The first card was dealt in the 2023 World Series of Poker on July 3, which was Day 1A. Eleven days later, in real time, and eight days of poker for each player involved, a field that encompassed 10,043 players is now down to a single table of nine.
Day 8 was a shorter stretch than all of the previous sessions, kicking off at 2 p.m. local time at Horseshoe Las Vegas with 15 players left and wrapping up early in the evening.
Adam Walton of Seattle went on a run throughout play on Friday and laid claim to the chip lead, with 143.8 million. He’ll have 24 percent of the chips in play when the final table kicks off Sunday afternoon, with the pole position in the race for the bracelet and record $12.1 million first-place prize.
He’ll have to contend with some seasoned pros with major titles to their names, including Toby Lewis, Daniel Weinman, and Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who also claimed highly coveted spots at this final table.
Without further ado, let’s learn a little bit more about each of the final nine, with additional thoughts from Walton, Weinman, and Lewis from moments after the 2023 WSOP Final Table was set.
Seat 1: Steven Jones
Chips: 90,300,000 (2/9, 75 big blinds)
Home Country: USA
Resides: Phoenix, AZ
Age: 35
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $245,345
Biggest Lifetime Live Cash: 9th, 2018 WSOP Colossus for $57,425
Other Prominent Scores: 29th, 2021 WSOP $1,500 Millionaire Maker for $23,435
Steven Jones has shown a knack for running deep in big tournament fields at the WSOP. He finished ninth in the $565 Colossus event at the 2018 WSOP, and 29th in the Millionaire Maker in 2021. But neither of those runs holds a candle to what Jones has accomplished by making the final table of the 2023 WSOP Main Event.
After jumping out to a strong start over his first three days in this tournament, Days 4 through 6 were a tougher grind as Jones hung on toward the bottom of the chip counts. He shot back up during a pivotal run on Day 7, which included eliminating Ryan Tamanini. And while Walton is rightfully getting attention as the new chip leader, Jones picked his spots well on Day 8 and worked his way all the way up to second.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 148,500 (203/2,326 on Day 1C)
Day 2: 336,000 (287/3,542)
Day 3: 808,000 (151/1,517)
Day 4: 720,000 (311/441)
Day 5: 2,770,000 (93/149)
Day 6: 6,250,000 (36/49)
Day 7: 67,700,000 (4/15)
Seat 2: Juan Maceiras Lapido
Chips: 68,000,000 (5/9, 57 big blinds)
Home Country: Spain
Resides: A Coruna, Spain
Age: 39
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $1,300,121
Biggest Lifetime Live Cash: 5th, 2011 EPT Madrid Grand Final for $467,532
Other Prominent Scores: 6th, 2008 EPT Warsaw Main Event for $148,196
Juan Maceiras Lapido slipped a bit from his peak, after entering Day 8 of the 2023 WSOP Main Event with a substantial chip lead. But even with a fall from first to fifth, he accomplished his primary goal of locking down a spot at the final table. He’s made a pair of EPT final tables in his career, but nothing that quite compares to how bright the lights will be on the WSOP Main Event stage on Sunday. Macieras has already guaranteed almost twice his career-best payout, and with a couple of pay jumps he would exceed the entirety of his live results.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: N/A
Day 2: 372,000 (201/3,542)
Day 3: 1,004,000 (86/1,517)
Day 4: 3,985,000 (6/441)
Day 5: 4,790,000 (47/149)
Day 6: 40,500,000 (2/49)
Day 7: 108,000,000 (1/15)
Seat 3: Daniel Holzner
Chips: 31,900,000 (8/9, 27 big blinds)
Home Country: Italy
Resides: Bolzano, Italy
Age: 31
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $25,517
Biggest Lifetime Live Cash: $5,944, 652nd, 2023 WSOP Millionaire Maker
Daniel Holzner was on the brink of elimination right away at the 10-handed final table, but he appeared to be in good shape to double up with 
against then-chip leader Maceiras’ 
. The 
in the window flipped the script, and no help arrived on the turn. After getting it in good, Holzner had just three outs to save his Main Event hopes and dreams.
The river queen saved Holzner, doubled him up, and set him up for a further spin-up over the next few hours. Holzner’s career live tournament earnings of just over $25,000 are the least of any player among the final nine, and everything he earns – a minimum of $900,000 – will be pure profit, after getting his seat gifted to him by friends and family for his birthday.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 52,300 (2,140/3,202 on Day 1D)
Day 2: 267,500 (581/3,542)
Day 3: 507,000 (429/1,517)
Day 4: 2,255,000 (71/441)
Day 5: 2,735,000 (95/149)
Day 6: 2,050,000 (47/49)
Day 7: 14,750,000 (12/15)
Seat 4: Adam Walton
Chips: 143,800,000 (1/9, 120 big blinds)
Home Country: USA
Resides: Seattle, WA
Age: 40
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $989,037
Biggest Lifetime Live Cash: 2nd, 2022 $3,000 No Limit Hold’em at WPT World Championship series for $283,072
Other Prominent Scores: 42nd, 2021 WSOP Main Event for $163,900
Primarily a cash game player, Adam Walton has shown some serious aptitude for the WSOP Main Event. This is Walton’s third career cash in the WSOP Main Event, and second deep run. His 2021 WSOP Main Event came to an abrupt end in 42nd place when he ran head-first into pocket aces.
