2023 WSOP Day 23: Ivey Falls Short of His 11th Bracelet

Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
7 min read
Phil Ivey

Day 23 of the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas saw three bracelets awarded, and Phil Ivey come close to bagging the 11th bracelet of his career. It was not meant to be for Ivey, but the following players are either celebrating epic victories, or could be over the next few days.

The first bracelet awarded on Day 23 went to Jay Lockett in Event #46: $500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout. Lockett outlasted 5,431 opponents on his way to victory, a result that bagged the champion a gold bracelet plus $262,526. Amazingly, this win was only the second time Lockett has finished in the money places in a live poker tournament; talk about living the poker dream!

Braxton Dunaway also became a WSOP champion after he triumphed in Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack. Dunaway became an instant millionaire thanks to the monster-sized $1,162,681 top prize. There is no doubt we shall see Dunaway again during the second half of the series.

William Leffingwell took down Event #45: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better after a long, arduous day at the tables. The final three players were going to bag and tag for the night and come back for an unscheduled fourth day, but Carlos Guerrero busted on that last hand before that happened. Zhen CaZhen Caii and Leffingwell chose to play on, and Leffinwell came out on top to become the tournament's champion.

Ivey Busts From the $50K PPC Shakerchi Leads the Final Five

Talal Shakerchi
Talal Shakerchi

The field of Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship has been cut down to only five players as the race towards this event's bracelet and $1,324,747 top prize continues.

A bunch of superstars were among the final 12 players that returned to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas for Day 4, including the legendary Phil Ivey, who was chasing his elusive 11th bracelet. Unfortunately for Ivey and his legion of fans, he bowed out in sixth place.

Talal Shakerchi (10,170,000) is the man to catch going into the final day's action, and is the only player with a stack larger than 10 million chips. Two former winners of this event, Matthew Ashton (7,380,000) and Brian Rast (4,545,000) are keeping tabs on the leader. Should Rast take down this event, he will join Michael Mizrachi as a three-time PPC champion.

James Obst (5,100,000) and Kristopher Tong (2,500,000) make up the rest of the final five, but are not there to make up the numbers.

Play resumes at 1:00 p.m. on June 22 with a one-hour delay due to PokerGO streaming the finale. PokerNews will have all of the live text updates you can handle on Day 5 of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.

Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Final Day Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip Count
1Talal ShakerchiUnited Kingdom10,170,000
2Matthew AshtonUnited Kingdom7,380,000
3James ObstAustralia5,110,000
4Brian RastUnited States4,545,000
5Kristopher TongUnited States2,500,000

Is Shorr's Bracelet Drought About to End?

Shannon Shorr
Shannon Shorr

Shannon Shorr appears the list of best poker players without a bracelet every year. Indeed, this very writer has predicted Shorr would get the proverbial monkey off his back for the past three WSOPs. Shorr has arguably his best chance yet of capturing some WSOP hardware because he is second in chips with only 15 remaining in Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em.

Shorr returns to battle with 8,750,000 chips, or 44 big blinds if you prefer. Only Aram Oganyan (9,900,000) has more betting tokens than the American grinder.

Anyone that reaches this stage of a major live event has done so on merit, so Shorr and Aganyan have plenty of work ahead of them if they are to emerge from the fray victoriously.

Such luminaries as Ankush Mandavia (4,800,000), Jon Van Fleet (3,800,000), Australia's Alex Lynskey (3,650,000), and Aliaksandr Hirs (2,975,000) are still fighting fit and ready to mount a charge for the $717,879 top prize.

The 15 surviving players return to their seats for Day 4 of this event at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 22, and will play until a champion is crowned. Stay locked to PokerNews to discover who that champion is.

Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Final Day Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Aram OganyanUnited States9,900,00050
2Shannon ShorrUnited States8,750,00044
3Yang ZhangChina6,875,00034
4Aleks DimitrovBulgaria6,500,00033
5Levente SzaboUnited States5,150,00026
6John MarinoUnited States5,100,00026
7Ankush MandaviaUnited States4,800,00024
8Kartik VedIndia4,500,00023
9Jon Van FleetUnited States3,800,00019
10Alex LynskeyAustralia3,650,00018
11Aliaksandr HirsBelarus2,975,00015
12Samy BoujmalaFrance2,525,00013
13Aliaksandr ShylkoCzech Republic2,375,00012
14Frederic NormandCanada2,000,00010
15Justin ChuTaiwan1,175,0006

Vamos! Dzivielevski Leads By Several Lengths in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.

Yuri Dzivielevski
Yuri Dzivielevski

Brazilian superstar Yuri Dzivielevski (2,020,000) hold a commanding lead going into Day 3 of Event #47: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. as he hunts down a third WSOP bracelet. Dzivielevski has almost 700,000 chips mor than any of the other 27 remaining players, but six of those players are WSOP champions, so it is not job done just yet for the Brazilian.

Gershon Distenfeld (1,300,000) returns in third place. You may recall Distenfeld has a habit of donating his poker tournament winnings to charity.

Andrew Barber (950,000), Frankie O'Dell (905,000), Denis Nesterenko (845,000), Randy Ohel (805,000), and Anson Tsang (440,000) are the other returnees that already have some poker jewelry in their collection.

