Ian Matakis Wins 2023 WSOP Player of the Year Race

Ian Matakis was not on anyone's radar for the 2023 WSOP Player of the Year race entering the series, despite him being a decent player. But there we are because one impressive performance after another throughout the summer allowed him to hang on and beat the likes of Shaun Deeb, Chris Brewer, and Josh Arieh to one of the most coveted titles in poker.

Matakis finished with 5,203 points, comfortably ahead of Shaun Deeb who was chasing another win. Chris Brewer was third after putting in some great performances of his own this series.

Josh Arieh was another accomplished player who came close after winning a pair of bracelets for the second time in two years. Phil Hellmuth could only manage ninth place this year but still featured deep in plenty of events this year and, of course, he did win his 17th bracelet improving his record even further.

Matakis had a summer to remember, with one bracelet and 22 total cashes, nine of which were online. His biggest score was for $205,696 when he took third place in a $3,000 PLO event. He finished in the top 10 six times, including his first career bracelet in Online Event #2: $500 No-Limit Hold'em Bankroll Builder. He also now has a live tournament earnings record of $1,539,587.

The WSOP wasn’t even the full plan back in May. Events at The Venetian and Wynn Las Vegas were actually part of the plan, although that soon changed.

“As soon as I saw I was at the top of the leaderboard for player of the year, I’ve kind of changed my plans in that sense and I’ve stuck just to WSOP events ever since then. It’s been amazing. It’s going very well.”

Shaun Deeb was magnanimous in defeat and was quick to congratulate Matakis.

“So happy for you will be a contender for many years to come people will try to give you shit but you had the best summer of anyone keep working hard and more success will follow”

Mike Matusow was also quick to give plaudits to Ian Matakis but he was clearly far from happy that online results now feature in the Player of the year Race.

“Congrats even though winning poy was propped up by mostly online events which I think is an embarrassment to the Wsop brand you won fair and square and deserved it! Well done sir, Maybe next yr we just don’t play at Paris or Horseshoe and just play online poker!”

He later doubled down on his opinion which probably will be shared by many others.

2023 WSOP Player of the Year Final Standings