Brian Rast Wins Record-Tying Third $50,000 Poker Players Championship

The 2023 World Series of Poker is already more than halfway finished as of press time, with 60 bracelets and over $166.6 million in prize money awarded. Every day at the Paris and Horseshoe Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip has been action-packed, with stars of the game and fresh faces alike finding their way to the winner’s circle.

More than 117,000 total entries have been made so far at the series, with hundreds of thousands more sure to come during the back half of a very full schedule. In our previous issue (Vol. 36, Issue 15) we covered the first 23 bracelet events to have wrapped up. In this article, we will take a closer look at the biggest stories since.

Brian Rast Ties History With Third Poker Players Championship Title

Of the 37 WSOP gold bracelet events covered in this issue, 11 were won by players who had already earned a title at the series. In fact, seven of the 37 bracelets were won by players who already had multiple bracelet-event victories to their name. While several of these notable wins came in marquee events, the standout performance belonged to Brian Rast, who took down the $50,000 Poker Players Championship event for a record-tying third time. The 41-year-old poker pro beat out an elite field of 99 entries to join Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi as the only players to have thrice added their name to the Chip Reese memorial trophy.

“It means a lot. I mean, I love this tournament. It’s my favorite tournament to play,” said Rast in his post-win interview with PokerGO reporter Natalie Bode.

Rast’s first win in this prestigious mixed-game event came back in 2011 for $1,720,328. Five years later, he won it a second time for $1,296,097. This latest victory marked Rast’s sixth career WSOP bracelet win overall. He also took down the 2011 $1,500 pot-limit hold’em event, the 2018 $10,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw lowball championship, and the 2021 $3,000 no-limit hold’em six-max event.

In addition to becoming just the 20th player ever to have won six or more titles at the series, Rast’s latest run to the title also saw him earn $1,324,747. The California native now has nearly $25 million in lifetime earnings, good for 31st place on poker’s all-time money list. This was his sixth seven-figure score, with the largest being the $7,525,000 he took home as the champion of the first-ever Super High Roller Bowl back in 2015.

The PPC played out over the course of five days. The top 15 finishers made the money, with plenty of monsters of the game running deep including five-time bracelet winner John Monnette (15th), 16-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (14th), two-time bracelet winner Marco Johnson (11th), five-time bracelet winner Daniel Alaei (10th), five-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh (9th), bracelet winner Ray Dehkharghani (7th), ten-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey (6th), bracelet winner James Obst (4th), and high roller Talal Shakerchi (2nd).

British mixed-games master Matt Ashton, who won the event back in 2013 and had three other cashes in the tournament, settled for third place in his latest deep run.
Rast steamrolled the final day of play, however, scoring each of the four possible knockouts along the way to securing the title.

“I’m extremely pleased with how I played in the tournament, but if I’m going to be brutally honest, the reason why I found that kind of success was [because] I got hit with a deck,” Rast admitted. “I managed to beat a bunch of really amazing players. Some of the guys at this final table, in my opinion, are some of the best players in the world, and even some of the guys yesterday who busted and didn’t quite make it like Ray and Phil. I mean, I got hit with the deck, but I’ll take it.”

Mizrachi has a fourth-place showing in the tournament to go along with his three titles, but Rast also has an eighth-place finish from 2018. They lead an impressive group with continued success in the PPC, including the aforementioned Matt Ashton, back-to-back champion Dan Cates, and John Hennigan, who has a win from 2014, while also finishing runner-up, third, and 12th.

Chris Brewer Banks $5.3 Million And First Bracelet In $250,000 High Roller

Chris Brewer has a poker résumé full of huge scores, but the 30-year-old high-stakes pro picked up the biggest payday of his career when he secured $5,293,556 in the biggest buy-in event at the series.

The former University of Oregon distance runner broke away from a field of 69 entries in the $250,000 high roller event, taking home his first gold bracelet taking home his first gold bracelet and subsequently erasing any run bad that haunted him in previous huge events.

“I feel like I got so lucky. Everything today just felt like it was going to go my way,” Brewer said. “This is the one I wanted to win more than any other. Money, prestige, everything about it. It means so much. I’ve had so many tough ones… it feels really good.”

Brewer’s comment was undoubtedly a reference to the several tough beats he’s taken in recent years, including bubbling both the Super High Roller Bowl and the Super High Roller Bowl Europe in 2021, as well as losing with pocket kings to Doug Polk’s pocket queens for essentially all of the chips during the semi-finals of this year’s $25,000 heads-up championship at the series.