Play resumes on June 22 at 1:00 p.m. local time with PokerNews in the saddle and updating you on the goings on throughout the third and final day.

Event #47: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip Count
1Yuri DzivielevskiBrazil2,020,000
2Stephen SavoyUnited States1,345,000
3Gershon DistenfeldUnited States1,300,000
4Thor MorstoelNorway1,145,000
5Michael ParizonUnited States1,105,000
6Bill ShortUnited States955,000
7Andrew BarberUnited States950,000
8Jeff ShulmanUnited States910,000
9Frankie O'DellUnited States905,000
10Scott EpsteinUnited States900,000

Seniors Turn Out in Force for Day 1A of their Championship Event

Frank "Skullman" Harrington
Frank Harrington

Popular grinder Frank "Skullman" Harrington (445,000) soared into an early lead after Day 1a of Event #48: $1,000 Seniors Championship. Some 3,692 players bought into the first of two flights, but only 730 of those starters bagged and tagged after the completion of 11 levels.

Rayesh Goyal (429,000) came close to claiming the chip lead. As did Christian Munk (427,000), and Jose Obadia Chocron (403,500), but the night belonged to Harrington.

Mark Seif (355,000) and Dieter Dechant (301,000) found themselves bagging up top ten stacks; both have already won bracelets during their careers.

Others to look out for on Day 2 from the Day 1a field include Lee Markholt (243,000), Ted Forrest (181,500), Victor Ramdin (167,500), Billy Baxter (155,000), Andy Frankenberger (152,500), Mike Matusow (117,500), and Barry Greenstein (82,500).

Day 1b shuffles up and deals at 10:00 a.m. on June 22. As always, PokerNews' live reporting team will be on the tournament floor throughout.

Event #48: $1,000 Seniors Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Frank HarringtonUnited States445,000178
2Rajesh GoyalUnited States429,000172
3Christian MunkUnited States427,000171
4Jose Obadia ChocronSpain403,500161
5Joshua MountainUnited States383,000153
6Mark SeifUnited States355,000142
7Guy CicconiUnited States328,500131
8Zal IraniUnited States305,000122
9Radwan KhuriUnited States303,000121
10Dieter DechantUnited States301,000120

Super Turbo Whittles 2,226 Entrants to Final 9

Alejandro Lococo
Alejandro Lococo

Event #49: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty was scheduled to conclude after a single day's play, but there are still nine players in the hunt for the tournament's bracelet and the $270,700 top prize. Thirty-three fast-paced levels proved not enough to bring the curtain down fully on proceedings, thanks to a bumper crowd of 2,226 turning out for this event.

The final nine return to their seats at 2:00 p.m. local time on June 22 to crown the champion. Team PokerStars' Alejandro Lococo is the biggest stack with 15,550,000 chips (39 big blinds), while Frank Lagodich has 1,750,000 chips (4 big blinds). The rapidly increasing blinds and shallow stacks could and should create an explosive final table. Follow that final table's action right here at PokerNews.

Event #49: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty Final Table Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Alejandro LococoArgentina15,550,00039
2William LindenUnited States8,850,00022
3Chen-An LinTaiwan7,700,00019
4Danny ScottUnited States5,250,00013
5Michael BurnsUnited States5,000,00013
6Tony GarganoUnited States4,325,00011
7Pengfei WangUnited States3,925,00010
8Kenneth MaurerUnited States3,400,0009
9Frank LagodichUnited States1,750,0004

Yockey Fifth in Chips on Day 1 of the $10K PLO

Bryce Yockey
Bryce Yockey

Some 688 players bought into Event #50: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed) Championship, surpassing last year's total by five with late registration still open until the start of Day 2!

Daniel Aharoni (535,000) bagged up a tournament-leading stack, while Bryce Yockey (479,000) has enough chips for fifth place at the restart.

Also safely through to the second day's play are the likes of Roman Hrabec (391,000), six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (279,000), Luis Velador (203,000), Anthony Zinno (172,500), Joao Vieira (172,000), and Nick Schulman (169,000).

2:00 p.m. local time on June 22 is when the players return to their seats and discover who has flicked in $10,000 for a 24 big blind stack. Stay tuned to PokerNews if PLO is what gets you all hot and bothered!

Event #50: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Daniel AharoniUnited States535,000214
2Motoyoshi OkamuraJapan500,000200
3Jay HarwoodUnited Kingdom494,000198
4Johann IbanezColombia484,500194
5Bryce YockeyUnited States479,000192
6Caleb FurthUnited States418,000167
7Gabriel AndradeEcuador405,000162
8Jonas KronwitterGermany396,000158
9Elliott KampenUnited States393,500157
10Dylan SmithCanada393,000157

What to Expect on Day 24 of the 2023 WSOP

You need to keep your internet browser locked to the PokerNews live reporting pages on June 22, which is the 24th day of the 2023 WSOP.

Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship will crown its worthy champion, as will Event #44: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em, and Event #49: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty. Someone will also win a bracelet in Event #47: H.O.R.S.E. and in Online Event #9: $1,000 PLO Championship.

There will also be action from Day 1b of Event #48: $1,000 Seniors Championship, Day 2 action from Event #50: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, while Event #51: $1,000 Tag Team and Event #52: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw will shuffle up and deal for the first time!

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Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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