2023 WSOP Day 43: Zachary Hall Leads Main Event Day 5; Shawn Daniels Wins Lucky 7’s

The world’s most prestigious tournament in the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 Main Event entertained the masses both live at the Horseshoe Las Vegas and the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino and virtually at PokerGO on Tuesday. Zachary Hall led the 149 survivors to advance to Day 6 for five more two-hour blind levels starting at noon on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Shawn Daniels notched his biggest victory and earned his maiden bracelet after shipping Event #77: $777 Lucky 7’s No-Limit Hold’em for $777,777.

Four other bracelet events electrified the poker arena on Tuesday and got one step closer to crowning their inevitable champions. Read more about what went down on Day 43 of the 2023 WSOP:

Zachary Hall Leads Final 149 Players in 2023 WSOP $10K Main Event

The 2023 WSOP Event #76: $10,000 Main Event No-Limit Hold’em World Championship lived up to its billing and then some. As we have mentioned throughout the days, the event set a new record for the biggest poker tournament in history with 10,049 entries creating a $93,399,900 prize pool.

Nearly 300 more players hit the rail on Tuesday’s Day 5 with the field trickling down from 441 players to 149 players with Zachary Hall emerging as the new chip leader with a 204 big blind stack of 16,310,000.

Hall isn’t exactly a household name with $225,340 in live poker tournament earnings tracked by The Hendon Mob. In fact, the $67,700 that he and the other 148 players returning for Day 6 already locked up, guarantees the Main Event will at least be his second-largest live poker tournament cash with his largest coming more than a decade ago when he took 13^th place in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em bracelet event for $86,434.

The American could one day be an international poker superstar if he parlays his chip lead into a Main Event victory. Hall does have one big name in his corner in social media sensation and poker baller Ethan “Rampage” Yau.

“I am rooting for you Zachary Hall you legend,” Yau said on Twitter. “This is my OG Mentor when I was playing 1/3. He is now chip leading the Main Event near the end of Day 5.”

Three other players survived with at least 10 million in chips including Bryan Obregon (12,295,000), Liran Betito (11,140,000), and Andrew Hulme (11,065,000).

Bracelet winners Tony Dunst (8,285,000), Jonathan Therme (7,900,000), John Racener (7,670,000), Raj Vohra (7,650,000), and Day 4 chip leader Ryan Tosoc (7,625,000) are also near the top of the pack. Day 2 chip leader Maurice Hawkins is looking to add his first bracelet in a monumental way to his record collection of 15 WSOP gold rings will come into Day 6 with a healthy stack of 6,145,000 to the delight of his supporters and to the dismay of his many haters.

Meanwhile, Day 1d Nicholas Rigby, also affectionately known as “Dirty Diaper”, was near the top of the pack during the past four days. That trend ended but he will still have a chance to rebound with his small stack of 1,650,000.

2023 WSOP Main Event Day 5 Top 10 Leaderboard

2023 WSOP Main Event Remaining Payouts

Players returning to action on Day 6 already locked up $67,700. The payouts will continue to jump as the event moves on. Check out all of the payouts below:

Shawn Daniels Wins Event #77: $777 Lucky 7’s No-Limit Hold’em ($777,777)

Shawn Daniels defeated a massive field 7,323 entries in the three-day Event #77: $777 Lucky 7’s No-Limit Hold’em to win the $777,777 top prize after coming from behind to defeat Julien Montos heads-up.

Daniels shared after the victory according to the WSOP that he “ran really well” to win his bracelet while describing the experience as “pretty unreal.” He was also quite emotional not just because of the win but due to some hardship away from the tables.

“I recently lost my fiancé so it’s been a tough summer,” Daniels said. “I just wish she was here to celebrate it also. But it is what it is, it’s nice to get it done.”

Anthony Scarborough held a massive chip lead with about double the stack of Montos when the final five kicked off yesterday’s Day 3. It wasn’t a day to remember as he doubled up Istvan and Charles La Boinonniere straight off the bat. Briski then eliminated La Boinonniere in fifth place before things fell further apart for Scarborough as he doubled up Daniels when his king-ten suited proved to be no match for ace-ten.

Briski, who already had the chip lead at this point, then sent the Day 3 chip leader Scarborough to the rail when his ten-five suited got there against king-queen suited. Shortly after, Daniels snagged the chip lead and had a nearly 3:1 chip advantage against Montos heads-up after eliminating Briski in third place.

