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

After a long heads-up battle lasting several hours, Ryan Miller has finally emerged victorious as the 2023 champion World Series of Poker $10,000 Seven Card Stud eight or higher championship event. Miller earned $344,677 and his first gold bracelet for the win.

This was Miller’s first ever live tournament title, which focuses primarily on mixed cash games outside of a few tournaments at WSOP every summer. Prior to this, his best finish was a second-place finish in the $1,500 razz event in 2015.

A turnout of 141 entries created a $1,311,300 prize pool for this event, with the top 22 finishers making money. Many big names have gone 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 meant to be three days, but an unscheduled fourth day was added when six contenders still remained after 1:00am on day 3. Miller went into the final day with the lead, but was just a big gamble ahead by bracelet winner Bryn Kenney.

Three times Poker World Tour sample and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event champion Chino Rheem was the first to fall, his last chips going all-in with a king and two low cards. He failed to make a minimum or better of Kenney’s seventh straight pair of eights and was eliminated in fifth place ($79,189).

Argentine bracelet winner Andres Korn’s run ended when his trip threes collided with Maximilian Schindler’s Broadway straight. Korn took home $107,824 for his efforts.

Miller won a big pot with set deuces to beat bottom-ranked Schindler during three-handed play. Schindler then moved all-in with aces and fours, only to call trip deuces again, this time from Kenney. Schindler earned $149,981 as a third-place finisher, by far the largest live tournament earnings of his career.

Heads-up play began with Kenney holding a more than 2:1 chip lead. Miller overtook the lead for a while at the start, only to see Kenney build the lead and then begin to pull away. Kenney had more than a 6:1 lead when the pair agreed to take a 75-minute dinner break.

When the bottom two returned, Miller quickly secured a double-up and then stacked some pots to put himself back in the lead. The pair traded the chip lead again, but Miller finally took control for the last time. Miller then took down a big pot with two pair to Kenney’s jaw dropping. He put his last chips into the pot on fourth street with (AQ)59 against (a7)94 by Miller. Miller hit pocket aces in fifth place, while Kenney made pocket nines. Kenney picked up a nut heart draw in sixth but a brick eventually saw him eliminated in second.

The final tabs looked as follows:

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

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

Here’s a look at the prizes and ranking points awarded at the final table:

Visit the Card Player 2023 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews, and the latest results from the event. WSOP coverage sponsored by Global Poker.

Winning photo credit: WSOP / Spenser Looked.