U.S.A Dominates Main Event Final Table With Three Remaining

It’s an all-American final three as Steven Jones, Daniel Weinman, and Adam Walton make up the remaining players of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. All three players started at the top of the chip counts coming into the final table, and some well-timed aggressive play ensured that all three still remain in the tournament after the first day of the final table came to a close.

Adam Walton has been the big story the past couple of days, with his aggressive play making waves around the world. While he started the final table with a commanding chip lead, he has a lot to do going into the final three, as he’ll start the shortest of the three chip stacks. Daniel Weinman has carried on the momentum he gained from winning that insane JJ vs KK vs QQ hand and goes into the final three second in chips. Finally, the unassuming chip leader Steven Jones rounds out our top three, and he’ll be hoping that his upward trajectory continues into the final day.

Before the remaining three players come back to battle it out for $12.1 million and the $500K WSOP Main Event bracelet, let’s take a look at the eliminations from Day 1 of the final table.

Holzner First To Go

Coming into the final table with the shortest stack, Daniel Holzner faced an uphill climb, and after running into some big hands early on, he looked likely to be the first to go. He managed to avoid elimination when his aces were cracked by the TT of Jan-Peter Jachtmann, but he was unable to avoid busting at the hands of Steven Jones’ TT.

After an open from Jones, Holzner 3bet to 16.3 million with AJ. The action folded around to Jones who put Holzner all-in for his remaining 100K. After a little confusion, Holzner put his last chip into the middle. The flop came QQ3 - not much help to Holzner. The 2 meant that Daniel was looking for an ace or a jack, but the 4 sealed his fate, making Daniel Holzner our first elimination at the Main Event final table.

Day 8 Chip Leader Out In 8th

One of the more unlikely eliminations in the early stages of the final table was Juan Maceiras, who had held the chip lead going into Day 8 of the Main Event. However, Juan’s hyper-aggressive style was always a double-edged sword, and his play was either going to see him build a massive stack or be eliminated early.

After losing a few pots at the final table, Juan found himself as the shortest stack at the table. With just under 11bb, Juan shoved K9 from the hijack (HJ), only to get called by the second shortest stack of Toby Lewis with AT.

The flop - AJ2 - was a poor one for Juan as it gave Toby a commanding lead. The 4 on the turn sealed the deal for Toby Lewis, and not even the K on the river could save Juan from elimination.

 Toby Lewis Ladders To 7th

After coming into the final table as the shortest stack, Toby Lewis was likely to be happy to have laddered up a couple of places to 7th, but he may feel a little disappointed that he wasn’t able to impose his experience onto this table. Always battling uphill, Toby was almost exactly on the same level with the shortest stack, even after eliminating Juan Marceiras. Therefore, when he saw a squeeze opportunity with KJ, he felt like he had to take it.

Jones opened with TT in the HJ, and Walton came along for a call with 98. Toby woke up with KJ in the big blind and felt like this was a great opportunity to pick up some dead money. He shoved for a little over 20bb, and after some deliberation, Jones flicked in the call with his TT. Walton got out of the way, and the two were flipping for a 74 million chip pot.

The flop came A73 - not much help for Toby, although it does give him a slim chance at a backdoor straight draw. The A hit the turn, leaving Toby with just six outs to stay in the Main Event. Unfortunately for him, the 2 hit the river, eliminating him from the Main Event in 7th place for $1,425,000.

Hutchison Out In 6th

One of the quietest players at the table was Dean Hutchison from the United Kingdom. Dean came into the final table 7th in chips and looked content to let other players bust around him as he moved up the money ladder. However, his 14bb stack was dwindling, so he needed to make a move soon or risk getting blinding out.

The action folded to Dean on the button who looked down at 55. This is the hand he had been waiting for, so he made his move by raising to 18 million, leaving himself around 4 million behind in case Weinman and Jachtmann wanted to get into a big pot behind him.

Weinman folded T6o from the small blind, and after considering the situation, Jachtmann put him all in with 77. Dean quickly made the call and saw the bad news that he’d be drawing to two outs to stay in the Main Event. The flop came to J92, giving Dean no help whatsoever. The A hit the turn, followed by the 4 on the river to eliminate Dean Hutchinson in 6th place.

Prydryk Can’t Find A King

With Hutchinson’s elimination in 6th, Prydryk found himself far and away the shortest stack at the table, so he needed to make something happen if he wanted to give himself a real shot at winning this year’s Main Event. With blinds at 1 million/2 million, Prydryk shoved QT for 24 million chips from the HJ.

However, unfortunately for him, Dan Weinman woke up with AJ to his left and quickly made the call. The other players behind him folded, and the two would see all five cards for Prydryk’s tournament life.

The flop was not what Prydryk was hoping to see - the AJ2 flop gave Dan Weinman two pair, leaving Ruslan needing a king to stay alive. The turn was an interesting one - the Q gave Ruslan a couple more outs while taking one away. However, the 8 hit the river, eliminating Prydryk in 5th place.

Jan-Peter Caught In Walton’s Trap

After Prydryk’s elimination, the field became quite condensed, and it looked like it would be a while before we saw another elimination. However, Jan-Peter went on an unfortunate run of cards to find himself as the shortest stack at the table by nearly 50 million chips.

With the blinds still at 1 million/2 million, Jones used his big stack to raise J4 from the cutoff (CO). Adam Walton then laid a sneaky trap on the button, when he flatted with AA. Dan Weinman got out of the way in the small blind, and Jan-Peter looked down at KQ in the big blind. Likely recognising that Jones would be getting out of line, he used this opportunity to make a squeeze play and shoved all-in for 56 million.

Jones quickly folded his hand before Adam Walton snap-called and slammed his aces onto the table. The flop was as clean as you could hope for Walton, the 952 board giving Jan-Peter very little to work with. The 6 on the turn sealed Jan-Peter’s elimination, and the K on the river was too little too late as Jachtmann became our 4th-place player, earning $3,000,000 for his efforts.

Final 3 Chip Stacks + Payouts

Before we go, let’s take a look at the chip stacks of the final three players as well as the final table results and remaining payouts.

Who do you want to see win the 2023 WSOP Main Event? What do you think of the standard of play at this year’s final table? Let us know on social media and stay tuned for all the latest WSOP news and events.

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