2023 WSOP Day 35: The Wait is Over! The $10,000 Main Event Shuffles up and Deals!

Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
4 min read
2023 WSOP Main Event

Day 35 of the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas was the day every poker grinder was looking forward to. Why? Because it was today that the $10,000 World Series of Poker shuffled up and dealt for the first time.

The 2006 WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold got things underway, starting the ball rolling in poker's most prestigious tournament and one that could very well break the attendance record set during's Gold'e reign.

Israel's Yehuda Dayan (389,900) bagged the overnight chip lead, with Doug Polk (281,900) finishing fourth in chips.

You can read a full recap of the 2023 WSOP Main Event Day 1a action right here.

Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Yehuda DayanIsrael389,900487
2Shota NakanishiJapan360,100450
3Hai-Chi HoChina297,400372
4Doug PolkUnited States281,900352
5Neville Endo CostaBrazil275,000344
6Samuel GagnonCanada271,000339
7Todd CollinsUnited States250,400313
8Rick MechammilUnited States247,600310
9Christine DoCanada237,300297
10Anirban DasItaly236,900296

Event #70: $400 Colossus may have started with 15,879 entrants, but it took only three days of poker for a champion to be crowned. Eighty players returned for the third and final day, and Moshe Refaelowitz left them all in his wake to clinch the $501,120 top prize and a coveted gold WSOP bracelet.

Julio Belluscio is the champion of Event #73: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet after overcoming a 377-strong field. Belluscio sat down on Day 3 11th from 24 in chips, and navigated his way through the shark-infested waters to where victory awaited. Belluscio is now $190,240 richer than a few days ago, plus they also have a shiny gold bracelet on their wrist.

Oleon Leads the Final Five in the Mini Main Event

Jeremy Oleon
Jeremy Oleon

Only four players stand between Frenchman Jeremy Oleon (98,100,000) and him becoming the champion of Event #74: $1,000 Mini Main Event. Some 428 players sat down for Day 2 but only five had chips in front of them when time was called on proceedings.

Oleon shot to the top of the chip counts late on Day 2 when he eliminated Marius Iftimia. However, his near 100 million stack contains only 33 big blinds due to the faster structure of this tournament.

Jennifer Abad (80,000,000) returns in second place, with Oliver Berens (63,300,000), Josh Reichard (55,900,000), and Bradley Gafford (18,400,000) rounding out the top five.

The cards are back in the air from 12:00 p.m. local time on July 4, Independence Day, and PokerNews will provide updates throughout the final day.

Event #74: $1,000 Mini Main Event Final Day Seat Draw

SeatPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
2Bradley GaffordUnited States18,400,0006
3Oliver BerensUnited States63,300,00021
4Jérémy OleonFrance98,100,00033
6Josh ReichardUnited States55,900,00019
9Jennifer AbadUnited States80,000,00027

PLO8 Championship Reaches Day 3; Deutsch Leads

Stephen Deutsch
Stephen Deutsch

Stephen Deutsch (2,110,000) leads the final 19 players in Event #75: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low 8 or Better Championship, where $598,613 awaits the eventual champion.

Nine bracelet winners are among the chasing pack, each hoping to add to their collection of WSOP hardware. Maxx Coleman (1,090,000) is the best-placed of those stars, but the likes of Christopher Vitch (865,000), Naoya Kihara (765,000), Ben Yu (725,000), Joao Simao (585,000), Dylan Weisman (545,000), Paul Volpe (530,000), Calen McNeil (525,000), and even short-stack Patrick Leonard (170,000) are still fighting fit.

The remaining 19 players return to the action from 1:00 p.m. local time on July 4, with the plan to cut the field down to only five hopefuls. Return to PokerNews then to discover which players make it through to the final day's play.

Event #75: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Stephen DeutschUnited States2,110,00084
2John HolleyUnited States2,040,00082
3Hassan KamelAustralia1,745,00070
4Ryan HoenigUnited States1,550,00062
5Maxx ColemanUnited States1,090,00044
6Martin ZamaniUnited States1,035,00041
7Dzmitry UrbanovichPoland890,00036
8Christopher VitchUnited States865,00035
9Naoya KiharaJapan765,00031
10Ben YuUnited States725,00029

Online $5,300 High Roller Ends With Six Players

Yuval Bronshtein
Yuval Bronshtein

Online Event #13: $5,300 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller Championship is something of a hybrid tournament, with the six-handed final table taking place at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

The six finalists have been determined, and it is Israel's Yuval "Larrdybird84" Bronshtein (2,741,876) who holds a narrow chip lead over Sam "ApesSonIMHO" Soverel (2,463,636).

Aleksejs "Aponakov" Ponakovs (1,593,689), Ethan "Rampunts" Yau (1,576,441), and Lingkun "CN_23" Lu (1,153,794) are all tightly packed in the middle of the counts, with Hungarian grinder Gergely "wildace_hun" Kulcsar (625,564) bringing up the rear.

The official chip counts will be determined before play resumes at noon on July 5. Follow all of the action right here at PokerNews.

Online Event #13: $5,300 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller Championship Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Sam "ApesSonIMHO" SoverelUnited States2,873,63657
2Yuval "Larrybird84" BronshteinIsrael2,741,87655
3Aleksejs "APonakov" PonakovsLatvia1,593,68932
4Ethan "Rampunts" YauUnited States1,311,44126
5Lingkun "CN_23" LuUnited States1,153,79423
6Gergely "wildace_hun" KulcsarHungary525,56411

What to Expect on Day 36 of the 2023 WSOP

For the first time since the first cards were pitched at the 2023 WSOP, there are no new events entering the mix. Why? Because all of the attention is on Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship. Indeed, no new live events start until July 7.

In addition to Day 1b of the Main Event, Event #74: $1,000 Mini Main Event will crown its champion, while Event #75: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better will play down to the final five hopefuls.

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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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