Isaac Haxton is already a poker legend. But on Thursday, he just might add the one important missing notch to his resume — a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet.
The future Poker Hall of Famer enters Day 3 of Event #16: $25,000 High Roller (8-Handed) with about an average stack and 13 of the 301 players remaining. First place will pay $1,698,215.
For “Ike,” arguably the best to have never won a bracelet, winning the tournament would bring his overall Hendon Mob results over $37 million. More importantly though for his legacy, he’d win an event in the most prestigious annual poker series in the world, and that counts for something.
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Just Missing One Thing
Haxton, who previously represented both PartyPoker and PokerStars as an ambassador, is one of poker’s all-time winningest live tournament players. With $35.8 million in Hendon Mob cashes, he currently sits in 14th place all-time. But only Cary Katz and Steve O’Dwyer, who hasn’t competed in the WSOP for years, have higher tournament earnings but don’t have a bracelet.
Beyond cashing for an absurd amount, the New York native has tournament wins at the European Poker Tour (EPT), U.S. Poker Open, Poker Masters, and his most memorable victory, a career-defining $3.6 million score for winning the $300,000 buy-in 2018 Super High Roller Bowl.
Haxton has never been a full-schedule grinder at the World Series of Poker. He mostly plays a small amount of high roller tournaments and some online bracelet events. Out of his 32 cashes, five have been online on GGPoker. His last live WSOP cash came in 2018 when he finished fourth in a $50,000 high roller.
Facing Tough Competition
If Haxton were to have grinded out 30-40 event schedules for a dozen years like many other players, he’d almost certainly have a bracelet by now. The likely future Poker Hall of Famer is in the money in the $25k for the first time at the WSOP since 2018 and is guaranteed a minimum payout of $79,335.
The top two spots will pay over $1 million, and reaching that point won’t be easy given the stiff competition remaining. Roman Hrabec will enter Day 3 with the chip lead at 6,050,000. Haxton’s in sixth place with 3,820,000, about 1,000,000 chips below his Day 2 peak.
Joao Vieira (4,090,000), Brian Rast (3,965,000), Darren Elias (2,790,000), and Kristen Foxen (2,675,000) are among the heavy hitters still in the hunt. Rast is chasing his sixth bracelet, which could be huge in his quest to reach the Poker Hall of Fame soon, perhaps in 2023.
Haxton, on the other hand, won’t become eligible for the HOF until 2026. A bracelet win on Thursday just might secure his spot in poker’s most exclusive club three years from now. Furthermore, he could take his name off the “Best Poker Players without a Bracelet” list.
Follow Haxton’s Run for the Bracelet on Day 3