The final day of 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #82: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas crowned a new first-time bracelet winner in Matthew Parry. On top of the prestigious achievement of winning the most coveted trophy in all of poker, Parry will also take home first-place prize money totaling $480,122.

Parry was already an accomplished player in his own right, having over $1,200,000 in live tournament earnings before this score according to The Hendon Mob, but this accomplishment is made extra sweet by his having just missed out on a bracelet a few short weeks ago after a third-place finish in an earlier $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. That, and the tough nature of the final table he had to navigate to claim victory, makes this an achievement anyone would be proud to call their own.

Parry now stands atop a start-studded field of 1,013 entrants who came together to create a prize pool worth a staggering $2,704,710. This year’s field crushed last year’s attendance by 294 entries, continuing the theme of massive field growth through the 2023 WSOP.

2023 WSOP Event #82 Final Table Results

The final day saw some serious talent return to chase the gold as Dustin Goldklang came into the final table second in chips with none other than Player of the Year leader Ian Matakis coming back to the third biggest stack.

Matakis was making his fourth final table appearance of the series, his 19th cash, and going for his second bracelet of the summer and even though he held the chip lead off and on for a good portion of the day, he ultimately fell in third to make way for a newly-minted champion.

Final Table Action

Lawrence Wayne was the life of the party late on Day 3 but came into the final table as the short stack by a wide margin and although he did manage to find not one double but two, he still ended up being the first man to make his exit from the final table. Cuba Levenberry followed about a half an hour behind after getting a flush draw in versus Matakis’ flopped straight and failing to improve.

From there, Matakis, Parry, and Goldklang would trade blows back and forth for a bit and at times, be relatively even in chips until Parry made the nuts in a massive confrontation that left Matakis short going into a break. Matakis came back from the short breather ready to battle back but ultimately fell at the hands of Parry who made two pair to send him to the exit just short of winning his second bracelet of the summer.

Parry entered heads-up play with almost a 7:1 chip lead over Goldklang and while Goldklang did manage to make quads against Parry’s boat to find a double, he ended up falling in second place shortly thereafter when Parry made a straight to put a lock on the tournament once and for all.

Winner’s Reaction

Parry, who bills himself as “mostly a cash game player,” described bringing home the bracelet as “surreal,” adding that he, “came into the World Series with an intention to really put a lot of effort into the tournaments and after having a couple of deep runs, it just feels amazing finally close one out.”

Parry says he plays mainly Pot-Limit Omaha and No-Limit Hold’em and when asked what he thinks contributes to his success this summer in the PLO events specifically with four of his five cashes coming in this game variant, he said, “One thing that I like about the tournament versus cash play is it feels like there’s less variance. You see a lot less re-raising and it allows you to navigate through a field like this a lot better”.

After notching his biggest score ever by a multiple of two, Parry was quick to point out the massive blessing it is to be able to play this great game for a living and be successful at something that he truly loves to do.

His parting words to PokerNews was a call to action for anyone with similar dreams, simply saying, “You know what? If you have a dream of coming out to the World Series of Poker, you can do it and you should it.”