John Monnette Captures Fifth World Series of Poker Bracelet

Of the 32 live events that have wrapped up so far at the 2023 World Series of Poker, 12 have been won by a player with a previous bracelet victory under their belts. The latest repeat champion at the series is none other than high-stakes mixed game fixture John Monnette. The 41-year-old Las Vegas resident defeated a field of 522 entries in the $1,500 deuce-to-seven triple draw lowball event to earn $145,863 and his fifth career gold bracelet.

Monnette became just the 35th player in history to have won five or more titles at the series. He also increased his lifetime tournament earnings to nearly $4 million with this latest triumph at the series.

“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," Monnette told PokerNews live reporters after closing out the win. "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 seven-card stud event in 2012. The longest gap between victories saw Monnette wait five years before returning to the winner’s circle in the 2017 $10,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven single-draw lowball championship. Then, in 2021 he secured bracelet no. 4 by coming out on top in the $10,000 limit hold’em championship.

Although he typically focuses on cash games over tournaments, Monnette has put together quite a list of scores so far this year. This was his second title of the year, with six total final-table finishes. Monnette earned 840 Card Player Player of the Year points along with the bracelet in this event, growing his point total to 2,375. As a result, he now sits in 40th place in the 2023 POY race standings, which are presented by Global Poker.

The third and final day of this event began with 18 players remaining and four-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser in the lead. Monnette came into the day with the second-largest stack and outlasted big names like bracelet winner Carol Fuchs (16), four-time bracelet winner Tom Schneider (13), Allen Kessler (9th), Glaser (8th), and recent badugi event winner Michael Rodrigues (7th) to make the final table.

Three-time bracelet winner Ryan Hughes, who won an online event earlier this series, finished sixth for $21,342.

Bracelet winner Patrick Leonard, who has tens of millions in online tournament scores, placed third for $60,915. Leonard lost a big one to Monnette to slide into the danger zone during three-handed play, bounced back, then ran into an 8-5-4-3-2 for Monnette to be left on fumes. Christopher Chung then won the last of Leonard’s chips to take a healthy lead into heads-up play.

Leonard was knocked out around midnight. Chung and Monnette went on to battle for more than two hours. After a back-and-forth clash which saw Monnette down to less than a full big bet at one point, Monnette managed to come back and overtake the lead and then begin to pull away. In the final hand, Monnette made an 8-6-4-3-2 after the second draw and won after both players patted the third draw. Chung took home $90,150 as the runner-up, growing his career tournament earnings to nearly $276,000 in the process.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Visit the Card Player 2023 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews, and the latest event results. WSOP coverage sponsored by Global Poker.

Winner photo credit: WSOP / Rachel Kay Miller.

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