After this monumental win, Brewer now has more than $15.6 million in career tournament earnings. This was his fourth title and 12th final-table finish of 2023. He earned 720 POY points for the victory. With 4,617 total points and $8,521,187 in year-to-date POY earnings, Brewer has climbed into seventh place on the POY leaderboard.

This nosebleed-stakes tournament ran over the course of three days, with a solid turnout resulting in a final prize pool of $17,181,000. The top 11 finishers made the money, with ten-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey eventually getting knocked out on the massive bubble late on day 2. Bracelet winner Ben Heath (11th – $411,940) and Alfred Decarolis (10th – $411,940) were then sent to the rail before play was halted for the evening.

Brewer came into the final table in the middle of the pack, with Chance Kornuth in the lead when cards got in the air on day 3. He soon added to his stack by busting Steven Veneziano (9th – $478,663). High-stakes businessman Brandon Steven (8th – $574,899) was the next to fall, with his last few blinds going to two-time bracelet winner Martin Kabrhel.

Four-time bracelet winner David Peters’ (7th – $712,953) tournament ended with his A-9 being outrun by the A-8 suited of Kornuth.

The next big hand saw three of the remaining players wake up with monster holdings. Bracelet winner Dan Smith raised with pocket kings from under the gun and Brewer three-bet with pocket jacks from the cutoff. Artur Martirosian moved all-in with pocket queens from the big blind and Smith called.

Brewer correctly folded his big pocket pair, leaving the two other monster holdings to clash. Martirosian ended up turning a set of queens to earn the double up, leaving Smith as one of the shorter stacks as six-handed play continued.

Smith soon hit the rail when his A-Q suited failed to hold up against the 10-6 suited of Kabrhel. Smith earned $912,022 for his sixth-place showing, growing his career earnings to $44.1 million in the process.

Kornuth earned a career-best payday of $1,202,318 as the fifth-place finisher. He got the last of his shorter stack in with K-5 up against A-10 suited for Alex Kulev, who won the EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 high roller earlier this year. Kulev ended up with a winning pair of tens to narrow the field to four contenders.

Martirosian overtook the chip lead from Kabrhel during four-handed play. He then won a flip with pocket eights against the Q-J of Kulev to send the Bulgarian home with $1,632,005.

Kabrhel was knocked out in third place after he got all-in preflop with Q 2 facing the A K of Martirosian, who ended up with the nut flush by the river. Kabrhel earned $2,279,038 for his third-place finish.

The Czech player was the center of some controversy in this event. During the livestream of the final table, it was revealed that Kabrhel had been warned by the floor against getting out of his seat while he was in a hand. The precaution was apparently taken by tournament staff after he was accused of marking cards by a number of high-stakes players. Kabrhel has since denied these allegations.

Heads-up play began with Martirosian holding better than a 3:1 chip advantage over Brewer. Brewer made top set of kings for a sizable pot, however, and later managed a double-up with pocket threes against A-10 to overtake the lead.

In the final hand, Martirosian raised from the button with A K and quickly called when Brewer three-bet shoved with A 7. The flop came down K 9 5, making Martirosian a 98 percent favorite to win the hand.

The 8 on the turn improved Brewer’s chances to nearly seven percent, as any non-spade six would give him a winning nine-high straight. The 6 rolled off the deck on the river, sending Brewer into an emotional celebration.

Martirosian earned a career-best payday of $3,271,666 as the runner-up finisher. He now has $12.2 million in lifetime earnings and joins Brewer near the top of the POY standings for 2023. He has made 10 final tables this year, with one title, and more than $6.5 million in POY earnings.

Shaun Deeb And Jeremy Ausmus Join Elite Ranks Of Six-Time Winners

Like Rast, Shaun Deeb and Jeremy Ausmus were also able to capture their sixth career bracelets.

Deeb has been a dominant performer over the past several years of WSOP Player of the Year competition. After winning the POY outright in 2018, the New Yorker has finished no lower than sixth in the final standings, with an average landing spot of just shy of third place.

In mid-June, the 37-year-old poker pro captured his sixth career bracelet by taking down this year’s $1,500 eight-game six-max event. Deeb outlasted a field of 789 entries to earn $198,854 and his latest piece of golden hardware. While many might look to take some time to celebrate such a momentous occasion, Deeb reportedly was more interested in seeing if he could still late register for the $10,000 razz championship.

