Backed by an electrified rail that chanted “pinot grigio, pinot grigio”, with Shaun Deeb, Phil Hellmuth, and other big names in support, USA’s Daniel Weinman knocked out the last two players of the final table to capture the 2023 WSOP Main Event title. He won the championship gold bracelet and a life-changing 12.1 million US dollars.
In an interview, Weinman was overjoyed.
“It doesn’t feel real. I mean, so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well, but so many hands that, I got incredibly lucky for the situations to arise. When we were down to three, I did feel like I was the best player. And a couple good hands at the right time, it all came together. Having some of the best in the world be on my side and have my back and tell me that I belong in this class, it’s just incredible.”
Weinman went on to say that life was not going to change, more money in the bank will just mean more golf and more travel. However, as Chris Moneymaker has mentioned, that’s not easy. And with this year’s Main Event a record-breaker, that has yet to be seen.
“Poker has evolved so much compared to his time. Back then, they needed a face to poker. I don’t think that I am needed in that today. I’ll probably have to do a bunch of interviews but I don’t really want to be a professional poker player. I enjoy playing poker only once or twice a week. It is a fantastic hobby.”
With poker played all around the world, Somuchpoker asked if there was chance of plugging Asia in his calendar.
“I’ve actually been to Asia a couple of times. I’ve been to a WPT event in Japan and in India. I’ve also been to Sanya for poker. Japan is actually my favorite place in the world and already had a trip planned back in March. I ended up being close with Masato (Yokosawa), the famous Japanese poker streamer, and we got into some talks about doing something during that trip. I’m not sure if it will happen this year but it’s also not entirely out of the question.”
Waylaid early by the strength of the opposition was the challenge of Filipino players led by Triton High Roller finalist Florencio Campomanes IV and three other compatriots that included Mike Takayama, Jojo Tech and Peng Mendoza.
The 54th Annual World Series of Poker $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship was a record-breaker with 10,043 players. This beat the 2006 record of 8,773 players by a long shot, and to pass the torch, it was only fitting that Jamie Gold present the championship bracelet to Weinman.
The Main Event amassed a $93,399,900 prize pool with the top 1,507 places paid. Eight players walked away as millionaires with Weinman stealing the show and the $12,100,000 cash prize.
somuch poker.com
