Final Table Set on Day 8 of Record-Breaking 2023 WSOP Main Event

July 14, 2023

The shortest day so far of the record-breaking $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship wrapped up after less than six hours of play as the final table of nine has been set at the 2023 World Series of Poker. Leading the final nine at the end of Day 8 is Seattle's Adam Walton with 143,800,000 chips as he looks for his first bracelet and a place in poker history, while Arizona's Steven Jones attempts to do the same with a stack of 90,300,000.

Though this isn't Walton's first Main Event run, it is his deepest. He finished 407th in the 2018 edition and bested that in 2021 with a 42nd-place first finish worth $163,900.

“I mean honestly, it feels like a dream," he told PokerNews at the end of Day 8. "It feels fake. I went from randomly playing the Main, I had like 12,000 chips in the beginning, and (now) this is happening. It’s been like the time of my life. It’s crazy.”

2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table

Day 7 chip leader Juan Maceiras, a former PokerStars pro and the son of an online poker aficionado, dipped a bit on Day 8 but is still in contention while he adds to his family's poker legacy.

“The ten-handed was a little bit complicated, but it happens," Maceiras told PokerNews. "I’ve been playing the same way I’ve been playing the whole tournament, but this time those pots didn’t go well. And there’s nothing to regret. I’m just thinking that I’m in the final nine. I’ve got more than 50 blinds.”

Also after the record $12,100,000 first-place prize is Jan-Peter Jachtmann, one of two bracelet leaders still in contention who ended the day by knocking out Jose Aguilera in 10th place for $700,000. The second bracelet winner among the final nine, Daniel Weinman, is still alive after getting a new lease on life when he hit a two-outer to nearly triple-up in one of the most dramatic hands of the tournament so far.

The highest-profile and arguably most accomplished player, Toby Lewis, ended the day at the bottom of the counts with under 20 big blinds. Lewis, who made a much-discussed fold earlier in the tournament managed to stay alive for the final stretch. He is also the only player not to have locked up his biggest career cash by advancing to Day 9. Lewis will need a seventh-place finish or better to improve on his third-place finish in the 2021 $10,000 Wynn Millions for $1,235,204.

Meanwhile, fellow Brit Dean Hutchison will enter the final table seventh in chips to be in between Ukraine's Ruslan Prydryk and Italy's Daniel Holzner, a farmer who was gifted a Main Event seat for his 30th birthday from his girlfriend, friends and family.

"Yeah, it's nice to be out here on the final table," Holzner said as he bagged. "I guess I have to make a really big, big, big party for them, all of them."

A Short Road to the Final Table On Day 8

Day 8 of the Main Event blew by after a long stretch of 12-hour days that have seen players trading pots late into the night. It took just a few minutes after the late 2 p.m. start for Britain's Jack O'Neill to find himself at risk after three-bet jamming with queen-jack in the small blind after a button open. Cong Pham woke up with ace-queen in the big blind to re-shove, and had O'Neill dominated before his 15th-place exit for $430,200.

But the pain was just beginning. Not long after Hutchison doubled through Jachtmann with aces against tens, there was another preflop confrontation of big pairs. Day 6 chip leader Joshua Payne started things off with a raise after picking up pocket kings. Aguilera upped the price behind him with queens as Weinman woke up on the button with jacks. The bracelet winner opted to ship it with the fishhooks, and both players called, with Payne being the shortest stack.

A massive triple-up in likely what will be the biggest poker spot he ever finds himself in was imminent for Payne as the flop landed A♥7♥4♠. But it wasn't meant to be as the turn brought the J♥ to give Weinman the lead as he gasped in utter shock as his friend Josh Arieh cheered from the rail ahead of a blank river.

Payne, the youngest player in the Day 8 field at 23 years old, took the horrific beat in silence and received a hug from Weinman after his 14th-place exit worth $430,200, a career-best sum that will undoubtedly help the engineering student pay tuition.

Sachin Joshi had a bit more standard exit in 13th place as his eights couldn't survive a flip against the Big Slick of Maceiras, who hit an ace on the flop and avoided the two remaining eights for the Spaniard to further cement his chip lead.

Pham, meanwhile, was able to best his previous career-best score of $301,225 when he went out in 12th place for $535,000. The Florida native's chip stack had become a nub before he jammed with eight-seven of hearts and failed to pull ahead of Jachtmann's ace-deuce.

Once players returned from their first break of the day, Conscious Poker's Alec Torelli found himself at risk with jacks against the ace-king of Maceiras. Once again, Maceiras made a pair on the flop to take a big lead in the flip before a brick runout confirmed Torelli's 11th-place finish for $700,000 and his first tournament cash since 2016.

It took a full level of play to lose another player after the unofficial final table was set. Holzner was on his way out after getting it in with ace-queen against the ace-ten of Maceiras, who flopped a ten before Holzner rivered a queen as the Mothership discharged into a frenzy.

In a similar confrontation, Aguilera found himself at risk of going out on the final table bubble but was in good shape with ace-jack against Jachtmann's ace-eight. Jachtmann manage to flop a gutshot, and a seven on the turn confirmed the tenth-place elimination.

After a day off tomorrow, players will return for Day 9 at 1:30 p.m. local time on Sunday, July 16. Action will pick back up on Level 38 with blinds of 600,000/1,200,000/1,200,000 with 1:49:10 left in the level.

Be sure to stay with the PokerNews live reporting team as we continue to provide updates throughout the record-breaking 2023 WSOP Main Event.

Editor & Live Reporter U.S.

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  Adam Walton Alec Torelli Cong Pham Daniel Holzner Daniel Weinman Dean Hutchison Jack O'Neill Steven Jones Sachin Joshi Ruslan Prydryk Juan Maceiras Joshua Payne Josh Arieh Jose Aguilera Jan-Peter Jachtmann

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  Josh AriehJan-Peter JachtmannAlec TorelliDaniel WeinmanDean HutchisonSteven Jones