Montos battled to take the chip lead with nearly double the chips of Daniels. Daniels mounted a comeback of his own to regain the lead and then picked off a bluff by Montos to seal the deal and earn his maiden bracelet.

Event #77: $777 Lucky 7’s No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results

The three-day Event #77: $777 Lucky 7’s No-Limit Hold’em attracted 7,323 entries to create a $5,007,175 prize pool. Check out the final table payouts below:

Seth Davies Leads Final 24 in Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em

The three-day Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em quietly became a big bracelet event with 2,068 entries creating a $4,601,300 prize pool. The action is down to just 24 hopefuls who each locked up $24,635 with their eyes on the coveted bracelet and the $682,436 top prize when the action resumes on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Seth Davies led the way after Day 1 and remarkably will be on the top of the leaderboard again on the final day after bagging the Day 2 chip lead with 9,425,000 for 94 big blinds. The gap from there is significant although his closest competitors in Justin Kindred (6,000,000) and Ramon Fernandez (5,020,000) are just one double away from taking the lead themselves.

While most of the field is hunting for their first taste at WSOP gold, four players in James Anderson (4,360,000), Rui Ferreira (4,300,000), Kartik Ved (2,220,000), and Galen Hall (705,000) are all in a quest for their second bracelet.

Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Day 2 Top 10 Leaderboard

Joao Vieira Leads Final 15 in Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. High Roller

Joao Vieira was among the 14 players to late register the four-day Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. High Roller to bring the field up to 112 entries for a $2,632,000 prize pool. The Portuguese poker phenom and Winamax Team Pro had a remarkable day as he ended the day with a chip-leading stack of 2,595,000 to tie him with China’s Yingui Li with just 15 players remaining.

The event pays out 17 players with two-time bracelet winner Yuval Bronshtein and Eric Wasserman hitting the rail near the end of Day 2 to collect the $41,869 min-cash.

This event features one of the toughest fields you will find at the WSOP as the final 15 players have already notched up 36 bracelets between them. Behind Vieira, Day 1 chip leader and five-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh (2,040,000) and six-time WSOP champion John Hennigan (1,588,000) are best positioned among multiple bracelet winners to add to their bracelet collections and growing legacies.

The action resumes with Day 3 on Wednesday at 2 p.m. However, we won’t know who will win the coveted bracelet and tasty $711,313 top prize until Thursday with two more days of action in this star-studded event.

Event #80: $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. High Roller Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Other Ongoing Events

The three-day Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em boasted a banner crowd of 3,091 entries to add $1,576,410 to the prize pool on its first of two opening days. Day 1b is expected to draw an even larger crowd when the action kicks off at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Chase Land bagged up 2,160,000 for 54 big blinds to take the chip lead over the 243 contenders after 22 blind levels of 30 minutes each. Players are already in the money with the bubble breaking during Level 20 and payouts will likely be announced before the start of Thursday’s Day 2.

Meanwhile, the three-day Event #82: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha attracted 1,013 entries for a $2,704,710 prize pool with the top 152 players securing at least a $4,829 min-cash and Friday’s winner going home with some WSOP hardware and the $480,122 top prize. Ian Matakis is looking to add some points to his leading score on the WSOP Player of the Year Leaderboard when the action resumes for Day 2 at 1 p.m. on Wednesday after living the dream with a spectacular summer including his first bracelet victory in an online event at the beginning of the series. Matakis was only behind Tyler Gaston among the 238 players to survive the opening day in his hunt for his second bracelet and add some much-needed leaderboard points.

July 12 WSOP Schedule

Almost all eyes will be on the 2023 WSOP Main Event on Wednesday, July 12 as we get closer to witnessing who will be crowned the new WSOP World Champion. The number of tables is much less than before but the crowds will continue to grow while players root for their favorite players and friends.

The Main Event isn’t the only game in town and many other events deserve focus as well. One bracelet winner will be crowned on Wednesday in the Event #79: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em while other events move onto their next phase.

Wednesday boasts two new opportunities for players to win a WSOP bracelet in Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck No-Limit Hold’em and the nosebleed Event #84: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em which we expect to attract some of the biggest names in poker. Thousands of players will take a shot at a bracelet at one of the cheaper price points in the second and final opening flight of Event #81: $600 Ultra Stack.

Below is a look at today’s schedule while head to the PokerPro opening WSOP article to check out the full schedule of the 2023 World Series of Poker.

Images and hand details courtesy of WSOP/PokerNews.