From a field of 3,835, the 2023 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas has reached its final table of six. Each player is guaranteed to win over $1.2 million, and the champion will take home $5,678,000.
These final six players represent arguably one of the most talent-laden final tables in World Poker Tour history, with over $48 million in combined tournament earnings between them. There’s a WPT Champions Club member in Chris Moorman and a WPT Alpha8 champion in Andrew Lichtenberger.
Five of the six players have at least 1 World Series of Poker bracelet. Georgios Sotiropoulous has three of them. Artur Martirosian is in position to become a Triple Crown winner, with both WSOP and EPT victories to his name. Ben Heath, a High Roller regular, has the most earnings of any of the players, and defeated Lichtenberger heads-up to win a $50,000 WSOP braclet.
The wild card in the mix is Dan Sepiol, who would be a standout at a lot of major final tables. Sepiol has received a tremendous amount of love on social media, and is making up for a heartbreakingly deep run in the 2022 WPT World Championship, in which he finished 52nd.
They will all return to Wynn Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m., with the action streaming live on all WPT platforms on a 30-minute delay until a champion is crowned.
Here’s what they’re playing for:
- $5,678,000 (Including a seat to 2024 WPT World Championship)
- $3,772,200
- $2,798,700
- $2,095,300
- $1,583,100
- $1,207,000
And while we wait to see it all play out, let’s learn a little bit more about the six remaining contenders.
1. Andrew Lichtenberger | 148,200,000 (124 big blinds)
Age: 36
Birthplace: East Northport, New York
Currently Resides: Las Vegas, Nevada
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $17,129,124
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $1,770,692, 1st, 2014 WPT Alpha8 Las Vegas
Other Prominent Scores: 2nd, 2023 Super High Roller Bowl VIII for $1,680,000; 3rd, 2022 Super High Roller Bowl VII for $1,152,000; 2nd, 2019 WSOP $50,000 High Roller for $917,232; 3rd, 2018 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $802,973; 1st, 2016 WSOP $3,000 No Limit Hold’em for $569,158
Andrew Lichtenberger spent most of the 2023 WPT World Championship picking his spots and waiting for the right moment to make his charge. His best position at the end of any night was after Day 4, when he ended play on Sunday in 12th out of 45.
He certainly picked the right time to make his charge, going on an absolutely tremendous surge on Wednesday to end the night with a considerable chip lead.
Lichtenberger’s been in spots like this before, and he’s put in the preparation work to get the most out of these chips.
“I think I slept for nine hours last night,” said Lichtenberger. “I actually made a pact with myself a few months ago, I’d gone to Monaco to play the Triton series and I feel like I didn’t do the best job recovering in between events. It’s hard, you know – you’re on the road, you don’t have access to all your stuff that you’re used to at home. And I could tell that that’s really what was holding me back. So moving forward from that, I really resigned myself like, ‘If you’re gonna play serious poker, this is what I have to do.'”
One of the few things missing from ‘Lucky Chewy’s’ résumé is a WPT title, and he’ll have a chance to win the biggest Championship Event in the tour’s history on Thursday.
End of Day 1 chip count: 530,000 (121/1,375)
End of Day 2 chip count: 1,000,000 (133/480)
End of Day 3 chip count: 2,030,000 (74/132)
End of Day 4 chip count: 11,100,000 (12/45)
End of Day 5 chip count: 19,500,000 (10/16)
2. Chris Moorman | 88,300,000 (74 big blinds)
Age: 38
Birthplace: Essex, United Kingdom
Currently Resides: Las Vegas, Nevada
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $6,768,673
Biggest Lifetime Cash: 2nd, 2011 WSOP Europe Main Event for $1,068,690
Other Prominent Scores: 1st, 2014 WPT LA Poker Classic for $1,015,460; 2nd, 2011 WSOP $10,000 6-Handed Championship for $716,282; 1st, 2017 WSOP $3,000 6-Handed No Limit Hold’em for $498,682
On Day 5, Chris Moorman officially became the final WPT Champions Club member in the 2023 WPT World Championship field. At most final tables, that kind of experience would go a long way, but with this final six it almost feels like it’s part of the job requirement.
Moorman made his push towards the top of the counts on Day 3, and managed to stay in the mix from that point on. On Day 5 in particular, Moorman earned a key double-up that helped his late push towards the final table.
It’s been a while since Moorman has made a run of this magnitude in a major live tournament, but the longtime online poker legend and former multi-time World No. 1 has enjoyed the some familiarity of a more compact daily schedule in the WPT World Championship.
