WSOP 2023 Day 47 Recap: Maiden Bracelets Won by Faraz Jaka and Diego Ventura, Seven Events in Progress

Three WSOP bracelets were won and four more events progressed to later stages on a busy day of action at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos on Saturday. With Faraz Jaka and Diego Ventura both winning debut bracelets, it was an exciting day on the Las Vegas Strip as millions of dollars were won and dreams came true.

Faraz Jaka Wins Debut Bracelet for $237,367

Faraz Jaka won his first-ever WSOP bracelet for $237,767 as he conquered the final shootout table of three in Event #85. Jaka, whose prowess as both a poker professional and coach is legendary, was overwhelmed at the close of the event as he discussed finally getting the monkey off his back in WSOP event.

“I feel pretty great and am just taking it all in. I was so zoned in that, I’m still kind of decompressing. I mean, I’ve gotten a lot of seconds and thirds, not just in WSOP but also in like WPT events and so on. So, it's definitely nice to kind of get that monkey off my back and I feel like it's just one of those things and I’m gonna start shipping the rest now.”

Jaka’s victory came at the expense of not only a superb heads-up challenger in Michael Finstein, but a table packed with talent as Yuri Dzivielevski (5^th for $63,295) and Adam Friedman (8^th for $29,834) both fell short of glory as the impressive Jaka saw it out.

Diego Ventura Wins Debut Gold in HOF Bounty

Peruvian superstar Diego Ventura finally grabbed the WSOP bracelet his career’s trajectory deserved as he crushed the opposition in the $1,979-entry Poker Hall of Fame event, winning the top prize of $402,054. Taking home his first bracelet, Ventura got the job done, beating Thomas Kysar heads up for the win. At a continental final table, the final nine players were representing six countries as Jimmy Setna busted first after running into pocket aces, before Israel’s Leonid Yanovski (8^th for $42,336) busted to Martin Jacobson.

The 2014 world champion would have hoped to use that hand as a springboard to a second bracelet, but he fell next, as Ventura’s control over the table grew. Previous powerhouse in the event Jason James missed out in 3^rd place for $179,593 as the second of two Canadians at the final table felt went close but not close enough.

Ventura, who burst into tears at the sheer magnitude of his achievement upon completion of the event, described how he felt to reporters afterwards.

“When I got to the final table I already wanted to cry,” he confessed. “I was like, ‘Wait, it’s not the moment yet’, so I was trying to calm myself down. When the moment arrived, I was like so calm that I couldn’t let my emotions out until, I just started to look back at my life and in that moment I got emotional.”

In a career-defining moment, Ventura’s victory landed him a top prize of $402,054 but to Peru’s most successful ever player, the gold bracelet was worth far more.

Dong Meng Triumphs in Flip & Go Event

The 89^th event of the 2023 WSOP saw American Dong Meng win the $1,000-entry Flip & Go event in association with GGPoker.  With 128 players making it through to the ‘poker’ segment of the action as opposed to the flipping fun beforehand, Meng got the better of Wesley Fei heads-up. Overnight chip leader Pete Chen fell in 5^th place and the former WSOP Main Event runner-up David Williams came 6^th for $28,870.

The Closer Day 1B Closes with Drama as Ivey and Arieh Draw Blanks

It took 22 levels of play to conclude Day 1B of The Closer, which costs $1,500 to play. As the bags were passed around, it emerged that Chen Feng Wen and Mathew Moore (both 1,750,000) were the joint chip leaders, with Cuba Levenberry (1,710,000) piling up chips too.  

Just 183 players remained from 2,390 players who packed into both the Horseshoe and Paris casinos in Las Vegas as they bid to win their part of a prizepool now in excess of $4.7 million. Plenty of big names made the grade, with Niall Farrell (805,000), Ben Yu (535,000) and Women’s Poker Hall of Famer Kathy Liebert (130,000) all making the cut.

Other superstars of the felt weren’t able to ‘grab a bag’ as Phil Ivey, Josh Arieh, Maria Konnikova and Mustapha Kanit all busted on the day.

Pupillo Chasing Nghia in Extended Mixed Event

Nick Pupillo was one three players forced into an extra day to battle for the WSOP crown in Event #87, the $2,500-entry Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud event. It is Nghia Le (7,400,000) who holds the chip lead coming into the final day’s play tomorrow, but Pupillo is close with 6,045,000 chips. Behind the top two Americans, Canadian player Bradley Smith (2,655,000) will attempt to run up his stack and get the job done from a position of absolutely no pressure.

Earlier at the final table, Yuval Bronshtein of Israel had missed out on the opportunity of adding to his bracelet haul as he busted in 8^th place for $19,662.

O’Connor Calling the Shots in NLHE Championship

British player Jamie ‘Boz’ O’Connor leads the $10,000-entry NLHE Championship, also known as Event #90 on the 2023 ticket. The British player’s stack of 2.54 million chips is good for a marginal lead from American AJ Kelsall, who piled up 2.32 million as 55 Day 2 late entries swelled the total field to 550 players and the prize pool to $5,115,000. With a total of 252 players starting Day 2, O’Connor led the final 30 players on his way a Day 3 that will produce a champion.

With another British legend, Stephen Chidwick (1.6m) also in the top five stacks, O’Connor won’t have it easy, but his record in six-max events is very strong. Only four years ago, he finished third in a similar six-max WSOP event. O’Connor, who has $1.2 million in tournament results alone and is an accomplished cash game player also, will be desperate to finish two places higher this time to claim his first WSOP bracelet and a career-high top prize of $1.05 million.  

Akkari on Top in H.O.R.S.E. Event #91

Andre Akkari is the player in charge after Day 1 of Event #91, the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event saw 195 progress from 332 total entries. With top 10 stacks Chad Eveslage (167,000) and Bryan Micon (141,600) both flying high, there are plenty of players who know how to close out tournaments and with over $208,000 on the line, the prize pool of $886,000 will be divided between just 50 players, with the money bubble expected to burst tomorrow.

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