420,000
6th	Olga Iermolcheva	United States	2,450,000
7th	Yuri Dzivielevski	Brazil	2,415,000
8th	Michael Finstein	United States	2,415,000
9th	Edward Mroczkowski	United States	2,440,000
10th	Allan Mello	United States	2,420,000

 

Ventura On Top into Poker Hall of Fame Bounty Final

 

Peruvian superstar Diego Ventura leads the final table of the $1,979-entry Poker Hall of Fame Bounty Event #86. On a day when Phil Hellmuth busted, it was Ventura who piled up by far the biggest chips stack, amassing 13.35 million chips, a considerable lead over second-placed Thomas Kysar (8,925,000).

 

Jason James of Canada slid into the final nine with 4,675,000, but everyone else has less than a third of Ventura’s stack as the Peruvian looks to win his first-ever WSOP bracelet. The only former bracelet winner in the final nine is the 2014 world champion Martin Jacobson, who has 3,275,000 chips and the chance at his second WSOP title nine years after his dramatic first.

 

WSOP 2023 Event #86 $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Leaderboard:
Rank	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Diego Ventura	Peru	13,350,000
2nd	Thomas Kysar	United States	8,925,000
3rd	Jason James	Canada	4,675,000
4th	Louie Torres	United States	3,400,000
5th	Martin Jacobson	Sweden	3,275,000
6th	Jose Nadal	Mexico	2,825,000
7th	Jimmy Setna	Canada	2,600,000
8th	Leonid Yanovski	Israel	1,850,000
9th	Francis Anderson	United States	1,625,000

 

Schwedt Sweeps Away Rivals on Day 1 of NLHE Championship

 

Austrian player Tobias Schwedt assembled the biggest chip stack by the close of Day 1 in the $10,000-entry NLHE Championship. The poker powerhouse totted up 546,000 by the end of the opening day of action in this Championship event, with bracelet winners Justin Liberto (500,500), Thomas Cazayous (435,500) and Cliff Josephy (428,000) all making the top 10.

 

Elsewhere, there were bags to fill for poker legends such as Andre Akkari (303,000), Espen Jorstad (223,000) and Danny Tang (217,500), with Jeremy Ausmus (206,500) joining those luminaries in the top 40 of the remaining 197 players.

 

WSOP 2023 Event #90 $10,000 6-Max NLHE Championship:
Rank	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Tobias Schwecht	Austria	546,000
2nd	Frank Lagodich	United States	535,500
3rd	Justin Liberto	United States	500,500
4th	Alberto Meran	Dominican Republic	475,000
5th	Andrey Pateychuk	Russia	462,000
6th	Julian Milliard-Feral	France	445,000
7th	Thomas Cazayous	France	435,500
8th	Cliff Josephy	United States	428,000
9th	Jamie O'Connor	United Kingdom	413,000
10th	Jack Corrigan	United States	364,500

 

Tang Chasing Glory in The Closer

 

Benson Tang led the Day 1A field in The Closer, which this year doesn’t close the WSOP, but still attracted 1,141 players, creating a $1.5 million prize pool so far. Tang’s stack of 2,185,000 was a huge one, especially considering that his nearest challenger, Alan Hamza, bagged up 1,910,000 yet doesn’t lead.  

 

With Jason Wheeler (1,360,000) also making the Day 1A top ten chipcounts, 76 players remained in the hunt for glory – and that all-important bracelet – as Day 2 – or Day 1B or anyone who didn’t make it - looms.

 

WSOP 2023 Event #88 $1,500 The Closer Leaderboard:
Rank	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Benson Tang	United States	2,185,000
2nd	Alan Hamza	United States	1,910,000
3rd	Jeffrey Tanouye	United States	1,865,000
4th	Lisa Hamilton	United States	1,605,000
5th	Faizal Khoja	United States	1,580,000
6th	Mohommed Khan	United States	1,475,000
7th	Yann Perron	France	1,445,000
8th	Renmei Liu	Canada	1,445,000
9th	Jason Wheeler	United States	1,360,000
10th	Michael Noori	United States	1,355,000

 

Pupillo Leads Event #87 as Leonard and Engel Challenge

 

Nick Pupillo has been in pole position for a bracelet on several occasions and shoots for number two on Saturday leading the final 37 players in Event #87, the $2,500-entry Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud event. Pupillo’s stack of 1,298,000 is marginally ahead of Yuval Bronshtein’s 1,260,000, with Jeffrey Trudeau (1,106,000) the only other player with a seven-figure stack.

 

Behind those three crushers, legends lie in wait. Ari Engel (663,000) and Patrick Leonard (651,000) both made the top 10, with a top prize of $221,733 on the line tomorrow.

 

WSOP 2023 Event #87 $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Leaderboard:
Rank	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Nick Pupillo	United States	1,298,000
2nd	Yuval Bronshtein	Israel	1,260,000
3rd	Jeffrey Trudeau	United States	1,106,000
4th	Blaz Zerjav	Slovenia	762,000
5th	Chris Chung	United States	743,000
6th	Gary Bolden	United States	670,000
7th	Ari Engel	Canada	663,000
8th	Patrick Leonard	United Kingdom	651,000
9th	Timothy Frazin	634,000	634,000
10th	Bradley Smith	Canada	600,000

 

 

Chen in Charge as Flip & Go Nears Bracelet

 

Just 18 players survived to the final day of the $1,000-entry Event #89, the GGPoker-sponsored Flip & Go event. Leading the way is Pete Chen (2,990,000), who has a huge amount more than even his closest challenger James Bullimore (1,840,000) as well as other top 10 players Jack Salter (1,675,000) and Jesse Lonis (1,120,000) to name just two.

 

A total of 128 players make it through to the ‘Go’ stage, where flips give way to poker, and a total prize pool of $1,182,810 will see someone win the top prize of $160,490.

 

WSOP 2023 Event #89 $1,000 GGPoker Flip & Go Leaderboard:
Rank	Player	Country	Chips
1st	Pete Chen	Taiwan	2,990,000
2nd	James Bullimore	United Kingdom	1,840,000
3rd	Mason Vieth	United States	1,715,000
4th	Jack Salter	United Kingdom	1,675,000
5th	Dong Meng	United States	1,420,000
6th	Xizhe Yuan	United Kingdom	1,245,000
7th	Eric Wasserson	United States	1,200,000
8th	Jesse Lonis	United States	1,120,000
9th	Drew Gonzalez	United States	960,000
10th	Brady Hinnegan	Canada	945,000

 

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