“Every day after bagging, it’s been really nice. It’s actually similar to [when I won] the LAPC – five 90-minute levels, and I love that you get done by about 8:30/9pm,” said Moorman. “I’ll just go meet some friends, have a few drinks, eat food. I started doing it for online Sundays, where I just eat before I start playing, and I wouldn’t eat ’til I finished playing, which is like an 18-hour session. I felt I was way more focused.”
Moorman’s certainly not taking anything for granted on this ride, and he feels like he’s been striking the right balance in his daily preparation.
“A lot of time poker can be frustrating,” said Moorman. “So when you’re doing good, just enjoy the moment. Obviously, I could go back and watch the stream every day, but I feel like that’s a bit of wasted energy anyway.”
Regardless of his finish in this tournament, Moorman’s cash in the 2023 WPT World Championship will be the biggest of his career. As he starts the final table in second place, he’ll be after something more.
End of Day 1 chip count: 383,000 (314/1,375)
End of Day 2 chip count: 1,525,000 (59/480)
End of Day 3 chip count: 7,120,000 (9 /132)
End of Day 4 chip count: 10,200,000 (14/45)
End of Day 5 chip count: 21,200,000 (9/16)
3. Georgios Sotiropoulos | 46,200,000 (39 big blinds)
Age: 33
Birthplace: Athens, Greece
Currently Resides: Rhodes, Greece
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $3,950,533
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $959,245, 2nd, 2013 EPT Prague Main Event
Other Prominent Scores: 1st, 2021 WSOP Mini Main Event for $432,575; 1st, 2022 Merit Poker Vintage Series Kyrenia for $384,150; 1st, 2015 WSOP Europe €1,100 Turbo No Limit Hold’em for $128,252; 1st, 2021 WSOP Online Flip & Go for $117,022
While Georgios Sotiropoulos’ name might not immediately jump out at you amongst this lineup of killers, his poker accomplishments check a lot of boxes.
He’s a three-time WSOP bracelet winner, with the biggest of the bunch coming in the 2021 Mini Main Event in a field of 3,821. Sotiropoulos also has a second-place finish in an EPT event to his credit, though his result in this tournament will eclipse that previous career-high.
Some players, even those as experienced in big spots as Sotiropoulos is, might be a little overwhelmed by the challenge of this tough of a final table. But his confidence is high heading into Thursday’s finale.
“Hey, they’re good players, but honestly, I believe I will make it and beat them all and take it down,” said Sotiropoulos. “I will be honest with you. Like I respect them, all of them. They’re really good. But I can do this.”
If Sotiropoulos is indeed as successful as he hopes, he has a clear vision for the $5.6 million first-place prize.
“I don’t know if it’s silly or not, but I would buy a house in Vegas,” said Sotiropoulos. “That’s the plan if I win the first prize.”
End of Day 1 chip count: 177,000 (916/1,375)
End of Day 2 chip count: 1,100,000 (112/480)
End of Day 3 chip count: 1,760,000 (84/132)
End of Day 4 chip count: 7,950,000 (21/45)
End of Day 5 chip count: 24,600,000 (7/16)
4. Ben Heath | 36,700,000 (31 big blinds)
Age: 31
Birthplace: Brighton, United Kingdom
Currently Resides: Brighton, United Kingdom
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $19,933,642
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $2,018,148, 2nd, 2021 WSOP $250,000 Super High Roller
Other Prominent Scores: 3rd, 2019 Triton London Main Event for $1,642,935; 1st, 2019 WSOP $50,000 High Roller for $1,484,085; 4th, 2020 Super High Roller Bowl Sochi for $1,000,000; 3rd, 2022 WSOP $100,000 High Roller for $805,024
For a player like Ben Heath, who has thrived in some of the biggest High Roller fields in the world over the last few years, making the final table of a $10,400 buy-in should have seemingly left an easier task than usual to finish it out.
But that’s certainly not the case for him in this WPT World Championship. It would be a tough final six even if it was hand-picked at the start, but considering what the field looked like even at the start of Day 6, for all of these players to still be in was a significant unlikelihood.
“I think how it ended today is that some of the top guys just got really lucky at the end,” said Heath.
Regardless of his result on Thursday, Heath will clear $20 million in career earnings with this cash. And while he’s used to fighting through two- and three-day events in the high roller world, he’ll be winging it a little bit in the lead-up to this final table after finishing six straight days of poker.
