WSOP 2023 Day 8 Recap: Jeremy Eyer Wins Epic Heads Up Against Felipe Ramos to Claim Maiden Bracelet

The longest heads-up fight for a bracelet so far at the 54^th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) took place on Tuesday night in Las Vegas as Jeremy Eyer won his first bracelet at the expense of another man going for his maiden gold bracelet, Brazilian poker hero Felipe Ramos. With a bracelet win for Joseph Altomonte in the $600 Pot Limit Omaha Deepstack Event #13 too, it was a very busy day on the Vegas Strip.

Eyer Takes it Late Against Runner-Up Ramos

Felipe Ramos has won over $1.6 million at the World Series of Poker in his lifetime, an achievement against which most players who have ever played fall short of. Ramos, however, has never won a WSOP bracelet and this latest heads-up defeat live on PokerGO will linger painfully in the memory after a three-hour battle against Jeremy Eyer eventually went the American’s way.

The final table began with nine players still hunting gold. All of them started behind both Eyer and Ramos, who began the day with a decent lead over the field and that proved prescient once the final table had been whittled down the final two. Players such as Ivan Galinec (7th - $86,300), South Korean player Jinho Hong (4th $208,158) and Japanese star Nozomu Shimizu (3rd - $287,106) all fell short ahead of the final duel, but that was only the start of the action.

Across three long hours, the duo battled back and forth. Ramos led until a turned top two pair catapulted Eyer into the lead and from there he established a big lead, going into the final hand with 23.6 million to Ramos’ 13.2 million. The Brazilian needed a way back into the match and when he looked down at pocket jacks, he must have thought he’d found it. Three-betting all-in Ramos was devastated to see that Eyer had been dealt pocket queens for a stone-cold cooler. No heat came Ramos’ way and it was Eyer’s day, as he claimed the top prize of $649,550, leaving Ramos to lick his wounds. Admittedly while being $401,460 better off.

Altomonte Outwits Holmes to Solve the Puzzle in PLO Deepstack

Joseph Altomonte won his first WSOP bracelet too on a day for debut winners in Las Vegas, as he captured the Event #13 PLO Deepstack crown. Winning the $217,102 top prize, Altomonte went from second in chips going into the final table to bully his way to the win in style.

After winning the event, Altomonte confessed that some words from his past acted as a kind of reverse motivation. “My ex said being a poker player wasn't an acceptable occupation, so I quit for a very long time.” He told PokerNews reporters in the aftermath of a career-defining victory that doubtless will taste very sweet today.

At the final table, Altomonte topped some players with very impressive careers to date, such as Clayton Fletcher (5th - $58,382) and runner-up Michael Holmes ($134,171).

With a total field of 3,200 entries, Altomonte’s achievement more than bears out his decision to reinvest his time and efforts in the game and he has now won a WSOP bracelet – the prize that so many great players yet to win one covet.

Hoffman Leads Last 13 in Seven Card Stud Championship

Max Hoffman leads the last 13 players in Event #14 the Seven Card Stud Championship. With Robert Mizrachi proving to be bubble boy on the day that players made it into the money places, there were cashes but no final day runs for Jeff Madsen (19th for $16,378), Bryce Yockey (18th for $16,378), and Philip Long (15th for $17,319) before the final table was set.

Hoffman’s stack of 1,522,000 is trailed closely by Maxx Coleman with 1,238,000 and Brian Yoon in the podium places. Other big names to make the last day include George Alexander (652,000) and Chad Eveslage (472,000) who incredibly is looking to win three of the first 14 WSOP bracelets this summer, which to say the least would be an unprecedented achievement.

Calvin Anderson Leads $25,000 High Roller with Haxton Flying High

There were 264 total entries in the $25,000 buy-in High Roller Event #16 of the WSOP, with 93 players surviving to Day 2, topped by chip leader Calvin Anderson (1,609,000). In second was Freddy Deeb (1,440,000), with Brian Kim (1,291,000) in third place on the podium when play was paused at the close of Day 1.

With players such as Event #2 winner Alexandre Builleumier (774,000) 2022 world champion Espen Jorstad (377,000) and 2015 Main Event winner Joe McKeehen (320,000) all making the next day’s action, players such as 2013 world champion Ryan Riess, 1989 Main Event champion and 16-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, 2014 world champion Martin Jacobson, the youngest event Main winner Joe Cada, and the 2021 world champion Koray Aldemir all saw their hopes of glory ended.

Two More Day 1s Close for the Night

In the 15^th event of the 95 WSOP bracelet events scheduled to take place at the live felt this summer, Brandon Hall led the remaining 369 players from 2,454 entrants in the $1,500-entry 6-Max NLHE event.

With strong showings from Joseph Cheong (236,000), Maria Ho (409,000), and Shannon Shorr (561,000), there was no place in the next day’s seat draw for stars such as Matt Affleck, Allen Cunningham, Melanie Weisner or Brock Wilson, all of whom will have to pan for gold elsewhere at the Horseshoe or Paris casinos.

Finally, in Event #17, the $1,500-entry Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better event, Adel Shakerian led the way after Day 1, with a stack of 239,500 dwarfing all others, with Jason Daly (176,500) and Glen Munro (166,500) making the top 10.

Also still battling for the quarter-million top prize are Connor Drinan (157,000) and Jason Acosta (150,000), while others such as Amnon Filippi, Garry Gates and Mel Judah all saw their hopes ended on Day 1.

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