2023 World Series of Poker

Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship
Day: 3
Event Info

2023 World Series of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
87432
Prize
$1,324,747
Event Info
Buy-in
$50,000
Prize Pool
$4,727,250
Entries
99
Level Info
Level
25
Blinds
0 / 0
Ante
0
Players Info - Day 3
Entries
32
Players Left
12

Ashton Leads Final 12 in Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship; Ivey and Arieh in Contention

Level 18
Matthew Ashton
Matthew Ashton

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.

Phil Hellmuth & Phil Ivey
Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey

Seat Assignments for Day 4

TableSeatPlayerCountryChip Count
11Josh AriehUnited States2,360,000
12Daniel AlaeiUnited States1,885,000
14Talal ShakerchiUnited Kingdom3,430,000
15Hal RotholzUnited States3,900,000
16Matthew AshtonUnited Kingdom4,450,000
17James ObstAustralia1,805,000
     
21Brian RastUnited States3,365,000
22Johannes BeckerGermany1,520,000
24Phil IveyUnited States3,135,000
25Ray DehkharghaniUnited States2,285,000
26Marco JohnsonUnited States375,000
27Kristopher TongUnited States1,190,000

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.

Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth finished in 14th place

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

YearEntriesPrize PoolWinnerPrize (in USD)
202399$4,727,250 $1,324,747
2022112$5,362,000Dan Cates$1,449,103
202163$3,016,125Dan Cates$954,020
201974$3,552,000Phillip Hui$1,099,311
201887$4,176,000Michael Mizrachi$1,239,126
2017100$4,800,000Elior Sion$1,395,767
201691$4,176,000Brian Rast$1,296,097
201584$3,696,000Mike Gorodinsky$1,270,086
2014102$4,896,000John Hennigan$1,517,767
2013132$6,336,000Matthew Ashton$1,774,089
2012108$5,184,000Michael Mizrachi$1,451,527
2011128$6,144,000Brian Rast$1,720,328
2010116$5,568,000Michael Mizrachi$1,559,046
200995$4,560,000David Bach$1,276,806
2008148$7,104,000Scotty Nguyen$1,989,120
2007148$7,104,000Freddy Deeb$2,276,832
2006143$6,864,000Chip Reese$1,716,000

Tags: Brian RastHal RotholzJohn MonnetteJosh AriehKristopher TongMatthew AshtonMaxx ColemanNacho BarberoPhil HellmuthPhil IveyTalal Shakerchi