“I don’t really get in a situation [like this]enough to have a plan, but probably just dinner and rest, and hopefully be ready for tomorrow,” said Heath.
End of Day 1 chip count: 365,000 (351/1,375)
End of Day 2 chip count: 265,000 (394/480)
End of Day 3 chip count: 2,425,000 (61/132)
End of Day 4 chip count: 16,600,000 (5/45)
End of Day 5 chip count: 22,300,000 (8/16)
5. Dan Sepiol | 34,300,000 (29 big blinds)
Age: 29
Birthplace: Valparaiso, Indiana
Currently Resides: Las Vegas, Nevada
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $1,380,994
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $204,735, 1st, 2023 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $2,700 No Limit Hold’em
Other Prominent Scores: 1st, 2021 MSPT Iowa Main Event for $162,781
Making a deep run in a field of thousands is incredibly challenging, and the difference between going out on Day 3 or 4 and making a final table can often come down to one hand.
For Dan Sepiol, that hand happened on Day 4 of the 2022 WPT World Championship. He got into a pot against Benny Glaser in which he flopped the world with 
on a 
board. The turn was a 
, and the river 
brought in the club flush.
When Glaser shoved, Sepiol called and was crushed to see Glaser table pocket fours.
“I lost a chip lead pot with 52 left against [Benny Glaser], who got second,” said Sepiol. “I was pretty devastated with last year’s bust out.”
The cash was one of the biggest of Sepiol’s career to that point, but getting that close and falling short of the biggest money felt like a once-in-a-career opportunity.
But it wasn’t.
Sepiol fought all the way back, and one year later he made it through six days of play in the WPT World Championship. He has a cash of at least $1.2 million locked up, and while his fellow challengers for the title are among the world’s best, Sepiol feels up to the task.
Along the way, more so than any of the big names he’ll be up against, Sepiol has received a wave of support from all over social media.
“It feels great,” said Sepiol. “I see all the messages and shout out to all my friends and family. I appreciate it a lot.”
End of Day 1 chip count: 471,000 (182/1,375)
End of Day 2 chip count: 1,665,000 (49/480)
End of Day 3 chip count: 5,010,000 (22/132)
End of Day 4 chip count: 2,800,000 (43/45)
End of Day 5 chip count: 27,900 (5/16)
6. Artur Martirosian | 29,400,000 (25 big blinds)
Age: 26
Birthplace: Voronezh, Russia
Currently Resides: Voronezh, Russia
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $12,587,828
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $3,271,666, 2nd, 2023 WSOP $250,000 Super High Roller
Other Prominent Scores: 1st, 2021 Super High Roller Bowl Cyprus for $1,400,000; 5th, 2023 PSPC $250,000 Super High Roller for $854,800; 3rd, 2023 PCA Main Event for $677,400; 1st, 2022 EPT Barcelona €25,000 High Roller for $556,454
Only nine players in poker history have ever won poker’s “Triple Crown” – a WSOP bracelet, a WPT Championship Event and an EPT Main Event title. On Thursday, if Artur Martirosian can make a comeback from the shortest stack in the 2023 WPT World Championship, he will become No. 10.
Considering this is the first year in which Martirosian has played tournaments in the United States, where the majority of WPT events are held, such an opportunity is not taken lightly. And in limited opportunities in the States this year, Martirosian has already put together some big results.
“I was second at WSOP this year in the $250K, also a big tournament in Vegas,” said Martirosian. “This will be my, I think second [or third] biggest tournament [result], and if I will win this, it will be the first. I’m excited.”
After jumping out to a big stack by the end of Day 3 of the WPT World Championship, and bagging a top-three stack at the close of Day 5, playdown day to the final table was significantly more challenging. Martirosian actually bagged fewer chips to close out Day 6 than he did at the end of Day 5, but he felt he was equal to the challenge throughout the event.
“It was not hard to play, but you need to have high concentration for a lot of days in a row,” said Martirosian. “And you feel tired every day because of it.”
Martirosian is the youngest player remaining in the field at 26 years old, but given his successes in High Rollers and Super High Rollers over the last 12 months, he’ll almost certainly be up for the challenge.
End of Day 1 chip count: 597,000 (76/1,375)
End of Day 2 chip count: 1,800,000 (37/480)
End of Day 3 chip count: 10,930,000 (2/132)
End of Day 4 chip count: 11,250,000 (11/45)
End of Day 5 chip count: 36,200,000 (3/16)
Results provided courtesy of The Hendon Mob.