World Series of Parker · Event 3-5
Eric Denny Wins the Finale, and the Series, and Three of the Five
A second WSOP Champion trophy, five years after the first.
Eric Denny came into the last night of the series thirty-three points clear and won it anyway. Four knockouts, four hours and five minutes, $170 — and his third win of the season from five events.
He is the 2023 WSOP Champion on 179.33, sixty-eight ahead of Lee Ugarte. It is his second WSOP title, after the combined 2017-2018 season, and no one else has won it more than once.
Rick Mazza was second for $100. He and Eric Denny are the only two who have played all fifteen World Series of Parker events ever held, and this is Mazza’s best finish since he won the Razz event in 2017.
Where the money went
| Player | Prize | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Denny | $170 |
| 2 | Rick Mazza | $100 |
The undercard
Charlie Drotar bubbled in third, and Angela Cain was fourth. Justin Vaughn took fifth and Steve Sarbaugh, second last time out, sixth.
Andrew Shier finished last of the seven. Nobody rebought — the first WSOP event since January 2018 where nobody did.
The series
| Date | Field | Pool | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-1 | January 27 | 6 | $270 | Eric Denny |
| 3-2 | March 24 | 9 | $470 | Charlie Drotar |
| 3-3 | May 26 | 9 | $510 | Lee Ugarte |
| 3-4 | July 28 | 9 | $550 | Eric Denny |
| 3-5 | October 20 | 7 | $270 | Eric Denny |
| WSOP 2023 — final | Points | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Denny | 179.33 |
| 2 | Lee Ugarte | 111.00 |
| 3 | Charlie Drotar | 104.70 |
| 4 | Andrew Shier | 89.83 |
| 5 | Rick Mazza | 85.70 |
| 6 | Angela Cain | 74.48 |
| 7 | Steve Sarbaugh | 66.67 |
| 8 | Paul Coffman | 65.52 |
The bigger picture
Playing one game five times was the experiment of 2023, and it produced the least-shared series the WSOP has had: three of the five events went to the same man, where the first two seasons managed five winners and four. Whether that is Omaha rewarding practice or simply Eric Denny playing well is a question for next time.
The money grew regardless. $2,070 across the five events against $1,100 in 2021, on a buy-in that went from $25 to $40 and twelve rebuys through the middle three nights.
World Series of Parker, Event 3-5 — Friday, October 20, 2023. Omaha Hi/Lo, $40 buy-in, 7 entrants, no rebuys, two paid from a $270 prize pool. Final event of the 2023 series; Eric Denny takes the WSOP Champion trophy.