2023 Golden Nugget Grand Poker Series Ends on High Note with Over $5.5M Paid Out

Summary:

• Golden Nugget Poker Series took place at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas
• The 2023 schedule featured a total of 89 events, with $3m in guaranteed prize pool on offer
• The series smashed its guarantee after awarding more than $5.5m

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) hogged the headlines during the last couple of months and a lot of other poker tournaments taking place in Las Vegas did not get as much attention.

One of them was the Grand Poker Series, an annual poker festival hosted by the Golden Nugget Casino.

2023 Golden Nugget Grand Poker Series – Official Figures

The Golden Nugget Grand Poker Series returned for another edition in 2023, running from May 30 to July 3. This year, players competed across 89 events with a combined guarantee of $3 million. The festival managed to surpass that figure by a huge margin after it attracted 24,402 total entries, creating a massive prize pool of $5,587,560.

The 2023 schedule featured a wide range of poker variants, including the traditional No-Limit Hold’em, as well as plenty of mixed games, such as Mixed Triple Draw Lowball, H.O.R.S.E., Dealer’s Choice, 8-Game Mix, and Pot-Limit Omaha.

The tournament with the highest attendance number was Event #41: $300 NLH Mystery Bounty $250K GTD which attracted 2,356 entries, creating $339,340 in total prize pool. It was won by Kyle Jeffrey for $55,485.

The main highlight of the festival was the $1,100 buy-in, $1,000,000 GTD PokerNews Cup which was played as a mystery bounty event. The tournament drew a massive field of 2,331 entries to generate $2,262,070 in total prize money, making it the biggest Golden Nugget tournament in history in terms of prize pool. In the end, it was the UK’s Johnny Kelly who claimed the title, walking away with $218,605 in total prizes, including bounties.

Other Winners

Among other winners at the series was Edward Holt who triumphed in Event #32: Bar Poker Open (BPO) Championship for $100,000, the largest first-place prize in BPO’s history. 2004 WSOP Main Event winner Greg Raymer also had a successful run, taking down Event #77: $600 NLH Seniors Championship for $32,000. Maureen Blochlinger topped a 181-entry field in Event #81, $200 NLH Ladies event to claim the title and $4,623 in top prize.

The winners’ list also includes Jora Beit who won Event #10: $200 NLH $200K GTD for $30,938 and Baker Abdallah who emerged victorious in Event #28: $200 NLH $200K GTD for $23,651.