PLACERVILLE, Ca. (InEDC) July 11, 2023
Shawn Daniels won the $777 buy-in Lucky 7’s no-limit hold’em event at the World Series of Poker on July 11 on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. The Placerville, California resident fittingly was awarded the top prize worth $777,777 to take his career earnings above $2.5 million. Daniels had a large rail of family and friends that celebrated enthusiastically with him after the big win. Daniels added his first gold bracelet to a trophy case that also includes two WSOP Circuit gold rings.
Daniels was feeling a mix of tears and emotion in the moments after his victory. “I recently lost my fiancé so it’s been a tough summer,” he confessed to reporters. “I just wish she was here to celebrate it also. But it is what it is, it’s nice to get it done.” He continued to say that he, “enjoyed it and played well, pretty unreal.”
The five-day tournament saw three starting flights build a total field of 7,323 entries that took the prize pool up to $4,991,448. The top 1,043 players all cashed for at least $2,724 in prize money when the bubble burst. There were just 317 players remaining when Day 2 began, and that number was whittled down to the final five after the second day of play ended. Some notables that made a deep run in the tournament included Bin Weng (14th), Jerry Yang (19th), TK Miles (40th), Aaron Mermelstein (83rd), and Chad Eveslage (1ooth).
Daniels was right in the middle of the chip standings when the final day of play began, but he scored a timely double up in the first big hand that he played. Daniels jumped into the chip lead during three-handed play, and then he took out Istvan Briski in third place to take a better than 2:1 chip advantage into the final match against Julien Montois.
Daniels retained the chip lead during the entirety of the final match, and all of the chips only got into the middle once between the last two players. The board read Q
J
8
44 when Montois got all in, and Daniels thought for a moment before he called. Montois revealed 10
3 for a busted straight draw, and Daniels picked off the bluff on the river holding KQ. Montois was eliminated in second place, and he took home $400,777 in prize money for the runner-up finish and largest cash of his career.
Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Shawn Daniels | $777,777 | 660 |
| 2 | Julien Montois | $400,777 | 550 |
| 3 | Istvan Briski | $226,777 | 440 |
| 4 | Anthony Scarborough | $168,777 | 330 |
| 5 | Charles La Boissonniere | $125,777 | 275 |
| 6 | Alexander Cole-Gardner | $95,777 | 220 |
| 7 | Yizhou Huang | $72,777 | 165 |
| 8 | Richard Tuhrim | $55,770 | 110 |
| 9 | Thomas Blanton | $55,770 | 55 |
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