This time around, things have gone considerably better.
“It wasn’t a good way to go out [in 2021], and it was really frustrating,” said Walton. “And I did the exact same thing again this year, except I doubled. So, you know, I guess the lesson of the story is: get there.”
Walton claimed the chip lead from Maceiras on Day 8 in a pot where he turned a pair of kings with 
and Maceiras called down with just ace-high. From there, Walton kept on building, took a considerable chunk of Toby Lewis’ stack and his big crowd of supporters on the rail chanted Walton’s name louder and louder as his stack grew.
“I just feel extremely fortunate, that luck just happened to land on me for something like this,” said Walton. “It’s kind of a surreal moment – nobody ever thinks this is gonna happen to him, and here I am.”
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 60,200 (1,419/2,326 on Day 1C)
Day 2: 244,000 (730/3,542)
Day 3: 1,339,000 (25/1,517)
Day 4: 3,405,000 (17/441)
Day 5: 3,625,000 (74/149)
Day 6: 12,225,000 (21/49)
Day 7: 79,745,000 (2/15)
Seat 5: Ruslan Prydryk
Chips: 50,700,000 (6/9, 42 big blinds)
Home Country: Ukraine
Resides: Lungansk, Ukraine
Age: 50
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $461,758
Biggest Lifetime Live Cash: 5th, 2009 EPT Warsaw for $104,637
Other Prominent Scores: 8th, 2011 EPT Deauville for $90,918
Ruslan Prydryk managed to keep things pretty steady throughout Day 8, and he’ll start the final table exactly where he started on Friday – in sixth place. Prior to his appearance at this final table, Prydryk’s successes had largely come overseas, with two EPT Main Event final tables, in 2009 and 2011. His most recent tournament cash came in 2017, and prior to that small result, all the way back to 2014. Prydryk’s first result on U.S. soil since 2011 is as good as it gets, and he’ll look to continue to multiply his lifetime earnings with each jump up the ladder moving forward.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 44,400 (2,379/3,202 on Day 1D)
Day 2: 278,500 (516/3,542)
Day 3: 423,000 (546/1,517)
Day 4: 1,380,000 (180/441)
Day 5: 4,610,000 (49/149)
Day 6: 14,150,000 (17/49)
Day 7: 45,750,000 (6/15)
Seat 6: Dean Hutchison
Chips: 41,700,000 (7/9, 35 big blinds)
Home Country: Scotland
Resides: Glasgow, Scotland
Age: 36
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $723,865
Biggest Lifetime Live Cash: 1st, 2014 UKIPT Edinburgh Main Event for $154,000
Other Prominent Scores: 4th, 2018 partypoker MILLIONS UK Open for $65,827; 9th, 2023 WSOP $1,500 No Limit Hold’em for $35,773
Dean Hutchison, who hails from Glasgow, had to stage something of a comeback early on in Day 8. He got just what he was looking for when he picked up pocket aces against Jan-Peter Jachtmann’s pocket tens. Hutchison picked up a pair of major pots later in the day with ace-king and aces (again) without having to show down his hand on either occasion. While the majority of Hutchison’s results happened closer to home, including a win at UKIPT Edinburgh in 2014, he won a side event during WPT’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in April and recorded the only prior WSOP final table appearance of 2023 among the final nine players.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 187,300 (81/3,202 on Day 1D)
Day 2: 147,000 (1,753/3,542)
Day 3: 888,000 (128/1,517)
Day 4: 1,600,000 (136/441)
Day 5: 2,000,000 (111/149)
Day 6: 10,800,000 (26/49)
Day 7: 17,500,000 (11/15)
Seat 7: Toby Lewis
Chips: 19,800,000 (9/9, 17 big blinds)
Home Country: UK
Resides: Southampton, England
Age: 33
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $8,213,474
Biggest Lifetime Live Cash: 3rd, 2021 $10,000 Wynn Summer Classic for $1,235,204
Other Prominent Scores: 1st, 2018 Aussie Millions Main Event for $1,178,513; 2nd, 2018 WPT L.A. Poker Classic for $600,000; 1st, 2010 EPT Vilamoura for $594,568
Toby Lewis enters the 2023 WSOP Main Event final table with the longest résumé of any of the nine players. He won the Aussie Millions Main Event and an EPT title. He finished runner-up in the 2018 WPT L.A. Poker Classic and chopped the $10,000 Main Event at the Wynn Summer Classic in 2021 for over $1.2 million. He has five other major final tables under his belt.
Lewis has also run deep in the WSOP Main Event before, finishing 53rd in 2015. So he knew what he was getting into when he started this tournament on Day 1D.
