2023 BetMGMPoker Championship Biggest Hands: Colpoys Scoops Four-way All-in

The 2023 BetMGM Poker Championship, which took place inside the ARIA Resort and Casino as well as the PokerGO Studio, saw Michigan’s Leo Taffe best a 1,026-entry field (including 94 BetMGM Poker qualifiers) to claim a $560,442 top prize.

He followed in the footsteps of Joey Weissman, who won the inaugural edition of this event in 2022.

2023 BetMGM Poker Championship Final Table Results

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team was on-site throughout the tournament to provide live updates, and during that time we captured some interesting hands. Here are some of the best.

Leo Taffe Steamrolls His Way to BetMGM Poker Championship Title ($560,442)

Colpoys Sits Down and Scoops Four-way All-in

On Day 1b of the tournament, reporter Kirk Brown caught a big hand in Level 5 (300/600/600). That is when Dan Colpoys sat down with a fresh 40,000 starting stack when he became involved in a massive four-way all-in preflop.

After the pots, were calculated, the hands were tabled as follows:

Opponent 1: 10♥8♥
Opponent 2: Q♠Q♦
Opponent 3: K♠K♥
Dan Colpoys: A♣A♦

The flop of A♠J♠9♠ gave Colpoys top set of aces but of course, it had to be a sweat as Opponent 1 was open-ended and the other two players both had spade draws.

Lucky for Colpoys, the board run out clean with the 2♥5♣ and he scooped the whole thing to rocket him up to 135,000.

See full results from the 2023 BetMGM Championship here!

Miller and Lavenburg Flushed Out on Bubble

On Day 2, Kirk Brown caught another interesting hand in Level 16 (4,000/8,000/8,000) on the money bubble. Raul Martinez and short-stacked Adam Miller got all the chips in preflop on the stone bubble and after the other tables completed their action the cards were tabled.

Adam Miller: K♠Q♣
Raul Martinez: 9♥3♥

The flop came out 9♣K♥10♥ for a huge sweat, as Miller had the superior pair but Martinez also had a flush draw to go with his three. The turn 10♠ took away some of Martinez’s outs but the 6♥ on the river was a gut punch to Miller as it gave his opponent the flush to eliminate him.

Across the room, another all-in-hand was unfolding:

Johann Ibanez opened to 16,000 from under the gun before Michael Lavenburg three-bet to 44,000. Ibanez called.

On the Q♥6♥4♣ flop, Ibanez checked and Lavenburg continued for 25,000, leaving around 250,000 behind. Ibanez moved all in as the big stack and was quickly called.

Michael Lavenburg: AxQx
Johann Ibanez: 10♥7♥

Coincidentally, Ibanez took a chunk off Lavenburg earlier on with the same hand and had the chance to do the same again. The J♣ turn was a brick but Ibanez made his flush on the A♥ river to oust Lavenburg.

Since both of these players were eliminated at the same time, they split the 128th Place min-cash for $2,396 each.

Good Run for Kipnis

In the same level, Jason Kipnis informed the team of his bust out. He relayed that he got it all in preflop against Paul Gunness who covered.

Jason Kipnis: AxKx
Paul Gunness: AxQx

The flop came out Ax10x10x to give both players an ace with Kipnis in the lead, and the turn 3x changed nothing, but the Qx on the river gave Gunness superior two-pair to eliminate the former MLB player.

Agarwal Hero Calls for Tournament Life

On Day 3, it was Level 22 (15,000/30,000/30,000) when, after checking through the 6♦Q♦K♠4♣ turn, Anuj Agarwal and Mike Vanier saw the river fall the 7♦.

Agarwal was first to act and he bet 125,000 into the pot of around 400,000 but then Vanier shoved all in, covering his opponent.

Agarwal then went deep into the tank, using all six of his time banks for this decision. As he reached the end of his clock, he set out a stack of chips and made the call, putting himself at risk.

Vanier did not like this call and flipped over J♣10♣ for a missed straight draw and jack-high, to which Agarwla jumped up and proudly flipped over K♣9♣ for just a pair of kings to win the massive pot.

Taffe Puts DeVore to the Test

On Day 4, it was Level 29 (100,000/150,000/150,000) when Taffe opened to 300,000 under-the-gun with K♠K♦ and Vanier made the call to his left with 6♠6♣. The action folded around to Sundiata DeVore who woke up with J♥J♣ and puts in a three-bet to 1,100,000.

Taffe then clicked it back to 1,900,000 and DeVore went into the tank before making the call and the two players went to a flop of 10♠9♣4♣.

DeVore checked over to Taffe who then continued for 700,000 and DeVore made the call.

The turn came out the 4♠ and DeVore checked again to Taffe who then moved all in to cover.

DeVore burned through all of his time banks before he finally decided to make the correct fold, awarding the huge pot to the chip leader.

Executive Editor U.S.

Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.