The 2023 World Series of Poker Championship Event is certainly one for the record books. After two levels of late registration concluded on Saturday, the official count for the largest Championship Event of all time was set. By the end of the night, two players had eclipsed Day 2ABC chip leader Christopher Brammer to take over the honors of the chip leader as the field comes together for the first time on Sunday.
10,043…
It would be a great number for a rock concert or for a Texas high school football game (who are we kidding? It would be SMALL for a Texas high school football game). The 2023 WSOP has shown from the start that there was a desire to play poker, however. The final numbers will show this fact and bring up the inevitable question…how high can it go?
By the time the final entries were tallied in the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas cages, 10,043 players had registered to participate in the tournament. That isn’t 10,043 ENTRIES, mind you, as the WSOP Championship Event is a freezeout format (don’t let it be said that a tournament needs multiple reentries to build a prize pool – if you have a good event, the players will come out). To put this number into proper context, that is roughly equal to the same number of players who entered the WSOP Championship Event from its inception UNTIL 2005 (9396). It is an amazing achievement, especially in a gaming event.
The corresponding prize pool, however, has been diluted because of industry standards. Because the WSOP and Caesars adhere to a 15% payout rule, that seriously takes some money off the top. In 2006, the year of the previous record, 10% of the field was paid and the eventual champion (Jamie Gold) received $12 million for his efforts. The WSOP and Caesars, perhaps seeing how ludicrous it would be for the 2023 champion to win less than what Gold did, ensured that this year’s payout would be slightly better at $12.1 million for the eventual winner of the 2023 WSOP Championship Event. 1507 players will take home some money from the tournament, with a min-cash earning $15,000, but the final table WILL NOT pay out $1 million to each of its contestants (in 2006, the top twelve finishers all earned a seven-figure payday).
New Leaders Take Command of Day 2D
Because of the larger size of the Day 2D field, it was natural that there would be new overall chip leaders for the 2023 WSOP Championship Event. After a flurry of activity, WSOP-Circuit all-time ring winner Maurice Hawkins (who has somehow not taken a WSOP bracelet), emerged as the overall leader with his 941,000 in chips. But it was the man who finished right behind him in the chip counts, Nicholas Rigby, who finished with 921,500 in chips and a story for his progeny.
Naturally, it came on the feature table. Robert Jones would open the betting with Rigby and Phil Hellmuth coming along out of the blinds. The A-10-9 flop checked around to Jones, who dutifully fired a continuation bet, but Rigby popped it to 8K and Hellmuth called. That was enough for Jones to deposit his cards in the muck as Rigby and Hellmuth went to the turn.
A deuce on the turn seemed innocent enough, but Rigby made a (seemingly) tactical error with an overbet of 36K into the pot. Hellmuth jumped on what he perceived to be a mistake, pushing all in for his remaining stack. Rigby immediately called and the cards were turned up.
Hellmuth: 10-9 (two pair)
Rigby: A-10 (better two pair)
Left drawing to one of the two remaining nines in the deck, Hellmuth instead saw a 5♦ fall to end his run at another WSOP Championship Event victory. Those chips allowed Rigby to settle into the Top Five for the Day 2D competitors:
1. Maurice Hawkins (USA), 941,000
2. Nicholas Rigby (USA), 921,500
3. Jeffrey Shapiro (USA), 878,000
4. Jacob Mitich (USA), 660,000
5. Matthew Adams (USA), 620,000
Combining this list with the survivors from the Day 2ABC numbers, there are 3538 players left alive with a dream at the 2023 WSOP Championship Event bracelet. Here’s the Top Ten with the action underway on Sunday:
1. Maurice Hawkins (USA), 941,000
2. Nicholas Rigby (USA), 921,500
3. Christopher Brammer (United Kingdom), 879,000*
4. Jeffrey Shapiro (USA), 878,000
5. Julio Belluscio (Argentina), 825,500*
6. Bequir Salihu (USA), 801,000*
7. John Sofillas (USA), 780,000*
8. Nick Marchington (United Kingdom), 716,000*
9. Heitor Saraiva (USA), 665,500*
10. Jacob Mitich (USA), 660,000
(* – Day 2ABC competitor)
Now the real battle begins. Action will play another five, two-hour levels on Sunday. There is a hope that the money bubble may be reached, but realistically that magic number (1507) will come during the opening salvos on Monday. All in all, it has made for a historic time in the history of poker and of the World Series of Poker.
