2023 WSOP Week 5 Roundup: Moldova and Poland Win Gold
It is more than half over. The 2023 World Series of Poker is in its second half, and the WSOP Main Event will start in just a few days. It is the culmination of a summer of poker, with the biggest series hitting its stride and heading into the stretch. If you want to catch up on the action, take a look at the weekly recaps from the start: –Week 1 recap –Week 2 recap –Week 3 recap –Week 4 recap Now, let’s get into the fifth week of WSOP tournament results.
Event 47: Third for Dzivielevski
The $1,500 HORSE event brought in 836 entries, from which several big names emerged as final table players. Frankie O’Dell busted in fourth, but Randy Ohel took on Yuri Dzivielevski for the title, and the latter won. It was his third bracelet, and the Brazilian poker pro had a massive rail to celebrate with him. Hard work of late paid off for Dzivielevski. “I’m working a lot on my game,” he told PokerNews after his win. He also commented on his cheering section. “It gives an extra power that I cannot explain. … I’m feeling very loved for all this crowd. Pretty happy.” https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1672166833779281921?s=20
| Event 47 | $1,500 buy-in | HORSE |
| Total entries: | 836 | (773 in 2022, 594 in 2021, 751 in 2019) |
| Total prize pool: | $1,116,060 | |
| Players paid: | 126 | |
| Minimum payout: | $2,406 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Yuri Dzivielevski (Brazil) $207,678 |
| 2nd place: | Randy Ohel (USA) $128,536 | |
| 3rd place: | Nghia Le (USA) $91,221 | |
| 4th place: | Frankie O’Dell (USA) $65,782 | |
| 5th place: | Stephen Savoy (USA) $48,146 | |
| 6th place: | Thor William Morstoel (Norway) $35,772 | |
| 7th place: | Denis Nesterenko (Russia) $26,987 | |
| 8th place: | Serhii Popovych (USA) $20,677 |
Event 48: Hallett Beats Baxter
The first of two WSOP tournaments dedicated to players over 50 delivered 8,140 entries and a prize pool of more than $7.2M. Two players from the old school group of poker players made the final table, but Dan Heimiller finished third and Billy Baxter ended up falling to Lonnie Hallett in the heads-up match. Hallett was happy and taken by the moment. “I just can’t believe it,” he said, “such a huge field; it’s almost impossible to do, and somehow it happened. I’m grateful and can’t believe it. I’m so happy.”
| Event 48 | $1K buy-in | NLHE Seniors Championship (1 RE) |
| Total entries: | 8,140 | (7188 in 2022, 5916 in 2019, 5404 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $7,280,200 | |
| Players paid: | 1,227 | |
| Minimum payout: | $1,607 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Lonnie Hallett (Canada) $765,731 |
| 2nd place: | Billy Baxter (USA) $473,212 | |
| 3rd place: | Dan Heimiller (USA) $356,166 | |
| 4th place: | Shannon Fahey (USA) $269,841 | |
| 5th place: | Gordon Eng (USA) $205,799 | |
| 6th place: | Loren Cloninger (USA) $158,006 | |
| 7th place: | Rudolf Fourie (South Africa) $122,130 | |
| 8th place: | Ron Fetsch (USA) $95,040 | |
| 9th place: | David Stearns (USA) $74,464 |
Event 49: Wang Wins
It was the first tournament Pengfei Wang every played in a casino. He played cash games in the Los Angeles area but decided to give this tournament a shot. And he found himself flying through a field of more than 2K players in a super turbo structure. He hit the final table with competitors like Alejandro Lococo and Tony Gargano. He stayed focused, though, and pulled off the win. Wang admitted that he was the short stack near the final table bubble. “But when I reached the top three,” he said, “I felt the bracelet was more important to me than the money.” He now has a WSOP gold bracelet to show for it.