“I don’t take days off. I don’t even take hours off. I wish the Razz was still running right now, I would hop in right now,” Deeb told reporters. “I love to grind. I wish the series was longer. I wish they had more events. The fields have been great. The players I’ve met have been awesome. Just so happy.”

In addition to the title, the money, and the WSOP ranking points, Deeb also earned 912 Card Player Player of the Year points for this victory. This was his fourth title of the year, with eight final-table finishes and nearly $1.1 million in to-date POY earnings accrued. As a result, he now sits just outside the top 10 in the 2023 POY standings.

At the start of the 2021 WSOP, Ausmus had one bracelet to his name. Now, midway through the 2023 series, the 43-year-old poker pro’s tally sits at six. Ausmus took down the WSOP Online $3,200 no-limit hold’em high roller event, topping a field of 321 entries to earn $360,036 and his sixth title at the series.

The former cash game grinder made the WSOP main event final table back in 2012, finishing fifth for over $2.1 million. The following year, he won his first bracelet by taking down a €1,650 pot-limit Omaha event at the 2013 WSOP Europe series.

Ausmus’ recent hot streak at the series began in 2021, however. The Colorado native took down two bracelets that summer, winning a $1,000 charity event to start before coming out on top in the $50,000 pot-limit Omaha high roller for nearly $1.2 million. In 2022 he secured another two WSOP titles, emerging victorious in a $3,000 limit hold’em six-max event and a $365 no-limit hold’em event online.

While Ausmus didn’t earn any POY points for his online win, he is among the top contenders in the race thanks to 13 final-table finishes this year. His most recent saw him place fourth in the $10,000 secret bounty event at the series for $233,690 and 1,050 points. With 4,287 total points, Ausmus is now the eighth-ranked player in the standings.

John Monnette And Benny Glaser Each Earn No. 5

A pair of deuce-to-seven triple draw lowball events at this year’s series awarded the fifth bracelets to both John Monnette and Benny Glaser.

The former took down the $1,500 buy-in version of the draw game, defeating a field of 522 entries to earn $145,863. The 41-year-old mixed-games standout now has lifetime tournament earnings of more than $4 million, despite being primarily focused on high-stakes cash games.

“It means a lot, that’s why we’re here in these tournaments, just battling. Nothing’s like it. Nothing brings the energy that the WSOP does,” said Monnette. “You get the best players all playing together, battling to just get the bracelet.”

Monnette’s five bracelets have fittingly all come in different poker disciplines. In 2011 he took down the $2,500 eight-game mix for his first piece of hardware. He followed that up with a win in the $5,000 stud event in 2012. The Las Vegas resident returned to the winner’s circle in the 2017 $10,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven single-draw lowball championship. Then, in 2021 he came out on top in the $10,000 limit hold’em championship.

Just a few days after Monnette’s victory, Benny Glaser also battled his way to a fifth career bracelet win. The 34-year-old poker pro from the U.K. took down the $10,000 triple draw deuce-to-seven lowball championship, earning $311,428.

“It’s a bit hard to [predict], obviously,” Glaser told Card Player when asked if he has a target in mind for the total amount of bracelets he might win. “I don’t really have any life goals like that. [I’m] trying to take it one year at a time and try to play my best throughout the summer, and hopefully, the success will just continue out of improving and playing well.”

This was Glaser’s third bracelet won in a $10,000 championship event at the series, having also taken down the 2016 $10,000 Omaha eight-or-better championship and the 2021 $10,000 razz championship. He now has two bracelets in both Omaha eight-or-better and in triple-draw deuce-to-seven, having also won a $1,500 buy-in version of both of those tournaments in addition to the championships.

Glaser now has more than $7 million in recorded tournament earnings after this latest title run, with more than $3.2 of that coming from cashes at the WSOP. Last summer, Glaser picked up $464,420 for taking fourth in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. The online poker standout banked the biggest score of his career last winter, however, finishing runner-up in the WPT World Championship at the Wynn for $2.83 million.

Players Add To Their Bracelet Collections

There were six other players with bracelets already on their mantles who came away with either their second or third bracelets recently. The first to do so was Ryan Hughes, who took down the third online bracelet event on the Nevada and New Jersey schedule in early June. The full results for the early online events were not released until after our first recap from the series went to press.

