2023 WSOP Day 36: Main Event Continues Growing During Fourth of July Celebrations

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Jul 05, 2023 3 min read

After the hustle-bustle of previous days, Day 36 of the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas was relatively quiet, at least regarding the number of tournaments in play.

Two players became WSOP champions while the Main Event was running, and Bradley Gafford was the first. Gafford went into the third and final day last in chips from five remaining players in Event #74: $1,000 Mini Main Event, with only six big blinds at his disposal, but he came out on top when it matters. Their reward? The first WSOP bracelet of their career plus $549,555 in prize money and a fantastic story.

Event #75: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship was meant to play down to five players before concluding on July 5. However, in a very unlike PLO8 penultimate day, the 19 returning players needed only seven hours to wrap up the latest 2023 WSOP championship event.

Australia's Hassan Kamel was the only player with chips in front of him when the dust settled; Kamel defeated Ryan Hoenig heads-up. Kamel collected $598,613 plus the first bracelet of his career, much to the delight of the Aussies railing him in Vegas and back home Down Under.

Day 1b of the 2023 WSOP Main Event Attracts Another

Day 1b of Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship coincided with Independence Day celebrations, yet more than 1,100 players chose this flight to begin their quest for glory; they will hope to be celebrating wildly at the conclusion of this tournament.

Jean-Pierre van der Spuy, a well-known online poker grinder from South Africa, soared into the Day 1b chip lead during the dying moment of the night, bagging and tagging 287,000 chips. Although that is an impressive stack, it places van der Spuy fourth overall behind Day 1a big stacks Yehuda Dayan, Shota Nakanishi, and Hai-Chi Ho.

Four-time WSOP bracelet winner Julien Martini (284,700) has never cashed in the WSOP Main Event, but has done his chances of changing that fact no harm at all by finishing Day 1b with a more than healthy stack.

Patrik Antonius (263,500) and Anatoly Filatov (231,000) bagged up top 10 stacks.

Greg Raymer (201,400) and Johnny Chan (218,000) both know what it is like to win the Main Event. Indeed, Chan has won the Big Dance twice. Raymer and Chan find themselves at the right end of the chip counts after the first of four flights.

Others who reached the now-famous "Beer Level," the last level of Day 1, where many players celebrate with an alcoholic beverage for reaching this stage, included Chris Brewer (173,200), Isaac Haxton (101,000), Scott Seiver (96,700), and Jason Koon (85,000).

Day 1c shuffles up and deals at 12:00 p.m. local time on July 5, and it should be a massive flight. Last year's WSOP Main Event Day 1c drew in 1,860 entrants after Day 1a, and 1b saw 896 and 879 entries, respectively. By our reckoning, the 2023 WSOP Main Event Day 1c should see in excess of 2,000 runners.

Stay tuned to PokerNews to find out if this is the case.

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

What to Expect on Day 37 of the 2023 WSOP

Online Event #13: $5,300 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller Championship took place online at WSOP.com on July 3 but the final table is played on July 5 at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

Sam Soverel leads the way from Yuval Bronshtein, Aleksejs Ponakovs, Ethan Yau, Lingkun Lu, and Gergely Kulcsar.

Of course, Day 37 is also Day 1c of Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship, which is expected to be one of the biggest and busiest Main Event flights of all time, although there may be some sore heads among the entrants following July 4 celebrations the night before!

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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• Tags Aleksejs Ponakovs Anatoly Filatov Bradley Gafford Chris Brewer Ethan Yau Gergely Kulcsar Greg Raymer Hassan Kamel Isaac Haxton Jason Koon Johnny Chan Julien Martini Scott Seiver Sam Soverel Patrik Antonius Shota Nakanishi WSOP23
• Related Players Johnny ChanIsaac HaxtonScott SeiverPatrik AntoniusGreg RaymerJason Koon