Ashton Leads Final 12 in Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship; Ivey and Arieh in Contention
One of the most prestigious tournaments of the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas is one step closer to crowning a champion. Out of a field of 99 entries in Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, only 12 players still have chips at their disposal and will compete for the biggest slice of the $4,727,250 prize pool.
The UK's Matthew Ashton won the event back in 2013 for a staggering $1,774,089 and sits atop the leaderboard with a stack of 4,450,000. Brian Rast triumphed in 2011 and 2016 respectively for more than $3 million in cash prizes and advanced with 3,365,000 in chips, retaining his chances to join Michael Mizrachi as a three-time champion in this very event.
Another big name of the international poker scene that attracted plenty of rail birds in the Horseshoe Event Center was ten-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey, who stayed near the top of the leaderboard for most of the day. Ivey stayed out of trouble for most of the day and boosted his stack before as well as after the money bubble, ending the night with 3,135,000. Right behind Ivey on the leaderboard is 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Josh Arieh (2,360,000), who continues to shine on the big stage and won his fifth bracelet during the 2023 WSOP.
Hal Rotholz (3,900,000) and Talal Shakerchi (3,430,000) sit in second and third place on the leaderboard, both seeking their elusive first WSOP bracelet. The same also applies for Kristopher Tong (1,190,000), who previously came up shy one spot from victory back in 2013 in Event #5: $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better.
The money bubble burst on Day 3 and three players earned cash prizes, all of which have at least one WSOP gold bracelet to their name already including John Monnette, Phil Hellmuth and Maxx Coleman. Nine of the remaining dozen hopefuls have achieved the same feat already and two former winners of the mixed games contest are eying a repeat victory.
Seat Assignments for Day 4
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Josh Arieh | United States | 2,360,000 |
| 1 | 2 | Daniel Alaei | United States | 1,885,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Talal Shakerchi | United Kingdom | 3,430,000 |
| 1 | 5 | Hal Rotholz | United States | 3,900,000 |
| 1 | 6 | Matthew Ashton | United Kingdom | 4,450,000 |
| 1 | 7 | James Obst | Australia | 1,805,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Brian Rast | United States | 3,365,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Johannes Becker | Germany | 1,520,000 |
| 2 | 4 | Phil Ivey | United States | 3,135,000 |
| 2 | 5 | Ray Dehkharghani | United States | 2,285,000 |
| 2 | 6 | Marco Johnson | United States | 375,000 |
| 2 | 7 | Kristopher Tong | United States | 1,190,000 |
Day 3 saw 32 players return to their seats and more than half of them had to leave empty-handed. It didn't take long to form the final four tables with the likes of Cary Katz, Stephen Chidwick, Scott Seiver and Lyle Berman all departing. The hopes of a deep run for Berman vanished when his flopped set of tens was gobsmacked by the flopped set of kings of Josh Arieh, which sent the latter towards the top of the leaderboard.
The high-profile casualties kept coming at a rather rapid pace with Ben Yu, former PPC champion Freddy Deeb, Koray Aldemir, and Dan Smith all bowing out next. Recent five-time WSOP bracelet winner Benny Glaser was unable to spin up his short stack and the exit of Paul Volpe brought the field down to the last three tables.
Elior Sion was denied the chance at potentially winning the Poker Players Championship for a second time and the pace of eliminations then slowed down after the departure of Dzmitry Urbanovich in 18th place. John Racener eventually succumbed to his short stack after an extended period in soft hand-for-hand mode while Nacho Barbero became the bubble boy after a clash with Talal Shakerchi.
John Monnette, one of four players to earn their fifth career bracelet during the 2023 WSOP so far, had to settle for a min-cash after surviving the bubble with a short stack. The redraw of the final two tables brought two legends right next to each other in Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey, the former in the middle of the pack while the latter was the chip leader. Hellmuth had doubled his short stack three times close to the money bubble but couldn't recover from a clash with Johannes Becker in Razz.
Only one further contender was sent to the payout desk thereafter in Maxx Coleman as the final dozen then bagged up for the night. They will be back on the feature tables of the Horseshoe Event Center at 1 p.m. local time on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 for the penultimate tournament day. Up to six levels of 100 minutes each or down to the final five players are foreseen with the latter appearing to be the more likely scenario.
The conclusion of live poker's most coveted mixed game MTT contest will be broadcasted on the PokerGO streaming platform as well and the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all the key hands until a winner has been crowned.
History of the Poker Players Championship
| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 99 | $4,727,250 | $1,324,747 | |
| 2022 | 112 | $5,362,000 | Dan Cates | $1,449,103 |
| 2021 | 63 | $3,016,125 | Dan Cates | $954,020 |
| 2019 | 74 | $3,552,000 | Phillip Hui | $1,099,311 |
| 2018 | 87 | $4,176,000 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,239,126 |
| 2017 | 100 | $4,800,000 | Elior Sion | $1,395,767 |
| 2016 | 91 | $4,176,000 | Brian Rast | $1,296,097 |
| 2015 | 84 | $3,696,000 | Mike Gorodinsky | $1,270,086 |
| 2014 | 102 | $4,896,000 | John Hennigan | $1,517,767 |
| 2013 | 132 | $6,336,000 | Matthew Ashton | $1,774,089 |
| 2012 | 108 | $5,184,000 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,451,527 |
| 2011 | 128 | $6,144,000 | Brian Rast | $1,720,328 |
| 2010 | 116 | $5,568,000 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,559,046 |
| 2009 | 95 | $4,560,000 | David Bach | $1,276,806 |
| 2008 | 148 | $7,104,000 | Scotty Nguyen | $1,989,120 |
| 2007 | 148 | $7,104,000 | Freddy Deeb | $2,276,832 |
| 2006 | 143 | $6,864,000 | Chip Reese | $1,716,000 |