Hughes outlasted a field of 688 entries, defeating none other than Shaun Deeb heads-up in the $1,000 no-limit hold’em deepstack event. This was Hughes’ first bracelet win in 15 years, having won a pair of stud eight-or-better titles in 2007 and 2008.

Yuri Dzivielevski emerged victorious in this year’s $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event, outlasting a field of 836 entries to earn $207,678 and the third gold bracelet of his career. The 31-year-old Brazilian poker pro is the only player from his country to have won as many titles at the series.

Dzivielevski’s first win came back in 2019, when he took down a $2,500 Omaha and stud eight-or-better split event for $213,750. In 2020 he won his second and $221,557 in the WSOP Online $400 pot-limit Omaha version of the Colossus, known as the PLOSSUS. He now has $5.9 million in recorded tournament earnings, with about half of that ($2.9 million) coming from scores at the WSOP.

Ben Lamb added to his already impressive WSOP résumé in a major way, scooping the final pot in the $10,000 Omaha eight-or-better championship for his second gold bracelet. The 38-year-old Oklahoma native topped a field of 212 entries to earn $492,795. The two-time WSOP main event final tablist now has nearly $16 million in career tournament earnings, with more than $9 million of that coming from WSOP cashes.

This was only the 31st in-the-money finish in a bracelet event for the cash game specialist, which means his average cash at the series has been for just over $291,000. Lamb finished third in the 2011 main event for $4,019,635 and ninth in 2017 for another $1,000,000. His first bracelet win, in the 2011 $10,000 pot-limit Omaha championship, was also for a hefty payday of $814,436.

The four largest live tournament scores of Dutch poker pro Jans Arends’ career have all been recorded in a 103-day span. Arends, who has been a staple in the high-stakes online tournament scene for years under the screen name ‘Graftekkel,’ has cashed for nearly $4.6 million since early March.

The Groningen, Netherlands native’s most recent splash saw him defeat a field of 93 entries to win the $100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event for a career-best payday of $2,576,729 and his second bracelet.

His first bracelet came in a $1,000 buy-in event during the 2020 WSOP Online festival, which saw him outlast 1,777 players to earn $129,745. Arends’ hot streak on the live circuit has put him into contention in the 2023 POY race. He has made four final tables and won two titles already this year, with his latest win adding 1,080 POY points to his tally, bringing him to 3,700 total points. As a result, he now sits in 14th place in the rankings.

North Olmsted, Ohio’s Sean Troha came away with the title and the top prize of $298,192 after besting a 1,355-entry field in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha bracelet event. This was Troha’s second bracelet, having earned his first in the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha championship in 2022. That title run saw Troha secure a career-best payday of $1,246,770.

Chris Klodnicki also locked up his second bracelet win in recent weeks. He took down the $10,000 no-limit hold’em secret bounty event, earning $733,317 for the win. Klodnicki now has nearly $11.3 million in lifetime tournament earnings after this latest victory. His first bracelet win came six years ago in the 2017 $1,500 no-limit hold’em event for $428,423. The New Jersey native now has more than $7.1 million in career cashes in WSOP events.

Aram Oganyan finished as the runner-up to Klodnicki, taking home $453,226. Less than a week after that deep run, Oganyan finished second in the $3,000 no-limit hold’em event for another $443,680. He has now made ten final tables in 2023, with one win and nearly $2 million in POY earnings recorded along the way. As a result, he has moved into fifth place in this year’s standings.

Lou Garza Wins First Bracelet, Proposes To Girlfriend

Like Brewer, AP Louis ‘Lou’ Garza also made headlines for a first-time victory at the WSOP. Garza took down the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha championship event at this year’s festival, defeating a field of 731 entries to earn the hardware and the massive top prize of $1,309,232.

This marquee victory was by far the largest on the Texas resident’s tournament résumé. He now has more than $3.3 million in lifetime earnings, with roughly half of that coming from the WSOP.

After Garza was handed a bracelet, he offered his girlfriend Carla a ring. “Don’t think any other time would be right besides now because I don’t think I would even be right here without her,” Garza said about the proposal. She said yes.

The strong turnout for this event built a prize pool of $6,798,300. The top 110 finishers made the money, with at least six-figure paydays for the top eight finishers.
Top POY contender Ren Lin earned $124,243 and 380 POY points for eighth place, marking his incredible 16th final-table finish of the year. With two titles, 6,010 total POY points, and more than $3.1 million in to-date POY earnings, Lin is now the third-ranked player in the standings heading into the second half of 2023.

