Five Tournaments Fans Don't Want to Miss at the 2023 World Series of Poker

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Jun 02, 2023 4 min read Last updated Jun 03, 2023

There are 95 bracelet events — most in history — on the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule, all of which are important and worth your attention as a fan of the game. But if you can't catch them all on PokerGO or follow along our live reporting updates, there are five tournaments you absolutely cannot miss.

The 54th annual summer poker extravaganza kicks off May 30 with, as is tradition, the $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em. On that same day, there's a $25,000 High Roller that would certainly be of interest to a true poker fan.

As mentioned, there are so many exciting bracelet events on the schedule. We strongly encourage you to lock in all summer long. But if your schedule won't permit you to focus on poker daily, make sure you set aside time to follow these five bracelet events.

Event #8: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship

Many consider heads-up no-limit hold'em to be the purest form of poker. At the 2023 WSOP, you'll get to witness some of the best heads-up players battle for a massive prize pool and one of the most coveted bracelets all summer.

Last year, the great Dan Smith finally won his first WSOP title in the heads-up tournament for $509,717. In doing so, he removed his name from the top of the "best to have never won a bracelet list." This year's version of the tournament — Event #8: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship — began today at noon and will last for three days.

Smith will almost certainly attempt to defend his title, but it won't be easy given the expected difficult competition. The 2023 heads-up tournament is expected to draw in many of the same crushers from previous years, such as Chance Kornuth, Alex Foxen, and Christoph Vogelsang.

Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em

When poker players risk absurd amounts of money to compete in a tournament, it's pretty much must-watch TV. It's even more entertaining when the top grinders in the world compete, which will be the case when Event #40: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em begins June 16 at Horseshoe Las Vegas.

In 2022, Alex Foxen, the two-time GPI Player of the Year, claimed his first bracelet in this very same event. He beat out 56 entrants to secure a career-best $4,563,700.

Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship

Most would consider the Main Event the most prestigious poker tournament in the world. But there's definitely an argument to be made about Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship as the second most important tournament. For mixed game players, this is their Main Event.

It used to be dubbed the "Michael Mizrachi Invitational" because Mizrachi, aka "The Grinder," won it in 2010, 2012, and 2018. That title might soon change because Dan "Jungleman" Cates has taken it down the past two years. Cates will attempt to make it back-to-back-to-back, ala the 1990s Chicago Bulls. If he does, that would likely be widely considered the greatest accomplishment in poker history.

Last year, Jungleman beat out 112 players to win $1,449,300 and the coveted gold bracelet. This year's edition will start on June 18 and have the same five-day structure as in the past.

Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em

When it comes to the lower buy-in tournaments — and there are plenty of juicy ones on the 2023 WSOP schedule — the most interesting one of them all each year is the Milly Maker.

June 23 is the start of Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em, a five-day contest that guarantees the winner will take home at least $1 million. For such a low buy-in, the mere fact that one player will become a millionaire and receive a shiny gold bracelet makes this tournament one of the best on the schedule every year.

In 2022, the KFC fried chicken-loving Yuliyan Kolev came out victorious, outlasting a field of 7,961 entrants for the $1,125,141 first place prize.

Event #76: $10,000 Main Event

If you watch poker just once all year, it should be the Main Event, poker's world championship tournament. Event #76: $10,000 Main Event will begin July 3 and play down to a winner on July 17.

Espen Jorstad is your reigning world champion after having taken down the second largest Main Event in history (8,663), and received a $10,000,000 payday.

PokerNews, as will be the case with all 95 bracelet events, will be on-hand live reporting the 2023 World Series of Poker Main Event from start to finish. PokerGO and CBS Sports Network will once again handle the television and live-streaming duties throughout the most prestigious poker tournament in the world.

Who will join the exclusive club that includes legends of the game such as Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, and Doyle Brunson? We'll find out at the end of the summer.

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