After a wait that was 12 days short of a decade, Phil Ivey has won his 11^th World Series of Poker bracelet. The player who many believe to be the greatest of all-time, or ‘GOAT’, took care of Danny Wong heads-up after Jason Mercier exited in third place in the $10,000-entry Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship. In seven other events on Day 17 of the 2024 WSOP, three more players won a bracelet on an exciting day of action in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ivey Wins 11^th Bracelet for Vegas-Wide GOAT Vibes

Phil Ivey took nine years, 11 months and 19 days off between winning WSOP bracelets. In the end, however, class was permanent as one of the greatest players ever to do it grabbed gold again. With just three remaining at the felt as the final – extended – day at the felt began, Ivey was the short stack.

Lost in the post-match popping of camera bulbs, Jason Mercier came oh so close to landing bracelet #7, the Floridian losing a big pot to Ivey when the latter drew a wheel. Mercier lasted a little longer but two double-ups didn’t get him back among the other two players’ stacks and he busted soon after for $151,412.

Danny Wong led the final day at the start of play as he bid to double his bracelet tally from one to two, but as the crowd swelled around the table sensing Ivey’s triumph, it played out. The so-called ‘GOAT’ found another wheel with Wong committed and it was all over. The two men shook hands, and the crowd cheered – Ivey was a bracelet winner yet again.

Now ahead of the late Doyle Brunson, as well as Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel, all of whom have 10 WSOP titles, only Phil Hellmuth stands ahead of Ivey with 17 bracelets to Ivey’s 11.

Coleman Crashes Out, Cheers on the Winner as Seward Seals Maiden Win Instead

“Coleman was the best player at the table.”

Poker is a true sport of kings in 2024 and there aren’t many better examples of that than the PokerStake player David Coleman. Heading into the final table of Event #31, the $3,000 buy-in 6-Max NLHE event, Coleman had half of the chips in play with five seemingly probably victims in front of him on his march to bracelet glory. Without a bracelet win so far in his career to match his legendary run up the rankings in the game, Coleman would have been desperate to win.

Instead, it all went wrong. Coleman doubled up several of his opponents. He recovered when eliminating Nikolaos Angelou in fifth place but with four remaining, lost all of his chips to his good friend Nicholas Seward. Coleman had the better of it with his chips at risk, too. Pocket sevens were no good, however, as Seward’s king-five overtook Coleman’s hand and the massive overnight chip leader hit the rail in fourth for $168,448.

At that point, many players would collect their payout and head elsewhere, but Coleman did the opposite, supporting his friend Seward to victory. Ace-jack for Seward beat king-jack for the Japanese player Akinobu Maeda. Heads-up, it looked like things might go wrong for Seward, all-in with jack-ten against Konstantyn Holskyi, as the Ukrainian held king-ten and would have doubled up to a big leader if he could hold. He couldn’t. Seward made a straight and landed the first bracelet of his poker career.

“It was bittersweet,” Seward admitted afterwards. “[Coleman] was the best player at the table. It’s hard not to want him out. It gives me a better chance to win but he’s a very close friend of mine and we’ve worked together a lot and I have endless respect for him. It hurt, and I feel bad about it but there’s definitely a sweet part to it too.”

David Coleman was all class and his WSOP bracelet moment will doubtless come – he is simply too good for it not to. When both men look back on Seward’s victory here, though, happy memories of one friend supporting another will live forever.

Richard Ashby Wins Second Bracelet After Battle of Britain

Two British poker superstars finished as the top two players in Event #32, as Richard Ashby beat Adam Owen to claim his second WSOP bracelet at the expense of his countryman. British players have performed very strongly in the opening fortnight of the 2024 WSOP and nothing changed here as a final table including legends of the game such as the overnight leader Michael Noori and WSOP crusher Brandon Shack-Harris were dominated to defeat by Ashby and Owen.

With Chris Tryba (9^th) and Hal Rotholz (8^th) both leaving the final table action early, Noori was the flagbearer for a home country hero. His exit in third place meant he wouldn’t win a second bracelet and for some time, it looked like Adam Owen might join Noori and Ashby on one WSOP title as the chip leader heads-up looked to seal a maiden WSOP victory. Instead, Ashby battled back and when he took the lead, there was an inevitability about his victory. When it came, Owen was dejected but gracious, his compatriot celebrating a brilliant victory at the expense of a friend.

