First Bracelet of the 2023 World Series of Poker Goes to Peter Thai

Image courtesy of PokerNews.com

Casino dealer Peter Thai has scooped the first bracelet of the 2023 WSOP, taking down the Casino Employees event for an impressive $75,535 score...

Thai was one of 1015 entrants who kicked off the 54th running of the annual summer festival in Las Vegas, event #1 on the schedule, the $500 buy-in Casino Employees event, allowing poker media to play as well.

With $426,300 in the prizepool and 153 spots paid, the bubble came late on day one and it was a brutal cooler that decided who would be the last to exit without a payday...

David Hanes: 3♠ 3♥
John Vournas: 9♦ 9♠

Flop: 9♥ 3♦ 2♣
Turn: 7♣
River: K♦

♠ ♣ ♥ ♦

Day two saw the field whittled down to the final table and the only woman left hit the rail after a double whammy, losing with 7s against Qs and then seeing her pocket 10s outflopped by Benson Tam’s QJ.

Thai helped his cause immensely with a double KO, getting rid of the most active player, Bruce Jiang, in the process...

Thai: K♠ K♣
Jiang: Q♠ Q♥
Tam: J♠ 9♠

Flop: 4♠ 2♣ 4♣
Turn: 9♦
River: 6♦

♠ ♣ ♥ ♦

Heads-up saw Thai face off against PokerNews reporter, James Urbanic, whose short stack didn’t last long...

Thai: K♠ 10♣
Urbanic: Q♦ 7♣

Flop: 10♥ 10♠ 4♣
Turn: Q♥
River: 4♠

Final results

A delighted Thai told reporters afterwards: “I never expected to win. I came here just wanting to have fun and one thing led to another. It was an unforgettable experience.”

The table games dealer at Parkwest 508 casino in Livermore, California revealed: “I'm an avid poker player. I don't play that often, but I still know how to play.

“I play more cash games than tournaments. I have a lot of tournament experience, mostly from playing a lot of online sit and gos from my college days."

Thai added: “Overall, the experience is unbelievable and I can't wait to share this with everyone back home.”