2023 WSOP Week 6 Roundup: History for Hellmuth
When the WSOP World Championship began at the 2023 World Series of Poker, other live tournaments wrapped so the entire focus could be on the Main Event. It is the center of attention for so many poker players and fans, and it takes up quite a lot of space in the tournament area. With that said, it presents a good opportunity to do a roundup of the sixth week of the 2023 WSOP up to the Main Event.
If you want to catch up on the action, these are the weekly recaps from the start:
As for Week 6, we start with Event 64 and take you through the results of Event 75.
Event 64: Guay Gets Gold
Participation in this exact NLHE Deepstack event may have been down from last year, but that didn’t damper any excitement, as the tournament still garnered more than 4,300 entries and a prize pool that exceeded $2M. The final table was one of the most diverse yet this year, with players competing from France, Australia, the UK, South Africa, Canada, and the USA.
Canadian David Guay won to collect his first WSOP gold bracelet. With emotion, he admitted that more emotion would set in later. In the meantime, “I’m going to call my mom soon to let her know,” he said. He also acknowledged his friends and family there to support him, some of whom hailed from his home casino, Playground Poker.
Event 64 | $600 buy-in | NLHE Deepstack Championship (1 RE) |
Total entries: | 4,303 | (4913 in 2022, 3916 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $2,194,530 | |
Players paid: | 646 | |
Minimum payout: | $960 | |
Final table results: | 1st place: | David Guay (Canada) $271,032 |
2nd place: | John Taylor (USA) $167,483 | |
3rd place: | Steven Stolzenfeld (USA) $124,850 | |
4th place: | Jonathan Fhima (France) $93,795 | |
5th place: | Romain Kowalczyk (France) $71,018 | |
6th place: | Gaetan Balleur (France) $54,199 | |
7th place: | David Sebesfi (Australia) $41,694 | |
8th place: | Paul Hindmarch (UK) $32,332 | |
9th place: | Ahmed Karrim (South Africa) $25,276 |
Event 65: Pu Pips Another for China
Chinese poker players have been showing out in strength at the 2023. This tournament showcased another Chinese player, this one beating nearly 1,200 entries in the 6-Handed NLHE event. He beat many big names in the leadup to his win, including defeating Norbert Szecsi heads-up for the bracelet.
Weiran Pu told PokerNews that he was thankful for the win, admitting that the first half of his 2023 was not great. “Right now, I’m a social media influencer for poker in China,” he told PokerNews. “I’ve made hundreds of vlogs, but this one may be my biggest.”
Event 65 | $5K buy-in | NLHE 6-Handed (1 RE) |
Total entries: | 1,199 | (928 in 2022, 815 in 2019, 604 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $5,046,200 | |
Players paid: | 180 | |
Minimum payout: | $8,034 | |
Final table results: | 1st place: | Weiran Pu (China) $938,244 |
2nd place: | Norbert Szecsi (Hungary) $579,892 | |
3rd place: | Tyler Cornell (USA) $407,040 | |
4th place: | Pedro Garagnani (Brazil) $289,819 | |
5th place: | Angelina Rich (Australia) $209,366 | |
6th place: | Vitor Dzivielevski (Brazil) $153,485 |
Event 66: Kopp Captures Bracelet
Last year, Katie Kopp made a huge statement by winning the first 2022 WSOP bracelet of the summer, having garnered a great deal of experience as a poker dealer. This year, her brother, William Kopp, took down a WSOP tournament as well. He did it in PLO-8.
“It feels really good,” Kopp said after the win, “especially since my best friend won a bracelet this year, and my sister won one last year.” It was the family poker element that drove him to succeed, along with his lucky socks.
All In, The Family!
William Kopp joins sister Katie as a WSOP bracelet winner.
