Top Poker Stories of 2023: Records, Scandals, and Legends

As 2023 comes to a close, it’s time to cast a glance back at the year’s biggest stories. We have the usual mix of good and bad — mostly bad, as is usual — and this year we also got the sad news that the great Doyle Brunson was no longer with us.

Doyle Brunson Passes Away It was in May that we heard the news that Doyle Brunson had passed away, ending an era of the game stretching back more than 50 years. The Texan was a double WSOP Main Event champion with 10 bracelets to back it up. We will never see another player like him. His tales from the Texas road game would send shivers down the spine of the youngsters starting their careers today.

Record-Breaking WSOP Main Event It took some doing but finally we hit new heights at the World Series of Poker in the summer. The 2006 record stood at 8,772 and the 2022 figure of 8,663 came oh so close. But this year, a whopping 10,043 players came along for the ride, destroying the record. Although Covid was long gone, it wasn’t until 2023 that the inconvenience of travel restrictions finally got out of the way. Tournament winner Daniel Weinman took home $12,100,000 for his efforts, just pipping the $12 million that Jamie Gold won.