| Event 49 | $1,500 buy-in | NLHE Super Turbo Freezeout |
| Total entries: | 2,226 | (2569 in 2022, 1867 in 2019, 1441 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $1,858,710 | |
| Players paid: | 334 | |
| Minimum payout: | $1,505 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Pengfei Wang (USA) $270,700 |
| 2nd place: | Will Linden (USA) $167,339 | |
| 3rd place: | Chen An Lin (Taiwan) $123,198 | |
| 4th place: | Kenneth Maurer (USA) $91,558 | |
| 5th place: | Michael Burns (USA) $68,693 | |
| 6th place: | Tony Gargano (USA) $52,034 | |
| 7th place: | Alejandro Lococo (Argentina) $39,799 | |
| 8th place: | Danny Scott (USA) $30,760 | |
| 9th place: | Frank Lagodich (USA) $23,978 |
Event 50: Garza Gains Bracelet and Fiancé
It was the largest PLO Championship with 731 entries, but that wasn’t the story of the tournament. The $6.8M prize wasn’t the story, either. It was AP Louis Garza winning the tournament and proposing to his girlfriend, Carla, just after he won the WSOP bracelet. He explained his outgoing personality at the table as a part of the game. And the proposal? “Don’t think any other time would be right besides now because I don’t think I would even be right here without her,” he told interviewers after the hubbub died down. https://twitter.com/PokerNews/status/1672879839328747520?s=20
| Event 50 | $10K buy-in | PLO Championship (8-Handed) |
| Total entries: | 731 | (683 in 2022, 518 in 2019, 344 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $6,798,300 | |
| Players paid: | 110 | |
| Minimum payout: | $16,088 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Lou Garza (USA) $1,309,232 |
| 2nd place: | Arthur Morris (USA) $809,167 | |
| 3rd place: | Stanislav Halatenko (Ukraine) $570,307 | |
| 4th place: | Travis Pearson (USA) $407,915 | |
| 5th place: | Peng Shan (China) $296,154 | |
| 6th place: | Sam Soverel (USA) $218,297 | |
| 7th place: | Kosei Ichinose (Japan) $163,405 | |
| 8th place: | Ren Lin (China) $124,243 |
Event 51: Savakinas and Takana Tag Team
Arguably one of the most fun tournaments at the WSOP, the tag team event garners big crowds and a more gender-diverse field than any other event. This year, Michael Savakinas and Satoshi Tanaka outlasted all the other two-player teams and grabbed one bracelet each. The friendship between the two led to their success. Tanaka explained, “I think we get along outside of poker, too, so naturally, if things go wrong in poker, we help each other out, but not just poker-wise – with everything.”
| Event 51 | $1K buy-in | NLHE Tag Team |
| Total entries: | 1,282 | (913 in 2022, 976 in 2019, 641 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $570,490 | |
| Players paid: | 193 | |
| Minimum payout: | $801 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Michael Savakinas/Satoshi Tanaka (USA) $190,662 |
| 2nd place: | Vincent Moscati/Tanner Bibat (USA) $117,872 | |
| 3rd place: | Jonah LaBranche/Dustin Wills (USA) $85,040 | |
| 4th place: | Rickey Evans/Roberto Valdez (USA) $62,090 | |
| 5th place: | John Ventre/Kenneth Gallo (USA) $45,884 | |
| 6th place: | Marcus Stein/Amber Donatelli (USA) $34,326 | |
| 7th place: | David Williams/Theo Tran (USA) $26,000 | |
| 8th place: | Carlos Inukai/Emmanuel Avila (USA) $19,942 | |
| 9th place: | Justin Pechie/Ronnie Bardah (USA) $15,592 |
Event 52: Pupillo Pips It
Nick Pupillo is a familiar name in most poker circles, but he had yet to claim a WSOP bracelet to go with his WSOP Circuit rings. He found an opportunity in the Mixed Triple Draw event and outlasted names like Robert Mizrachi, John Monnette, Joao Vieira, and Ray Henson to make the final table. In the end, he won that bracelet. “It’s pretty surreal,” he admitted. “It feels good. I love the mixed games. It really felt like my tournament.”
| Event 52 | $2,500 buy-in | Mixed Triple Draw Lowball (1 RE) |
| Total entries: | 353 | (309 in 2022, 253 in 2021, 296 in 2019) |
| Total prize pool: | $783,200 | |
| Players paid: | 53 | |
| Minimum payout: | $4,069 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Nick Pupillo (USA) $181,978 |
| 2nd place: | Ryan Moriarty (USA) $112,472 | |
| 3rd place: | Aaron Mermelstein (USA) $74,545 | |
| 4th place: | Tomomitsu Ono (Japan) $50,608 | |
| 5th place: | Hye Park (USA) $35,212 | |
| 6th place: | Brant Hale (USA) $25,126 |
Event 53: Moldovan Becomes Millionaire
The Millionaire Maker was one of the many tournaments at the 2023 WSOP for the record books. The tournament had 10,430 entries and a prize pool of nearly $14M. That was enough to make the final two players millionaires. The final table was a truly global affair, with players representing Hungary, Brazil, Russia, Germany, France, the United States, Canada, and Moldova. But it was Pavel Plesuv of Moldova who won the largest prize. “It feels amazing,” he said. “It’s really nice to win my first bracelet in such a big field and for such a big amount as my best cash. It feels amazing.”
