Welcome to Day 1 of $10,000 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed Championship
The first $10,000 buy-in event of the 2023 World Series of Poker gets underway at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Many of live poker's biggest names and mixed game aficionados are expected to join the action for Day 1 of Event #10: $10,000 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed Championship, which is set to get underway at 2 p.m. local time.
A total of 20 different poker variants are included in the mix and any one of them can be selected every orbit. This includes a mix of flop, stud, and draw games to choose from and a total of ten levels are scheduled for the first of three tournament days. The first six levels will last 40 minutes each while the final four have an increased level duration of 60 minutes each with a break scheduled every two hours of play.
At least two new games have been introduced to the rotation for this year, which was also the case for the Event #5: $1,500 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed as well. The lower buy-in edition came to a conclusion one day ago with the victory of Chad Eveslage, who defeated Andrew "AJ" Kelsall in heads-up play to earn his second WSOP bracelet in a field of 456 entries.
Eveslage didn't enter the Championship version one year ago while Kelsall was among the participants without reaching the money stages. The tournament drew a record field of 123 entries and Ben Diebold defeated Mike Gorodinsky after a brief heads-up tussle of 45 minutes during an unscheduled Day 4.
Final Table Results
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Diebold | United States | $299,488 |
| 2 | Mike Gorodinsky | United States | $185,095 |
| 3 | Brian Rast | United States | $134,370 |
| 4 | Christopher Claassen | United States | $98,738 |
| 5 | Naoya Kihara | Japan | $73,453 |
| 6 | Randy Ohel | United States | $55,329 |
History of the Dealer's Choice Championship
Seven editions of the ultimate testament of versatility in the world of poker have taken place so far. Six times, the $10,000 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed Championship took place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino before the first WSOP at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas attracted a new record attendance of 123 entries, generating a prize pool of $1,146,975.
Whether or not a new record will be set in 2023 remains to be seen, but it is certain that Adam Friedman will aim to extend his tremendous track record in the tournament. He earned three consecutive victories between 2018 and 2021, a feat which has been widely considered as one of the most impressive achievements in the history of the WSOP. Friedman didn't make it past Day 1 one year ago, which also applied for many of the biggest names in the mixed games spheres.
| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Runner-Up | Top Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 108 | $1,015,200 | Quinn Do | Rep Porter | $319,792 |
| 2016 | 118 | $1,109,200 | Jean Gaspard | William O'Neil | $306,621 |
| 2017 | 102 | $930,600 | John Racener | Viacheslav Zhukov | $273,962 |
| 2018 | 111 | $1,043,400 | Adam Friedman | Stuart Rutter | $293,275 |
| 2019 | 122 | $1,146,800 | Adam Friedman | Shaun Deeb | $312,417 |
| 2021 | 93 | $867,225 | Adam Friedman | Phil Hellmuth | $248,350 |
| 2022 | 123 | $1,146,975 | Ben Diebold | Mike Gorodinsky | $299,488 |
The tournament is held in a freezeout format, giving each participant 60,000 in chips, and late registration is open for the entirety of Day 1 as well as prior to the start of Day 2 on Sunday, June 4, at 1 p.m. local time. As of Day 2 and until the conclusion of the tournament, the level duration increases to 90 minutes each.
Stay tuned right here on PokerNews to find out who will enter the $10,000 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed Championship and compete for one of the most highly-regarded WSOP gold bracelets of the summer.