Josh Arieh captured his second bracelet of the 2023 World Series of Poker on Wednesday, winning Event #80, the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. High Roller. The victory was Arieh's sixth in an official bracelet event, and he earned $711,313 after topping an elite 112-player field.
Earlier in the series, Arieh took down Event #22: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship, and his latest bracelet win pushed him well over the million-dollar mark for the summer. Arieh also just missed final-tabling the prestigious $50,000 Poker Players Championship three weeks ago and has amassed 15 cashes to date in the series.
Arieh's final opponent was two-time bracelet winner Dan Heimiller, whose second-place finish came after he finished third in the massive 8,180-entry Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship last month. Seven of the eight players at the H.O.R.S.E. high-roller final table had won a combined total of 24 bracelets before Arieh captured his sixth (and the final table's 25th) on Wednesday night.
The victory also pushed Arieh high on the 2023 Player of the Year leaderboard with an unofficial 3,788 points. That trails leader Ian Matakis by about 300 points and moves Arieh into second place, ahead of Chris Brewer and defending POY winner Shaun Deeb. Arieh won the POY crown in 2021.
Arieh's latest bracelet win also renewed calls for the Caesars and the WSOP to enshrine him in the Hall of Fame, though voting for this year's honor has already concluded and the 2023 honoree will be announced later today. Arieh, in talking with the WSOP after last night's win, believes first-time finalist Brian Rast will be this year's selection, but Arieh also joined the growing chorus of poker voices who believe that more than one person should be honored in any given year.
