2023 WSOP Day 46: Friedman Gets Closer To Sixth Bracelet

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Jul 15, 2023 9 min read

The 2023 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas may be headed into its last few days, but that doesn't mean the action is letting up. In fact, these last few days are some of the busiest.

While the Main Event played down to its final table today, there were ten other events that either kicked off, plowed through, or closed out their action.

Four of the day's events ended with one player holding all the chips, the first prize cash, and a gold bracelet. The most significant of these wins went to Bulgarian player Alex Kulev, who took home his first WSOP bracelet and $2,087,073 for first place in the $50,000 High Roller Event.

The day's other bracelet winners were Joseph Roh in the $600 Ultra Stack, Matthew Parry in the $3,000 PLO 6-Handed, and Thai Ha in the $1,500 Short Deck.

Main Event Plays Down To Final Eight

Event #76: $10,000 MAIN EVENT No-Limit Hold'em World Championship played down from fifteen players to eight over the course of today.

The current chipleader heading up this final table is Adam Walton. He told PokerNews that his run in the WSOP "feels like a dream. It feels fake. I went from randomly playing the Main — I had like 12,000 chips in the beginning — and now this is happening. It’s been the time of my life. It’s crazy!"

When play resumes on Sunday, July 16, at 2 p.m. local time, Walton and his seven final table mates are all guaranteed a payout of at least $900,000. However, they will all have their eyes on first place with its $12,100,000 prize and the WSOP Main Event gold bracelet.

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating And Chip Counts

Alex Kulev Wins $2.1m In $50k High Roller

High-roller events tend to attract the best players in the world plus a few whales. Alex Kulev is definitely the among the former. He already had $4.6 million accrued in live tournament cashes before he took down Event #84: $50,000 High Roller today, now that number is $6,630,310 plus a bracelet.

The $50,000 High Roller pulled in 176 players, making for a total prize pool of $8,404,000.

Only 27 of those players were paid, but among them were big names like David Peters (27th-$80,920), Jeremy Ausmus (21st-$88,506), Jason Koon (15th-$101,149), Daniel Negreanu (14th-$101,149), and Damian Salas.

Kulev's competition today at the final table was tougher still with Koray Aldemir (5th-$533,561) and Jake Schindler (3rd-$957,491) joining him for what must have been a tense final table.

Kulev ultimately won $2,087,073 for his first-place finish, beating Gergely Kulcsar heads up.

2023 WSOP Event #84: $50,000 High Roller Final Table Results

New Tournament Goes To An Old Hand

Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack is the first iteration of this event. Despite being a new addition to the schedule, it still attracted a whopping 7,207 entries for a prize pool of $3,675,570.

Joseph Roh is certainly not new to the series, the 55-year-old started playing poker in his teens and has three previous cashes at the WSOP. Roh's heads-up opponent Denny Lee him plenty to worry about with the chip lead going back and forth in a hotly contested finale. However, Roh got a break and Lee didn't.

Lee won $250,120 for second place and Roh won $401,250 along with the bracelet.

2023 WSOP Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack Final Table Results

Matthew Parry Wins $3k PLO 6-max Event

Short-handed pot-limit Omaha is usually a speedy business, but Event #82: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-Handed) took four days to crown a winner.

The event racked up 1,013 entries, creating a prize pool of $2,704,710.

Day 3 came to a close with Connor Drinan busting in sixth place ($75,517). The final five players returned for Day 4 today.

The event ended up with Matthew Parry heads up with Day 2 chip leader Dustin Goldklang.

Parry ultimately won the $480,122 first prize — helped along by a heads-up lead of 7:1 — while Goldklang took $296,746 for second place.

2023 WSOP Event #82 Final Table Results

Thai Ha Wins $1,500 Short Deck Bracelet

There were 363 players who bought into Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck making for a prize pool of $484,605. After three days of play, only Thai Ha remained. The Vietnamese pro won $111,170 for his first-place finish.

To get there Ha had to play through a final table that included experienced short deck players like Ryan Laplante, Wai Kiat Lee, and second-place finisher David Prociak.

"It feels great. Short Deck is one of the games I play the most," Ha told PokerNews. Even so he said that Prociak is "good in every game and he's picking up short deck very fast. He wasn't an easy opponent."

2023 WSOP Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck Final Table Results

Adam Friedman Chases Sixth Bracelet In $1.5k Shootout

Yesterday saw 987 players enter Event #85: $1,500 Shootout. Only 100 of them made it through to today (Day 2 of the event). Now, only ten remain. Players are returning with between 2,415,000 and 2,465,000 with the slight variations between stacks uneven tables and partially blinded stacks of Day 1.

There are several big names coming back to the final table at 11 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 15. Among those names are five-time bracelet winner Faraz Jaka (2,450,000), Yuri Dzivielevski (2,415,000), and Adam Friedman (2,415,000) who is looking for his sixth bracelet.

All eyes will be on this table to see if Friedman can make it to six!