Inaugural Gladiators Of Poker Draws Massive Field

Jason Simon battled his way through a huge field in the first-ever running of the WSOP Gladiators of Poker to win the top prize worth $499,852 along with his first gold bracelet. The $300 buy-in no-limit hold’em event drew the second-largest live tournament field in poker history with a gigantic turnout of 23,088 entries. Only the WSOP Big 50 event back in 2019, with 28,731 entries, was larger.

There were four starting flights in this tournament, with the prize pool settling at $5,679,648. The top 3,173 players all earned at least $480 for a mincash.

This was the biggest cash of Simon’s career, and his ninth win overall. The bracelet will be added to a trophy case that also holds a gold ring he won at a WSOP Circuit event back in 2020.

More First-Time Champions

It took one more day than initially scheduled, but Renji Mao eventually emerged victorious in the $800 buy-in no-limit hold’em deepstack event. The Chinese player topped a field of 4,747 total entries for $402,588. The tournament was slated to last three days, but Mao and bracelet winner Matthew Elsby (2nd – $248,833) had to return for a fourth day to finish their heads-up match.

Benjamin Ector took down the $1,500 no-limit event, besting a 2,046-entry field to earn $406,403. This victory saw Ector increase his lifetime tournament earnings to more than $1.5 million. His previous top score was a runner-up finish in the 2016 The River Poker Series, which saw the Georgia resident earn $344,826.

Houston firefighter Scott Dulaney battled his way through a 2,759-entry field in the $600 buy-in no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha ‘Deepstack’ event to capture his first bracelet and the top prize of $194,155.

The $3,000 no-limit hold’em six-max event drew a field of 1,241 entries, building a prize pool of $3,313,470 that was paid out between the top 187 finishers. The largest share of that money went to eventual champion Mark Ioli, who scored the last knockout to earn $558,266 and his first gold bracelet. This was the biggest payday yet for Ioli, who has now cashed for more than $1.7 million.

Jerry Wong was the last player standing from the field of 102 entries in the $10,000 razz championship. The 2016 WSOP main event eighth-place finisher earned the $298,682 top prize along with the hardware, and now has nearly $5.9 million in lifetime tournament earnings. This was the Florida resident’s second final-table finish of the year, having placed ninth in the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open $3,500 main event for $85,410 back in January.

The $3,000 nine-game mix event attracted a field of 361 entries, which saw Ryutaro Suzuki pick up his first bracelet and the top prize of $221,124. The 22-year-old became just the eighth bracelet winner from his home country of Japan thanks to this title run.

The $2,000 no-limit hold’em event closed registration with 1,962 total entries, resulting in a prize pool of $3,492,360. The largest chunk of that was eventually awarded to Yuan Li, who pocketed $524,777. This was the second-largest score of Li’s career, having won the Asia Championship of Poker for $871,000 back in 2016. He now has more than $1.9 million in career tournament earnings.

After six days of action, Braxton Dunaway came away with his first bracelet as the champion of the $1,500 Monster Stack. Dunaway beat out a field of 8,317 entries, scoring five of the six knockouts on the final day while earning the top payout of $1,162,681. Prior to this massive victory, the 40-year-old Texas resident’s largest live tournament score was a fifth-place finish in the 2019 WSOP Circuit Choctaw $1,700 main event for $68,390.

The $1,500 ‘Big O’ tournament was the first of its kind at the series. The five-card pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better tournament saw an impressive inaugural turnout of 1,458 entries, building a prize pool of $1,946,430. Scott Abrams scooped the final pot of the tournament to lock up his first gold bracelet and $315,203. He now has more than $1.6 million in recorded tournament earnings, with nearly all of that coming from cashes at the WSOP. His largest score was the $590,442 he earned for a 12th-place finish in the 2012 main event.

The $800 no-limit hold’em deepstack event was a fast-paced affair that lasted just two days. In that span, a record turnout for this event was narrowed from 3,773 entries down to one champion in Qiang Xu. The Chinese player earned a career-best payday of $339,377 for the win, along with the hardware.

Of the 1,735 entries in the $3,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event at this year’s series, only one could walk away with the bracelet and the massive top prize of $717,879. That player turned out to be China’s Yang Zhang, who topped a tough final table to secure his first bracelet. This was the largest score yet for Zhang, who has managed four other six-figure cashes on the live circuit in his career. He now has more than $2.9 million in lifetime earnings.