STORY: https://t.co/vfyAk4FWKI pic.twitter.com/FmJGvoANNM
— Card Player: The Poker Authority (@CardPlayerMedia) July 1, 2023
Event 66 | $1,500 buy-in | PLO-8 8-Handed (2 RE) |
Total entries: | 1,125 | (1303 in 2022, 1117 in 2019, 725 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $1,501,875 | |
Players paid: | 168 | |
Minimum payout: | $2,409 | |
Final table results: | 1st place: | William Kopp (USA) $259,549 |
2nd place: | Michael Rodrigues (Portugal) $160,418 | |
3rd place: | Mike Linster (USA) $113,991 | |
4th place: | Sterling Savill (USA) $82,104 | |
5th place: | Joseph McCarthy (USA) $59,953 | |
6th place: | Loni Hui (USA) $44,391 | |
7th place: | John Goyette (USA) $33,335 | |
8th place: | Anthony Zinno (USA) $25,394 |
Event 67: Abraham Aces Ladies
It became the largest Ladies Championship in WSOP history. With 1,295 entries, the woman-only tournament showed the increase in the women’s poker community. The final table featured women from Cyprus, Israel, and Japan, but it was Tamar Abraham who emerged as the champion.
When the excitement tamped down, emotion took over. Abraham noted, “It’s surreal. I don’t even know what to say. I don’t have any words right now.” She then hailed her friends and supporters for the encouragement.
Congratulations to long-time @LearnWPT Student Tamar Abraham @13cypress who took home her 1st @WSOP Bracelet in the Ladies Championship!
With fellow members from @WPAGlobal to cheer her on, Tammy secured her place in history winning the record-breaking event.
— LearnWPT (@LearnWPT) July 8, 2023
Event 67 | $1K buy-in | NLHE Ladies Championship (1 RE) |
Total entries: | 1,295 | (1074 in 2022, 968 in 2019, 644 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $1,152,550 | |
Players paid: | 195 | |
Minimum payout: | $1,601 | |
Final results: | 1st place: | Tamar Abraham (USA) $192,167 |
2nd place: | Shiina Okamoto (Japan) $118,768 | |
3rd place: | Nam Nguyen (USA) $85,756 | |
4th place: | Suzanne Malavet (USA) $62,658 | |
5th place: | Mary Dvorkin (Israel) $46,333 | |
6th place: | Tara Cain (USA) $34,679 | |
7th place: | Chrysi Phiniotis (Cyprus) $26,277 | |
8th place: | Jennifer Wu (USA) $20,160 | |
9th place: | Kristie Ogilvie (USA) $15,662 |
Event 68: Schroeder Success
The next tournament on the schedule was a fast one, the Super Turbo Bounty event that brought in 2,854 entries to create a $2.5M prize pool. There was a lot of support at the final table for longtime poker player Andy Black, but it was Brazil’s Gabriel Schroeder who outlasted all of his opponents for the win.
Schroeder dedicated the win to his wife and daughter, whose pictures he kept in front of him throughout the tournament.
Event 68 | $1K buy-in | NLHE Super Turbo Freezeout |
Total entries: | 2,854 | (2227 in 2022, 2452 in 2019, 1441 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $2,513,360 | |
Players paid: | 424 | |
Minimum payout: | $1,062 | |
Final table results: | 1st place: | Gabriel Schroeder (Brazil) $228,632 |
2nd place: | Joel Wertheimer (USA) $141,298 | |
3rd place: | Andy Black (Ireland) $105,337 | |
4th place: | Elson Lima (USA) $79,142 | |
5th place: | Jordan Jayne (USA) $59,929 | |
6th place: | Daniel Lowery (USA) $45,741 | |
7th place: | Jose Brito (Portugal) $35,191 | |
8th place: | Jonathan Akiba (USA) $27,293 | |
9th place: | Ryan Goindoo (Trinidad & Tobago) $21,340 |
Event 69: Brewer Binks Another
When high roller Chris Brewer won his first bracelet in the $250K Super High Roller earlier in the 2023 WSOP, the monkey departed from his back. Whether it was the absence of that monkey or simply the year for Brewer to shine, he plowed through the Deuce-to-Seven Championship final table. He surpassed players like Riess, Dzivielevski, Negreanu, and Baker to get heads-up with Alex Livingston. The tournament was anything but easy, but Brewer emerged as the winner.
Brewer noted that this tournament was less intense than the Super High Roller. He also added, “There wasn’t much that I did. The deck just said, ‘Hey, Chris, you get to win the tournament today.’”
Chris Brewer strikes again!
The California native followed up his win in the Super High Roller ($5,293,556) by taking down the $10K 2-7 Championship for a $267,599 payday. Stay hot, Chris!
