WSOP 2023 Day 5 Recap: Doug Polk and Chris Brewer on Heads Up Collision Course, John Hennigan Leads Dealer’s Choice Race

The action was red hot in Las Vegas as the fifth day of this year’s 54^th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) took place at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos. With action reaching the semifinal stage on the $25,000-entry Heads Up Championship and Day 2 in the Dealer’s Choice Championship, there was also an all-Ukraine bracelet showdown in the Limit Hold’em Event, a Tournament of Champions winner and the final Day 1 flight of this year’s bumper Mystery Millions.

Polk and Brewer to Meet in Semifinal Showdown

The $25,000-entry Heads Up Championship is one of the WSOP’s flagship events, and this year was capped at 64 players, each hopeful of winning the $507,000 top prize. With only the final day to come in the event, Doug Polk, Chris Brewer, Sean Winter and Chanracy Khun are the final four players in with a chance of lifting the WSOP bracelet tomorrow night.

The Round of 16 stage kicked off the action on Day 2 of this star-studded event and it was the most important round other than the final, with the money bubble bursting. Anyone who triumphed ended up with profit, all the eight losers went home with nothing despite winning two previous rounds of action.

In the top half of the draw, Landon Tice won the headline match of the round, beating Chance Kornuth in a thrilling bout. All-in with ace-three in the final hand, Tice hit a river three to beat Kornuth’s ace-ten as the three-time WSOP winner was eliminated in dramatic fashion. Tice would go on to lose to Chanracy Khun in the quarterfinals, but it was a fun ride while it lasted for one of poker’s most entertaining young players.

Khun will face Sean Winter in the semifinals after the latter triumphed over Eric Wasserson and Kevin Racbichow on his way to the final four.

In the bottom half of the draw, Doug Polk eliminated Japanese player Reiji Kono in the Round of 16 then won his quarterfinal over Daniel Negreanu’s Round 2 nemesis, Spanish pro Roberto Perez. In the final hand, Perez hit a pair on the turn when at risk, only for Polk to river a wheel straight, prompting the three-time bracelet winner to high-five his friends and railbirds in ‘lap of honor’ around the table.

Ronnie Day Wins Tournament of Champions for $200,000

The $1,000,000 freeroll Tournament of Champions, Event #4 on the 2023 WSOP Schedule and featuring winners from bracelet and WSOP Circuit events in the past 12 months, concluded with Ronnie Day holding gold. The winner, who took the $200,000 top prize after beating Brent Gregory heads-up, triumphed for a big result and a bumper payday after outlasting players such as overnight leader Wissam Gahshan (fifth for $46,000) and Barry Schultz (seventh for $26,000) along the way.

Day won his WSOP Circuit title in Elizabeth, Indiana in May, and has enjoyed a fruitful few weeks in his fledgling poker career, with just four WSOP cashes in his poker history including this one. None will feel as satisfying as bagging his first WSOP bracelet in Las Vegas.  

Vadim Shlez Victorious After All-Ukrainian Heads Up in Event #7

The $1,500-entry Limit Hold’em Event #7 saw Vadim Shlez take the top prize of $146,835 as he saw off home competition from his fellow Ukrainian opponent Rostyslav Sabishchenko heads-up. The competition was tough until that point, with players such as John Armbrust (fifth for $32,840) and overnight leader Jason Duong (seventh for $18,196) coming close but not quite near enough.

The multiple WSOP bracelet winner David ‘ODB’ Baker came into the final day as the man with the most experience, but he couldn’t get close to the big numbers either, busting in eighth place and cashing for $13,917. He’ll look to go again immediately and will be a threat in any mixed-game event this summer.

Monnette on the Money in Seven Card Stud

John Monnette leads the final nine players in the $1,500-entry Event #9 in Seven Card Stud. Monnette, already a four-time WSOP bracelet winner, has a great shot at landing his fifth gold gong as he heads into the final day with the chip lead. It’s a very healthy lead at that, with Monnette racking up an awe-inspiring 1,975,000 chips on Day 2 of this three-day event, good for a chunky lead over second-placed Nick Schulman (1,375,000).

Schulman’s experience – and three previous WSOP wins – assures Monnette of a tough battle to end up on top however, and with other sharks such as Shaun Deeb (675,000) and DJ Buckley (880,000) both fighting hard from the middle of the pack anything could happen at the final table.

Hennigan the Hero in Dealer’s Choice Once Again

With 69 players returning to the felt on Day 2 tomorrow, the $10,000-entry Dealer’s Choice Championship is poised for a day of drama. Poker Hall of Famer and six-time WSOP bracelet winner John ‘World’ Hennigan piled up 309,500 for the lead on the day, with other stars much lower down the rankings, such as 16-time WSOP winner Phil Hellmuth, who ended the day 69^th of 69 with just 9,000 chips.

While the Poker Brat will have plenty of work to do, others ended strong, with Larry Tull (208,500) again ending a Day 1 with a healthy stack, alongside fellow top five players David Bach (273,000) and Anatolii Zyrin (255,000). British player and 2022 WSOP Tag Team bracelet winner – alongside world champion Espen Jorstad - has 202,500 chips to play with on Day 2, while Brian Rast (190,000) and David ‘Bakes’ Baker (190,000) both made the top 10 chipcounts.

Mystery Million Tops Out with 18,000 Entrants

An amazing final Day 1 flight of the 2023 Mystery Millions event concluded with 18,188 players the official total field, with 1,005 players coming back to the action tomorrow. Irish player Ronan Nally (2,820,000) topped the Day 1d field, while Calvin Anderson (2,390,000), Zachary Wilson (2,350,000) and Stan Lee (2,280,000) all made the top four.

A little further back, Matt Affleck (1,880,000) and Tyler Cornell (1,540,000) will both be hoping their experience counts and with not one but two million-dollar bounties potentially up for grabs, all that means Matt Glantz is 500/1 to go back-to-back and claim seven-figure sums in successive years for a $1,000 buy-in!

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