2023 WSOP Week 6 Roundup: History for Hellmuth

Written by Jennifer Newell

Last updated on July 17th, 2023

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When the WSOP World Championship began at the 2023 World Series of Poker, other live tournaments wrapped so the entire focus could be on the Main Event. It is the center of attention for so many poker players and fans, and it takes up quite a lot of space in the tournament area. With that said, it presents a good opportunity to do a roundup of the sixth week of the 2023 WSOP up to the Main Event. If you want to catch up on the action, these are the weekly recaps from the start: -Week 1 recap -Week 2 recap -Week 3 recap -Week 4 recap -Week 5 recap As for Week 6, we start with Event 64 and take you through the results of Event 75.

Event 64: Guay Gets Gold

Participation in this exact NLHE Deepstack event may have been down from last year, but that didn’t damper any excitement, as the tournament still garnered more than 4,300 entries and a prize pool that exceeded $2M. The final table was one of the most diverse yet this year, with players competing from France, Australia, the UK, South Africa, Canada, and the USA. Canadian David Guay won to collect his first WSOP gold bracelet. With emotion, he admitted that more emotion would set in later. In the meantime, “I’m going to call my mom soon to let her know,” he said. He also acknowledged his friends and family there to support him, some of whom hailed from his home casino, Playground Poker.  

Event 65: Pu Pips Another for China

Chinese poker players have been showing out in strength at the 2023. This tournament showcased another Chinese player, this one beating nearly 1,200 entries in the 6-Handed NLHE event. He beat many big names in the leadup to his win, including defeating Norbert Szecsi heads-up for the bracelet. Weiran Pu told PokerNews that he was thankful for the win, admitting that the first half of his 2023 was not great. “Right now, I’m a social media influencer for poker in China,” he told PokerNews. “I’ve made hundreds of vlogs, but this one may be my biggest.”  

Event 66: Kopp Captures Bracelet

Last year, Katie Kopp made a huge statement by winning the first 2022 WSOP bracelet of the summer, having garnered a great deal of experience as a poker dealer. This year, her brother, William Kopp, took down a WSOP tournament as well. He did it in PLO-8. “It feels really good,” Kopp said after the win, “especially since my best friend won a bracelet this year, and my sister won one last year.” It was the family poker element that drove him to succeed, along with his lucky socks. https://twitter.com/CardPlayerMedia/status/1675261486187581440?s=20    

Event 67: Abraham Aces Ladies

It became the largest Ladies Championship in WSOP history. With 1,295 entries, the woman-only tournament showed the increase in the women’s poker community. The final table featured women from Cyprus, Israel, and Japan, but it was Tamar Abraham who emerged as the champion. When the excitement tamped down, emotion took over. Abraham noted, “It’s surreal. I don’t even know what to say. I don’t have any words right now.” She then hailed her friends and supporters for the encouragement. https://twitter.com/LearnWPT/status/1677716073968435200?s=20    

Event 68: Schroeder Success

The next tournament on the schedule was a fast one, the Super Turbo Bounty event that brought in 2,854 entries to create a $2.5M prize pool. There was a lot of support at the final table for longtime poker player Andy Black, but it was Brazil’s Gabriel Schroeder who outlasted all of his opponents for the win. Schroeder dedicated the win to his wife and daughter, whose pictures he kept in front of him throughout the tournament.  

Event 69: Brewer Binks Another

When high roller Chris Brewer won his first bracelet in the $250K Super High Roller earlier in the 2023 WSOP, the monkey departed from his back. Whether it was the absence of that monkey or simply the year for Brewer to shine, he plowed through the Deuce-to-Seven Championship final table. He surpassed players like Riess, Dzivielevski, Negreanu, and Baker to get heads-up with Alex Livingston. The tournament was anything but easy, but Brewer emerged as the winner. Brewer noted that this tournament was less intense than the Super High Roller. He also added, “There wasn’t much that I did. The deck just said, ‘Hey, Chris, you get to win the tournament today.’” https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1675654449304571904?s=20  

Event 70: Refaelowitz Rules

The Colossus was more colossal this year than ever before. With 15,879 entries, the prize pool stopped just short of $5M and reserved more than $500K of it for the winner. That winner was Israel’s Moshe Refaelowitz, who dedicated the gold bracelet to his wife and her support of his poker dreams. The former footballer was elated holding the bracelet. “I feel amazing,” he told PokerNews. “I’m overwhelmed. It’s a dream come true, and I’m grateful.”  

Event 71: Lonis Lands Second Gold

Poker fans have watched Jesse Lonis rise through the ranks in the past several years, all the way to playing this $50K buy-in PLO High Roller tournament. And he not only justified his feeling for playing it, he won the whole thing to claim his second piece of WSOP gold. He credited his win to sheer experience at the tables. Lonis said, “It just feels great because it’s a tough tournament. Obviously, every player in it, 99 percent of them, are great players. It was a mental balance and nice to come out on top.”  

Event 72: Hellmuth Hits 17

The all-time record holder of gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker increased his count by one. He won the $10K Super Turbo Bounty, good for not only $800K but his 17^th WSOP bracelet. It was his tenth cash of this summer’s series, and he couldn’t have been happier to win this one. “I’m feeling pretty good,” Hellmuth admitted during his winner’s interview. “I must have a smile just fixed to my face.” Of course, he also talked about getting recognition he feels has long been denied. “This is the first year of my career that all the great players called me great or the greatest. Shaun Deeb is one of the greatest players in the world. He finally understands and was giving me compliments, like ‘You’re the best player in the tournament.’” https://twitter.com/PokerNews/status/1675493355684528128?s=20  

Event 73: Belluscio Binks for Argentina

Hundreds of players signed up for the chance at a Mixed Big Bet bracelet, and the final table found players from Poland, the UK, Costa Rica, and the United States in competition for it. Julio Belluscio of Argentina outlasted them all, though. And Belluscio said he saw it coming. "This year, I expected to win," he told PokerNews. "When I have chips, I affect all the players because they never know what to do against me."  

Event 74: Gafford Gets Gold

The Mini Main Event is a chance for players to compete in a freezeout with a similar structure to the Main Event but at one-tenth of the buy-in. Out of more than 5,200 players in action, Bradley Gafford was the one with all of the chips in the end. Commenting on his first bracelet, Gafford said, “It has come way earlier than I thought, and I haven’t really processed it yet. I am sure there will be a lot of deeper thinking over the next couple of days.”  

Event 75: Kamel Claims PLO-8 Victory

The $10K PLO-8 Championship was the last tournament on the schedule before the WSOP Main Event. It brought in 277 entries for a $2.5M prize pool. And when it ended, Hassan Kamel of Australia held the bracelet and nearly $600K in cash. The win was a part of a larger journey, a road trip in America. “I don’t really like playing tournaments,” Kamel admitted after the win. “I found my favorite game, hung out, have been road tripping across America. … I just happened to be here and sort of thought I’d come and check it out.” https://twitter.com/WSOP/status/1676475304238530561?s=20      

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