Every one or two years, there is a player who stands out from the crowd at the World Series of Poker by winning more than one gold bracelet. Even in recent years, when the WSOP awards more than 100 each summer alone, there is usually a player who wins two.
This year, it happened early, as Chad Eveslage won two bracelets – in the same category of Dealers Choice – within a matter of a few days. While the time frame and poker category caught everyone’s attention, the person who won the two bracelets was not a surprise. He has been on a heater for the last several years. As just an example, he won big on the World Poker Tour and captured the 2022 Player of the Year title. And last summer, he won his first WSOP bracelet in a No Limit Hold’em event in the first week of the series.
The 2023 WSOP isn’t even half over. Keep an eye on Indiana-born Chad Eveslage.
Event 7: Ukraine Wins
When most tournaments at the beginning of the WSOP result in mostly-American final tables, one in which two representatives of another country taking the top two spots is a rarity. This low buy-in Limit Hold’em event found two Ukrainians going heads-up in the end, with Vadim Schlez taking the title and bracelet.
After two decades in the game Schlez told PokerNews how special it was to win. Draped in the Ukrainian flag, he said, “It was unbelievable.” And about heads-up with a fellow countryman, he added “Nobody expected this to happen. I mean, even making the final table together was great.”
Event 7
$1,500 buy-in
Limit Hold'em
Total entries:
527
(522 in 2022, 422 in 2021, 541 in 2019)
Total prize pool:
$703,545
Players paid:
80
Minimum payout:
$2,400
Final table results:
1st place:
Vadim Shlez (Ukraine) $146,835
2nd place:
Rostyslav Sabishchenko (Ukraine) $90,753
3rd place:
Kerry Welsch (USA) $63,577
4th place:
Raul Celaya (USA) $45,301
5th place:
John Armbrust (USA) $32,840
6th place:
Chairud Bangchailued (USA) $24,228
7th place:
Jason Duong (Canada) $18,196
8th place:
David Baker (USA) $13,917
Event 8: Khun Races to Bracelet
Chanracy Khun is no stranger to poker tournament tables. It wasn’t a particular surprise when he entered the $25K Heads-Up Championship and made the money, nor when he beat Landon Tice and then Sean Winter to make it to the final match-up. And after a roller coaster of a battle, Khun beat Doug Polk for his first bracelet and more than $500K.
Khun, himself, was stunned a bit at the victory. “I feel really good,” he told PokerNews. “I’m relieved. And it’s tough to find any words, but it’s a mix of emotions.”
Event 8
$25K buy-in
NLHE Heads-Up Championship
Total entries:
64
(64 in 2022, 57 in 2021)
Total prize pool:
$1,504,000
Players paid:
8
Minimum payout:
$74,648
Final table results:
1st place:
Chanracy Kuhn (Canada) $507,020
2nd place:
Doug Polk (USA) $313,362
3rd place:
Chris Brewer (USA) $192,513
4th place:
Sean Winter (USA) $192,513
5th place:
Roberto Perez (Spain) $74,648
6th place:
Anthony Zinno (USA) $74,648
7th place:
Landon Tice (USA) $74,648
8th place:
Eric Wasserson (USA) $74,648
Event 9: Schulman Shines
Longtime poker pro Nick Schulman is often quiet and soft-spoken, even as a commentator for poker tournaments. But it’s that cool and composed manner that garners so much attention. It was no different when he ran deep in this Stud tournament, as he eased past players like Shaun Deeb and John Monnette to fight for his fourth bracelet.
When he won it, Schulman said it signifies that he’s stood the test of time. “I’m still here. It means a lot,” he said. And he proceeded to take the coolest winner photo in recent memory.
Just days after Chad Eveslage won the $1,500 buy-in Dealers Choice bracelet, he played and won the $10K buy-in Dealers Choice Championship. It was his second bracelet in just a few days and his third lifetime WSOP gold bracelet. For Event 10, he ran directly past players like Ari Engel and Dutch Boyd to win and take a place atop the Player of the Year race early in the series.
Eveslage was elated to win but downplayed being the best poker player in the world. He claimed skill in heads-up Badeucey and gladly accepted the bracelet.
Two-day NLHE Deepstack events consist of two very long days, so players must have stamina and tenacity in addition to patience. Out of more than 6,000 entries, Kenneth O’Donnell emerged victorious for his first WSOP gold.
“It’s huge,” O’Donnell said. “It’s amazing.” He went on to say that he was “absurdly lucky” and a “Chosen One for the poker gods.” “This feels really special,” he added in the post-tournament interview. “I just feel really blessed.
Event 11
$600 buy-in
NLHE Deepstack (1 RE)
Total entries:
6,085
(5715 in 2022, 4527 in 2021, 6150 in 2019)
Total prize pool:
$3,103,350
Players paid:
318
Minimum payout:
$1,702
Final table results:
1st place:
Kenneth O'Donnell (USA) $351,098
2nd place:
Jefferson Guerrero (Colombia) $216,941
3rd place:
Ka Chen Kan (China) $162,371
4th place:
Aaron Georgelos (USA) $122,407
5th place:
Robert Gittelman (USA) $92,953
6th place:
Eric Pfenning (USA) $71,104
7th place:
Manuel DeAlmeida (USA) $54,794
8th place:
Andres Morales (USA) $42,539
9th place:
Fabio Coppola (Italy) $33,274
Event 12: Eyer Eyes Victory
The buy-in was $5K and the game was Hold’em – with no reentries and no easy path. When the tournament wound down to just two players, Jeremy Eyer was up against Felipe Ramos, the longtime pro from Brazil. It took nearly three hours, but Eyer pulled off a win.
