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Braxton Dunaway topped a massive field of 8,317 entries in the 2023 World Series of Poker $1,500 no-limit hold’em ‘Monster Stack’ event, scoring five of the six knockouts available on the final day on his way to earning $1,162,681 and his first gold bracelet.
Prior to this massive victory, the 40-year-old Texas resident’s largest live tournament score was a fifth-place finish in the 2019 WSOP Circuit Choctaw $1,700 main event for $68,390. With this latest win, Dunaway now has nearly $1.5 million in lifetime cashes.
In addition to the hardware and the money, Dunaway also earned 1,320 Card Player Player of the Year points for coming out on top in this event. This was his first POY-qualified score of the year, but it alone was enough to see him shoot up the standings and into 167th place on the 2023 POY leaderboard presented by Global Poker.
This event took six days to complete, with two starting flights and four more days of action. The final day of this event began with seven players remaining and Nicholas Gerrity in the lead.
Four-time bracelet winner Joe Cada was the first to fall. The 2009 WSOP main event champion got all-in with A-K leading the A-J of Dunaway, but a jack on the river ended his run in seventh place. The $186,149 payday he secured in this event increased his lifetime earnings to nearly $14.4 million, with more than $13.7 million of that coming from cashes at the WSOP.
The next knockout also saw A-K outran by an inferior ace-high for Dunaway. Joshua Adcock’s A-K was dominating the A-Q of his opponent, but a queen on the turn left Adcock in rough shape with one card to come. The river was no help and Adcock was sent to the rail in sixth place ($240,695).
Gerrity lost a preflop coin flop with A-6 facing the pocket deuces of bracelet winner Jesse Rockowitz. Neither player improved and Gerrity was eliminated in fifth place, earning $313,297. Loic Dobrigna soon followed when his A-2 ran into the Q-Q of Dunaway, who flopped a set and rivered about to win the pot and narrow the field of three. Dobrigna took home $410,493 as the fourth-place finisher.
Roughly two hours after Dobrigna’s elimination, three-handed play concluded when Rockowitz called all-in on the turn with second pair and a gutshot. He was up against an open-ended straight draw and an overcard for Dunaway. The river brought a queen, connecting with that overcard to give Dunaway the best hand. Rockowitz earned $541,376 for his third-place showing, growing his lifetime earnings to nearly $2.3 million in the process.
Heads-up play began with Dunaway holding nearly a 5:2 chip lead on Colin Robinson. It didn’t take long for Dunaway to convert that advantage into the title. In the final hand, he limped in with 9
7
from the button. Robinson raised from the big blind with A
2
and Dunaway called. The flop came down 732. Robinson check-called a bet from Dunaway and the turn brought the 9. Robinson checked with his bottom pair again and Dunaway bet with top two pair. Robinson called and the K completed the board. With it checked to him yet again, Dunaway bet enough to put Robinson all-in. After some thought, Robinson made the call with his pair of deuces and was shown the bad news. He finished as the runner-up, earning a career-best score of $718,649 for his efforts.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Braxton Dunaway | $1,162,681 | 1320 |
| 2 | Colin Robinson | $718,649 | 1100 |
| 3 | Jesse Rockowitz | $541,376 | 880 |
| 4 | Loic Dobrigna | $410,493 | 660 |
| 5 | Nicholas Gerrity | $313,297 | 550 |
| 6 | Joshua Adcock | $240,695 | 440 |
| 7 | Joseph Cada | $186,149 | 330 |
| 8 | Julien Loire | $144,928 | 220 |
| 9 | Yulian Bogdanov | $113,597 | 110 |
Visit the Card Player 2023 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews, and the latest event results. WSOP coverage sponsored by Global Poker.
Photo credits: PokerGO / Enrique Malfavon.
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