In 2023, the World Series of Poker crowned a new champion who won the biggest-ever top prize in WSOP history. With a record-breaking crowd, more events than ever before, and a WSOP Player of the Year battle for the ages, the 2023 World Series of Poker was a classic. Las Vegas, Nevada, was once again the location for the world’s biggest poker tournament series, and the newly refurbished Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos were the center of the poker industry for seven weeks in the gambling capital of the United States.
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The Rise and Rise of Rast
With an incredible 95 events on the schedule, the 2023 WSOP was the biggest in history as players from around the world battled for gold bracelets and millions of dollars in prize money. There was an early double winner as Chad Eveslage won both Event #5, the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice event for $131,879, and Event #10, the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice 6-Max Championship.
Eveslage wasn’t the only big name scooping six-figure sums for taking down early tournaments. Nick Schulman won the Seven Card Stud event and in doing so, performed the best poker winner’s photo as he celebrated with a cigar and his feet up on the winning felt. Brian Yoon, Danny Wong, and Isaac Haxton all won gold, with Haxton’s heroics coming in the $25,000 High Roller NLHE 8-Max event, where he won a top prize of $1.6 million.
Josh Arieh claimed the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship for $316,226 before winning the $25,000 High Roller H.O.R.S.E. event for $711,313. Brian Rast took down the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, which earned him a place in the Poker Hall of Fame after many years of crushing at the WSOP and beyond.
“Thank you to the current Hall of Fame members for having the power in this situation to select me. I am deeply honored to have been chosen. Obviously playing poker part is a very solitary journey but in life you always need to step back and think. The people that love you and support you, the sacrifices they’ve made, help in a really significant way. No man is an island.”
Other Winners and Player of the Year
Players such as Benny Glaser, Yuri Dzivielevski, Jeremy Ausmus, Yang Zhang, and Lou Garza all won early events, with Garza celebrating in a particularly unique way. Getting down on one knee, he proposed to his girlfriend on the Thunderdome floor… with her saying yes of course! Jason Mercier, who had once proposed to his now-wife at the WSOP, returned to action after some years out and won big again, taking gold in the $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw event for $151,276. Phil Hellmuth won his record-extending 17th WSOP late at night in the $10,000-entry Super Turbo Bounty event for $803,818, although The Poker Brat will have been more delighted about the WSOP bracelet rather than the prize money.
Faraz Jaka grabbed gold, as did Alex Kulev, and Tom Marchese claimed the win in the $1,000 NLHE 6-Max Championship, but the race to be Player of the Year was one that no player dominated until the end of the series. In fact, players such as Phil Hellmuth (10th), Chad Eveslage (7th), and even double bracelet winners Josh Areih (4th) and Chris Brewer (3rd) both missed out on the top two.
Shaun Deeb racked up plenty of points as he won his sixth WSOP bracelet, but it was the relatively unknown Ian Matakis who claimed victory and got his flag on the wall. His 22 cashes in the 2023 WSOP, along with three final table performances and a single victory, led to him being named the WSOP Player of the Year. He took home $881,053 across a stunning series of success.
And then it was time for the Main Event, one that would be the biggest in poker history.
A New Name on the Trophy
The 54th edition of the World Series of Poker ran from May 30th to July 18th at the Horseshoe and Paris Casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada, after the former – which had reopened in March after being named Bally’s in 2022, was completely rebranded as part of the overhaul in design. The $10,000 Main Event began on July 3rd as the first of four starting flights to welcome several former world champions.
Although 21 former champions entered in the Main Event, none reached the final 400 places, and only six of them cashed. The 2009 champ Joe Cada came 1,358th, 2006 winner Jamie Gold finished 1,082nd, while Johnny Chan (1,067th), Scott Blumstein (782nd) and Chris Moneymaker (403rd) also made a profit. The elimination of the 2005 Main Event winner Joe Hachem in 402nd place meant there would be a new name entering the halls of the WSOP as world champion.
