The 2023 World Series of Poker Paradise was the inaugural version of the event. It was held from December 3–14 at Atlantis Paradise Island in The Bahamas and featured 15 bracelet events.
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) announced the festival in July, in partnership with GGPoker. The $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event began on December 9, with Stanislav Zegal of Germany being crowned the first-ever champion on December 14.[1]
Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel became the fifth player in WSOP history with 10 bracelets when he won Event #7: $50,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em.[2]
Event Schedule
Source:[3]
| # | Event | Entrants | Winner | Prize | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500 Mystery Millions | 3,446 |  Jinhoon Lee (1/1)
|
$420,000 |  Max Pinnola
|
| 2 | $1,425 Millionaire Maker in Paradise | 3,496 | Allan Mello (1/1)
|
$1,000,000 |  Nazar Buhaiov
|
| 3 | $25,000 GGMillion$ High Roller Championship | 533 |  Samuel Mullur (1/1)
|
$2,736,300 | Frank Brannan
|
| 4 | $1,000 Mini Main Event No-Limit Hold'em | 2,234 |  Martin Raus (1/1)
|
$334,380 |  Josef Snejberg
|
| 5 | $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha | 140 |  Nikolaos Lampropoulos (1/1)
|
$871,600 | Dan Shak
|
| 6 | $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed | 755 |  Boris Kolev (1/2)
|
$424,550 |  Daniel Neilson
|
| 7 | $50,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em | 137 | Erik Seidel (1/10)
|
$1,704,400 | Seth Gottlieb
|
| 8 | $2,000 Mystery Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha Online | 668 | Benjamin Wilinofsky (2/2)
|
$113,079 |  Asheque Elahi
|
| 9 | $100,000 Ultra High Roller No-Limit Hold'em | 111 |  Masashi Oya (1/1)
|
$2,940,000 | Jason Koon (0/1)
|
| 10 | $5,000 Main Event Championship | 3,010 |  Stanislav Zegal (1/1)
|
$2,000,000 | Michael Sklenicka
|
| 11 | $740 Flip & Go | 767 |  Artur Martirosian (2/2)
|
$110,591 | Dongwuk Moon
|
| 12 | $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout Online | 1,336 |  Anton Bardziyan (1/1)
|
$178,261 |  Yuri Rodrigues
|
| 13 | $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 104 | Dante Goya (1/1)
|
$277,700 | Jim Collopy (1/3)
|
| 14 | $2,000 The Closer Turbo Bounty | 406 |  Bernardo Neves (1/1)
|
$166,000 |  Archibald Seaton
|
| 15 | $10,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed | 169 |  Dong Chen (1/1)
|
$411,659 |  Thomas Santerne
|
Main Event
The $5,000 Main Event began on December 9 with the first of four starting flights. There was also an online flight held on GGPoker. The event featured a $15 million guaranteed prize pool.[4]
The Main Event drew 3,010 total entries, generating a prize pool of $15,050,000.[5] The top 447 players made the money, with the champion earning $2,000,000.
Stanislav Zegal, a German online qualifier, won the inaugural bracelet after defeating Michael Sklenicka heads-up. The final table also included Matt Glantz and WSOP bracelet winner Gabriel Schroeder.[6]
Final Table
| Name | Number of chips (percentage of total) |
WSOP Bracelets |
WSOP Cashes* |
WSOP Earnings* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Neilson |
37,400,000 (24.9%) | 0 | 42 | $1,004,597 |
| Gabriel Schroeder |
28,000,000 (18.6%) | 1 | 40 | $389,125 |
| Stanislav Zegal |
28,000,000 (18.6%) | 0 | 7 | $9,759 |
| Rui Sousa |
20,700,000 (13.8%) | 0 | 12 | $55,626 |
| Michael Sklenicka |
16,000,000 (10.6%) | 0 | 9 | $334,593 |
| Matt Glantz |
15,500,000 (10.3%) | 0 | 75 | $3,612,513 |
| Montgomery McQuade |
4,900,000 (3.3%) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
*Career statistics prior to the start of the 2023 WSOP Paradise Main Event
Final Table results
| Place | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Stanislav Zegal |
$2,000,000 |
| 2nd | Michael Sklenicka |
$1,200,000 |
| 3rd | Daniel Neilson |
$900,000 |
| 4th | Matt Glantz |
$685,000 |
| 5th | Rui Sousa |
$510,000 |
| 6th | Gabriel Schroeder |
$400,000 |
| 7th | Montgomery McQuade |
$300,000 |
| 8th | Luke Graham |
$250,000 |
Other notable high finishes
NB: This list is restricted to top 100 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.
| Place | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 10th |  Mikita Badziakouski
|
$150,000 |
| 20th | Timothy Adams
|
$90,000 |
| 35th | David Peters
|
$58,300 |
| 39th | Sam Greenwood
|
$58,300 |
| 46th |  Mustapha Kanit
|
$47,500 |
| 71st |  Adrián Mateos
|
$26,800 |
| 87th | Daniel Weinman
|
$19,000 |
| 91st | Davidi Kitai
|
$19,000 |
| 98th | Daniel Negreanu
|
$19,000 |
References
- ^ Harwood, Brad (December 15, 2023). "WSOP PARADISE CROWNS FIRST CHAMPION, THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER UNVEILS DATES FOR 2024 WSOP". WSOP.com. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ^ Richards, Connor (December 9, 2023). "Erik Seidel Joins Exclusive 10-Bracelet Club, Wins WSOP Paradise Super High Roller ($1,704,400)". PokerNews.com. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ^ "WSOP Paradise schedule". Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ^ Hampton, Adam (December 11, 2023). "WSOP Paradise: Main Event on track to beat $15m guarantee". Poker.org. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ^ Holloway, Chad (2023-12-16). "WSOP Paradise Proves Successful w/ Big Names & Prize Pools; Only One Missed GTD". PokerNews. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
- ^ Richards, Connor (December 14, 2023). "Online Qualifier Stanislav Zegal Wins First WSOP Paradise Main Event ($2,000,000)". PokerNews.com. Retrieved December 18, 2023.