2023 WSOP Day 3: Andrew Kelsall Leads the Final 11 of the Dealer's Choice
The third day of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas gave an indication of things to come, with no fewer than six events taking place across the vast tournament areas. Throw into the mix the first bracelet-awarding online event of the series, and you have all of the ingredients for a super busy day of poker.
Two events crowned their champions; the $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed was the first. Switzerland's Alexandre Vuilleumier came out on top in that event, clinching $1,215,864 and his first piece of poker hardware. Amazingly, Vuilleumier only started dedicating himself to tournament poker in January 2022, yet here he is, winning some poker gold and the 2023 WSOP's first seven figure score.
Bracelet number two went to Cody "1eggadaymke" Bell, who took down the first online event of the summer, the $333 No-Limit Hold'em Triple Treys Summer Tip Off for $87,666.
Pro-Heavy Dealer's Choice Down to Only 11 Players
Andrew "AJ" Kelsall is one of only 11 players that survived an action-packed Day 2 in Event #5: $1,500 Dealer's Choice 6-handed. The day started with 135 players hoping to progress to Day 3, but the field was decimated over the course of ten hours of poker.
Kelsall tops the chip counts with a 1,950,000 stack, but there are some supremely talented players hot on his heels. Such luminaries as Nick Pupillo (1,105,000), Chad Eveslage (1,095,000), David Levi (645,000), and John Racener (565,000) are still in the mix.
Day 2 saw many big hitters fall by the wayside. Jeff Lisandro, Phil Hellmuth, David Bach, Marco Johnson, Frank Kassela, Daniel Negreanu, and Benny Glaser were just a handful of stellar names that cannot win this event.
Event #5: $1,500 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feature 1 | 1 | James Johnson | United States | 1,465,000 |
| Feature 1 | 2 | Andrew Brown | United States | 465,000 |
| Feature 1 | 3 | Nick Kost | United States | 905,000 |
| Feature 1 | 4 | Andrew Kelsall | United States | 1,950,000 |
| Feature 1 | 5 | David Levi | United States | 645,000 |
| Feature 1 | 6 | Nick Pupillo | United States | 1,105,000 |
| Feature 2 | 1 | Clayton Mozdzen | United States | 1,555,000 |
| Feature 2 | 3 | John Racener | United States | 565,000 |
| Feature 2 | 4 | Chad Eveslage | United States | 1,095,000 |
| Feature 2 | 5 | Gregory Kelley | United States | 695,000 |
| Feature 2 | 6 | Ryan Roeder | United States | 960,000 |
Join PokerNews from 1:00 p.m. on June 2 as the final 11 players fight it out until one player has all of the chip in play.
Davis Bags Big on Day 1b of the Mystery Millions
Event #3: $1,000 Mystery Millions is shaping up to be massive thanks to another 2,957 players turning out for Day 1b, taking the total attendance to 4,980 with two flights remaining.
Twenty-two levels reduced the near-3,000 Day 1b field to a more manageable 146. Shaun Davis (2,475,000) emerged as the flight's chip leader once the dust had settled, and Davis now has a good chance of capturing this tournament's bracelet.
Israel's Tal Avivi (2,380,000), and Joseph Dornish (2,250,000) each bagged up stacks of more than two million chips. Bracelet winner Leo Soma (1,805,000) has also started well, and finished fourth on the Day 1b overnight leaderboard.
Others who progressed included former soccer star Max Kruse (1,560,000), and the 2014 WSOP Main Event champion Martin Jacobson (1,180,000), the latter riding his luck in a key hand during the 17th level of the night.
Event #3: $1,000 Mystery Millions End of Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shaun Davis | United States | 2,475,000 | 62 |
| 2 | Tal Avivi | Israel | 2,380,000 | 60 |
| 3 | Joseph Dornish | United States | 2,250,000 | 56 |
| 4 | Leo Soma | France | 1,805,000 | 45 |
| 5 | Daniyal Gheba | United States | 1,800,000 | 45 |
| 6 | Jon Gisler | United States | 1,760,000 | 44 |
| 7 | Roberto Bianchi | United States | 1,735,000 | 43 |
| 8 | Cody Brinn | United States | 1,710,000 | 43 |
| 9 | Jorge Hou | Panama | 1,700,000 | 43 |
| 10 | Deborah Hinton | United States | 1,653,000 | 41 |
Day 1c shuffles up and deals at 10:00 a.m. local time on June 2, and it will not be surprising to see more than 3,000 players take to their seats.
Wilson Leads the Way in the Tournament of Champions
Only 31 players remain in the hunt for the $200,000 top prize of Event #4: Tournament of Champions, as the event moves into its final day.
Scott Wilson shone brightest on Day 2, bagging up 2,885,000 chips, some 44 big blinds more than Brent Gregory (2,000,000) in second place. Two other players, Dakota Britton (1,400,000) and Vincent Moscati (1,120,000) crammed more than one million chips into their overnight bags, and will fancy their chance of glory when the tournament resumes.
