Day 2 of Event #26: $800 No-Limit Holdem Deepstack Ends During Heads-Up Play
After an intense day of poker in Event #26: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack at the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas the tournament had reached heads-up play.
There were multiple chip leaders on the final table throughout the day, but after 43 levels, only Matthew Elsby and Renji Mao were left standing.
Elsby came into the final table first in chips but lost that lead to Mao during six-handed play. Mao held the lead going into heads-up, but before the night ended, it was Elsby who is going into the final day with 118,900,000 chips and the advantage. Mao's stack is still perfectly healthy at 71,100,000 and is just one hand away from being back in the driver’s seat.
The players that made the final table were guaranteed $30,253, but they were all shooting for the first-place prize of $402,588 and the coveted WSOP gold bracelet.
Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $402,588 | ||
| 2 | $248,833 | ||
| 3 | Anthony Potis | United States | $186,250 |
| 4 | JJ Liu | Taiwan | $140,442 |
| 5 | Ta-Wei Tou | Taiwan | $106,693 |
| 6 | Qiwen Chen | China | $81,666 |
| 7 | Jesse Rosen | South Africa | $62,984 |
| 8 | Vito Branciforte | Italy | $48,947 |
| 9 | Michael Younan | United States | $38,332 |
The player pool was filled with notable names that made deep runs but didn’t make the final table. Some of those names included Bryn Kenney (76th - $5,145), Dinesh Alt (13th - $24,063), and former WSOP main event champion Ryan Riess (15th - $19,291).
The final table started ten-handed with Cosmin Joldis being eliminated in tenth Place ($30,253) after his king-jack suited was bested by Elsby’s pocket queens. Michael Younan was eliminated in ninth place ($38,332) after his ace-seven couldn’t hold up to Renji Mao’s ace-king.
The players then saw Vito Branciforte eliminated in eighth place ($48,947) after a brutal ace on the river gave Ta-Wei Tou the better hand and sent Branciforte to the rail. Jesse Rosen put up a great fight but was eliminated in seventh place ($62,984) after JJ Liu’s pair of aces held.
Qiwen Chen was eliminated in sixth place ($81,666) after both Liu and Tou called his short stack all in and he could not improve against their hands. Tou had an impressive showing but was eliminated in fifth place ($106,693) after his king-jack could not overcome Mao’s ace-king.
The legendary Liu was eliminated in fourth place ($140,442) on a brutal runout that had her trip aces lose to the better trip aces of Renji Mao.
Third place was reserved for Anthony Potis, who had the largest, loudest rail at the final table. Anthony played short-stack ninja for many levels and made about $150,000 in pay jumps on his way to a third-place finish ($186,250). He had a brutal knockout when he got it in good with his pocket aces against Elsby’s king-nine suited, but Elsby drilled a flush on the river to send Potis to the rail.
With Potis’ knockout, the tournament progressed to the heads-up stage, where Elsby battled with Mao. Moa held a commanding chip lead before a huge hand where all the chips got in on a flopped straight from Elsby and a nut flush draw for Mao. Elsby won that hand and drew almost even in chips. He would then grind his way into the chip lead, where he stayed until play concluded. The heads-up duo return to the fray at 12 p.m. local time on June 13 for the bracelet, glory, and a $402,588 top prize.
Stay tuned into PokerNews for the conclusion of Event #26: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deep Stack and all the other WSOP tournaments going on all summer long.
