Josh Arieh’s summer at the World Series of Poker has been filled with near misses.
Not only was the professional poker player from Atlanta snubbed from the list of Poker Hall of Fame finalists by voters, he missed out on winning two events after getting heads-up.
But Arieh remains in the hunt for another title, sitting fourth in the Player of the Year race entering Saturday.
“I’ve run really good,” Arieh said. “It’s fun. Just like an any extra motivation is pretty cool. And now that the World Series has put up an additional $1 million (to the POY winner) for the first time, it’s really cool to be in the mix.”
Arieh was part of the field for the WSOP Main Event on Day 1C at Paris Las Vegas and Horseshoe Las Vegas and had 122,200 chips, more than double the starting stack, at the 6 p.m. dinner break.
The $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship continues on Sunday with Day 1D, which is certain to be the largest of the four starting flights. Last year’s 1D flight drew nearly 5,000 entrants and tournament officials are bracing for another massive turnout filled with top pros and other notable players.
Arieh owns seven career WSOP bracelets, which are awarded for tournament victories, and had two shots to increase his total last month.
He finished second to Great Britain’s Benny Glaser in the prestigious $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship and was runner-up in the $10,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. Championship.
Arieh also was third in the $1,500 buy-in Pot-limit Omaha High-Low 8 or Better tournament and has cashed in 13 events at this summer’s series for almost $1.5 million.
“For me to win, I have to bring my A-plus game for a long period of time, which is hard to do,” Arieh said. “To have the opportunity to win bracelets, I’m extremely grateful. I just try to bring my best every day and see what happens.”
Alex Foxen leads the Player of the Year race, followed by Arieh’s close friend Shaun Deeb. Japan’s Naoya Kihara, who won two events during the series, sits third.
A deep run in the Main Event could push Arieh up the leaderboard before the competition is decided at the WSOP Paradise series in December in the Bahamas.
Arieh, who was third in the 2004 Main Event, lost a big pot before the second break to knock him down near his 60,000-chip starting stack. He spent much of the late afternoon and evening at one of the ESPN feature tables capitalizing on the inexperienced players at his table.
“I feel like they’ll be a little more timid and afraid of making a mistake being on TV,” Arieh said during the second break. “At this stage of the tournament, it’s definitely in my favor for them to be playing a little tighter.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.
