WSOP Paradise Proves Successful w/ Big Names & Prize Pools; Only One Missed GTD

December 16, 2023

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

When the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise was announced earlier this year, many in the poker world were skeptical it could be a success given it would be going up against two previously-announced stops in the WPT World Championship and EPT Prague. However, with the help of GGPoker, the 15-bracelet-event stop proved to be a success awarding more than $70 million in prize money, well ahead of its promised $50 million in guarantees.

The series, which kicked off on December 3 at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas, only missed one guarantee as the final tournament of the series – Event #14: $2,000 The Closer Turbo Bounty – drew only 406 entries, which failed to meet the $1,000,000 guarantee.

“From hall of famers winning bracelets to celebrity sightings and a classic Phil Hellmuth entrance to the Main Event, WSOP Paradise exceeded even our own lofty expectations and became the final highlight of an incredible year,” said Ty Stewart, SVP and Executive Director of the World Series of Poker. “We thank every player who made the trip to the Bahamas to be part of the action and launch our newest tradition, Winter in Paradise.”

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Event #1 Mystery Millions kicked off the poker in paradise action by breaking the record for the largest poker event ever hosted in the Bahamas and things only heated up from there. The winter series saw exceptional turnouts for its high roller events, with many of the tournaments becoming the strongest of the year at their buy-in level.

That included Event #3: GGMillion$ High Roller Championship, which was larger than its $25k counterpart at the WSOP in Las Vegas this summer.

What’s more, the $5,300 buy-in WSOP Paradise Main Event became the largest $5k buy-in poker tournament of 2023, with 3,010 entrants battling for a $2 million first-place prize in addition to the highly-coveted Main Event bracelet hand-crafted by Jostens from yellow gold, weighing nearly 95 grams and 494 genuine blue topaz round stones. GGPoker qualifier Stanislav Zegal ultimately won that tournament.

The Main Event was live streamed daily on GGPoker’s YouTube channel, and three post-produced TV episodes will air in the future on CBS Sports Network with commentary from legendary poker analysts Lon McEachern and Norman Chad.

Phil Hellmuth, Poseidon — Phil Hellmuth making his grand entrance at the WSOP Paradise.

Other highlights included Hellmuth making a grand entrance as Poseidon, Hall of Famer Erik Seidel taking home his tenth career WSOP bracelet after winning Event #7: Super High-Roller No-Limit Hold’em, and Japan’s Masashi Oya breaking through to claim his first-ever WSOP bracelet to go along with a massive $2.9 million first-place prize in Event #9: Ultra High-Roller No-Limit Hold’em.

Seidel spoke about his victory with Connor Richards, which you can hear on the latest episode of the PokerNews Podcast:

Among the celebrities to attend the inaugural WSOP Paradise were 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Tony Parker, two-time WNBA Champion and Las Vegas Aces’ Head Coach Becky Hammon, Manchester City legend Sergio Agüero, FS1’s Nick Wright, and more.

2023 WSOP Paradise Winners


*Date	Tournament	Entries	Prize Pool	Winner	County	Prize
Dec. 3-6	Event #1: $1,500 Mystery Millions	3,446	$5,169,000	Jin Hoon Lee	South Korea	$420,000
Dec. 4-5	Event #2: $1,500 Millionaire Maker	3,496	$5,233,000	Allan Mello	Brazil	$1,000,000
Dec. 5-8	Event #3: $25,000 GGMillion$ High Rollers Championship	533	$13,325,000	Samuel Mullur	Austria	$2,726,300
Dec. 5-8	Event #4: $1,000 Mini Main Event	2,234	$2,234,000	Martin Raus	Canada	$334,380
Dec. 7-8	Event #5: $25,000 High Roller PLO	140	$3,500,000	Nikolaos Lampropoulos	Greece	$871,600
Dec. 7-8	Event #6: $3,000 6-Handed	755	$2,265,000	Boris Kolev	Bulgaria	$424,550
Dec. 8-9	Event #7: $50,000 Super High Roller	137	$6,850,000	Erik Seidel	USA	$1,704,400
Dec. 8	Event #8: $2,200 Mystery Bounty PLO Online	668	$1,336,000	Ben Wilinofsky	Canada	$139,379
Dec. 9-11	Event #9: $100,000 Ultra High Roller	111	$11,100,000	Masashi Oya	Japan	$2,940,000
Dec. 9-14	Event #10: $5,000 Main Event Championship	3,010	$15,050,000	Stanislav Zegal	Germany	$2,000,000
Dec. 12-13	Event #11: $800 Flip & Go	767	$567,580	Artur Martirosian	Russia	$110,591
Dec. 13	Event #12: $1,050 NLH Freezeout Online	1,336	$1,366,000	Anton “BrigitteBardot” Bardziyan	Belarus	$178,261
Dec. 13-14	Event #13: $10,000 PLO Championship	104	$1,040,000	Dante Goya	Brazil	$277,700
Dec. 13-14	Event #14: $2,000 The Closer Turbo Bounty	406	$1,000,000	Bernardo Neves	Portugal	$166,000
Dec. 12-14	Event #15: $10,000 High Roller 6-Handed	169	$1,690,000	Dong Chen	China	$411,659