2023 WSOP Day 19: Jason Koon’s Stack Removed in $250K Super High Roller

The Las Vegas stripped was packed with ice hockey fans on Day 19 to celebrate the Stanley Cup victory earlier this month by the Las Vegas Golden Knights. This didn’t slow down the action at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino with thousands of players turning out for the $1,500 Monster Stack at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Yuan Li was the sole bracelet winner on Saturday after shipping the $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $524,777 while Benny Glaser is closing in on his fifth bracelet with just two players remaining in Event #38: $10,000 2-7 Triple Draw Championship.

In other big news, GGPoker Ambassador Jason Koon held an above-average stack heading into Day 2 of the $250,000 Super High Roller. He never took his seat but this was for a good reason as he was permitted a refund by the WSOP organizers as his wife was in labor with their second child to welcome in American Father’s Day taking place today.

“Prior to the end of registration in event 40 with more than a starting stack, entrant Jason Koon requested a void and refund so as to accompany his wife to the hospital who had gone into labor,” the WSOP informed PokerNews. “Request was granted. Issuing a refund before the end of registration is clearly within the discretion of tournament officials and common practice at WSOP. We wish Jason Koon and all our WSOP dads a happy Father’s Day.”

Read more about what went down on Day 19 of the 2023 WSOP.

Yuan Li Wins Event #37: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em ($524,777)

Yuan Li entered the final day of the three-day Event #37: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em leading the 36 hopefuls for the title and was near the middle the top of the pack when the 10-player final table began. He had a day to remember and something to look back on as the final eight were live-streamed at PokerGO as he eventually defeated Jonathan Camara heads-up to win his first WSOP title and the $524,777 top prize.

Patrick Truong held the chip lead entering the final table but watched his stack fall to the middle of the pack. Li regained the chip lead after his aces held against a suited big slick to send Truong to the rail in fifth place for $132,153.

Li subsequently sent Jeremy Joseph (fourth – $176,529) to the rail in fourth place before stacks were nearly even to start heads-up play after Camara busted Pavel Spirins (third – $238,129).

Camara then won a massive pot after slowplaying his kings on a jack-high board against jack-nine to hold double the stack of Li. Camara’s fortunes were short-lived as Li chipped away at his opponent before leaving Camara on fumes when his jacks were good against eights. Li denied Camara his first bracelet after Camara got his crumbs in with seven-six and didn’t improve against ten-nine.

Event #37: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Payouts

Event #37: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em attracted 1,962 entries to create a $3,492,360 prize pool with the top 295 entries going home with at least a $3,202 min-cash. Here is a look at the final table results:

Benny Glaser in Driver’s Seat Heads-Up in Event #38: $10,000 2-7 Triple Draw Championship

Event #38: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship was scheduled to be a three-day affair but the action stopped with just two players remaining with Benny Glaser holding a commanding lead against Oscar Johansson in his quest for his fifth WSOP gold bracelet.

The event attracted 130 entries to create a $1,209,000 prize pool with the top 20 players banking at least a $16,378 min-cash.

In addition to Glaser, four other WSOP champions were looking to add to their WSOP hardware collection at the final table only to fall short including the likes of Michael Rodrigues (third – $139,048), four-time WSOP champion Julien Martini (fifth – $75,341), three-time champion David “Bakes” Baker (sixth – $56,528), and two-time champion and Winamax Team Pro Joao Vieira (seventh – $42,965).

The action will resume on Sunday at 2 p.m. until a winner is crowned.

Event #38: $10,000 2-7 Triple Draw Championship Heads-Up Seat Draw

Tinay Aksoy Leads Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack

Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack completed its second opening flight on Friday with another 4,375 entries getting into the mix to bring the final figures up to a massive field of 8,318 entries for a mouth-watering prize pool of $12,477,000.

Pavlin Karakikov bagged the Day 1a chip lead on Friday with 593,500 in chips. Five players did better on Saturday’s Day 1b including the start of Day 2 chip leader Tinay Aksoy (795,000), Christian Buerger (739,500), Shunsuke Tokoo (714,500), Linglin Zeng (635,000), and Ahmed Karrim (611,500).

Meanwhile, poker legend Kathy Leibert also cracked the top ten on the leaderboard after bagging up 575,000 in chips on Day 1b.

Payouts for this event will be announced on Sunday shortly after the action resumes at 10 a.m. with a winner scheduled to be crowned in this four-day event on Tuesday.

Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack Top Ten Entering Day 2

Chance Kornuth Leads Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller

The three-day Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller has lived up to its billing as the highest buy-in event of the 2023 WSOP with 69 entries creating a mind-blowing $17,181,000 prize pool.

This figure could have easily been 70 entries but as we already mentioned in the intro, the WSOP organizers were kind enough to refund Jason Koon with his wife in labor with his second baby.

The action is down to just nine players, each locking up $478,663 when the action resumes for its final day live at PokerGO at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Alfred Decarolis (10^th – $411,490) and Ben Heath (11^th – $411,490) were unable to make the final cut but did finish this event with a min-cash.

Three-time WSOP champion Chance Kornuth leads the way at the final table with 22,450,000 in chips. The controversial two-time WSOP bracelet winner Martin Kabrhel (18,400,000), Artur Martirosian (18,225,000) are Kornuth’s nearest competitors. There is a bit of a gap between this trio and the rest of the field. However, hopes are still alive for Alex Kulev (12,600,000), Chris Brewer (8,525,000), Dan Smith (7,800,000), Steven Veneziano (6,775,000), David Peters (4,925,000), and Brandon Steven (3,225,000).

Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller Final Table Seat Draw

Xu Zhu Leads Event #41: $1,500 Big O

The three-day Event #41: $1,500 Big O represents another first for the WSOP as this is the first time the Big O is featured as a poker variant at a WSOP bracelet event.

This game has been run for more than a decade at the WSOP as a cash game and has proved to be popular as it is also known to many around the world as five-card Omaha hi-lo eight or better.

We imagine that this game is here to stay at the WSOP with 1,458 entries speaking with their wallets to create a $1,946,430 prize pool.

Xu Zhu made the most of the opening day and leads the 219 Day 1 survivors with 570,000 in chips. Big names near the top of the leaderboard include bracelet winners Owais Ahmed (437,000), Ari Engel (432,000), Mike Gorodinsky (382,000), and Allan Le (345,000).

The action will resume on Sunday at 1 p.m. with blinds at 3,000/6,000 along with a 6,000 big blind ante.

Event #41: $1,500 Big O Day 1 Top 10 Leaderboard

June 18, 2023 WSOP Schedule

Sunday, June 18 is scheduled to award three bracelet winners including two that are kicking off today online at WSOP.com for players in Nevada and New Jersey.

Two other big events kick off their opening days today with low-rollers getting into the mix in Event #42: $800 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack before the high-rollers get busy in what many dub to be the most prestigious event at the WSOP outside of the Main Event with Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship commencing the first of its five days.

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 courtesy of WSOP/PokerNews.
Article by Jason Glatzer
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