| Event 53 | $1,500 buy-in | NLHE Millionaire Maker (1 RE) |
| Total entries: | 10,416 | (7961 in 2022, 8809 in 2019, 5326 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $13,905,360 | |
| Players paid: | 1,563 | |
| Minimum payout: | $2,400 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Pavel Plesuv (Moldova) $1,201,564 |
| 2nd place: | Florian Ribouchon (France) $1,003,554 | |
| 3rd place: | Paul Gunness (USA) $650,058 | |
| 4th place: | Andreas Kniep (Germany) $501,182 | |
| 5th place: | Anton Smirnov (Russia) $373,524 | |
| 6th place: | Myles Mullaly (USA) $287,522 | |
| 7th place: | Vitor De Souza Coutinho (Brazil) $222,749 | |
| 8th place: | Andras Matrai (Hungary) $173,683 | |
| 9th place: | Charles Benoit (Canada) $136,302 |
Event 54: Gorodinsky Gets Three
The HORSE Championship event at the World Series is a tough one to win, especially when there are 185 players and a $1.7M prize pool on the line. But Mike Gorodinsky is no stranger to tough, pro-filled tournaments, and he blasted past names like Scott Seiver, Brian Yoon, and Alex Livingston to claim his third WSOP bracelet. Gorodinsky did feel like he had momentum going into the last day of play. “I felt pretty comfortable and confident the whole way,” he told PokerNews. Even so, he acknowledged that he didn’t expect to feel that way as he was trying to break a cold streak. https://twitter.com/gordoMG/status/1673573755573108738?s=20
| Event 54 | $10K buy-in | HORSE Championship |
| Total entries: | 185 | (209 in 2022, 172 in 2019, 149 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $1,720,500 | |
| Players paid: | 28 | |
| Minimum payout: | $16,354 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Mike Gorodinsky (USA) $422,747 |
| 2nd place: | Alex Livingston (Canada) $261,278 | |
| 3rd place: | Brad Ruben (USA) $184,406 | |
| 4th place: | Brian Yoon (USA) $136,649 | |
| 5th place: | Scott Seiver (USA) $101,319 | |
| 6th place: | Carol Fuchs (USA) $76,412 | |
| 7th place: | Christopher Claasen (USA) $58,633 |
Event 55: First Bracelet for Poland
Players from the poker room will remember Marcin Horecki as a regular player at large tournament series, but he has been gone from the tables for about five years. That break led him to the 2023 WSOP, though, and everything lined up. He ultimately defeated Mike Matusow for his first WSOP gold bracelet, which also happened to be the first ever awarded to a player from Poland. “I’m kind of old school,” Horecki told reporters, “a grandfather, let’s say, among Polish poker players. In actuality, I’ve been retired for five years, so I came back just to play for fun, and it seems I did not forget the game.” https://twitter.com/MarcinHorecki/status/1674180842946535425?s=20
| Event 55 | $1,500 buy-in | Seven-Card Stud-8 |
| Total entries: | 566 | (471 in 2022, 460 in 2019, 372 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $755,610 | |
| Players paid: | 85 | |
| Minimum payout: | $2,421 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Marcin Horecki (Poland) $155,275 |
| 2nd place: | Mike Matusow (USA) $95,957 | |
| 3rd place: | Scott Numoto (USA) $66,950 | |
| 4th place: | James Cheung (UK) 447,475 | |
| 5th place: | Sergio Braga (Brazil) $34,225 | |
| 6th place: | Michael Estes (USA) $25,089 | |
| 7th place: | Brian Rast (USA) $18,709 | |
| 8th place: | Chris George (USA) $14,195 |
Event 56: Genovese Wins Warriors
The Salute to Warriors tournament benefits the USO and other veterans’ organizations. It is a popular tournament for that reason, as well as it is an opportunity for players to honor their friends, family members, or their own service to the United States. This year, retired firefighter Steven Genovese won the tournament. On emerging victorious from an event with 4,303 entries, Genovese said, “It feels amazing! I was pinching myself the whole time!”
