2023 WSOP Day 45: Juan Maceiras Leads Final 15 in Main Event; Brian Rast Enters Poker Hall of Fame

It has been an amazing summer camp at the  2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. The excitement and anticipation have been heating up all week with the record-breaking WSOP $10,000 Main Event down to just 15 hopefuls in the hunt for the coveted $12.1 million top prize with former Spanish Pokerstars Ambassador Juan Maceiras leading the way.

Vietnam’s Thai Ha took home the bacon in Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck No-Limit Hold’em to win his maiden WSOP bracelet with many other events advancing closer to crowning their champions.

Meanwhile, congrats to Brian Rast for his induction yesterday in the Poker Hall of Fame. It wasn’t a matter of if but more of when Rast would be inducted with the American boasting an incredible poker resume including $25 million in live tournament earnings as tracked by The Hendon Mob. He has found WSOP gold six times and has won the $50,000 Poker Players Championship on three separate occasions. This is not all as he was the first Super High Roller Bowl winner, where he parlayed a $500,000 buy-in into the largest single cash of his poker career of $7,525,000.

“Thank you to the current Hall of Fame members for having the power to select me,” Rast shared to those in attendance at the Paris Las Vegas.

Read more about what went down on Day 45 of the 2023 WSOP:

Juan Maceiras Leads Final 15 Players in 2023 WSOP $10K Main Event

What a summer it’s been with records set left and right at the 2023 WSOP. The 2023 WSOP Event #76: $10,000 Main Event No-Limit Hold’em World Championship has been no exception as it established a new gold standard as the largest poker tournament in history with 10,043 entries creating a massive $93,399,900 prize pool.

Spain’s Juan Maceiras had a day to remember on Day 7 of the Main Event. He came into the day in second place with 49 players remaining and had the honor of the overnight chip leader with 15 players remaining after bagging a huge 135 big blind stack of 108,000,000.

Adam Walton (75,475,000), WSOP bracelet winner Jan-Peter Jachtmann (70,775,000), and Steven Jones (67,900,000) are all grouped together behind Maceiras. Behind this group is Toby Lewis (50,500,000) who is looking to add his first WSOP bracelet in a huge way to go along with his EPT and Aussie Millions titles.

Day 6 chip leader Joshua Payne hopes to be able to inflict more pain and is in the middle of the pack with 31,000,000 ahead of notable players in WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Weinmann (21,750,000), British poker baller Dean Hutchison (17,500,000), Alec Torelli (14,275,000), and Jack O’Neil (11,700,000).

Meanwhile, Day 4 chip leader Ryan Tosoc (25^th – $340,000) and the controversial 15-time WSOP Circuit gold ring champion and Day 2d chip leader Maurice Hawkins (35^th – $280,100) were unable to advance to the final day.

The action will resume with Day 8 at 12 p.m. on Friday at the Horsehoe and will be broadcasted with a delay at PokerGO. The structure will be a little different than the previous days where we witnessed five blind levels of two-hour blind levels each. The two-hour blind levels will remain but the action will conclude when the Main Event has reached its prestigious final table of nine players.

2023 WSOP Main Event Day 8 Seat Draw

2023 WSOP Main Event Remaining Payouts

The 15 players returning to action on Friday’s Day 8 already locked up a huge payout of $430,200. The final nine players will advance to Saturday’s final table with at least $900,000 locked up! Check out all of the remaining payouts below:

Thai Ha Wins Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck No-Limit Hold’em ($111,170)

Always a bridesmaid and never a bride was a saying that Vietnam’s Thai Ha can relate to as he took runner-up twice in Short Deck bracelet events at the WSOP. He got the monkey off his back after denying David Prociak his second bracelet by defeating him heads-up to win his maiden bracelet in Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck No-Limit Hold’em and the $111,170 top prize.

“It feels great,” Ha shared according to the WSOP after his victory. “Short deck is one of the games I play the most and I got second twice already so this time it definitely feels great not to get second again. I feel like Short Deck is my strongest game.”

The event was originally scheduled to be a three-day affair but the opening day played down to just nine hopefuls all but assuring that this would be a two-day event. Prociak entered the final day with the chip lead and was coasting along until Ha eliminated WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Laplante in fifth place for his third elimination of the day after his ace-queen was good against tens to narrow the gap.

Ha was unable to continue his momentum and lost a sizeable pot to Prociak. It appeared destiny was on Prociak’s side as he busted both Wai Kait Lee in third place and Robert James in fourth place to begin heads-up play against Ha with more than double his stack.

Ha then flopped a straight to take the chip lead before eventually winning the coveted bracelet when his queens were good against king-jack suited.

Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results

Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck wasn’t the most popular event at poker’s summer camp with 363 entries creating a $484,605 prize pool. The top 55 players locked up at least a min-cash of $2,413. Check out the final table payouts below:

John Fagg Leads the Final 9 in Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em

Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em was by no surprise popular with its $600 price point with 7,207 entries generating a $3,675,570 prize pool.

The action is down to just nine hopefuls, each hunting for their first taste at WSOP gold with $37,910 already secured on the third and final day of play when the action resumes on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Horseshoe with John Fagg leading the way with a 46 big blind stack of 91,000,000 in hopes of winning the WSOP bracelet and the $410,250 top prize.