2023 WSOP Event #85: $1,500 Shootout Final Table Seat Draw

Hellmuth Is Last Bounty In $1,979 Hall Of Fame Event

Only two Hall of Famers made it to Day 2 of Event #86: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty — Eli Elezra and Phil Hellmuth.

Elezra's pocket queens got cracked by Nitis Udornpim early in the day, while Hellmuth managed to hold on until the field was down to 19 before someone claimed the bounty on his head.

There won't be any bounties coming back Saturday, July 15, at 12 p.m. local time for the final table and Day 3 of the event. Even so, all nine players are guaranteed at least $32,897 for ninth place and can hope to make $402,054 for first.

Diego Ventura will lead the field with 13,350,000 in chips when they return tomorrow at noon.

2023 WSOP Event #86: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty Final Table Seat Draw

Nick Pupillo Leads Star-Studded Field In Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo

Today started with 247 players remaining from an original field of 460 in Event #87: $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better. The day ended with just 37 players still in the action.

The top three chipstacks are held by Nick Pupillo (1,298,000), Yuval Bronshtein (1,260,000), and Jeffrey Trudeau (1,106,000). They are joined in the top ten by Ari Engel (663,000), Patrick Leonard (651,000), and Timothy Frazin (634,000).

Among the shorter stacks at the end of the day were Todd Brunson (196,000), David “Bakes” Baker (173,000), and four-time bracelet winner Brad Ruben (167,000).

This star-studded field will return for Day 3 action on Saturday, July 15th, at 1 p.m. local time.

2023 WSOP Event #87: $2,500 Mixed Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better End Of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

Benson Tang Leads Closer Fields After Day 1a

Day 1a of Event #88: $1,500 The Closer ended after 22 levels of play. By the time the bags were being handed out, there were 1,141 entries but just 76 survivors. As a result, there is $1,523,235 in the prize pool, with more to come on Day 1b.

Benson Tang leads the field with 2,185,000 in chips. He already has two cashes in hand from this summer's series and he is looking to earn his first bracelet. He will be watching tomorrow's Day 1b flight carefully, hoping to maintain his lead

Day 1b is set to start at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 15. It will be held in Paris Las Vegas and there will be 22 levels of 30 minutes each. Registration will close at the end of the dinner break.

The survivors of both Day 1 flights will then come back for a combined Day 2 on Sunday, July 16th at 10 a.m. local time.

2023 WSOP Event #88: $1,500 The Closer End of Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Pete Chen Leads Flip & Go Field

One of this year's most unusual events, Event #89: $1,000 Flip & Go Presented by GGPoker, saw players start their tournament with a forced all-in pineapple hand. Each table continued flipping like this until there was a single winner who was then entered in the "Go" flight.

The Go flight started at 7 p.m. and proceeded as a normal tournament for 12 levels. However, those early flips seemed to set the tone, with the field quickly whittled down from 128 survivors to 18.

Pete Chen leads the final 18 with 2,990,000 when they return for Day 2 at 12 p.m. local time on July 15.

2023 WSOP Event #89: $1,000 Flip & Go Presented by GGPoker End of Day 1 Top Ten Stacks

Tobias Schwecht Has Chip Lead In $10k 6-max

Today, during Event #90: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship, we saw Austrian pro Tobias Schwecht climb the chip rankings to top out the field with 546,000 in chips when bagging time came around.

He is closely followed by Frank Lagodich (535,500) and Justin Liberto (500,500). They are the top three of 197 Day 1 survivors from a field of 495 entries so far. With late registration available until the start of Day 2, the number of players (and therefore the current prize pool of $4,603,500) could still grow.

Some of the players who were unable to find a bag today were Alex Foxen, Kristen Foxen, five-time bracelet winner Brian Yoon, and poker legend Erik Seidel.

The remaining players will return for Day 2 on July 15th at 1 p.m. local time. Blinds will start at 1,000/2,500 and play will continue for ten levels.

2023 WSOP Event #90: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts

What To Expect On Day 47

The action will be a little quieter tomorrow (Saturday, July 15) than it was today, but there will still be six live events one online event (Online Event #18: $2,000 Freezeout Championship) on the go.

Event #91: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. will kick off along with the Day 1b field of The Closer. The latter of these events has a combined Day 2 scheduled for Sunday, so tomorrow is your last chance to hop into the action.

Meanwhile, Event #89: $1,000 Flip & Go Presented by GGPoker, Event #85: $1,500 SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold'em, and Event #87: $2,500 Mixed: Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better are set to crown bracelet winners tomorrow. Plus, the WSOP has also scheduled Event #90: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship to play out its Day 2.

The final 8 of the WSOP Main Event have the day off. However, they will be back on Sunday, July 16, at 2 p.m. local time to pick up the action again.

Stick with PokerNews to stay up to date on all these events and more!

• Tags WSOP23 World Series of Poker WSOP Adam Friedman Alex Foxen Eli Elezra Erik Seidel Todd Brunson Phil Hellmuth Poker Hall of Fame Jason Koon Daniel Negreanu
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• Related Players Daniel NegreanuErik SeidelPhil HellmuthTodd BrunsonEli ElezraJason Koon