| Event 56 | $500 buy-in | NLHE Salute to Warriors (1 RE) |
| Total entries: | 4,303 | (3209 in 2022, 1723 in 2019, 1738 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $1,764,230 | |
| Players paid: | 646 | |
| Minimum payout: | $800 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Steven Genovese (USA) $217,921 |
| 2nd place: | Kelly Gall (Canada) $134,643 | |
| 3rd place: | William Butcher (USA) $99,961 | |
| 4th place: | Ali Alawadhi (USA) $74,819 | |
| 5th place: | Ryan Stephens (USA) $56,464 | |
| 6th place: | David Elisofon (USA) $42,966 | |
| 7th place: | Raffaello Locatelli (Italy) $32,969 | |
| 8th place: | Youssef Hicham (Morocco) $25,512 | |
| 9th place: | Dejuante Alexander (USA) $19,910 |
Event 57: Lau Loves PLO
Ka Kwan Lau loves PLO so much that he played the $25K Pot Limit Omaha High Roller tournament. And his abilities in the game are well-known in most poker circles. This time, however, he holds a gold bracelet to show his prowess. And the $2.3M that went with it was a nice bonus as well. Lau said that the key to his success is loving poker and grinding hard. And his reward was this win. “I feel great. It feels like I have been missing something, and now it is complete. I am very happy with that.”
| Event 57 | $25K buy-in | PLO High Roller 8-Handed (2 RE) |
| Total entries: | 449 | (264 in 2022, 212 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $10,551,500 | |
| Players paid: | 68 | |
| Minimum payout: | $40,179 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Ka Kwan Lau (Hong Kong) $2,294,756 |
| 2nd place: | Sergio Martinez Gonzalez (Spain) $1,418,270 | |
| 3rd place: | Andjelko Andrejevic (Servia) $989,464 | |
| 4th place: | Roger Teska (USA) $701,522 | |
| 5th place: | Mads Amot (Norway) $505,588 | |
| 6th place: | Quan Zhou (China) $370,498 | |
| 7th place: | Firas Kashat (USA) $276,141 | |
| 8th place: | Jeremy Ausmus (USA) $209,392 |
Event 58: Daly Dominates
The $3K LHE 6-Handed event saw increased participation from the previous year. Jason Daly was there for it and quickly worked through the final table to grab the gold. “It means a lot,” he said. “On the grind, I moved out to Vegas when I was 21, and that didn’t work out. I’m 41 now, so I’ve come full circle. It’s the first Limit Hold’em tournament I’ve ever played, so it’s pretty cool. It’s a bucket list item, and I’m just kind of speechless right now.”
| Event 58 | $3K buy-in | LHE 6-Handed |
| Total entries: | 263 | (213 in 2022, 162 in 2021, 193 in 2019) |
| Total prize pool: | $702,210 | |
| Players paid: | 40 | |
| Minimum payout: | $4,837 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Jason Daly (USA) $165,250 |
| 2nd place: | Brent Mutter (USA) $102,132 | |
| 3rd place: | Nick Pupillo (USA) $72,681 | |
| 4th place: | Freddy Sageer (USA) $52,056 | |
| 5th place: | Daniel Young (USA) $37,526 | |
| 6th place: | Mavrick Yoo (USA) $27,228 |
Event 59: German Gold
The $3K NLHE Freezeout was a big event with nearly 1,600 players and more than $4.2M in the prize pool. The field was filled with pros, especially near the end, with players like Jesse Lonis and Dario Sammartino at the final table. But Robert Schulz and Julien Sitbon put on the best show as they fought for more than six hours heads-up. Schulz did emerge the winner. After the win, Schulz explained his feelings, “Exhausted, relieved, and yeah, proud as well. I think I played fine.”
| Event 59 | $3K buy-in | NLHE Freezeout |
| Total entries: | 1,598 | (1359 in 2022, 720 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $4,266,660 | |
| Players paid: | 240 | |
| Minimum payout: | $4,812 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Robert Schulz (Germany) $675,275 |
| 2nd place: | Julien Sitbon (France) $417,338 | |
| 3rd place: | James Mendoza (Philippines) $303,884 | |
| 4th place: | Barak Wisbrod (Israel) $233,657 | |
| 5th place: | Dario Sammartino (Italy) $166,404 | |
| 6th place: | Robert Burlacu (Romania) $125,170 | |
| 7th place: | Nazar Buhaiov (Ukraine) $95,203 | |
| 8th place: | Kunal Patni (India) $73,225 | |
| 9th place: | Jesse Lonis (USA) $56,963 |
Event 60: No Mercy Mercier
That’s what they used to call him. When Jason Mercier was a member of Team PokerStars and playing poker all the time, he was a tough opponent. While he doesn’t play nearly as often anymore, he remains a formidable opponent. This year, he claimed his sixth bracelet. https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1674616517642842112?s=20
| Event 60 | $1,500 buy-in | No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw 7-Handed (2 RE) |
| Total entries: | 548 | (437 in 2022, 272 in 2021, 296 in 2019) |
| Total prize pool: | $731,580 | |
| Players paid: | 83 | |
| Minimum payout: | $2,404 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Jason Mercier (USA) $151,276 |
| 2nd place: | Mike Watson (Canada) $93,495 | |
| 3rd place: | Brad Ruben (USA) $63,505 | |
| 4th place: | Jon Turner (USA) $44,002 | |
| 5th place: | Erik Seidel (USA) $31,114 | |
| 6th place: | Richard Ashby (UK) $22,461 | |
| 7th place: | Jonathan Glendinning (USA) $16,562 |
Event 61: Ilk Outlasts Super Seniors
The event reserved for poker players over the age of 60 garnered more than 3K entries. And when the dust settled, Klaus Ilk claimed the win for Austria and a first bracelet for himself. He noted that the money very important, as was winning for Austria. And he attributed the victory to a mixture of skill and luck. “The poker gods were definitely with me,” he said, “and I guess I played my best poker.”
