Benny Glaser joins elite company with fifth WSOP bracelet

It took an extra day to finish the job, but Benny Glaser has become the 36th member of the five-bracelet club. The British mixed games specialist defeated Oscar Johansson in just under an hour after the two were left heads-up late into the night on the final hand of Day 3. The victory in the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #38: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship marks his first at the WSOP since 2021.

Glaser took home $311,428 for the win as the last one standing in a field of 130 entries, the largest piece of the $1,209,000 total prize pool. He's now the fourth winner this summer to capture a fifth bracelet, joining Josh Arieh, Brian Yoon and John Monette.

"I felt good coming into heads up today, I really love heads up and I've played a lot of it so I was pretty confident in my game there," said Glaser to PokerNews after his win. It marks a second win in the variant following his first career bracelet back in 2015.

Johansson earns $192,690 for his second-place finish, just missing out on a first gold bracelet. It marks his second runner-up placement, matching his run in Event #29: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw back in 2018. The prize money dwarfs his previous WSOP career earnings of $85,327 in his sixth career series cash.

The final 10 players returned to action on Day 3, originally scheduled as the final day of competition. George Alexander and Alexander Wilkinson were the first to fall, unable to build on their short stacks under the feature table lights.

Jason Papastavrou began the day in the middle of the pack but finished just outside of the unofficial final table.

Glaser then began to take control with a big chip lead, as Joao Vieira bowed out in seventh and the final table was set.

David "Bakes" Baker was able to survive on the short stack before busting in sixth place. That marked a turning point for Johansson, who climbed from last in chips at one point to taking over the chip lead.

Julien Martini was next to go in fifth place, running into Glaser's "number two" before four-handed play lasted for the next two levels.

Sampo Ryynanen fell to Glaser in third place, while Michael Rodrigues made a stand on the final hand of Day 3.

The heads-up battle between Glaser and Johansson lasted less than 60 minutes, as the players took their seats on the side feature table at the Horseshoe Events Center. The two traded pots early on before Glaser widened his advantage and never looked back.

Glaser will now look for another deep run in Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, where he finished fourth last year.

"I think I'm leading towards celebrating today," said Glaser, "enjoying my afternoon and evening and then I think I'll jump in on Day 2".

A well-earned break for the now five-time WSOP champ, who will take his seat before late registration closes on Monday.

Final table results:
Place Player Country Prize
1 Benny Glaser United Kingdom $311,428
2 Oscar Johansson Sweden $192,690
3 Michael Rodrigues Portugal $139,048
4 Sampo Ryynanen Finland $101,709
5 Julien Martini France $75,341
6 David "Bakes" Baker United States $56,528