2023 WSOP Day 40: Maurice Hawkins Leads Main Event into Day 3

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Jul 08, 2023 4 min read Last updated Jul 09, 2023

Day 40 of the World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas has come and gone with no live bracelets and just one online (won by "skillz225" for $225,815 in Online Event #15: No-Limit Hold'em Championship).

As a result, the majority of the day's focus was squarely on Day 2d of Event #76: $10,000 MAIN EVENT No-Limit Hold'em World Championship. This was the last Day 2 of the Main Event and also the last day in which the field is broken up temporally instead of just geographically — the combined field will be back for Day 3 on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Event #78: $1,500 BOUNTY Pot-Limit Omaha played down to its final fifteen players and Event #77: $777 Lucky 7's No-Limit Hold'em played out the second of three Day 1 flights.

Record-Breaking Main Event Confirms 10,043 Entrants

With the closure of late registration on Day 2d of Event #76: $10,000 MAIN EVENT No-Limit Hold'em World Championship we now have all the vital statistics for this year's Main Event. For example, there are 10,043 entrants, making for a prize pool of $93,399,900 after rake.

The first-place prize has been set at $12,100,000 from this prize pool. The nominal $100,000 is tacked onto the prize to ensure that the biggest WSOP ME ever also has the biggest first prize ever (Jamie Gold won a round $12 million for his 2006 victory in the previous record-setting year).

Maurice Hawkins is best positioned to chase that victory as he leads the field going into Day 3 with 941,000 in his chip stack. Hawkins is the all-time WSOP Circuit ring winner with 15 total, but also dealt with backers calling him out in recent times.

Some of the other big names who played and bagged Day 2d include Chance Kornuth (449,500), James Obst (593,000), and Nicholas "Dirty Diaper" Rigby (921,500) who had the honor of sending Phil Hellmuth to the rail. Even Tom Dwan showed up before late registration closed, though he still managed to bag a stack of 426,500.

They will all return at 12 p.m. local time on Sunday, July 9 for Day 3.

Read more: Online Poker Pioneer Isai Scheinberg Plays WSOP Main Event for the First Time

Event #76: $10,000 MAIN EVENT No-Limit Hold'em World Championship Top 10 Chip Counts Going Into Day 3

Stepan Vinokurov Becomes Lucky 7's Chip Leader

Event #77: $777 Lucky 7's No-Limit Hold'em added 2,386 entries to the field, bringing the running total to 3,856 and the prize pool to $2,636,580 with one more Day 1 flight to go.

With all the tables playing seven-handed, play was fast-paced and knock-outs were frequent. Along the way,Stepan Vinokurov managed to survive the mayhem and accrue the chip lead with 3,315,000 in his bag.

He is closely followed by high-stakes crusher David Peters (2,775,000) and the Canadian pro Charles La Boissonniere (2,500,000). These three managed to beat the Day 1a chipleader, Thomas Blanton (2,265,000). All four will watch play on Day 1c to see if anyone can top their performances.

Day 1c kicks off at 10 a.m. local time on Sunday, July 9th. Players will then reconvene for a combined Day 2 on Monday, July 10, at 10 a.m. local time.

Event #77: $777 Lucky 7's No-Limit Hold'em Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts

$1,500 PLO Bounty Plays Down To Final Fifteen

On Day 2 of Event #78: $1,500 BOUNTY Pot-Limit Omaha, the field played down from 140 survivors from Day 1 to a final fifteen.

Satar Al-Sadoun (4,800,000) will return on Day 3 with the chip lead. However, he will have to fend off notables like Noah Schwartz (1,100,000), Jeff Madsen (945,000), and Ryan Coon (2,035,000) who are all still in the running.

Among those who made it to Day 2 but not the final fifteen are Amnon Filippi, David "ODB" Baker, Farid Jattin, and Daniel Negreanu. The last of whom is still looking to break his decade-long bracelet drought.

Play resumes at 2 p.m. local time on July 9 when the blinds will be 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 big blind ante.

Event #78: $1,500 BOUNTY Pot-Limit Omaha Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

What To Expect On Day 41

Sunday, July 9, will be Day 41 at the WSOP. Players can look forward to the 2023 WSOP Main Event beginning its Day 3 on July 9 at 12 p.m. local time. The blinds will be 1,000-2,500 with a 2,500 big blind ante and the tourney will play for five 120-minute levels.

Event #77: $777 Lucky 7's No-Limit Hold'em has one more Day 1 flight which will start at 10 a.m. local time. Then at 2 p.m. local time players return for Event #78: $1,500 BOUNTY Pot-Limit Omaha, which is scheduled to play down to a winner.

Meanwhile, online players can also look forward to Online Event #16: $600 Online Deepstack Championship with a later 4:30 p.m. local time start.

• Tags WSOP23 World Series of Poker WSOP Alex Livingston Chance Kornuth David Peters James Obst Jamie Gold Phil Hellmuth Main Event Tom Dwan
• Related Tournaments World Series of Poker
• Related Players Jamie GoldPhil HellmuthTom DwanChance KornuthDavid PetersJames Obst