| Event 61 | $1K buy-in | NLHE Super Seniors (1 RE) |
| Total entries: | 3,122 | (2669 in 2022, 1893 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $2,777,690 | |
| Players paid: | 469 | |
| Minimum payout: | $1,600 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Klaus Ilk (Austria) $371,603 |
| 2nd place: | Ronald Lane (USA) $229,685 | |
| 3rd place: | Farhad Davoudzadeh (Iran) $172,058 | |
| 4th place: | Ronald Swain (USA) $129,812 | |
| 5th place: | Kevin Danko (USA) $98,644 | |
| 6th place: | Federico Trujillo (Argentina) $75,503 | |
| 7th place: | Arnon Graham (USA) $58,213 | |
| 8th place: | Rassoul Malboubi (USA) $45,213 | |
| 9th place: | Richard Wallace (USA) $35,377 |
Event 62: Simon Secures Bracelet
The mix of everyone’s favorite games – No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha – brought more than 2K entries into the tournament. Out of the crowd emerged David Simon and David Prociak to play head-sup. Simon pulled out the win to claim his first WSOP gold. “To have a result like this is not so much validation or anything, because I’ve never really put myself on that level, but it definitely just increases my confidence level and makes me so thankful for all my friends and family who have been so into everything that I’ve been doing,” Simon explained.
| Event 62 | $1,500 buy-in | Mixed NLHE/PLO 8-Handed (2 RE) |
| Total entries: | 2,076 | (1234 in 2022, 1250 in 2019, 579 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $2,771,460 | |
| Players paid: | 312 | |
| Minimum payout: | $2,402 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | David Simon (USA) $410,659 |
| 2nd place: | David Prociak (USA) $253,821 | |
| 3rd place: | Eric Pfenning (USA) $185,630 | |
| 4th place: | Eran Carmi (Israel) $137,058 | |
| 5th place: | Tsuf Saltsberg (Israel) $102,173 | |
| 6th place: | Robert Mizrachi (USA) $76,910 | |
| 7th place: | Upeshka De Silva (USA) $58,464 | |
| 8th place: | Guofeng Wang (China) $44,884 |
Event 63: Miller Makes Comeback
The Stud-8 Championship was a tough tournament, especially with a final table that included Chino Rheem and Andres Korn. And when it got to heads-up, Bryn Kenney had a massive lead over Ryan Miller. But the latter mounted an impressive comeback to claim his first gold. Miller told reporters, “I’ve waited a long time, and I wasn’t sure if it would ever come, but I’m super excited to get (a bracelet). I feel like I put a lot of time in poker and was deserving of one, and now it finally came, and it’s great to get it in a championship event.” https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1675036533014003712?s=20
| Event 63 | $10K buy-in | Seven-Card Stud-8 Championship |
| Total entries: | 141 | (137 in 2022, 151 in 2019, 144 in 2021) |
| Total prize pool: | $1,311,300 | |
| Players paid: | 22 | |
| Minimum payout: | $16,000 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Ryan Miller (USA) $344,677 |
| 2nd place: | Bryn Kenney (USA) $213,027 | |
| 3rd place: | Maximilian Schindler (USA) $149,981 | |
| 4th place: | Andres Korn (Argentina) $107,824 | |
| 5th place: | Chino Rheem (USA) $79,189 | |
| 6th place: | Eddie Blumenthal (USA) $59,441 | |
| 7th place: | Yong Wang (China) $45,624 | |
| 8th place: | Joao Vieira (Portugal) $35,826 |
