The $50,000 NLHE Eight-Max tournament delivered a massive prize pool to players
With 124 entrants and a prize pool of $5,921,000, the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $50,000 No-Limit Hold ’em Eight-Max event proved to be quite the spectacle. The top 19 entrants divvied up the prize pool, with Leon Sturm putting on a dazzling display to claim the top spot and $1,546,024, along with his first WSOP gold bracelet. Surprisingly, the 22-year-old qualified for the tournament with a $5,000 buy-in satellite.
Sturm clinched victory and now holds 1,122 Player of the Year (POY) cards, securing a top 150 ranking in this year’s POY rankings. He also accumulated 750 PokerGO Tour (PGT) points, advancing him to ninth place in the POY race. The event took place in Paris at Horseshoe Las Vegas from June 9-11.
On Day 2, Justin Bonomo withdrew from the competition, settling for sixth place. Day 3 commenced with Alex Foxen holding the top spot, while Seth Davies slipped down to fifth place as his fifth attempt failed to hit the right lane on the Sturm.
The eventual winner ran into a couple of obstacles, mostly in Bill Klein and Alex Foxen, as he worked his way to victory. However, he kept his cool and continued to send players to the rail. First was Foxen, who lost against Sturm’s two pair.
Klein then bested Jans Arends to leave only two players at the table. In the final hand, a series of bets put Klein in a bad position. He had paired his 8, but didn’t realize that Sturm had paired his J. Klein may have thought he could aggressively take the pot, only to find out the bad news after he went all-in and Sturm called.
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