Ryan Miller Wins 2023 World Series of Poker $10,000 Stud Eight-or-Better Championship

After a protracted heads-up battle that lasted several hours, Ryan Miller finally emerged victorious as the champion of the 2023 World Series of Poker $10,000 seven card stud eight-or-better championship event. Miller earned $344,677 and his first gold bracelet for the win.

This was the first live tournament title ever for Miller, who primarily focuses on mixed cash games outside of playing some tournaments at the WSOP each summer. Prior to this, his top finish was a second-place showing in the $1,500 razz event back in 2015.

A turnout of 141 entries built a $1,311,300 prize pool for this event, with the top 22 finishers making the money. Plenty of big names ran deep, including three-time bracelet winner Chad Eveslage (21st), six-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings (18th), six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (17th), four-time bracelet winner Mike Matusow (9th), and two-time bracelet winner Joao Vieira (8th).

This event was only slated to last three days, but an unscheduled fourth day was added when six contenders still remained after 1:00 AM on day 3. Miller came into the final day with the lead, but he was just a single big bet ahead of bracelet winner Bryn Kenney.

Three-time World Poker Tour champion and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event champion Chino Rheem was the first to fall, with the last of his chips going in with a king and two low cards. He was unable to make a low or best the pair of eights made by Kenney on seventh straight and was eliminated in fifth place ($79,189).

Argentinian bracelet winner Andres Korn’s run came to an end when his trip threes ran into the broadway straight of Maximilian Schindler. Korn took home $107,824 for his efforts.

Miller won a big pot with trip deuces to knock Schindler to the bottom of the leaderboard during three-handed play. Schindler then got all-in with aces and fours, only to be shown trip deuces again, this time by Kenney. Schindler earned $149,981 as the third-place finisher, by far the largest live tournament score of his career.

Heads-up play began with Kenney holding more than a 2:1 chip lead. Miller overtook the lead for a bit in the early going, only to have Kenney surge ahead and then begin to pull away. Kenney held more than a 6:1 advantage when the pair agreed to go on a 75-minute dinner break.

When the final two returned, Miller quickly secured a double up and then strung together a few pots to find himself back in the lead. The pair did swap the chip advantage again, but eventually Miller took control for the final time. Miller then won a big pot with two pair to leave Kenney on fumes. He got the last of his chips in on fourth street with (AQ)59 against the (A7)94 of Miller. Miller hit a pair of aces on fifth, while Kenney made a pair of nines. Kenney picked up a nut heart draw on sixth, but a brick on the end saw him eliminated in second place.

The final boards looked as follows:

Kenney: (AQ)59910(2)
Miller: (A7)94A3(J)

Kenney earned $213,027 as the runner-up. The bracelet winner from New York remains the second-highest-earning tournament poker player in history, with his $58.2 million trailing only the $64 million of Justin Bonomo on the all-time money list.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

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.

Winner photo credit: WSOP / Spenser Sembrat.