Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em

There were nine players who returned for Day 2 of Event #83: $1,500 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. After the dust had settled, it was Vietnamese player Thai Ha who walked away with his first career gold bracelet and the $111,170 top prize.

Ha bested a field of 363 players, last defeating start-of-day chip leader David Prociak in heads-up play to win the tournament.

2023 WSOP Event #83 Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

Ha, who has two previous runner-up finishes at the WSOP, both in Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em, said that it feels great to have finally won a bracelet in this format.

"It feels great. Short Deck is one of the games I play the most and I got second twice already so this time it definitely feels great not to get second again. I feel like Short Deck is my strongest game."

When asked what it was like facing previous bracelet winner Prociak in heads-up play, Ha mentioned being comfortable due to his experience in Short Deck but also complimented his opponent's experience across a wide variety of games.

"He's pretty good but I have a little bit more experience in Short Deck than him so I felt comfortable playing heads up. But he's good in every game and he's picking up short deck very fast. He wasn't an easy opponent."

Ha mentioned a pivotal hand that happened during heads-up play as being the turning point for him being able to take control of the match.

"Definitely in the heads-up match when I flopped the nut-straight against him and he flopped the second nut-straight was the turning point for me."

When asked about his plans for the final week of the series, Ha mentioned that he will definitely be playing Event #93: $10,000 Short Deck No-Limit Hold'em that begins Sunday, July 16.

Final Day Action

There were nine players who bagged a stack for Day 2 which began at 12:00 p.m. Play was generally deep-stacked compared to the day before with eliminations occurring at a much slower pace.

Adam Adler was the first to fall after running into Ryan Laplante's pocket queens in a preflop confrontation.

It would take over an hour for the next elimination to occur. Marcos Exterkotter had a roller-coaster session from the start of the day, at one point doubling through Ha with pocket aces only to double up Matan Gabay a few hands later when Gabay flopped a straight. His deep run came to an end when his pocket kings were cracked by Ha who had turned a straight to send Exterkotter to the rail.

Exterkotter's elimination marked the start of the official final table, where Gabay would be the first to hit the rail after running into Ha's pocket kings. Moses Alosh would join him shortly after when he got the last of his chips in preflop with pocket sixes against the ace-king of Robert James, who rivered a king to end Alosh's run.

Laplante, one of two former bracelet winners to make the final table, was the next to be eliminated in a preflop confrontation against Ha, who turned a pair of queens to pull ahead of Laplante's pocket tens.

James started the day second in chips but was on the wrong end of several coolers to find himself as one of the shorter stacks during four-handed play. James would ultimately run into Prociak's pocket aces preflop and, despite improving to two pair by the turn, he would be eliminated when Prociak rivered a set.

Prociak would next eliminate Wai Kiat Lee, getting his chips in with ace-king against a short-stacked Lee who held ace-jack. Prociak's dominating hand held the whole way through to send Lee to the rail and commence heads-up play.

Prociak began the match with just over a 2-1 chip advantage against Ha. Ha refused to go down easily though, grinding a short stack for roughly an hour before taking the chip lead in a pivotal hand where he flopped the nut straight against Prociak. This was followed up by another hand where he called a bluff from Prociak with two pair before getting the last of Prociak's chips in a preflop confrontation with pocket-queens against Prociak's suited king-ten.

That wraps up the coverage for this event but stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage needs from the last week of the series, including the WSOP Main Event coverage taking place right now.

Thai Ha limped in from the cutoff and David Prociak checked his option.

Both players checked the     flop to see the   turn. Ha bet 50,000 and Prociak made the call.

Ha fired again on the   river for 125,000 and Prociak raised to 410,000. After about one minute of consideration Ha made the call.

Prociak tabled    for a rivered straight to get some of the chips back he had lost to Ha earlier.

Thai Ha	4,700,000	-500,000
David Prociak	4,400,000	500,000

Thai Ha limped in and David Prociak checked his option on the button.

Ha took the lead for 60,000 on a board of    . Prociak called.

The   seemingly slowed down Ha. Prociak bet out for 180,000 and Ha check-raised to 580,000. Prociak elected to see a river.

The   fell and Ha sized up with a bet of 1,700,000, sending Prociak into the tank.

Prociak eventually flicked in the call and Ha tabled    for a flopped straight. Ha took the chip lead for the first time in this heads-up battle.

Thai Ha	5,200,000	2,325,000
David Prociak	3,900,000	-2,325,000

This deep heads-up match has consisted primarily of raise and takes. With the chips seemingly changing hands every orbit the current chip counts are below.

David Prociak	5,625,000	-240,000
Thai Ha	3,475,000	240,000

David Prociak limped in and Thai Ha checked his option on the button.

The flop came     and Prociak bet out for 30,000. Ha raised to 150,000 and Prociak called.

The turned   checked through to the   on the river. Prociak checked once more and Ha elected to check back.

To Ha's surprise, Prociak tabled    for a flopped flush and took down the pot.

David Prociak	6,550,000	150,000
Thai Ha	2,550,000	-150,000

David Prociak in the cutoff moved all in covering Wai Kiat Lee on the button. Lee called off the bet for approximately 700,000 and his tournament life was on the line.

Wai Kiat Lee:   
David Prociak:   

The board ran out      . Prociak's dominating hand stayed that way to the river and Lee was eliminated in 3rd place.

Prociak and Ha are now heads up for the bracelet.

David Prociak	6,300,000	0
Thai Ha	2,800,000	-140,000
Wai Kiat Lee	0	-820,000

Players are on a 15-minute break. The yellow 1,000 chip is being raced off.

Robert James opened to 60,000 from the cutoff and Wai Kiat Lee made the call from the button.

The flop came    . James checked, Lee bet 95,000 and James moved all in with a covering stack. Lee quickly made the call and was at risk.

Wai Kiat Lee:   
Robert James:   

James' overpair was far behind Lee's flopped set but he still had outs in the form of a jack or an eight. He did not get what he needed on the   turn or   river and Lee collected a full double up.

Wai Kiat Lee	820,000	148,000
Robert James	560,000	-494,000

Thai Ha raised in early position to 60,000, Robert James in the cutoff called and Ryan Laplante shoved all in from the button for 3,440,000. Ha remained in the tank for some time but eventually made the call. James snap-folded and the hand went to a showdown.

Ryan Laplante:   
Thai Ha:   

The board ran out      . Ha turned top pair to pull out in front of Laplante's pocket tens and sent him to the rail by the river.

Thai Ha	3,498,000	953,000
Robert James	1,054,000	641,000
Ryan Laplante	0	-818,000

Robert James raised from early position to 62,000. Moses Alosh sat to his direct left and moved all in for 413,000. Action back on James, he tanked for some time before finally making the call.

Moses Alosh:   
Robert James:   

The board ran out      . A rivered king marked the end of Alosh's deep run and sent him to the rail in 6th place.

Robert James	413,000	-395,000
Moses Alosh	0	-545,000