The day has finally come on which a champion of the record-breaking 2023 World Series of Poker Main Event will be crowned inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. An initial field of 10,043 entries — the largest-ever by a significant margin — has been cut down to the final three and they will battle for the lion's share of the gargantuan $93,399,900 prize pool and title of World Champion.
For the first time since John Cynn in 2018, the title will go to a player from the United States, as all six contenders from Europe were dispatched on the first stage of the final table conclusion. Steven Jones sits atop the leaderboard with 238,000,000 to his name, whereas Daniel Weinman (199,000,000) and Adam Walton (165,500,000) return with deep stacks as well. The chip leader has 119 big blinds at his disposal while Walton as the shortest stack still holds almost 83 big blinds.
Seating Chart for the Final Day
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Steven Jones
United States
238,000,000
119
2
Adam Walton
United States
165,500,000
83
3
Daniel Weinman
United States
199,000,000
100
Walton was supported by a big and boisterous rail and often walked over to them for high-fives in what can only be described as an electric atmosphere.
"Just trying to enjoy the moment. I’m excited to go hang out with everybody and like, you know, whatever happens, happens. It’s hard to complain, having a great time."
Out of the three final players, Weinman may appear to be the odds-on favorite on paper with more than $3.7 million in live poker cashes ahead of this tournament. He enjoyed a very successful 2022 WSOP in which the poker pro earned his maiden gold bracelet in Event #30: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed, but he now has the chance to double that tally while also being guaranteed to more than double his reported lifetime cashes.
He may have the most experience of the trio, but admitted not to have a ton of info on the playing styles of his two opponents ahead of the final day.
"And honestly, the two of them were probably the people I played with the least throughout the whole tournament. I don’t think any of us played until we combined at ten. So even though we’ve kind of played shorthanded a little bit now, still don’t have a ton of info on either of them. So probably do a little bit of study tonight, but mostly just going to enjoy it and let it all sink in."
The first part of the 2023 WSOP Main Event final table lasted 116 hands and the field was reduced from nine hopefuls to just three contenders with Jan-Peter Jachtmann becoming the last casualty of the previous evening.
Loud “USA,USA,USA” chants can be expected again in the PokerGO Thunderdome inside the Horseshoe Events Center when the action resumes at 1 p.m. local time. Cards-up coverage and commentary will be available on a security delay of one hour and the PokerNews coverage goes live accordingly as of 2 p.m. local time.
There are 43:33 minutes remaining in Level 40 at blinds of 1,000,000-2,000,000 with a big blind ante of 2,000,000, which makes for an incredibly deep average of 100 big blinds to chase the $12,100,000 top prize. All three finalists have locked up a payday of $4,000,000 so far, but the pay jumps en route to determining a winner are steep.
Final Table Results and Remaining Payouts
Place
Player
Country
Prize (in USD)
1
$12,100,000
2
$6,500,000
3
$4,000,000
4
Jan-Peter Jachtmann
Germany
$3,000,000
5
Ruslan Prydryk
Ukraine
$2,400,000
6
Dean Hutchison
Scotland
$1,850,000
7
Toby Lewis
England
$1,425,000
8
Juan Maceiras
Spain
$1,125,000
9
Daniel Holzner
Italy
$900,000
Stay tuned for the PokerNews hand-for-hand coverage in sync with the PokerGO live stream from the very first hand until a winner has been determined.
Click on the name for an in-depth profile of the final three players:
Level 40
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Adam Walton
Hand #122: Steven Jones with the A?Q? opened to 6,500,000 on the button and Adam Walton three-bet to 22,500,000 with A?K?. Jones called. Walton continued for 8,500,000 on the flop of 5?J?7? raised to 22,000,000 and Walton quickly three-bet all in for 98,500,000 to bring a snap-fold from Jones.
Hand #123: Daniel Weinman completed in the small blind with A?J? and Steven Jones checked in the big blind with 9?7? before the flop of 10?Q?2? checked through. Both players checked again on the K? turn and Weinman bet 2,000,000 on the 7? river to get a quick call from Jones. Weinman showed A?J? and it was good to win the pot.
Hand #124: In a limped pot between Steven Jones with the 6?2? and Adam Walton, both players checked on the flop of 10?7?Q? and again on the 5? turn. Jones checked once more on the K? river and Walton checked back before showing J?4? to win the pot with jack-high.
Hand #125: Adam Walton limped in the small blind with the 9?6? before Daniel Weinman raised his K?J? to 7,000,000 in the big blind to win the pot.
Hand #126: Adam Walton opened to 5,000,000 on the button with Q?9? and Steven Jones called in the big blind with his K?8? . Jones checked on the flop of 5?2?Q? and Walton continued for 2,500,000. Jones called. Jones checked again on the 5? turn and Walton checked back. Jones checked again on the K? river and Walton checked back. Jones showed his kings up and it was good to take down the pot.
Level 41
: Blinds 1,250,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Daniel Weinman Eliminates Adam Walton
Hand #140: Steven Jones raised to 6,000,000 on the button with the Q?6? and Adam Walton called. Daniel Weinman then squeezed to 27,000,000 in the big blind and Jones folded.
