Ian Matakis has been a fixture on the event scene for about half of a decade, along with his first recorded reside event rating coming in early 2018. This yr marked a real breakout for the 25-year-old poker participant from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He cashed in 22 occasions throughout the 2023 World Series of Poker, with six top-nine finishes and a win in the WSOP Online $500 no-limit maintain’em ‘Bankroll Builder’ occasion for his first gold bracelet. Nine of Matakis’ 22 whole cashes this summer season got here in WSOP Online occasions.
Matakis’ spectacular run noticed him accumulate $881,682 in whole earnings and 5,203 WSOP Player of the Year factors, sufficient to see the rising star safe this yr’s POY honors.
2023 WSOP participant of the yr! What an honor to affix such a prestigious group of individuals, had a blast battling and assembly many new associates alongside the means. Time to go residence and spend a while with associates, household, and girlfriend. Thanks to everybody who rooted for me this summer season!
— Ian Matakis (@IMatakis) July 18, 2023
Next yr, Matakis may have a POY banner hung in the Horseshoe Grand Ballroom and can obtain free entry into the WSOP most important occasion.
The common payday secured by Matakis throughout his 22 scores was $40,076. The single largest rating was the $205,696 he earned as the third-place finisher in the $3,000 pot-limit Omaha six-max occasion that performed out on one of the secondary featured tables whereas the WSOP most important occasion was busy setting the closing desk.
Matakis was extremely constant given that almost all of the tournaments he performed had been smaller buy-in, large-field occasions. The common discipline measurement for his in-the-money finishes throughout the sequence was simply over 1,913 entries. His common buy-in in the occasions he cashed in ended up being $3,924, however that common would drop to $1,730 if one had been to exclude his one tremendous excessive curler money of $199,275 earned for his ninth-place exhibiting in the $50,000 pot-limit Omaha occasion.
2018 WSOP POY Shaun Deeb completed second in the standings, marking his fifth straight yr of ending inside the prime six. Deeb’s streak spans from 2018-2023, with 2020 excluded, as no POY race was held that yr as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chris Brewer and Josh Arieh, who each gained two bracelets this summer season, completed in third and fourth place in the closing POY standings. Mike Holtz, who completed 14th in the closing rankings, set a brand new report this yr with 25 in-the-money finishes secured in a single sequence. The WSOP.com common identified to many as ‘BrockLesnar’ simply edged out Deeb for the most cashes, with Deeb’s 24 additionally breaking the earlier report held by Chris Ferguson and Daniel Negreanu.
Here is a have a look at the prime ten in the 2023 WSOP POY standings:
| Place | Player | WSOP POY Points |
| 1 | Ian Matakis | 5,203 |
| 2 | Shaun Deeb | 4,276 |
| 3 | Chris Brewer | 4,127 |
| 4 | Josh Arieh | 3,938 |
| 5 | Jesse Lonis | 3,865 |
| 6 | Michael Rodrigues | 3,513 |
| 7 | Chad Eveslage | 3,447 |
| 8 | Ben Yu | 3,128 |
| 9 | Phil Hellmuth | 3,072 |
| 10 | Yuval Bronshtein | 3,056 |
Matakis’ in-the-money finishes at the 2023 WSOP (reverse chronologically):
| Date | Event | Place | Payout |
| Jul 18, ’23 | $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Eight Max 2023 World Series of Poker |
115 | $8,059 |
| Jul 16, ’23 | $500 No-Limit Hold’em 2023 World Series of Poker Online (NV/NJ) |
41 | $3,202 |
| Jul 15, ’23 | $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout 2023 World Series of Poker Online (NV/NJ) |
66 | $3,874 |
| Jul 14, ’23 | $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Six Max 2023 World Series of Poker |
3 | $205,696 |
| Jul 06, ’23 | $400 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo 2023 World Series of Poker Online (NV/NJ) |
27 | $3,244 |
| Jul 02, ’23 | $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 2023 World Series of Poker |
9 | $199,275 |
| Jul 01, ’23 | $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max 2023 World Series of Poker |
7 | $114,210 |
| Jun 28, ’23 | $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Millionaire Maker 2023 World Series of Poker |
15 | $68,523 |
| Jun 27, ’23 | $888 No-Limit Hold’em 2023 World Series of Poker Online (NV/NJ) |
20 | $6,850 |
| Jun 22, ’23 | $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 2023 World Series of Poker Online (NV/NJ) |
29 | $2,912 |
| Jun 21, ’23 | $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty Super Turbo Freezeout 2023 World Series of Poker |
128 | $2,213 |
| Jun 21, ’23 | $500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout 2023 World Series of Poker |
199 | $1,821 |
| Jun 18, ’23 | $500 Pot-Limit Omaha Eight Max 2023 World Series of Poker Online (NV/NJ) |
17 | $3,332 |
| Jun 17, ’23 | $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em 2023 World Series of Poker |
78 | $6,805 |
| Jun 14, ’23 | $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max 2023 World Series of Poker |
15 | $30,429 |
| Jun 10, ’23 | $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Eight Max 2023 World Series of Poker |
282 | $1,602 |
| Jun 08, ’23 | $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max 2023 World Series of Poker |
9 | $47,788 |
| Jun 06, ’23 | $600 No-Limit Hold’em Ultra Deepstack 2023 World Series of Poker Online (NV/NJ) |
5 | $38,814 |
| Jun 06, ’23 | $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack Eight Max 2023 World Series of Poker |
93 | $2,051 |
| Jun 06, ’23 | $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout Eight Max 2023 World Series of Poker |
99 | $8,011 |
| Jun 04, ’23 | $500 No-Limit Hold’em 2023 World Series of Poker Online (NV/NJ) |
1 | $120,686 |
| Jun 01, ’23 | $333 No-Limit Hold’em 2023 World Series of Poker Online (NV/NJ) |
30 | $2,285 |
