Welcome back to another day of action at the 2023 World Series of Poker. An unscheduled Day 5 of Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack sees Nicholas Gerrity coming back with the chip lead of 112,300,000 in chips.
The Monster Stack saw 8,317 entries coming in during the two Day 1s to create a total prize pool of $11,103,195. Seven players are vying for that first-place prize of $1,162,681 and the hankered-for gold WSOP bracelet that can be won today at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Also still in contention are bracelet winner Jesse Rockowitz in second place while 2009 Main Event champion Joe Cada is the shortest stack at the start of the day. Joining them on the final table are Braxton Dunaway, Colin Robinson, Loic Dobrigna, and Joshua Adcock.
Final Table Seat Draw and Chip Counts
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
2
Jesse Rockowitz
United States
94,500,000
47
3
Nicholas Gerrity
United States
112,300,000
56
4
Loic Dobrigna
France
47,100,000
24
5
Colin Robinson
United States
47,400,000
24
6
Joshua Adcock
United States
43,200,000
22
7
Braxton Dunaway
United States
54,900,000
27
8
Joe Cada
United States
16,600,000
8
Play will continue at 5 p.m. PDT today with Level 40, which features a small blind of 1,000,000, a big blind of 2,000,000, and a big blind ante of 2,000,000. The level duration will remain at 60 minutes each, with a 15-minute break after every two levels. Play will continue until a winner has been found.
The seven remaining players have secured a payout of at least $186,149 but will all be looking to climb that pay ladder all the way to the top. This is what they are still playing for:
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
1
$1,162,681
2
$718,649
3
$541,376
4
$410,493
5
$313,297
6
$240,695
7
$186,149
The live stream will be available on PokerGO, and our updates will follow the same delay not to spoil the hole-cards coverage. Make sure to follow along as the PokerNews live reporting team continues to bring you all the action.
Niveau 40
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Joe Cada was all in for the last of his stack and Braxton Dunaway was the one to put him at risk. The cards were already on their backs and the dealer was ready to go.
Joe Cada: A♣K♦
Braxton Dunaway: A♥J♣
The board ran out 9♣7♦Q♣6♣J♥ and a jack on the river gave Dunaway the best hand and knocked Cada out in seventh place for $186,149.
Niveau 41
: Blinds 1,200,000/2,500,000, 2,500,000 ante
Nicholas Gerrity raised to 5,000,000 before Joshua Adcock shoved from the button for 35,400,000. Braxton Dunaway called from the small blind and Gerrity ducked out of the way. Action was heads up and Adcock was at risk.
Joshua Adcock: A♦K♣
Braxton Dunaway: A♠Q♣
The board ran out 5♣7♥3♦Q♥2♠ and Dunaway turned a pair of queens to send Adcock to the rail in sixth place for $240,695.
Niveau 42
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Action folded to Nicholas Gerrity in the small blind and he moved all in for 30.9 million, which Jesse Rockowitz opted to call from the big blind.
Nicholas Gerrity: A♦6♣
Jesse Rockowitz: 2♠2♥
It was a flip but Gerrity needed to improve to stay alive. That didn't happen though as the board instead ran out 4♥5♥J♦9♦J♥ to send him to the rail in fifth place.
Niveau 42
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Jesse Rockowitz raised to 8,000,000 before Loic Dobrigna shoved 56,500,000 from the next seat over. Not to be out done, Braxton Dunaway four-bet to around 100,000,000 and Rockowitz was forced out of the pot. Action was heads up and Dobrigna was at risk.
Loic Dobrigna: A♠2♦
Braxton Dunaway: Q♥Q♦
The board ran out Q♠8♦K♥3♣K♣ and Dunaway flopped a queen to send Dobrigna to the rail in fourth place for $410,493.
Niveau 44
: Blinds 2,500,000/5,000,000, 5,000,000 ante
Braxton Dunaway raised to 10 million in the small blind and Jesse Rockowitz defended the big blind to see a flop of K♠5♠7♦ flop. Both players checked and the 4♥ appeared on the turn.
Dunaway checked, Rockowitz bet 10 million, and Dunaway woke up with a check-raise jam.
Rockwitz had 78 million behind and called it off.
Jesse Rockowitz: 8♣7♣
Braxton Dunaway: Q♣6♣
Rockowitz was ahead with a pair and gutshot straight draw, while Dunaway had an open-ended straight draw. The Q♦ river didn't complete that latter draw, but it did pair Dunaway's queen to give him a bigger pair and the win.
Niveau 44
: Blinds 2,500,000/5,000,000, 5,000,000 ante
Braxton Dunaway limped in and Colin Robinson raised to 15,000,000. Dunaway called and the flop was 3♠2♦7♥.
Robinson checked the flop and called when Dunaway bet 8,000,000. The turn was 9♥.
Robinson check-called again, this time for 26,000,000.
The river was K♠ and Robinson checked one more time. Dunaway fired 73,000,000 and Robinson leaned forward to consider a call for the rest of his chips. After a few moments of thought, he called and turned over A♦2♠ for a pair of deuces. However, Dunaway showed 9♣7♦ to win the pot and the tournament with nines and sevens.
Robinson was eliminated in second place for $718,649.
Niveau 44
: Blinds 2,500,000/5,000,000, 5,000,000 ante
The 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP)Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack began with 8,317 entrants but on Wednesday night only seven returned to play down to a winner. Each was guaranteed at least $186,149 out of the $11,103,195 prize pool, but of course, everyone had their eyes firmly fixed on the $1,162,681 prize.
When the dust settled, 40-year-old family man Braxton Dunaway, who hails from Midland, Texas and works in the oil and gas industry, emerged victorious to claim the seven-figure first-place prize and his first WSOP gold bracelet.
His first order of business after the last card was dealt was to call his wife, Stephanie, and their four children – Jordyn, who just graduated college; Macy, who is 17 and a senior in high school; Hayes, who is in ninth grade; and eight-year-old, Sawyer.
“Our little girl who runs the whole show, the boss of the family, we call her ‘Bossy Saucy,’” said Dunaway, who indicated he’ll be flying to Omaha, Nebraska in the morning to meet his wife and two youngest children.
“They’re at the College World Series,” Dunaway explained. “My son is in a tournament during that, which is for teenage boys. He won his first two games today and he’s guaranteed like five more games. I’ll be there, we’ll catch some games, and just hang out on vacation.”
Before the victory, Dunaway had $333,318 in lifetime tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob, which included a prior career-best of $62,500 for finishing in 142nd place in last year’s WSOP Main Event. While Dunaway is catching the first flight out in the morning, he indicated he will return for the 2023 WSOP Main Event in July.
“I’ll be back to for sure play the Main; that’s the plan,” Dunaway confirmed. “I’ve just been gone so long I need to get home, do laundry, and sleep in my own bed. I still can’t believe it. It’s just amazing. I told my wife, and she said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’”
2023 WSOP Event #39 Final Table Results
Place
Player
County
Prize
1
Braxton Dunaway
United States
$1,162,681
2
Colin Robinson
United States
$718,649
3
Jesse Rockowitz
United States
$541,376
4
Loic Dobrigna
France
$410,493
5
Nicholas Gerrity
United States
$313,297
6
Joshua Adcock
United States
$240,695
7
Joe Cada
United States
$186,149
Others to cash the tournament were Day 3 chip leader Xuming Qi (11th - $89,644), Ashley Frank (16th - $56,980), Tyler Hancock (23rd - $45,980), Nate Silver (32nd - $37,233), Michael “BrockLesnar” Holtz (62nd - $20,730), Kyle Julius (79th - $14,540), and bracelet winner Gershon Distenfeld (93rd - $10,499), who once again donated all his winnings to charity.
Final Table Action
2009 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Cada started the day as the short stack, and unfortunately for the four-time bracelet winner, his quest at a fifth came to an end quickly when his ace-king was outdrawn by the ace-jack of Dunaway when a jack spiked on the river.
Not long after, Joshua Adcock three-bet jammed holding ace-king and was in prime shape to double through Dunaway, who had ace-queen. Unfortunately for him, Dunaway came from behind again, this time spiking a queen on the river to score another knockout.
Nicholas Gerrity, who began the final table as the chip leader was next to go after losing a flip with ace-six against the pocket deuces of Jesse Rockowitz, and then France’s Loic Dobrigna followed him out the door after three-bet jamming with ace-deuce only to run smack dab into the two red queens of Dunaway, who held to take a big chip lead into three-handed play.
The final three battled for a long time before Dunaway put Rockowitz to the test on the turn. The latter called it off with second pair and a gutshot straight draw, which was ahead of Dunaway’s open-ended straight draw and queen kicker. Unfortunately for Rockowitz, his tournament came to an end in brutal fashion when a queen spiked on the river.
Dunaway took a more than 3:1 chip lead into heads-up play against Colin Robinson, and it didn’t take long for the Texan to finish things off. In the final hand, Robinson called it off on the river with a pair only to see Dunaway roll over two pair for the victory.
“I want to say that all the people who were at the final table were really nice, great opponents, good players,” Dunaway concluded. “I got extremely lucky a few times, but you have to win one of these things. It was just my turn, it’s just awesome.”
That does it for updates from this event, but there is still plenty of action to follow from the 2023 WSOP in our live updates hub here.