Josh Arieh has defeated Dan Heimiller heads-up to win his sixth World Series of Poker bracelet along with the $711,313 first-place prize. En route to victory, Arieh overcame a stacked 112-player field and strengthened his position as a future Poker Hall of Famer. Arieh will forever be known as 2023’s Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. champion.

Arieh’s victory comes on the heels of his win earlier this series in Event #22: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. Additionally, with this win, Arieh has also vaulted himself into second place in the WSOP Player of The Year race just behind Ian Matakis.

Winner’s Reaction

“I’m so stoked,” Arieh replied when asked how he felt after winning his sixth bracelet. “It was a tough field, and I was the last person to go on a heater. I feel amazing, and I’m very fortunate.”

Humble in victory, Arieh explained it helped to “catch the deck” in what turned out to be a dominating final-table performance. “I just caught whatever I needed. The limits get so big that you just have to win the pots you play in.”

Arieh, who has won four of his six bracelets in just the past two years, expressed his gratitude for life outside of poker and attributes that to his recent success. “My life is so amazing outside of poker. I got my sh** straight, and my relationships with my daughters and with Rachel… everything is just great. It’s definitely helped my career.”

When asked the Poker Hall of Fame, Arieh had this to say:

“It’s definitely in the back of my mind. This year belongs to (Brian) Rast, he’s an absolute crusher, and he did what he had to do. Maybe one year, when they fix the nomination process and more than one player gets in, then maybe I’ll have my turn. I’ll just keep playing and doing what I do, and whatever happens happens.”

Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. High Roller Final Table Results

Day 3 Action

Day 3 began with 15 hopefuls looking to become the next H.O.R.S.E. champion, but it turned out to be Arieh’s day from the get-go after winning a nice pot early on to get his momentum started. Unsurprisingly, the shortest stacks to begin the day were eliminated within the first level of play, starting with Mike Wattel and followed by Allen Kessler, who still navigated his way to a cash despite being close to elimination on the bubble yesterday.

Following the elimination of Matt Grapenthien, Arieh assumed the chip lead in the second level of the day after making a great call against Joao Vieira in Seven Card Stud. Brian Hastings would be next to go after running into a rivered wheel against Heimiller in Limit Hold’em and Michael Moncek was sent out shortly thereafter after being crippled by Mike Matusow’s set in the same game.

Ray Dehkharghani burst the final table bubble after being sent out by Johannes Becker in Omaha Hi-Lo. From that point, the action continued to fly as escalating limits and antes forced the action. Matusow claimed Hal Rotholz’s elimination in ninth place after making a seven in Razz and Scott Seiver, who had been nursing a short stack for much of day, was eliminated in eighth place against Vieira’s pair of sevens in Seven Card Stud.

Vieira continued to build his stack at the final table and looked to be a serious contender for the bracelet after taking out Becker in seventh place. However, Arieh kept up the pace and added John Hennigan’s stack to his own after making a straight against Hennigan’s aces in Omaha Hi-Lo.

Matusow, a Poker Hall of Fame nominee who already has several cashes this year, including a second-place finish in Event #55: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, had to settle for fifth place after calling off for his remaining chips in Razz against Arieh and drawing to a king.

The pace of play finally slowed down a bit when it got to four-handed play. After a bit of exchanging chips back and forth, Vieira lost a tough pot against Heimiller after being pipped in Razz. The rest of Vieira’s chips went Arieh’s way in a subsequent hand of Razz to set up three-handed play.

Arieh would continue his reign of terror by eliminating Yingui Li after catching an unlikely pair against him in Limit Hold’em to get to heads-up play. By that point, Arieh had an over two-to-one chip lead against Heimiller. It didn’t take long for Arieh to extend his lead through relentless aggression and he finished the job after catching an ace on the turn to overtake Heimiller’s queens in Omaha Hi-Lo.

That’s a wrap for PokerNews coverage of Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. High Roller. Be sure to check out our live-reporting hub for continuing coverage of the 2023 World Series of Poker right here at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas