Event #76: $10,000 MAIN EVENT No-Limit Hold'em World Championship

Seven tournament days have concluded for the largest WSOP $10,000 Main Event in history and the gargantuan field of 10,043 has been whittled down to the final 15 contenders. They are competing for a large portion of the $93,399,900 prize pool at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas but the eventual winner won't be crowned for another four days in the Thunderdome.

Juan Maceiras entered the day second in chips and proceeded to dominate throughout the five 120-minute levels en route to claiming 108,000,000 in chips. His father was also a poker aficionado and he passed on the reign to his son, who was a PokerStars sponsored pro in Spain and is the odds-on favorite to become the new world champion.

Adam Walton soared into second place in the final hand of the night when he flopped a full house against the turned flush of Anirban Das to end the day with 94 big blinds for Day 8. Walton was supported by a boisterous rail and will certainly hope to have them back in the Horseshoe Events Center for the remaining three tournament days.

"It's really fun. It's fun to have everybody here hanging out. It's a very rare experience to be able to do this in the Main, so I'm having a blast. Having the time of my life," Walton mentioned once the emotions had settled down after bagging and tagging.

Germany's Jan-Peter Jachtmann is one of two WSOP bracelet winners still in contention and occupies the final spot on the overnight podium. The Hamburg-based marketing manager usually prefers the great game of Pot-Limit Omaha, in which he triumphed back in 2012, taking down Event #39: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for a career-best score of $661,000. He has a decent shot at surpassing that payday by a significant margin in the days to follow thanks to amassing 70,775,000 in chips so far.

Daniel Weinman likewise won his first bracelet in the four-card variant during the 2022 WSOP at the very same venue and sits in the middle of the pack with 21,750,000 in chips.

Arguably one of the most well-known contenders still in the mix is the English poker pro Toby Lewis, one of four Brits with chips at their disposal. He once again made a big lay down and correctly folded the top two pair in a large pot against Jachtmann. Lewis was left with 22 big blinds on the final three tables, more than enough to spin up thanks to the deep structure of the event, and he finished a topsy-turvy day with 50,050,000, good enough for fifth place.

He will be joined by fellow countrymen Sachin Joshi (27,775,000), Dean Hutchison (17,500,000), and Jack O'Neill (11,700,000), while Andrew Hulme was eliminated in 18th place in the final level of the night.

Another late casualty on Day 7 was Russian poker pro Andrey Pateychuk, who had already racked up $5 million in tournament cashes on the live poker circuit prior to this deep run. One of his eight six-figure scores came in the 2011 WSOP Main Event in which he finished in 15th place for $478,174. Pateychuk reached the final two tables once again a decade later, but had to settle for 17th place this time.

Top Ten Counts After Day 7

Day 6 chip leader Joshua Payne retained his chances of reaching the nine-handed final table but dropped back into the middle of the pack. The same also applies for seasoned pro Alec Torelli, who required several double-ups when getting short to advance and return another day.

The final 15 hopefuls are set to return at 2 p.m. local time on Friday, July 14, and the returning blinds for Level 36 will be 400,000-800,000 with a 800,000 big blind ante. Day 8 is scheduled to conclude when the nine finalists for the official final table have been determined, who then get one day off prior to the grand finale which is then spread across two final days.

It was a day split in two different phases as the initial field of 49 contenders was quickly cut into more than half and just 21 players still had chips in front of them on dinner break upon completion of the third level of the day.

By then, notables such as Sam Stein, Japan's YouTube star Masato Yokosawa, Maurice Hawkins, and Mark Teltscher had already visited the payout desk. Brazil's Carlos Henrique Da Silva was also among those to bow out after he never recovered from losing half of his stack when O'Neill pulled off a successful preflop six-bet shove.

Three eliminations in quick succession then set up the redraw of the final three tables when Harsheel Kothari, Matthew Wantman and Nicholas Gerrity were all eliminated in a matter of minutes.

The action never really slowed down either as the third level of the day brought with it another six open seats with Gabi Livshitz and Ryan Tosoc among those to run out of chips. Once the field returned from dinner, Daniel Scroggins succumbed to his short stack in the very first hand but it would be the only casualty of the entire two-hour session. Weinman scored a double in a cooler against Joe Ghio when he flopped a superior set with the latter bowing out in 19th place.

The aforementioned Hulme reached the second redraw of the evening with less than half a big blind after he had hero-called at the wrong time versus Torelli prior. The miracle comeback was cut short in a single hand thereafter and the pay jump from $345,000 to $430,200 was of no concern for the other 17 contenders.

Pateychuk and Das hit the rail during the dying minutes of the night and set the stage for a potentially short-lived Day 8, which requires only six eliminations to set up the 2023 WSOP Main Event final table. The PokerNews live reporting team will be back to provide all of the action, in sync with the delay of the PokerGO live stream, so as to avoid spoilers.

On the last hand of Day 7, Adam Walton raised to 1,200,000 under the gun and received three callers, including Anirban Das, Jack O'Neill, and Dean Hutchison.

The flop came     and Walton bet 1,200,000. Das called in early position, O'Neill called on the button, and Hutchison folded.

The   fell on the turn and action checked to O'Neill who bet 2,700,000. Walton then raised to 6,500,000 and Das called, while O'Neill got out of the way.

Walton shoved all in on the   river and Das quickly called for his last 17,800,000. Walton slammed down    for a full house and Das turned over    for a no-good flush. Das gave Walton his card protector as the two opponents shook hands before Das headed to the rail.

Adam Walton	75,500,000	35,400,000
Dean Hutchison	17,500,000	-3,000,000
Jack O'Neill	11,700,000	-5,400,000
Anirban Das	0	-23,700,000

Cong Pham raised to 1,200,000 under the gun and received two callers, Adam Walton in early position and Jack O'Neill in the big blind.

The flop came     and Pham bet 1,600,000. Only Walton called to see the   turn where both players checked.

Pham also checked the   river before Walton fired out 7,000,000. Pham shook his head and threw away his cards in frustration as Walton took the pot.

Adam Walton	40,100,000	6,400,000
Jack O'Neill	17,100,000	-5,700,000
Cong Pham	10,200,000	2,300,000

Anirban Das raised to 1,200,000 from under the gun and Adam Walton defended his big blind.

The flop came     and Das continued for 1,000,000. Walton called and both players checked the   turn.

The   fell on the river and Das bet another 1,600,000. Walton then grabbed a stack of peach 1,000,000 chips and put them in the middle, representing a raise to 10,000,000.

Das shot back in his seat and began pounding on the rail of the table as he went deep into the tank. He got up from his seat after a minute and studied the board before sitting back down and counting out the chips to call.

He eventually slid them in the middle and Walton showed    for a missed flush draw. Das turned over    for two pair and gave a big fist pump as he raked in the big pot.

Adam Walton	36,900,000	-12,800,000
Anirban Das	27,500,000	13,100,000

Toby Lewis opened to 1,200,000 from the hijack and Cong Pham called in the big blind.

The flop came     and Pham checked to Lewis, who bet another 600,000. Pham called to the   turn and checked again.

Lewis then checked back and both players also checked the   river. Pham quickly flashed two fours, but Lewis turned over    to win the pot.

Toby Lewis	42,900,000	3,900,000
Cong Pham	7,900,000	-900,000

Steven Jones opened to 1,200,000 from early position and Anirban Das defended his big blind.

The flop came     and Jones continued for 800,000. Das called and both players checked down the   turn and   river. Jones turned over    which was good enough to win the pot.

Jones then raised again to 1,200,000 and this time it was Toby Lewis calling from the big blind.

Jones bet another 1,100,000 on the     flop and Lewis called. The turn brought the   and Jones won the pot with a bet of 3,100,000.

Steven Jones	71,500,000	2,800,000
Toby Lewis	39,000,000	-2,850,000
Anirban Das	6,200,000	-2,600,000

Adam Walton raised to 1,200,000 from the hijack before Anirban Das three-bet to 2,800,000 in the cutoff. Action folded back to Walton who called to go heads-up to the flop.

The dealer spread out     and Das fired another 2,200,000. Walton called and both players checked the   turn.

The   fell on the river and Walton led out for 7,000,000. Das quickly called and Walton turned over    for the straight as his raucous rail erupted in celebration.

Adam Walton	50,000,000	13,200,000
Anirban Das	8,800,000	-12,300,000

Juan Maceiras Lapido raised to 1,200,000 on the button and Andrey Pateychuk shoved all in for 15,600,000 in the big blind. Maceiras Laipido quickly called and the cards were on their backs.

Andrey Pateychuk:   
Juan Maceiras Lapido:   

The flop fell     and Pateychuk was looking for one of two outs. The   and   changed nothing and Pateychuk was eliminated in 17th place.

Juan Maceiras	111,500,000	16,100,000
Andrey Pateychuk	0	-16,150,000

Jan-Peter Jachtmann raised to 2,000,000 in the cutoff and Andrew Hulme was all in for his last 275,000 in the small blind. Juan Maceiras Lapido called from the big blind which created a side pot. The flop came     and Jachtmann continued with a bet of 3,000,000 which got Maceiras Lapido to fold.

Andrew Hulme:   
Jan-Peter Jachtmann:   

Both players flopped a pair but it was Jachtmann who was well out front. The   and   runout secured the pot for Jachtmann and Hulme was eliminated in 18th place.

Juan Maceiras	95,400,000	-2,575,000
Jan-Peter Jachtmann	63,100,000	2,900,000
Andrew Hulme	0	-275,000