2023 WSOP Day 43: Three-Hour Bubble Sees $25K H.O.R.S.E. Get Stuck in the Mud

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Jul 12, 2023 5 min read Last updated Apr 16, 2025

Day 43 of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Pairs Las Vegas saw five bracelet-awarding events take place. One of those tournaments crowned its champion, another was the Main Event, and another saw the money bubble drag on for three long hours of hand-for-hand action.

Shawn Daniels became a WSOP bracelet winner after coming out on top in Event #77: $777 Lucky 7's. Only five players returned for the final day's action, and the champion decided after less than four hours. Daniels is that champion and recipient of a cool $777,777 top prize in addition to some much sought-after WSOP hardware.

Vieira Leads With 15 Players Jockeying for Position in the $25K H.O.R.S.E.

Joao Vieira (2,595,000) heads into Day 3 of Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. with the chip lead in two after a long, arduous day of mixed games. Fifty-six players sat down on Day 2, with 14 late entrants joining them, but only 15 had chips in front of them when it came to bagging and tagging.

Hand-for-hand play began with 19 players remaining, as only 17 would receive some prize money for their efforts. It took three hours of stop-start poker, spanning three levels, for the money bubble to burst; Vieira eliminated Scott Bohlman during a round of Razz to send the survivors into the money.

Including Vieira, eight of the overnight top ten have at least one bracelet to their name. They include Josh Arieh (2,040,000), John Hennigan (1,588,000), Mike Matusow (705,000), and Brian Hastings (600,000).

Play resumes at 2:00 p.m. local time on July 12, an hour later than previously advertised, and PokerNews will continue its coverage. This event is scheduled to have a fourth day's play on July 13.

Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. Top 10 Chip Counts

Main Event Reaches Day 6; Only 149 Players Remain

Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship continued on Day 43, and saw the 441 starters reduced to 149 after another five 120-minute levels. Emerging from the battlefield unscathed was none other than Zachary Hall (16,310,000), who takes a 50 big blind lead into Day 6.

Dozens of talented poker players join Hall on the sixth day of the tournament, knowing they are less than a week away from potentially banking a record-breaking $12.1 million score.

British pro Andrew Hulme (11,065,000) returns with a top five stack, while Tony Dunst (8,285,000) and bracelet winner Jonathan Therme (7,900,000) find themselves in the overnight top ten.

Lower down the counts are such luminaries as the 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up John Racener (7,670,000), start-of-the-day chip leader Ryan Tosoc (7,625,000), Maurice Hawkins (6,145,000), Amit Makhija (6,045,000), Jan-Peter Jachtmann (5,465,000), Nikita Luther (4,380,000), and Nicholas "Dirty Diaper" Rigby (1,650,000).

The cards are back in the air from 12:00 p.m. local time on July 12, so return to PokerNews then for all the Main Event action you can handle.

Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

Davies Tops $2,500 NLHE Day 2 Chip Counts; 24 Players Still in the Hunt

Seth Davies' wait to win a gold WSOP bracelet could soon be ending as he finds himself in the envious position of being the chip leader of Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em, where only 24 players remain.

Davies returns to the action on the third and final day with 9,425,000 chips, with second-placed Justin Kindred (6,000,000) some distance behind; 34 big blinds behind, in fact.

Four of the returning players are looking to add to their bracelet hauls. James Anderson (4,360,000) and Rui Ferreira (4,300,000) sit back down in the top five, while India's Kartik Ved (2,220,000) and short-stack Galen Hall (705,000) have more work to do when play resumes.

Each of the returning players has locked in at least $24,635 for their efforts, with the top seven finishers grabbing a six-figure prize. The champion takes home $682,436 and a gold bracelet. Return to PokerNews from 11:00 a.m. on July 12 to discover who that champion is.

Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts

Huge Field of 3,091 Turns Out on Day 1a of the $600 NLHE Ultra Stack

Day 1a of Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack saw the 3,091 entrants reduced to a much more manageable field of 243 over the course of 22 levels. Matthew Land (2,160,000) fared the best of those surviving players, bagging up an early chip lead.

Jiawei Mao (2,150,000) and Christina Gollins (2,000,000) were the only other players to cram at least two million chips into their overnight bags.

The Day 1a top ten is where you also find Shane Schleger (1,800,000), and Belarussian Alex Bolotin (1,785,000). Both of those players are vastly experienced and likely to progress much deeper in this tournament.

Team PokerStars' Benjamin Spragg (1,020,000) progressed, as did Ian Steinman (965,000), Sebastien Aube (750,000), Dalibor Dula (730,000), and Anatolii Zyrin (615,000).

Day 1b shuffles up and deals at 10:00 a.m. local time on July 12, with anyone who played on the opening flight eligible to enter if they did not make it through to bagging and tagging. As always, PokerNews is the place for updates from this event.

Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack Top 10 Chip Counts

Matakis Bags Big on Day 1 of the $3K PLO 6-Max

Having won a bracelet earlier in the summer and leading the coveted Player of the Year race, Ian Matakis finds himself second in chips in Event #82: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-Handed) after the first of three day's play.

Matakis finished Day 1 with 490,500, and was pipped to the chip leader post by Tyler Gaston (552,500).

Bracelet winners Lukas Zaskodny (481,500) and Dylan Weisman (455,500) will be delighted with their performances, as they resulted in bagging up top five stacks.

Other high fliers include Brazil's Kelvin Kerber (401,500), Brandon Shack-Harris (286,000), and Shaun Deeb (282,000). They are joined Joe Serock (278,000), Norbert Szecsi (196,500), Mike Gorodinsky (179,000), Sammy Farha (177,500), Rob Cowen (177,500), and Kevin Gerhart (150,500) among others.

Only 238 of the 1,013 entrants punched their Day 2 tickets, and they return at 1:00 p.m. local time on July 12. PokerNews will see you then.

Event #82: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-Handed) Top 10 Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 44 of the 2023 WSOP

The 2023 WSOP gathers pace again on Day 44 of the series thanks, in part to the Main Event being down to only 149 hopefuls, thus freeing up some space in the tournament areas.

Of course, Event #76: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship continues on July 12, with the "Big Dance" heading into Day 6. Joining the Main Event in nudging towards crowing a champion is Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E., Day 1b of Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack, and Event #82: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha.

Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em will award its bracelet, while two new tournaments shuffle up and deal for the first time.

PokerNews is bringing you updates from Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck and Event #84: $50,000 High Roller. After July 12, only ten new events plus a trio of online tournaments remain on the 2023 WSOP schedule!

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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• Tags WSOP23 Alex Bolotin Andrew Hulme Benjamin Spragg Brian Hastings Diego Ventura Galen Hall Ian Matakis John Hennigan Joao Vieira Norbert Szecsi Mike Gorodinsky Mike Matusow Sammy Farha Seth Davies Shaun Deeb Shawn Daniels Tony Dunst Tyler Gaston
• Related Players Mike MatusowShaun DeebJohn HenniganSam FarhaGalen HallTony Dunst

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