“You have to be locked in and ready to play every day for 10 hours of play, and probably think about it for the other eight hours a day when you’re not sleeping,” said Lewis.
His Day 8 experience was a bit rocky, and after starting the day with 50 million in fifth place, he slipped down the counts and ultimately assumed lowest stack honors with the elimination of Jose Aguilera in 10th place. With 17 big blinds when play resumes, Lewis feels confident that he’ll be able to make the most of whatever spots come his way.
“I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve made a bunch of final tables, live and online,” said Lewis. “I have a ton of experience of being nine of nine, and being one of nine. I’m shortest right now, but with five left I could be the second in chips. So I’ll just play my game – it’s done me well for 15 years.”
Lewis was on the wrong side of a few hands on the featured table along the way, including a bluff that got him off of an ace-high flush against Daniel Vampan. But Vampan went out in 24th, and Lewis still has a realistic chance to win $12.1 million – and Lewis holds no regrets about the path he took to reach the WSOP Main Event final table.
“I got bluffed a couple of times. I folded the best hand a couple of times,” said Lewis. “Shit happens, and I’ll sleep easy because I played it the way I play.”
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 59,400 (1,919/3,202 on Day 1D)
Day 2: 97,000 (2,477/3,542)
Day 3: 348,000 (654/1,517)
Day 4: 1,210,000 (208/441)
Day 5: 4,275,000 (63/149)
Day 6: 15,250,000 (14/49)
Day 7: 50,000,000 (5/15)
Seat 8: Daniel Weinman
Chips: 81,700,000 (3/9, 68 big blinds)
Home Country: USA
Resides: Atlanta, GA
Age: 35
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $3,757,357
Biggest Lifetime Live Cash: 1st, 2017 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open for $892,433
Other Prominent Scores: 1st, WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Tournament of Champions for $381,500; 1st, 2022 WSOP $1,000 PLO for $255,359
Daniel Weinman is the last remaining member of the WPT Champions Club in the 2023 WSOP Main Event, and his run to the final table was very nearly cut short early on Day 8. His pocket jacks ran directly into Aguilera’s pocket queens and Joshua Payne’s pocket kings in a three-way all-in.
Because he still has chips, we think you can guess what happened next.
Payne was eliminated in 14th place, and Weinman’s stack was attached to a rocket ship as he shot toward the top of the counts.
“Everyone talks about their one time, and I’ve never really used my one time,” said Weinman. “So I kind of internally had a little feeling that something might happen there.”
With a WPT Main Tour title to his credit, along with a WSOP bracelet, now that Weinman has chips to maneuver with, his previous experiences could prove to be very useful. But there’s still nothing quite like the WSOP Main Event.
“I do think it’ll help you know having experience deep in some big spots,” said Weinman. “But I’d be lying if I said that this wasn’t 10 times the pressure. I feel it in every single pot.”
This run represents everything that Weinman has worked to in his poker career, and he appreciates how fortunate he is to still be in contention to win the WSOP Main Event.
“I played it for 16 years now,” Weinman said. “You never think you’re gonna get there. You see it every year on TV, see all these guys at the final table, and you think it’d be so cool to have a chance, one time, to make it. It just feels so surreal.”
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 80,000 (1,297/3,202 on Day 1D)
Day 2: 362,000 (220/3,542)
Day 3: 863,000 (136/1,517)
Day 4: 2,850,000 (36/441)
Day 5: 5,340,000 (39/149)
Day 6: 24,375,000 (3/49)
Day 7: 21,750,000 (10/15)
Seat 9: Jan-Peter Jachtmann
Chips: 74,600,000 (4/9, 62 big blinds)
Home Country: Germany
Resides: Hamburg, Germany
Age: 55
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $1,907,632
Biggest Lifetime Live Cash: 1st, 2012 WSOP $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha for $661,000
Other Prominent Scores: 4th, Casino Austria Poker Tour Championship for $75,733; 11th, 2019 WSOP Europe Main Event for $66,466
Jan-Peter Jachtmann did a lot of the dirty work in the playdown to the final table of the 2023 WSOP Main Event. He picked up the last of Cong Pham’s chips to send Pham out in 12th place. Then, after considerable chip movement over the course of a level of 10-handed play, turned a straight that knocked out Aguilera in 10th place and locked in the final nine. Jachtmann, along with Weinman, is seeking his second career WSOP gold bracelet, and Jachtmann’s victory came in a $10,000 Championship event (PLO) back in 2012. Jachtmann is the oldest player at this final table at 55, but his experience should make him a serious threat to walk away with the crown.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 132,200 (343/3,202 on Day 1D)
Day 2: 415,000 (132/3,542)
Day 3: 403,000 (575/1,517)
Day 4: 1,375,000 (182/441)
Day 5: 5,465,000 (37/149)
Day 6: 14,975,000 (15/49)
Day 7: 70,775,000 (3/15)