When he spoke to the poker media, he noted that he had been playing more online, trying to improve his game year after year. “Now, I’m transitioning more into live mostly, and that’s helping my game a lot,” he told PokerNews.
Event 12
$5K buy-in
NLHE Freezeout
Total entries:
735
(756 in 2022, 608 in 2019, 531 in 2021)
Total prize pool:
$3,381,000
Players paid:
111
Minimum payout:
$8,011
Final table results:
1st place:
Jeremy Eyer (USA) $649,550
2nd place:
Felipe Ramos (Brazil) $401,460
3rd place:
Nozomu Shimizu (Japan) $287,106
4th place:
Jinho Hong (South Korea) $208,158
5th place:
Ronald Minnis (USA) $114,102
6th place:
Jeffrey Halcomb (USA) $114,102
7th place:
Ivan Galinec (Croatia) $86,300
8th place:
Shiva Dudani (USA) $66,226
9th place:
James Vecchio (USA) $51,769
Event 13: Altomonte at the Top
This was a two-day deepstacked tournament like many others on the summer schedule, but this played PLO instead of NLHE. And it was a player named Joseph Altomonte who claimed the victory and his first career bracelet.
After returning from a poker hiatus, Altomonte worked into this win and called his parents immediately after it happened. “It’s a dream come true,” he told reporters. “You don’t even understand.”
Event 13
$600 buy-in
PLO Deepstack (2 RE)
Total entries:
3,200
(2858 in 2022, 2577 in 2019, 1571 in 2021)
Total prize pool:
$1,632,000
Players paid:
480
Minimum payout:
$962
Final table results:
1st place:
Joseph Altomonte (USA) $217,102
2nd place:
Michael Holmes (USA) $134,171
3rd place:
Stephen Wheeland (USA) $100,976
4th place:
Jorge Ufano (USA) $76,516
5th place:
Clayton Fletcher (USA) $58,382
6th place:
Xing He (Canada) $44,856
7th place:
Ardit Bitincka (Canada) $34,706
8th place:
Jerome Hickel (USA) $27,042
Event 14: Yoon Wins Fifth
Brian Yoon is a skilled poker player who entered the 2023 WSOP with four bracelets from past years. He won his first in 2013 in the Little One for One Drop, wading through a large field and unlimited entries. The next year brought another NLHE bracelet, and yet another in 2017. In 2021, he won a bracelet in the Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship, so it was only fitting that he captured his fifth career bracelet in yet another variant. This was a $10K buy-in Seven-Card Stud Championship, so he battled names like Ben Yu, Maxx Coleman, and Dan Shak at the final table.
After winning the two-hour final duel, Yoon said he had been working on his Stud game. With that study, he entered and won this event. “It feels good,” he said. “So, it feels nice to break through in a game where you weren’t sure where you stacked up, and then you’re able to win.”
Poker is big in Brazil. That’s probably an understatement. Anyone can tell by the excited crowd that rails every Brazilian player at a final table that a celebration awaits. And Rafael Reis was evidence of it all when he won this six-handed NLHE event.
Reis said he was comfortable at the table and more experienced than at his last WSOP final table. His confidence led him to tell friends to join him for his final table because he felt so good about it. Afterward, he commented on winning his first bracelet: “I am feeling like I had a mission, and I completed my mission.”
Event 15
$1,500 buy-in
NLHE 6-Handed (1 RE)
Total entries:
2,454
(2392 in 2022, 1448 in 2021, 1832 in 2019)
Total prize pool:
$3,276,090
Players paid:
369
Minimum payout:
$2,400
Final table results:
1st place:
Rafael Reis (Brazil) $465,501
2nd place:
Daniel Barriocanal (Spain) $287,679
3rd place:
Sarah Herzali (France) $207,720
4th place:
Nikolaos Angelou (Greece) $151,559
5th place:
John Monnette (USA) $111,755
6th place:
Grant Wang (USA) $83,289
Event 16: Haxton Finally Gets It
Isaac Haxton went to the WSOP with more than $35M in live tournament earnings and titles from events around the world. One thing he didn’t have, however, was a WSOP bracelet. He fixed that in the second week of the 2023 World Series.
Outlasting the likes of Joao Vieira, Brian Rast, and Darren Elias, Haxton took the victory and grabbed that gold bracelet. While he contended that he doesn’t track the earnings list, he admitted that the bracelet meant a lot to him. “It feels very good, very good,” he told PokerOrg.
Jim Collopy’s first bracelet came in PLO in the oft-forgotten and short-lived World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific series in 2013. In 2021, he won a HORSE event for his second piece of WSOP gold, and he can now add an Omaha Hi-Lo bracelet to his collection. With more than $5M in live tournament earnings to date, Collopy continues to be a force at the tables.
In the event that set a new record, Collopy said, “It was terrific that over 1,000 people were here to play this event, so it’s just really special to close out the bracelet in a tournament like this.”
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