Ian Matakis wins the WSOP Player of the Year race
A relatively unknown grinder bossed live and online all summer to clinch the prestigious Player of the Year title.
One of the surprise stories of the 2023 World Series of Poker has to be the rise of Ian Matakis, who yesterday officially won the Player of the Year race.
It was a big surprise because Matakis is a relative unknown in world poker when normally this award is contested by established high-stakes players. They also tend to be mixed game specialists, but Matakis did this in No Limit and PLO events.
Matakis seemingly came from nowhere to boss the leaderboard this year, cashing 22 times this series, 14 times live, and 8 times online.
He won the $500 Bankroll Builder bracelet online for $120,686 at the start of the series to get going and went on to make deep runs in some of the biggest events. In total, he cashed for $881,052 this series.
For winning the race he gets a $10,000 Main Event seat for next year, a trophy, and a banner at the Paris/Horseshoe.
2023 WSOP player of the year! What an honor to join such a prestigious group of people, had a blast battling and meeting many new friends along the way. Time to go home and spend some time with friends, family, and girlfriend. Thanks to everyone who rooted for me this summer!
— Ian Matakis (@IMatakis) July 18, 2023
His nearest rival in the race was, as always, Shaun Deeb, who is the unofficial WSOP Player of the Decade. This was the top ten at the time of writing (it may be subject to small changes):
| RANK | NAME | PTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Matakis | 5,203.89 |
| 2 | Shaun Deeb | 4,276.12 |
| 3 | Christopher Brewer | 4,127.62 |
| 4 | Josh Arieh | 3,938.62 |
| 5 | Jesse Lonis | 3,865.70 |
| 6 | Michael Rodrigues Pires Santos | 3,513.21 |
| 7 | Chad Eveslage | 3,447.63 |
| 8 | Ben Yu | 3,128.08 |
| 9 | Phil Hellmuth | 3,072.14 |
| 10 | Yuval Bronshtein | 3,056.84 |
These are all Matakis's live and online results this WSOP:
| Event | Date | Place | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event #94: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em $5,000 buy-in |
17/07/2023 | 115th | $8,059 |
| Online Event #19: $500 NL Hold'em Summer Saver $500 buy-in |
16/07/2023 | 41st | $3,202 |
| Online Event #18: $2,000 Freezeout Championship $2,000 buy-in |
15/07/2023 | 66th | $3,874 |
| Event #82: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha $3,000 buy-in |
11/07/2023 | 3rd | $205,696 |
| Online Event #14: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo $400 buy-in |
06/07/2023 | 27th | $3,244 |
| Event #71: $50,000 HIGH ROLLER Pot-Limit Omaha $50,000 buy-in |
30/06/2023 | 9th | $199,275 |
| Event #65: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em $5,000 buy-in |
28/06/2023 | 7th | $114,210 |
| Online Event #11: $888 No-Limit Hold'em Crazy 8's $888 buy-in |
27/06/2023 | 20th | $6,850 |
| Event #53: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER No-Limit Hold’em $1,500 buy-in |
23/06/2023 | 15th | $68,523 |
| Online Event #9: $1,000 PLO Championship $1,000 buy-in |
22/06/2023 | 29th | $2,912 |
| Event #49: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em $1,500 buy-in |
21/06/2023 | 128th | $2,213 |
| Event #46: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Holdem $500 buy-in |
20/06/2023 | 199th | $1,821 |
| Online Event #7: $500 PLO 8-Max $500 buy-in |
18/06/2023 | 17th | $3,332 |
| Event #37: $2,000 No-Limit Holdem $2,000 buy-in |
15/06/2023 | 78th | $6,805 |
| Event #32: $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em $3,000 buy-in |
13/06/2023 | 15th | $30,429 |
| Event #21: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed $1,000 buy-in |
08/06/2023 | 282nd | $1,602 |
| Online Event #4: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Ultra Deepstack $600 buy-in |
06/06/2023 | 5th | $38,184 |
| Event #15: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em $1,500 buy-in |
06/06/2023 | 9th | $47,788 |
| Event #13: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack $600 buy-in |
05/06/2023 | 93rd | $2,051 |
| Online Event #2: $500 No-Limit Hold'em Bankroll Builder $500 buy-in |
04/06/2023 | 1st | $120,686 |
| Event #12: $5,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed $5,000 buy-in |
04/06/2023 | 99th | $8,011 |
| Online Event #1: $333 No-Limit Hold'em Triple Treys Summer Tip-Off $333 buy-in |
01/06/2023 | 30th | $2,285 |
Were you railing the WSOP POY this year? Let us know in the comments:
