Matakis and Deeb Leapfrog Eveslage in 2023 WSOP POY Race

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Jun 17, 2023 4 min read

The 2023 World Series of Poker is soon to enter its fourth week of festivities, and the contest for WSOP Player of the Year is starting to heat up.

Chad Eveslage was the early frontrunner because of his back-to-back bracelet victories. However, Ian Matakis and Shaun Deeb have surpassed the only double bracelet winner of the series, thanks to a recent run of fine results.

Michael Moncek has also shot up from sixth to fourth in the POY standings after he came close to grabbing his second bracelet of the series in the $10,000 Razz Championship.

Jans Arends rounds out the top five following his sun run in some of the high roller bracelet events. The Dutch poker pro finished in third place in the $50,000 High Roller days before taking down the $100,000 High Roller for $2,576,729, the biggest payout of the 2023 WSOP so far.

Defending champion Dan Zack currently sits outside the top 100, of which you can see here.

Current 2023 WSOP POY Standings

Matakis Magics His Way to Top Spot

Matakis' route to the top of the table started around two weeks ago after he picked up his first bracelet in Online Event #2: $500 No-Limit Hold'em Bankroll Builder for $120,686 and 983.3 POY points.

Since then, he's put in some deep runs on the live felt as well as making another WSOP Online final table.

Overall, Matakis has cashed in nine events and sees his series earnings swell to $257,841 at the time of writing.

Ian Matakis' 2023 WSOP Cashes

Deeb Surges to Second Place

A sixth WSOP bracelet was presented to Deeb on June 14 off the back of his victory in $1,500 Eight Game Mix. The feat is truly remarkable, as Deeb added his name to the short list of players who have managed to win six bracelets within a decade. Only Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Johnny Moss, Layne Flack, and Jeffrey Lisandro are the other players to have done it.

Deeb, who is in the midst of a $1 million weight loss prop bet, collected $198,854 for the triumph but it's not the only six-figure payday he's seen this summer. The 2018 WSOP POY padded his bankroll with an extra $105,708 after he ended up as the runner-up in Online Event #3: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack.

He was awarded 1,006.5 POY points for his tournament win, and he secured another 492.7 from his silver medal performance. His 342.2 points he received from making the final table of the $1,500 Seven Card Stud is also another major contributor to his acceleration up the leaderboard.

If Deeb goes the distance, he will become the second-ever two-time WSOP POY winner after Negreanu reigned supreme in 2004 and 2013.

Shaun Deeb's 2023 WSOP Cashes

Players Taking POY Prop Bets

While another POY banner would delight Deeb, it would also mean he gets the spoils from the POY prop bet that he has with his pal Ben Lamb, who also picked up a bracelet hours before Deeb claimed his latest one.

PokerNews understands that Deeb laid ten-to-one odds on Lamb not ending up as the 2023 WSOP POY and put up $500,000 to Lamb's $50,000.

Lamb ended a twelve-year bracelet drought in $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, which has helped him rise to 16th place with 1,392.30 points. The now two-time bracelet winner needs to replicate his O8 performance in other events to have any hopes of catching Deeb.

Lamb's success also had the poker world laughing at the expense of Poker Hall of Famer John Hennigan. 'Johnny World' jokingly offered a swap to Lamb to which the latter accepted only for Hennigan to then leave him hanging.

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

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