Johnny Chan, the back-to-back winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1987 and 1988 and the owner of 10 WSOP bracelets, tied for second-best all time, came up short on Monday in his attempt to collect an 11th gold bracelet. Chan's deep run in Event #41: $1,500 Big O, ended with a 14th-place finish worth $13,982, and it was the highest finish for Chan since a 12th-place showing in a 2011 lowball event.
Chan's unexpected pursuit of an 11th bracelet came in the largest-field $1,500 Omaha event of the 2023 series to date. The Big O debut drew 1,458 entries and built a prize pool just short of $2 million, easily surpassing most participants' expectations for its first apperance as a solo offering at the WSOP. Big O's surging popularity as a cash game providing plenty of action had already brought its inclusion in WSOP mixed-games events in recent years.
Poker veterans have dominated this debut event as it moves toward a final table. With just nine players remaining, three prior bracelet winners remain in the hunt, in Bjorn Verbakel, Robert WIlliamson III, and Owais Ahmed. Well-known pro Victor Ramdin, who for many years served as a brand ambassador for PokerStars, also remained in action.
For Chan, it was a Day 3 where the heater he needed never materialized. He began the day in 12th spot out of 18 remaining players. After taking a hit in a hand where he folded to an all-in reraise on the river, Chan busted a short while later to Vegas pro Scott Abrams. The last of Chan's chips went in after a flop where he had a draw to the nut low -- Big O is a split-pot game -- while Abrams had flopped a set of jacks and had a virtual lock on the high half.