With the action back on Walton, he snap-shoved for 209,500,000 - a whopping 84 big blinds - and Weinman instantly called it off.
Adam Walton: 8?8?
Daniel Weinman: A?A?
Walton's super aggressive playing style had him on the verge of elimination but he picked up some equity with the 7?5?3? flop and 9? turn. However, it was a blank that followed with the K? river and Walton's run ended in third place for $4,000,000.
There will now be a short break ahead of the heads-up duel for the 2023 WSOP Main Event title.
Level 41
: Blinds 1,250,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Heads Up 2023 WSOP Main Event
Hand #164: Steven Jones opened to 7,000,000 on the button and Daniel Weinman called. Weinman checked on the J?5?2? flop and Jones continued for 6,000,000. Weinman check-raised to 18,500,000 and Jones called.
Weinman then sized up to 38,000,000 on the 4? turn and Jones went in the tank for slightly more than four minutes before shipping it with a stack of 146,000,000. Weinman instantly asked "how much" before vaulting out of his chair and took only 25 seconds to make the call.
Steven Jones: J?8?
Daniel Weinman: K?J?
Once the cards were revealed, Weinman leaped to his rail in anticipation with just one card to come.
Jones had top pair but Weinman had him out-kicked to be a massive favourite to become the next WSOP Main Event champion.
The dealer let them sweat before putting down the A? river as Weinman buried his face in his hands after an emotional victory, getting hugged by his entire rail.
Level 41
: Blinds 1,250,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Daniel Weinman Wins 2023 WSOP Main Event
After a much shorter than anticipated final day of the $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Georgia's Daniel Weinman walked away $12,100,000 richer after claiming the title of world poker champion.
The 35-year-old's victory in the record-breaking Main Event, which drew 10,043 players for a prize pool $93,399,900, was nothing short of spectacular as he was two cards away from falling on Day 8 before hitting a two-outer in what will go down as one of the most pivotal suck-outs in poker history.
After 16 years of grinding the World Series and only cashing the Main Event once, Weinman had little hope of winning when he registered for the $10,000 buy-in Poker Championship after taking a break midway through the series.
"I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," he told PokerNews and other media after the victory.
It took just 164 hands at the final table for Weinman to secure the victory, making for the shortest Main Event final table in recent memory. Day 10 was the quickest so far, clocking at under three hours after the elimination of Adam Walton in third place for $4,000,000 and a brief heads-up battle between Weinman and Steven Jones, a real estate investor from Arizona whose poker hobby now brings him $6,500,000.
Daniel Weinman reacts to winning the 2023 WSOP Main Event
2023 WSOP Main Event Final Table Results
PLACE
PLAYER
COUNTRY
PRIZE (IN USD)
1
Daniel Weinman
United States
$12,100,000
2
Steven Jones
United States
$6,500,000
3
Adam Walton
United States
$4,000,000
4
Jan-Peter Jachtmann
Germany
$3,000,000
5
Ruslan Prydryk
Ukraine
$2,400,000
6
Dean Hutchison
Scotland
$1,850,000
7
Toby Lewis
England
$1,425,000
8
Juan Maceiras
Spain
$1,125,000
9
Daniel Holzner
Italy
$900,000
Weinman, who was supported by an all-star rail that included a trio of six-time bracelet winners in Shaun Deeb, Josh Arieh and Jason Mercier, had the biggest grin in the entire Horseshoe Event Center as he reflected on winning the biggest WSOP Main Event in history, which beat out the record set in 2006 when Jamie Gold won $12,000,000.
"I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," said Weinman. "And to win this Main Event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, (there's) so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well, but so many hands that (I got) incredibly lucky for the situations to arise."
Daniel Weinman holds up the 2023 WSOP Main Event bracelet
"Maybe It's My Time"
As the only bracelet winner among the three players who returned for Day 10, Weinman, who last year took down Event #30: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-handed to win $255,359 and his maiden piece of WSOP gold, was confident heading into the final day that he could win it all.
Weinman earned that confidence after surviving a final table that included accomplished pros like Britain's Toby Lewis (7th - $1,425,000) and Germany's Jan-Peter Jachtmann (4th - $3,000,000), the only other bracelet winner among the final nine.
"Final tables can go so many different ways," he said. "You need some cards to get chips, there were a lot of good players left with a lot more tournament experience than me. But when we got down to three, I did feel like I was the best player of the three. And a couple good hands at the right time; it all came together."
Daniel Weinman tries on his new bling
Though Weinman was already an accomplished player with several million in Hendon Mob earnings, he had never found success in poker's most prestigious event.
"Every year before this, I've been here from Event #1 to the last event," Weinman said. "And by the time the Main Event comes around, I'm burnt out ... I've said to many people, I don't like this tournament. The structure is too good, I'm kind of over it for the summer."
After 15 years of grinding a full schedule, Weinman chose to go home to Georgia to be with his girlfriend. "I told my girlfriend Sarah how I was feeling and she said, 'Come home.' So I did."
