Poker Hall of Famer Billy Baxter Eyes Up First Bracelet in 21 Years
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Poker Hall of Famer and seven-time bracelet winner Billy Baxter is on the verge of closing in on his first WSOP bracelet in 21 years after making it to the final table of the $1,000 Seniors Event at the 2023 World Series of Poker.
Baxter, who sits in third place going into the final day, has had a career that has spanned six decades and has seen him earn $2,739,628 in live tournaments alone. And he's already locked up another $122,130 for making it to the final seven. If he manages to make it to at least fourth place, he will secure his biggest-ever tournament cash. Just another remarkable achievement for one of the legends of the game.
However, standing in his way are Dan Heimiller and Lonnie Hallett, who are the overwhelming chip leaders. This is familiar territory for Heimiller, who won this event back in 2014 for $627,462.
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$1,000 Seniors Event Final Table Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Heimiller | United States | 59,100,000 | 99 |
| 2 | Lonnie Hallett | Canada | 55,300,000 | 92 |
| 3 | Billy Baxter | United States | 15,500,000 | 26 |
| 4 | Shannon Fahey | United States | 12,500,000 | 21 |
| 5 | Gordon Eng | United States | 9,200,000 | 15 |
| 6 | Loren Cloninger | United States | 8,400,000 | 14 |
| 7 | Rudolf Fourie | South Africa | 3,700,000 | 6 |
Baxter's Legacy
Only six more players have accrued more bracelets than Baxter, with Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, Erik Seidel and Johnny Moss being in that elite group.
Furthermore, many poker players have the 82 year-old to thank for helping them keep Uncle Sam away from their winnings as Baxter famously won a 1986 court case that argued that poker was a game of skill.
In 2008, Baxter finished seventh in that summer's $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball, which was his last deep run at the WSOP. And surprisingly, the Seniors Event marks the furthest he has gone in a WSOP No-Limit Hold'em tournament.
Billy Baxter's WSOP Bracelets
| Year | Event | Prize (USD) |
| 1975 | $1,000 Deuce to Seven Draw | $35,000 |
| 1978 | $10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw | $90,000 |
| 1982 | $10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw | $95,000 |
| 1982 | $2,500 Ace to Five Draw | $48,750 |
| 1987 | $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw | $153,000 |
| 1993 | $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw | $130,500 |
| 2002 | $1,500 Razz | $64,860 |
Route to the Final Table
PokerNews spoke with Baxter to get a brief taste of his journey to the final seven in what's been an up-and-down few days for the poker veteran.
“The first day, I wound up with 155,000, so I didn’t really have chips, and then it got to the second day, and I got 655,000, but I only got that after all day just catching nothin’ hardly. And then, finally, last night, I caught a little run there. I got a few chips. And then today, the blinds are so big that you can hardly lose a pot.”
Baxter's run was then looking like it was coming to an end early on in Day 4.
“I just had a race for quite a bit of money just now," Baxter said during the first break. "Ace-king against two sevens. And the door was the ace for me, and then (on the flop was) a seven."
However, Baxter was able to rally back by winning a flip with ace-queen and then being on the right side of a preflop cooler to secure his spot for Day 5.
