The first gold bracelet of the 2023 World Series of Poker has been awarded. Peter Thai topped the third-largest field ever in the $500 casino employees event, outlasting 1,015 entries to secure the gold and the top prize of $75,535.
This was the largest tournament score yet for the table games dealer from Parkwest Casino 580 in Livermore, California, blowing away the $21,602 he earned as the champion of a $350 buy-in event at the 2018 Legends of Poker series at the Bicycle Casino near Los Angeles.
“I’m an avid poker player. I don’t play that often, but I still know how to play. I play more cash games than tournaments. I have a lot of tournament experience, mostly from playing a lot of online sit’n’gos from my college days,” Thai told WSOP reporters after coming out on top. “Overall, the experience is unbelievable and I can’t wait to share this with everyone back home.”
This event played out over the course of two days inside the Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas. The huge turnout resulted in a prize pool of $426,300. The top 153 finishers made the money, with past champions like Jimmy Barnett and Chad Holloway among those who cashed in the event.
Day 2 began with 89 contenders remaining, with Thai inside the top 20 when cards got in the air. By the time the field combined onto a single table, he sat in second place behind only James Urbanic.
Thai won a crucial all-in with pocket eights coming from behind against Urbanic’s pocket jacks during seven-handed action. Not too long after that, he scored a double-knockout with pocket kings holding up against the J-9 suited of Benson Tam (5th) and pocket queens of Bruce Jiang (4th) to take a sizable lead into three-handed play.
He then shoved with K-2 against the 9-8 suited of Paul Blanchette, flopped a king, and held from there to enter heads-up play against Urbanic with a commanding chip advantage. In the final hand, Thai called Urbanic’s all-in with K
10
. He was up against Q
7. The board ran out 1010
4Q4, giving Thai tens full and the title. Urbanic earned $46,690 as the runner-up finisher.
Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings |
| 1 | Peter Thai | $75,535 |
| 2 | James Urbanic | $46,690 |
| 3 | Paul Blanchette | $33,051 |
| 4 | Bruce Jiang | $23,738 |
| 5 | Benson Tam | $17,303 |
| 6 | Sean Balfour | $12,802 |
| 7 | Keith McCormack | $9,617 |
| 8 | Joseph Pavan | $7,337 |
| 9 | Lisa Eckstein | $5,686 |
Visit the Card Player 2023 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews, and the latest event results.
Photo credit: WSOP / Danny Maxwell.
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