Further down the chip counts, in 24th place, is Jason Somerville (405,000). Somerville is the last remaining bracelet winner in the field; he'll be hoping to become a two-time WSOP champion by the time this tournament concludes.
Event #4: Tournament of Champions Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Wilson | United States | 2,885,000 | 144 |
| 2 | Brent Gregory | United States | 2,000,040 | 100 |
| 3 | Dakota Britton | United States | 1,400,000 | 70 |
| 4 | Vincent Moscati | United States | 1,120,000 | 56 |
| 5 | Katelin Koper | United States | 990,000 | 50 |
| 6 | Dustin Wills | United States | 905,000 | 45 |
| 7 | Justin Hotte-Mckinnon | Canada | 880,000 | 44 |
| 8 | Patrick White | Ireland | 870,000 | 44 |
| 9 | Barry Schultz | United States | 795,000 | 40 |
| 10 | Wissam Gahshan | United States | 780,000 | 39 |
Cards are back in the air from 12:00 p.m. local time on June 2, and PokerNews will be with you every step of the way.
Fernando "Jnandez" Habegger Shines on Day 1 of the NLHE/PLO Mix
Some 547 players bought into Event #6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha, but only 48 had chips requiring bagging up by the time the curtain came down on proceedings.
Fernando Habegger, known in online poker circles as "Jnandez" bagged up a tournament-leading stack of 1,625,000, and will fancy his chances of capturing his first piece of poker jewellery.
The Swiss PLO specialist is being hunted down by some formidable opponents. They include bracelet winners Michael Banducci (1,250,000), Michael Moncek (1,210,000), and Gregory Kolo (1,040,000), who all occupy top ten spots in the overnight chip counts.
Kristen Foxen (895,000), Alex Livingston (785,000), Joao Vieira (750,000), and Yuval Bronshtein (465,000) are also in with a shout.
Event #6: $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernando Habegger | Switzerland | 1,625,000 | 65 |
| 2 | Roman Rogovski | Ukraine | 1,325,000 | 53 |
| 3 | Michael Moncek | United States | 1,210,000 | 48 |
| 4 | Michael Banducci | United States | 1,200,000 | 48 |
| 5 | Christian Harder | United States | 1,125,000 | 45 |
| 6 | Zhen Cai | United States | 1,090,000 | 44 |
| 7 | Greg Kolo | United States | 1,040,000 | 42 |
| 8 | Ferenc Deak | Hungary | 1,025,000 | 41 |
| 9 | Kristen Foxen | United States | 895,000 | 36 |
| 10 | Tyler Brown | United States | 880,000 | 35 |
The plan for this event is to resume play at 12:00 p.m. on June 2 and play down to the final table. Fire up PokerNews' live updates to discover which players navigate their way to that grand finale.
Mike Leah Second in Chips in the Limit Hold'em Event
Fixed Limit Hold'em is not as popular as it once was, but that did not stop 527 players paying $1,500 to compete in this event. Day 1 saw 15 levels completed, and 358 players busted during that time, leaving 169 grinders heading through to Day 2.
Dana Davidson (208,500) is the overnight leader, but Canada's Mike Leah (200,000) is only a big bet behind in the standings. Leah won a bracelet in 2014 when the WSOP headed to Australia. He triumphed in the A$25,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller. Can he secure his second piece of poker gold in Las Vegas?
Sure to be pushing the leaders all the way are the likes of Nick Schulman (180,500), mixed game specialist Adam Friedman (156,500), Jim Collopy (85,000), Patrick Leonard (85,000), Erick Lindgren (56,500), and Joe McKeehen (14,900).
Event #7: $1,500 Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dana Davidson | United States | 208,500 |
| 2 | Mike Leah | Canada | 200,000 |
| 3 | Nicholas Goedert | United States | 186,500 |
| 4 | Mack Khan | United States | 184,500 |
| 5 | Phil Goatz | United States | 182,500 |
| 6 | Nick Schulman | United States | 180,500 |
| 7 | Joe Nalbandyan | United States | 178,500 |
| 8 | Jason Duong | Canada | 175,500 |
| 9 | Aaron Barham | United States | 170,000 |
| 10 | Omar Mehmood | United States | 169,500 |
1:00 p.m. local time on June 2 is when Day 2 kicks off. Return to PokerNews at that time for all the clicking it back you can handle!
What to Expect on Day 4 of the 2023 WSOP
Day 4 of the 2023 WSOP is another busy affair, with two more events joining the five that are already in play.
Day 1c of the Mystery Millions will fill vast areas of the tournament floor. It runs alongside Day 3 of the Tournament of Champions, and the $1,500 Dealer's Choice.
Also in play are second days of the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha, and the $1,500 Limit Hold'em.
The new events starting are the eagerly anticipated $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship, and the $1,500 Seven-Card Stud. Our team cannot wait to get back into the action and bring you updates from all seven of these amazing tournaments.
Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2023 WSOP is here.