Interview & Recap: https://t.co/pFiHwaqG3i pic.twitter.com/BIMDR8lqRX
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 2, 2023
Event 69 | $10K buy-in | No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship 7-Handed (1 RE) |
Total entries: | 154 | (121 in 2022, 91 in 2019, 122 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $1,432,200 | |
Players paid: | 24 | |
Minimum payout: | $16,000 | |
Final table results: | 1st place: | Chris Brewer (USA) $367,599 |
2nd place: | Alex Livingston (Canada) $227,193 | |
3rd place: | David Baker (USA) $158,057 | |
4th place: | Chris Vitch (USA) $112,402 | |
5th place: | Daniel Negreanu (Canada) $81,751 | |
6th place: | Yuri Dzivielevski (Brazil) $60,840 | |
7th place: | Young Ko (USA) $46,356 |
Event 70: Refaelowitz Rules
The Colossus was more colossal this year than ever before. With 15,879 entries, the prize pool stopped just short of $5M and reserved more than $500K of it for the winner. That winner was Israel’s Moshe Refaelowitz, who dedicated the gold bracelet to his wife and her support of his poker dreams.
The former footballer was elated holding the bracelet. “I feel amazing,” he told PokerNews. “I’m overwhelmed. It’s a dream come true, and I’m grateful.”
Event 70 | $400 buy-in | NLHE Colossus (1 RE) |
Total entries: | 15,879 | (13,565 in 2022, 13,109 in 2019, 9399 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $4,989,540 | |
Players paid: | 1,986 | |
Minimum payout: | $700 | |
Final table results: | 1st place: | Moshe Refaelowitz (Israel) $501,120 |
2nd place: | Dae Woong Song (South Korea) $300,410 | |
3rd place: | Pete Chen (Taiwan) $216,320 | |
4th place: | Darrick Arreola (USA) $165,180 | |
5th place: | David Danlag (USA) $126,830 | |
6th place: | Jose Orozcogomez (Mexico) $100,130 | |
7th place: | Nikhil Nair (USA) $76,130 | |
8th place: | William Ackerman (USA) $59,510 | |
9th place: | Colin Robinson (USA) $46,800 |
Event 71: Lonis Lands Second Gold
Poker fans have watched Jesse Lonis rise through the ranks in the past several years, all the way to playing this $50K buy-in PLO High Roller tournament. And he not only justified his feeling for playing it, he won the whole thing to claim his second piece of WSOP gold. He credited his win to sheer experience at the tables.
Lonis said, “It just feels great because it’s a tough tournament. Obviously, every player in it, 99 percent of them, are great players. It was a mental balance and nice to come out on top.”
Event 71 | $50K buy-in | PLO High Roller (2 RE) |
Total entries: | 200 | (106 in 2022, 85 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $9,550,000 | |
Players paid: | 30 | |
Minimum payout: | $82,474 | |
Final table results: | 1st place: | Jesse Lonis (USA) $2,303,017 |
2nd place: | Tyler Smith (USA) $1,423,372 | |
3rd place: | Jonas Kronwitter (Germany) $1,037,441 | |
4th place: | Danny Hannawa (USA) $764,950 | |
5th place: | Adam Hendrix (USA) $570,671 | |
6th place: | James Park (UK) $430,806 | |
7th place: | Isaac Haxton (USA) $329,142 | |
8th place: | Elias Harala (Finland) $254,538 |
Event 72: Hellmuth Hits 17
The all-time record holder of gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker increased his count by one. He won the $10K Super Turbo Bounty, good for not only $800K but his 17th WSOP bracelet. It was his tenth cash of this summer’s series, and he couldn’t have been happier to win this one.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Hellmuth admitted during his winner’s interview. “I must have a smile just fixed to my face.”
Of course, he also talked about getting recognition he feels has long been denied. “This is the first year of my career that all the great players called me great or the greatest. Shaun Deeb is one of the greatest players in the world. He finally understands and was giving me compliments, like ‘You’re the best player in the tournament.’”
🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨
Watch @phil_hellmuth's first response after winning his record 17th gold @WSOP bracelet. pic.twitter.com/knxYhk1FrT
— PokerNews (@PokerNews) July 2, 2023
Event 72 | $10K buy-in | NLHE Super Turbo Bounty Freezeout 8-Handed |
Total entries: | 642 | (419 in 2022, 204 in 2019, 307 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $4,044,600 | |
Players paid: | 97 | |
Minimum payout: | $10,856 | |
Fina table results: | 1st place: | Phil Hellmuth (USA) $803,818 |
2nd place: | Justin Zaki (USA) $496,801 | |
3rd place: | Tom Kunze (Germany) $349,737 | |
4th place: | Kelvin Kerber (Brazil) $249,876 | |
5th place: | Chris Savage (USA) $181,230 | |
6th place: | Phil Ivey (USA) $133,461 | |
7th place: | Brandon Steven (USA) $99,817 | |
8th place: | Marc Foggin (UK) $75,837 |
Event 73: Belluscio Binks for Argentina
Hundreds of players signed up for the chance at a Mixed Big Bet bracelet, and the final table found players from Poland, the UK, Costa Rica, and the United States in competition for it. Julio Belluscio of Argentina outlasted them all, though.
And Belluscio said he saw it coming. “This year, I expected to win,” he told PokerNews. “When I have chips, I affect all the players because they never know what to do against me.”
Event 73 | $2,500 buy-in | Mixed Big Bet 6-Handed (2 RE) |
Total entries: | 377 | (281 in 2022, 218 in 2019, 212 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $836,600 | |
Players paid: | 57 | |
Minimum payout: | $4,021 | |
Final table results: | 1st place: | Julio Belluscio (Argentina) $190,240 |
2nd place: | Federico Quebedo (Costa Rica) $117,577 | |
3rd place: | Benny Glaser (UK) $78,939 | |
4th place: | Tomasz Gluszko (Poland) $54,118 | |
5th place: | Erick Lindgren (USA) $37,901 | |
6th place: | Hye Park (USA) $27,130 |
Event 74: Gafford Gets Gold
The Mini Main Event is a chance for players to compete in a freezeout with a similar structure to the Main Event but at one-tenth of the buy-in. Out of more than 5,200 players in action, Bradley Gafford was the one with all of the chips in the end.
Commenting on his first bracelet, Gafford said, “It has come way earlier than I thought, and I haven’t really processed it yet. I am sure there will be a lot of deeper thinking over the next couple of days.”
Event 74 | $1K buy-in | NLHE Mini Main Event |
Total entries: | 5,257 | (5833 in 2022, 5521 in 2019, 3821 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $4,678,730 | |
Players paid: | 789 | |
Minimum payout: | $1,601 | |
Final table results: | 1st place: | Bradley Gafford (USA) $549,555 |
2nd place: | Josh Reichard (USA) $339,646 | |
3rd place: | Jeremy Oleon (France) $255,215 | |
4th place: | Jennifer Abad (USA) $193,103 | |
5th place: | Oliver Berens (USA) $147,129 | |
6th place: | Marius Iftimia (Romania) $112,889 | |
7th place: | Mason St. Martin (Canada) $87,232 | |
8th place: | Egor Procop (Moldova) $67,888 | |
9th place: | Igor Hot (USA) $53,213 |
Event 75: Kamel Claims PLO-8 Victory
The $10K PLO-8 Championship was the last tournament on the schedule before the WSOP Main Event. It brought in 277 entries for a $2.5M prize pool. And when it ended, Hassan Kamel of Australia held the bracelet and nearly $600K in cash.
The win was a part of a larger journey, a road trip in America. “I don’t really like playing tournaments,” Kamel admitted after the win. “I found my favorite game, hung out, have been road tripping across America. … I just happened to be here and sort of thought I’d come and check it out.”
Australia gets its first bracelet of the series as Hassan Kamel finds gold in the $10,000 PLO8 Championship for $598,613 and his first bracelet!
Congratulations, Hassan! pic.twitter.com/ip8EAgGXXY
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 5, 2023
Event 75 | $10K buy-in | PLO-8 Championship 8-Handed |
Total entries: | 277 | (284 in 2022, 193 in 2019, 208 in 2021) |
Total prize pool: | $2,576,100 | |
Players paid: | 42 | |
Minimum payout: | $16,175 | |
Final table results: | 1st place: | Hassan Kamel (Australia) $598,613 |
2nd place: | Ryan Hoenig (USA) $369,972 | |
3rd place: | John Holley (USA) $265,156 | |
4th place: | Anton Smirnov (Russia) $192,562 | |
5th place: | Dylan Weisman (USA) $141,727 | |
6th place: | Stephen Deutsch (USA) $105,737 | |
7th place: | Long Tran (USA) $79,979 | |
8th place: | Dzmitry Urbanovich (Poland) $61,346 |