Peyton Ethridge (70,000,000), Min Sung Lee (59,000,000), William Fisher (51,500,000), and Lucas Tae (42,000,000) are also in the top five with Joseph Roe (39,000,000), Skyler Thornton (28,500,000), Logan Moon (24,000,000), and Denny Lee (20,000,000) all still with some hope for a victorious Friday.

Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em Final Day Seat Draw

Can Ian Matakis Lock Up WSOP Player of the Year With 5 Remaining in Event #82: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha?

It’s been quite the summer at the WSOP for Nevada resident Ian Matakis. He has just made his fourth final table and 19^th WSOP cash this year after reaching the final five in the middle of the pack with a 55 big blind stack of 8,835,000 in Event #82: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha when the action resumes at the Horseshoe at 1 p.m.

Matakis also won a WSOP online bracelet for his first career WSOP bracelet earlier this summer and leads the prestigious 2023 WSOP Player of the Year Leaderboard by 437 points. He may have already clinched his spot into the WSOP history books with this deep finish but a win would certainly make things close to certain that Matakis would earn this year’s honor and etch his name into the WSOP history books.

Matthew Parry is currently the favorite to win the event as he leads the final five with 13,105,000 with Day 1 chip leader Dustin Goldklang just behind with 11,490,000. Cuba Levenberry (4,915,000) and Lawrence Wayne (2,200,000) also keep their hopes and dreams alive of walking away the champion. The final five already locked up $103,738 and time will tell who will win the bracelet and the $480,122 top prize.

Event #82: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha Final Day Leaderboard

Alex Kulev Leads Final 5 in Event #84: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller

Dozens of players got into the action before late registration closed in the three-day Event #84: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em to bring the field up to 173 entries for a $8,404,000 prize pool.

The stacks overall are shallow. Therefore, it is anyone’s game. However, Alex Kulev is currently the favorite as he leads the final five when the action resumes at 2 p.m. on Friday at the Horseshoe with a 40 big blind stack of 19,800,000 after doubling through online poker beast Daniel Smiljkovic near the end of Day 2 when his nines held against ace-six.

Smiljkovic is still in contention although has the shortest stack of 3,150,000 with the controversial Jake Schindler (13,550,000), Gergely Kulcsar (12,350,000), and 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir (4,000,000) also ready for battle. The final five are each guaranteed at least a $533,561 payout with Friday’s winner going home with a massive $2,087,073 to close out the WSOP boot camp in style.

Event #84: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller Final Day Seat Draw

Other Ongoing Events

The three-day Event #85: $1,500 Shootout No-Limit Hold’em is one of the more unique events. Players that are good at sit-and-go’s will enjoy the structure with each table battles down to just one player. Rinse and repeat for two more days until a winner is crowned. The event attracted 987 players for a $1,317,645 prize pool. The 100 table winners will return to action with a $5,759 min-cash already secured on Friday at 10 a.m. in hopes of making it to Saturday’s final table where the top 10 players are guaranteed $19,003 with the coveted bracelet and the $237,367 top prize on the line for the winner. This event generated a little bit of controversy as admitted cheater Ali Imsirovic, who once was adored and admired as one of the best players in the world, entered his first WSOP event of the summer. Imsirovic made quick work of his table and we could have some big headlines tomorrow if has a repeat performance on Friday.

The two-day Event #86: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty witnessed 1,417 entries create a $2,495,776 prize pool on its opening day. Martin Zamini, who was the whistle-blower on the alleged cheating scandal by former GGPoker Ambassador Bryn Kenney, leads the way over the 150 survivors with a 126 big blind stack of 1,258,000. Only two Poker Hall of Fame members survived the opening day with Phil Hellmuth (281,000) looking to add to his record 17 WSOP gold bracelets and five-time bracelet winner Eli Elezra (254,000) looking to end the summer with a bang. The 150 players will return for Day 2 on Friday at 12 p.m. with $3,429 already in the bag and will battle for the $402,054 top prize. We won’t be surprised if a winner isn’t crowned as scheduled on Friday and foresee this event adding a third day.

Meanwhile, all-around end boss and partypoker Ambassador Patrick Leonard is striving for his second career WSOP bracelet with the chip lead when Day 2 kicks off in Event #87: $2,500 Mixed Omaha / Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better on Friday at 1 p.m. The event attracted 460 entries for a $1,023,500 prize pool with 247 players surviving the opening day. Players are still far away from the money with the top 69 players earning at least a $4,053 min-cash with the dream of winning the bracelet on Sunday along with the $221,733 top prize.

July 14 WSOP Schedule

The WSOP is scheduled to crown three winners in Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em, Event #82: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha, and Event #86: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-Limit Hold’em. Several other events advance closer to their inevitable champions with most eyes on the WSOP Main Event which is scheduled to play down to a final table on Friday.

The WSOP also provides three new chances for players to win bracelets with three new events debuting on Friday. In other words, it will be another busy day near the tail end of the WSOP.

Below is a look at today’s schedule while head to the PokerPro opening WSOP article to check out the full schedule of the 2023 World Series of Poker.

Images and hand details courtesy of WSOP/PokerNews.