2023 BetMGM Poker Championship

$3,500 Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2023 BetMGM Poker Championship

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aa
Prize
$560,442
Event Info
Buy-in
$3,500
Prize Pool
$3,283,200
Entries
1,026
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
400,000
Players Info - Day 3
Entries
56
Players Left
7

Agarwal Triples Up

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Anuj Agarwal
Anuj Agarwal

Short-stacked Anuj Agarwal moved all in preflop for his last 70,000 and was called by Mo Zhou and Bradley Hinson. \\

The flop came out 4?6?A? and Zhou checked to Hinson who bet 55,000. This prompted a quick fold from Zhou and the cards were tabled, with Agarwal at risk of elimination.

Anuj Agarwal: A?3?
Bradley Hinson: 7?7?

Agarwal was ahead with his top pair of aces, and the runout of 9?5? was clean for him to secure the pot for the triple-up.

Player Chips Progress
Bradley Hinson us
Bradley Hinson
1,700,000
50,000
50,000
Mo Zhou cn
Mo Zhou
1,500,000
380,000
380,000
Anuj Agarwal us
Anuj Agarwal
275,000
140,000
140,000
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner

Tags: Anuj AgarwalBradley HinsonMo Zhou

Ibanez Scoops Three-Way All In

Level 21 : Blinds 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Johann Ibanez
Johann Ibanez

After a preflop betting war, Johann Ibanez, Fernando Garcia, and Yong Kwon got all the chips in the middle, with Garcia covering.

Yong Kwon: 10?10?
Johann Ibanez: J?J?
Fernando Garcia: 8?8?

Ibanez was in a prime position to scoop the huge pot, and the runout was pure as it came 9?Q?4?K?3? for his jacks to hold.

He was pushed the massive pot to jump his stack up tp 1,900,000 while Kwon was eliminated. Garcia was left with only 75,000 after this exchange and ended up busting a few hands later.

Player Chips Progress
Johann Ibanez co
Johann Ibanez
1,900,000
945,000
945,000
Yong Kwon us
Yong Kwon
Busted
Fernando Garcia es
Fernando Garcia
Busted

Tags: Johann IbanezFernando GarciaYong Kwon

Lambrecht Gets a Triple Then a Double

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Matthew Lambrecht
Matthew Lambrecht

Justin Young opened to 40,000 from under the gun and was called by Nolan King from the small blind. Matthew Lambrecht had just 10,000 behind after he paid the big blind and ante and called off his stack blind.

Young and King were rooting for Lambrecht but declared they would gun for each other for the side pot.

King check-called for 40,000 on the J?5?2? pot and then claimed the side pot after his 65,000 bet on the Q? turn as Young folded.

"I don't have a pair yet," said Nolan as he tabled his A?3?.

Lambrecht peeled his first card, which was an unhelpful 8?, but the second was the Q? to give a pair of queens for the lead. The J? completed the board and Lambrecht saw his stack rise to 110,000.

The next hand, King opened to 45,000 and called when Lambrecht moved all in again.

Matthew Lambrecht: A?7?
Nolan King: Q?3?

Neither player connected on the 8x9?2?6?K? runout and Lambrecht raked in a double-up.

Player Chips Progress
Justin Young us
Justin Young
1,640,000
440,000
440,000
WPT 1X Winner
Nolan King us
Nolan King
815,000
-95,000
-95,000
Matthew Lambrecht us
Matthew Lambrecht
260,000
30,000
30,000
WSOP 1X Winner

Tags: Justin YoungMatthew LambrechtNolan King

Rough Ride for Eychenne

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Anuj Agarwal
Anuj Agarwal

Thomas Eychenne had just doubled up Mark Dickstein to bring his stack down to 300,000 and his chips were in the middle soon after.

David Stamm opened the action by raising to 45,000 from under the gun. Kenny Deffrasnes called on the button before Anuj Agarwal made it 175,000 from the small blind. Eychenne then jammed for 300,000 and only Agarwal called.

Thomas Eychenne: KxKx
Anuh Agarwal: AxAx

It was a huge cooler for Eychenne and he left the PokerGO Studio after failing to improve on the Jx7x5x4x3x runout.