Inside the top 100 places, Indian player and Game of Gold star Nikita Luther finished 96th for $78,900. Nate Silver finished 87th for $92,600, Scottish star Ludovic Geilich came 76th for $109,400, and British EPT founder John Duthie finished in 72nd place for the same amount. Deep runs for John Racener (53rd for $188,400), Maurice Hawkins (35th for $280,100), Andrew Hulme (18th for $345,000), and Alec Torelli (11th for $700,000) came before the final table of nine assembled, with two British players, one player from each of Italy, Spain, Germany, and Ukraine, and only three Americans in play.
All three of those United States players would reach the podium places.
Walton’s Aces Prompt American Dream
With nine left, there was an early exit for Italian Daniel Holzner in ninth for $900,000. This was followed by the departures of Spanish player Juan Maceiras Lapido in eighth place for $1,125,000 and the former LAPC Main Event winner Toby Lewis in seventh for $1,425,000. The final six were led by American Steven Jones. The player out in sixth was the Scottish pro, Dean Hutchison, whose pocket fives lost to Jan-Peter Jachtmann’s pocket sevens across a board of J-9-2-A-4. He was consoled on his way back home with $1,850,000.
Out in fifth was the Ukrainian player Ruslan Prydryk, who won $2.4 million when he was all-in with queen-ten of clubs, only to run into Daniel Weinman’s ace-jack offsuit. Prydryk needed help and got only the tiniest amount on the A-J-2 flop. He flopped a gutshot but needed to find the missing card after the Atlantan Weinman flopped top two pair. A queen on the turn was no good but added outs, only for an eight on the river to dash all hope.
Down to four, Jan-Peter Jachtmann was shortest when he moved all-in with king-queen and ran into Adam Walton’s pocket aces. Eliminated after a clean board for $3 million in fourth place, Jachtmann was disconsolate to have come so close at what might have been his last shot at the world championship. The final table, which was held over two days on July 16-17, was hugely dramatic, and it produced an all-American final day.
Team Lucky
The final heads-up battle was a fascinating one, with Weinman having all the momentum and nearly a 3:1 chip lead. He also had something that Steven Jones couldn’t lay claim to – arguably the best support network in poker. Josh Arieh, Matt Glantz, and Shaun Deeb were railing on ‘Team Lucky’, a foursome who supported each other through many years of poker on and off the felt.
Team Lucky was on the rail throughout the final table, providing help and assistance. They were on hand to celebrate every hand that went Weinman’s way and commiserate with each one that went against him. As Weinman’s lead grew, he bet 38m on a board showing J-5-2-4 with king-jack. Shoving with just jack-eight, Jones was a 7% underdog, but Weinman didn’t know it. He took a bit of time but eventually made the correct call and was rewarded when an ace landed on the river to raucous cheers from Team Lucky as he was buried in the celebrations of his friends and family.
“You play this tournament every year, you never think you’re gonna win,” Weinman told Kara Scott after the event. “I feel like I played the best I played in my whole life. It’s incredible. My best friends will tell you that I’m not the most confident when it comes to poker. I’m friends with some of the best in the world and I’ve never considered myself to be one of them. Maybe that’ll change a little bit now. It felt like I played my A-Game these last two days.”
Daniel Weinman received his world championship bracelet from Jamie Gold, the man who had won the previous biggest prize of $12 million. Gold’s victory in 2006 was worth $100,000 less than Weinman’s 17 years on, and the newest WSOP Main Event winner celebrated as his trademark wide grin was beamed around the world.
| Player | Country | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Daniel Weinman | United States | $12,100,000 |
| 2nd | Steven Jones | United States | $6,500,000 |
| 3rd | Adam Walton | United States | $4,000,000 |
| 4th | Jan-Peter Jachtmann | Germany | $3,000,000 |
| 5th | Ruslan Prydryk | Ukraine | $2,400,000 |
| 6th | Dean Hutchinson | United Kingdom | $1,850,000 |
| 7th | Toby Lewis | United Kingdom | $1,425,000 |
| 8th | Juan Maceiras Lapido | Spain | $1,125,000 |
| 9th | Daniel Holzner | Italy | $900,000 |
2022 WSOP Main Event 2024 WSOP Main Event
About the Author: Paul Seaton has written about poker for over 10 years, interviewing some of the best players ever to play the game such as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Over the years, Paul has reported live from tournaments such as the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and the European Poker Tour. He has also written for other poker brands where he was Head of Media, as well as BLUFF magazine, where he was Editor.