There were no gold bracelets awarded on Day 42 of the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, although one event did whittle its field down to only five players. Four tournaments took place across the sprawling venues, including Day 4 of the record-breaking Main Event, and Day 1 of the star-studded $25,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E.
Want to know what went down on Day 41 of this incredible record-setting WSOP? Then keep reading to find out.
Arieh Shines on Day 1 of the $25K H.O.R.S.E
Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. attracted 98 entrants on Day 1, but with late registration remaining open until the start of Day 2, it is almost a given that we will see a three-figure attendance.
After the completion of ten levels of high-stakes mixed game action, Josh Arieh (621,500) claimed the overnight chip lead, as he hunts down his sixth bracelet. Arieh secured his fifth bracelet earlier in the summer, and is now the man to catch yet again.
Japan’s Motoyoshi Okamura (565,000) led the event for some of the day, while the likes of Yehuda Buchalter (511,000) and Nacho Barbero (504,000) can also be delighted with the starts they have made.
The 56 Day 1 survivors read like a who’s who of the poker world. Matt Glantz (463,000), Andres Korn (461,000), Michael Noori (445,000), and Michael Moncek (415,000) all finished in the top ten.
Further down the counts you find such luminaries as Marco Johnson (373,500), Paul Volpe (326,000), Viktor Blom (319,500), Mike Matusow (309,000), David “ODB” Baker (302,500), Jason Mercier (262,000), Brian Hastings (254,500), John Hennigan (215,000), and 17-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (213,000).
Tune back into PokerNews from 1:00 p.m. local time on July 11 if you love the H.O.R.S.E. format.
Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josh Arieh | United States | 621,500 |
| 2 | Motoyoshi Okamura | Japan | 565,000 |
| 3 | Yehuda Buchalter | United States | 511,000 |
| 4 | Nacho Barbero | Argentina | 504,000 |
| 5 | Hal Rotholz | United States | 478,000 |
| 6 | Matt Glantz | United States | 463,000 |
| 7 | Andres Korn | United States | 461,000 |
| 8 | Max Hoffman | United States | 451,000 |
| 9 | Michael Noori | United States | 445,000 |
| 10 | Michael Moncek | United States | 415,000 |
Tosoc Take Narrow Lead Into Day 5 of the Main Event
Only 441 players from the 10,043 that started Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship remain in contention for the $12.1 million top prize after four intense days of poker action.
Day 4 started with 1,518 players, and ended with Ryan Tosoc holding the chip lead, albeit a very narrow one. Tosoc, a WSOP bracelet winner and World Poker Tour champion finished Day 4 with 5,120,000 chips, while Mitchell Halverson bagged up 5,100,000 chips, which is fewer than one big blind less than Tosoc.
A whole host of stars remain in contention to become the 2023 WSOP Main Event champion. They include the 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up John Racener (3,710,000), the entertaining Nicholas Rigby (3,655,000), Nikita Luther (3,550,000), Chance Kornuth (3,200,000), Christian Harder (2,345,000), two-time bracelet winners Rami Boukai (1,580,000) and Christopher Vitch (1,575,000), and 2005’s champion Joe Hachem (1,485,000).
Another five levels of play take place from 12:00 p.m. local time on July 11 as the march towards the life-changing final table continues.
Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Tosoc | United States | 5,120,000 | 205 |
| 2 | Mitchell Halverson | United States | 5,100,000 | 204 |
| 3 | Aditya Systla | India | 5,075,000 | 203 |
| 4 | Scott Berko | United Kingdom | 4,700,000 | 188 |
| 5 | Bradley Moskowitz | United States | 4,145,000 | 166 |
| 6 | Juan Maceiras Lapido | Spain | 3,985,000 | 159 |
| 7 | Jon Cohen | United States | 3,815,000 | 153 |
| 8 | Gabi Livshitz | Israel | 3,800,000 | 152 |
| 9 | John Racener | United States | 3,710,000 | 148 |
| 10 | Quan Zhou | China | 3,705,000 | 148 |
Scarborough On Course for Lucky 7’s Title
Only four players stand between Anthony Scarborough and his maiden bracelet, which also comes with a welcomed $777,777 top prize. Scarborough holds a commanding lead going into the final day of Event #77: $777 Lucky 7’s, a lead so vast his stack is double the size of his nearest rival.
Scarborough holds a colossal stack of 140,000,000, with Julien Montois (70,700,000) being his nearest rival. Shawn Daniels (47,400,000), Istvan Briski (32,400,000), and Charles La Boissonniere (13,400,000) are not only there to make up the numbers, but you have a feeling that they may all be playing for second place when play resumes.
The cards are back in the air from 1:00 p.m. local time on July 11, and PokerNews will provide updates right through to the champion being crowned.
Event #77: $777 Lucky 7’s Final Day Seat Draw
| Seat | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shawn Daniels | United States | 47,400,000 | 19 |
| 2 | Charles La Boissonniere | Canada | 13,400,000 | 5 |
| 3 | Istvan Briski | Hungary | 32,400,000 | 13 |
| 4 | Julien Montois | France | 70,700,000 | 28 |
| 5 | Anthony Scarborough | United States | 140,000,000 | 56 |
Davies Leads as the Bubble Bursts in the $2,500 NLHE
Seth Davies finished Day 1 of Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em with 1,113,000 chips and the title of overnight chip leader. The 2,068-strong field was reduced to only 310 players over the course of 17 levels, with 312 entrants receiving a slice of the 4,601,300 prize pool.
Davies won a huge coinflip with pockey jacks against ace-king in the penultimate level of the night, which propelled him to the chip counts’ summit. Davies added a few more chip to his stack before play ended, which kept him ahead of Spain’s Ramon Fernandez (1,025,000).
British duo Alex Lindop (858,000) and Daniel Rudd (774,000) finished with top five chip counts, while Galen Hall (743,000) returns in the top ten.
Others still in contention going into Day 2 include Brett Shaffer (615,000), Joey Couden (516,000), David Miscikowski (394,000), Roberto Romanello (331,000), Isaac Baron (276,000), and Calvin Anderson (209,000).
The 310 surviving players return to action from 10:00 a.m. local time on July 11 under the watchful eyes of the PokerNews live reporting team.
Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seth Davies | United States | 1,113,000 | 111 |
| 2 | Ramon Fernandez | Spain | 1,025,000 | 103 |
| 3 | Alex Lindop | United Kingdom | 858,000 | 86 |
| 4 | Valentyn Shabelnyk | Ukraine | 776,000 | 78 |
| 5 | Daniel Rudd | United Kingdom | 774,000 | 77 |
| 6 | Diego Vazsorgatto | Brazil | 757,000 | 76 |
| 7 | Galen Hall | United States | 743,000 | 74 |
| 8 | Alex Greenblatt | United States | 739,000 | 74 |
| 9 | Elias Fisz | Netherlands | 690,000 | 69 |
| 10 | Ignas Jasinevicius | Lithuania | 682,000 | 68 |
What to Expect on Day 43 of the 2023 WSOP
Day 42 of the 2023 WSOP will see two champions crowned. Event #77: $777 Lucky 7’s and Online Event #17: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max Championship being those two events.
Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship’s Day 5 will see the record-breaking field reduce even further, while Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em should progress to somewhere near its final table.
Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. is where you want to be if you love seeing poker’s stellar names duke it out for vast sums of money.
Two new events enter the mix, too. Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack and Event #82: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-Handed) are those two new tournaments; each should be very well attended.