Less than a week into the 2023 World Series of Poker and we are already at the point where a million events overlap and it feels like there is a final table concluding every other minute. On the first Sunday of the WSOP, the schedule really came to a head as four gold bracelets were handed out.
Starting with the one that began the earliest, Chanracy Khun won Event #8: $25,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship to claim the bracelet and the $507,020 first prize. As one would expect in a 64-person bracket with that sort of buy-in, the field was quite strong. Khun defeated Doug Polk heads-up to take the crown, while Chris Brewer and Sean Winter rounded out the final four.
In Event #9: $1,500 Seven Card Stud, it was Nick Schulman winning his fourth career bracelet. In a land of No-Limit Hold’em everywhere you look, Schulman has now won a bracelet in Stud, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, and two in Deuce-to-Seven Lowball. He’s also a fantastic color commentator during the WSOP Main Event, though I’m sure he hopes he’ll be at the final table this year instead of behind the mic.
The above were awarded at the live WSOP in Las Vegas; the next two were online bracelets. In Online Event #2: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Bankroll Builder, Ian “IanMa” Matakis defeated Baruch “QQlove” Forst heads-up for his first bracelet and $120,686, not a bad way to build a bankroll. He told PokerNews that he played most of the tournament on his phone, but was able to get home to play on his laptop for the final table. What a glorious age of technology we live in.
Online #3 was $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack, which came down to two very experienced players. In the end, Ryan “dna2rna” Hughes won his third career WSOP bracelet, defeating Shaun “fortnite” Deeb, who was gunning for his sixth. Hughes eliminated loads of players in the end game heading into heads-up play, so his stack was just too much for Deeb to overcome.
The top storyline to watch for on Monday is the conclusion of Event #10: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship. Down to 13 players, the tournament will see its winner determined today. The chip leader going into Day 3 is Chad Eveslage with 1.371 million chips, with Ryan Goindoo not far behind with 1.075 million. The big deal here, other than someone will win a bracelet and $311,428, is that Eveslage won the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice event just a couple days ago. He’ll have his work cut out for him, though, as the field is extremely strong; nine of the remaining players are WSOP bracelet owners.