Player Chips Progress
Mark Dickstein us
Mark Dickstein
1,260,000
675,000
675,000
Anuj Agarwal us
Anuj Agarwal
950,000
80,000
80,000
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
Thomas Eychenne fr
Thomas Eychenne
Busted

Tags: Anuj AgarwalDavid StammKenny DeffrasnesMark DicksteinThomas Eychenne

Magnus Sends Navarro Out

Level 20 : Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Nadya Magnus
Nadya Magnus

Mario Navarro opened to 40,000 from the cutoff before Nadya Magnus three-bet to 125,000 from the small blind. Navarro called.

Magnus check-called for 65,000 9?8?7? flop after Navarro fired out a bet.

Magnus checked the 4? turn and Navarro jammed for 550,000. Magnus went into some deep thought and used a time bank before making the call.

Mario Navarro: A?5?
Nadya Magnus: A?9?

Magnus had called correctly with her top pair but would need to dodge Navarro's flush and straight outs. The J? river was a brick and Magnus sealed her first elimination of the day.

Player Chips Progress
Nadya Magnus us
Nadya Magnus
1,640,000
825,000
825,000
Ran Koller il
Ran Koller
Busted
WSOP 1X Winner
Elias Garney us
Elias Garney
Busted
Mario Navarro es
Mario Navarro
Busted
Martin Jacobson se
Martin Jacobson
Busted
Main Event Champion
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 1X Winner
Mark Babekov us
Mark Babekov
Busted

Tags: Mario NavarroNadya Magnus

Mike Vanier Leads Pack into Day 3 at PokerGO Studio

Mike Vanier
Mike Vanier

Another day of action from the BetMGM Poker Championship is set to begin at 1 p.m. PT inside the fabulous PokerGO Studio at the Aria Resort and Casino.

The plan today is to whittle the field of 56 down to the seven-handed official final table. Sitting in prime position to make it there is Mike Vanier (1,840,000) who surged into the chip lead during the last level of play on Day 2. The Nebraskan native has notched nearly $1,500,000 in recorded live tournament earnings, mostly helped by his $595,000 payday following his runner-up finish in the 2022 $5,000 Venetian Deepstack.

Tied for second with 1,650,000 chips are Joshua Boulton and Bradley Hinson and following close behind them is Anatoly Nikitin with 1,605,000.

Day 3 Restart Top Ten Chip Counts

PlaceNameCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1MIke VanierUnited States1,840,00092
2Joshua BoltonUnited Kingdom1,650,00083
3Bradley HinsonUnited States1,650,00083
4Anatoly NikitinRussia1,605,00080
5Michael StashinUnited States1,570,00079
6Paul GunnessUnited States1,245,00062
7Justin YoungUnited States1,200,00060
8David StammUnited States1,145,00057
9Fernando GarciaSpain1,135,00057
10Mo ZhouChina1,120,00056

Other notables still in the field include 2014 WSOP Main Event Champ Martin Jacobson, Jeremy Ausmus, Stephen Song, Brian Hastings, and Nadya Magnus.

BetMGM Poker had 104 qualifiers for the tournament, with 94 taking advantage of the opportunity. However, just four remain on Day 3. Dan Naponse (660,000), Elias Garney (420,000), Danny DeJesus and Yong Kwon (305,000) were all able to enter the event for a fraction of the price and are still in the running for a big score!

The players returning for Day 3 have all locked up $10,244 but all eyes will be on the $560,442 that waits for the eventual winner.

Play resumes on Level 20, with blinds set at 10,000/20,000/20,000. Levels continue to be 60 minutes in duration and there will be a 15-minute player break every two levels.

As always, be sure to be on the lookout for all PokerNews updates to keep up with all of the action!

Tags: Anatoly NikitinBradley HinsonBrett BassockBrian HastingsDavid StammElias GarneyFernando GarciaJeremy AusmusJoshua BoltonJoshua BoultonMartin JacobsonMichael StashinMike VanierMo ZhouNadya MagnusPaul GunnessStephen SongYong Kwon