The $1,500 buy-in mixed Omaha eight-or-better event featured three variants of the popular split-pot game: limit Omaha eight-or-better, pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better, and ‘Big O.’ There were 1,091 entries made in the end, resulting in a $1,456,485 prize pool. After three days of action, William Leffingwell came away with the bracelet and $253,651.

The $500 no-limit hold’em freezeout drew 5,342 players, building a prize pool of more than $2.2 million. The lion’s share of that cash was ultimately awarded to Jay Lockett, who survived the fast-paced two-day affair to earn $262,526.

The $1,500 no-limit hold’em super turbo bounty event was scheduled to take just a single day to complete, but a huge turnout of 2,226 entries resulted in the addition of an unscheduled second day. When the dust settled in this brisk knockout event, Pengfei Wang was the last player left standing. The California resident earned $270,700 from the main prize pool to go along with his first gold bracelet. This was Wang’s first-ever live tournament cash.

Usually, a WSOP bracelet is only awarded when just a single player remains in an event. That is not the case for the annual $1,000 no-limit hold’em tag team event, though, with a pair of players coming away with the gold in this unique tournament that sees two contenders team up and take turns playing the same stack. Ohio residents Satoshi Tanaka and Michael Savakinas were the last team standing, topping a record field of 1,282 teams to earn their first bracelets and a team payout of $190,662.

Nick Pupillo has put together a stellar career with more than $4.7 million in prior tournament earnings across 329 recorded cashes. While he had 21 tournament titles under his belt, including three WSOP Circuit gold ring victories, he had never taken down a bracelet event at the series. That all changed when Pupillo bested a field of 353 entries in the $2,500 triple draw tournament, which featured a mix of deuce-to-seven triple draw lowball, ace-to-five triple draw lowball, and badugi. Pupillo took home $181,978 and his first bracelet for the win.

WSOP Online Awards More Than $7.6 Million Through First Nine Events

The 2023 WSOP Online series for WSOP.com players located inside the borders of Nevada and New Jersey features 20 events this year. Through the first nine events, 8,981 entries have been made resulting in more than $7.6 million in prize money that has been awarded thus far.

With Ryan Hughes’ and Jeremy Ausmus’ wins already having been covered, here is a look at the other seven online events that have been completed.

The first online event was the $333 Triple Treys Summer Tip Off. From the 1,330 total entries, it was Cody ‘1eggadaymike’ Bell who logged off his computer with $87,665 and a bracelet.

The second online event drew 1,253 entries to create a prize pool worth $873,900. Ian ‘IanMa’ Matakis came out on top of the $500 Bankroll Builder, earning his first bracelet and $120,686. Matakis has accumulated 14 in-the-money finishes so far this series, accruing more than $270,000 in earnings along the way.

Danny ‘jackdaniels1’ Wong has many accomplishments in his poker career along the road to earning more than $5 million in career earnings, and now he can add a gold bracelet to that list. The fourth online event for the summer was a $600 no-limit hold’em event that had 1,031 entries. Wong beat the field to win the hardware and $130,648.

The $400 no-limit hold’em event saw 1,488 entries made, resulting in a $882,360 prize pool. Gary ‘SaquonNYG26’ Belyalovsky was victorious in the end, locking up $121,854 for the win.

Sunday, June 18 saw two online bracelet events go off. The first was a $500 buy-in no-limit hold’em turbo event that attracted 1,879 total entries, creating an $845,550 prize pool. It took just over six hours for Harley ‘suited_h13’ Brooks to come away with the title and the top prize of $134,527.

The second online event lasted a bit longer, clocking in at a bit over 10 hours. The $500 pot-limit Omaha six-max event saw a total of 608 entries posted by the time that registration was closed, resulting in a $504,900 prize pool. Joe ‘jimjam01’ Serock came out on top, earning $93,911 and his first gold bracelet. The WPT season X Player of the Year award winner now has more than $5.2 million in recorded tournament earnings, with more than $1.9 million of that coming from 90 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.

The most recent WSOP Online bracelet handed out on WSOP.com was earned by Stanislav Barshak. He captured his first bracelet and $128,842 for outlasting a field of 383 entries in the $1,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event. This was Barshak’s first recorded six-figure tournament score.

Be sure to check back next issue as the WSOP continues its march towards what could be a record-breaking main event. ♠