Manzano the Man as Chile Win First Bracelet of 2024 Series

“Winning it now is something beautiful.”

Alex Manzano sealed victory in the $600-entry PLO Deepstack Event #33 after beating Robert Gill heads-up for the $161,846. In an event with an awesome 2,402 entries, Manzano’s win earned him his first bracelet and he was delighted with victory afterwards.

“This was my first tournament when I started playing twenty years ago,” he told PokerNews. “Since I started playing professionally, this was the special one that I always wanted, and I couldn’t play it professionally many years ago. Winning it now is something beautiful.”

It was a dream final for Manzano in many ways. After players such as Nicolas Vatan and Nicholas Gonzalez were eliminated early at the final table, Robert Gill emerged as Manzano’s biggest challenger and made the heads-up, taking an early lead and holding onto it for some time. Manzano hit an ace on the turn to double up with two pair in a vital hand and used that momentum – and the passion from his dominant rail – to take control, seeing out the win for a career-defining bracelet win.

Preferring to relax after most poker tournament, the Chilean Manzano was prepared to change plans post bracelet victory.

“I usually don’t celebrate my winnings because I’m really tired after such a long session, but they are going to a party, and I have to be there!” he laughed.

Galiana Leads Last 13 in Latest Freezeout Event

Antonio Galiana is the chip leader in Event #34, where $2,500 was the buy-in and just 13 players survived to a third and final day of the event. Big names made the last ‘lucky’ 13, with Galiana (8.99 million) some way clear of his nearest rival Patrick Leonard (5.09m), with Romain Lewis (4.39m) and Juha Helppi (3.61m) all inside the top five. Helppi has already made the final five in one event this series and should he win, the Finn would become a major threat in WSOP Player of the Year terms.

More big names sit further down the final day’s counts, with Johan Guilbert (3.32m), Dinesh Alt (1.89) and Jeremy Ausmus (1.69m) all making the final day with hopes of winning their first bracelet of the summer.

Jolly Good Show in H.O.R.S.E. Event as Bryan Tops the Bill

Day 2 of the $1,500-entry H.O.R.S.E. event, Event #35 on the 2024 schedule saw Bryan Jolly (3,045,000) bag by far the biggest stack heading into the final furlong. With stars such as the former Poker Players Championship (PPC) winner Phil Hui (1.1m) and Daniel Strelitz (880,000) both still challenging, Jolly isn’t over the line yet, but he’s leading from the pack by some margin with just one final fence to leap – the last day where 23 players will race to become the latest WSOP bracelet winner.

Two Events Begin on Day 1

Two brand-new WSOP Events began on Day 17 of the WSOP, and one was an absolute monster. Event #36, the $800-entry 8-Max NLHE Deepstack event saw 4,278 entrants whittled down to just 259 survivors, as a prize pool of $3 million will award a top prize of $342,551 and the WSOP bracelet. Joseph Couden (3.28m) bagged biggest with other stars to survive including Martin Zamani (2.1m), Chris Brewer (1,505,000), Joe Cada (335,000) and Ryan Riess (280,000) all making Day 2. Legends like Koray Aldemir, Kristen Foxen, Greg Raymer and Phil Hellmuth slid out of contention.

Finally, the $10,000-entry Event #37, the Big O Championship saw 300 entries (two 0’s right there) end with 120 (there’s another one) survivors. Top of the shop was  Hong Kong player Wing Po Liu (583,000), with stars such as second-in-chips Dylan Weisman (447,000), David Williams (358,000), Joao Vieira (303,000), Jared Bleznick (280,000), Matt Glantz (277,500), Mike Matusow (197,000), Adam Friedman (193,000), Sean Winter (164,500), Joao Simao (114,500), and Nick Schulman (103,500) all surviving. Some who didn’t make the cut included Hall of Famers Jennifer Harman and Todd Brunson, Team Lucky’s Shaun Deeb and Josh Arieh and the newly-crowned 11-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey.

With thanks to PokerGO for their official WSOP photography. The 2024 World Series of Poker is available to watch exclusively on PokerGO. Subscribe today and watch all the drama play out in Las Vegas!