This week’s recipient of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Week goes to five-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh, who now has quite the intriguing Poker Hall of Fame case.
The long-time poker player who memorably finished third in the 2004 Main Event won a bracelet and cashed four times over the past seven days. In doing so, he entered the WSOP Player of the Year race, an award he won two years ago.
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As of June 12, the Atlanta area resident has 1,309 POY points, putting him in sixth place. Everyone is chasing Chad Eveslage and his 2,168 points.* The current leader has multiple bracelets this summer, both in dealer’s choice events, and a third cash.
*According to Kevin Mathers (aka “kevmath”), the current POY standings haven’t been updated. As such, we are using the posted results as of 6/12.
One for the Thumb
Arieh, who runs PokerStake.com, which was previously the PocketFives poker media outlet, proved last year that his 2021 heater was no fluke. At the 2022 World Series of Poker, he cashed in 10 events and reached three final tables.
This year, he’s again already one of the top performers at the WSOP, especially over the past week. During the past seven days, he racked up four cashes, the most notable one being his fifth bracelet win in Event #22: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship for $316,226.
Arieh beat out a tough final table in that event, which included Nick Schulman and Joe McKeehen.
Other players who performed at a high level the past week at the WSOP include Isaac Haxton (won his first bracelet), Brian Yoon (won his fifth bracelet), and Jim Collopy (won his third bracelet).
Poker Hall of Fame Candidacy
Last week, the WSOP opened fan voting for the 2023 Poker Hall of Fame class. Only one member is inducted each year and there’s some stiff competition.
Common names that have already popped up as top candidates include Matt Savage, Brian Rast, Isai Scheinberg, Kathy Liebert, and Mike Matusow. Most of those individuals have been in contention for the past few years or longer.
With Arieh reaching the five-bracelet milestone, there’s now a case to be made to add his name to the list when you also factor in he’s a WSOP Player of the Year winner and has over $11.2 million in live tournament cashes, according to Hendon Mob. He’s won at the high-stakes level — two of his bracelets are in $10,000 buy-in events — a prerequisite for Hall of Fame consideration, and he’s stood the test of time.
Arieh could also benefit from recency bias given that he just won a bracelet and the others on that list have yet to do so this year. That said, all of the available options are deserving of consideration, including Arieh.