When he did return to Las Vegas and found himself deep in the tournament that had never shown him love, he had the support of a distinguished rail that made for a combined 18 bracelets (that number increased to 35 with a brief Phil Hellmuth cameo).
Daniel Weinman with his all-star rail
"I've been friends with these guys for so long," he said. "Shaun and I met at a final table 11 years ago (and we've been) friendly ever since. Just two guys that like to have a lot of fun at the table. We played a lot of open-face Chinese together. That kind of brought Jason Mercier into the picture."
"Josh Arieh and I have been friends for 15 years, maybe even more, and playing poker in Atlanta. And just having some of the best in the world be on my side and have my back and tell me that I belong in this class of player, it's just incredible."
Speaking to a crowd of poker media after conquering the Main Event that had evaded him for more than a decade, Weinman, who turned to poker after graduating from Georgia Institute of Technology, couldn't help but feel like all his hard work had finally paid off.
"The Boom happened and I kind of had think inkling that I would play poker and give it a shot for a few years. And here we are 16 years later ... You just kind of feel like, maybe it's my time."
Early Walton Exit Before a Quick Heads-Up Battle
Day 10 was shaping up to be a long one as the three remaining players returned with an average of a hundred big blinds. Despite the deep stacks, the trio wasted no time exchanging chips. In one of the first hands of the day, Jones opened with ace-queen before calling a three-bet from Walton with ace-king. Walton continued on the jack-high flop and Jones opted to raise before a three-bet jam brought a snap-fold from the real estate investor.
It wouldn't be the last time Walton found himself all-in in the first hour of Day 10. In just the second hand after returning from break, Walton flatted in the small blind with eights before facing a squeeze from Weinman. After a fold from Jones, Walton opted to back-jam his stack of more than 80 big blinds, only to be met by a snap from a lucky opponent holding two red aces, the same color as the sea of "A&W" shirts that made up Walton's rail.
Adam Walton was eliminated by Daniel Weinman
Despite flopping a few backdoor draws and turning a gutter, the Las Vegas-based pro and Day 8 chip leader couldn't improve to fall in third for $4,000,000 after a tumultuous final two days of play.
"I had folded a lot of buttons early on so I think they may have thought I was playing a little bit tighter," Weinman said about the pivotal hand. "It was the first hand I had really put a lot of chips in the pot and came in with the squeeze after the Steven open and the Adam flat. And I know that Adam likes to flat some big hands, so I ended up sizing up a little bit, kind of with the hopes that he would try to take advantage of all the dead money in there. And I don't know if it was me inducing him or him just deciding that it was too good of a hand to not go with, but it all ended up working out so well."
Weinman notably got to the final table by cracking the kings of fellow Georgian Joshua Payne and queens of Jose Aguilera in what he called "such a bittersweet hand because it was both the hand that propelled me to win this tournament, but also had to knock out and put a bad beat on a good friend from back home."
Daniel Weinman hits a jack on Day 8
"And I could just see how much it hurt him. In the moment, so much excitement for me, but watching it back and just seeing the pain on his face ... it hurt me; not as much as it hurt him, but it was tough."
After an intermission where several briefcases filled with $50,000 bricks of cash, escorted in by a Hitman lookalike wielding a shotgun, were ungraciously dumped on the feature table before being stacked into a neat pyramid valued at $12,100,000, heads-up play commenced with Weinman having a formidable chip lead with over 200 big blinds still in play.
The remaining two players played a bit of small ball over the next level before a deep-stacked collision. In a single-raised pot, Jones, who sported a Chip Leader Coaching patch and was supported by Alex Foxen on the rail, continued on the jack-high flop before calling a check-raise from Weinman. Weinman continued on the turn, and Jones went in the tank for over four minutes before shipping it to put Weinman to the test. Weinman called before revealing king-jack to be a massive favorite against the inferior jack-eight of his opponent.
Steven Jones
"When he went in the tank for what seemed like ten minutes, it felt like genuine uncertainty a this point," said Weinman. "I didn't think he was trapping with a set or some kind of turned Wheel, it really did feel like he had some middling pair or a weak jack and just couldn't decide 'Is this the time to go?' So it seems kind of weird to play this final hand for a 120 big blind pot with just one pair, but I just kind of made my decision that when he took that long and jammed, that's about where he was at."
With a swarm of black shirts branded with wine glass emojis cheering him on, Weinman braced intensely as he awaited the consequential river card. An ace bricked off, and Weinman's rail erupted as their guy earned a meaningful place in poker history.
Weinman didn't have a climactic answer when asked what he plans to do with his historic winnings.
"I have no clue. Probably invest it. Probably not the best answer everybody wants to hear, but I'm fairly cautious with it away from the table. Even though I like to gamble pretty hard."
Weinman wasn't just supported by a group of former and future Poker Hall of Famers. After his historic win, the 2023 Main Event champion posed with his parents and girlfriend with no signs of his contagious smile going away any time soon.
Daniel Weinman poses with his parents and girlfriend
That wraps up PokerNews' coverage of the record-breaking Main Event at the 2023 WSOP. Be sure to check out the live reporting hub for coverage of other bracelet events.
