Today’s action at the World Series of Poker saw six events in play with two bracelet events won. James Obst won the second bracelet of his career as he beat Paul Volpe to gold, while Xixiang Luo toppled Daniel Hachem heads-up as the 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem turned rail supporter to help his son. Elsewhere, 17-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and six-time champ Shaun Deeb could be on a collision course to decide who celebrates next.

Luo Wins as Hachem Falls Short

Event #41 was won by Xixiang Luo as the third and final day of action saw 16 players play down to a winner in the $1,500 NLHE/PLO Double Board Bomb Pot event, a new tournament for 2024. All eyes began on Daniel Hachem, the son on infamous Australian Main Event winner Joe Hachem, who won the $7.5m top prize at the World Championship 19 years ago in 2005.

After players such as Americans Joseph Dulaney and Robert Cote busted in 9^th and 8^th place respectively, Brazilian Marcos Exterkotter was busted in sixth for a score of just under $50,000. David Funkhouser came close but lost out in fourth place for $91,891 while the last remaining former WSOP bracelet winner, William Kopp, busted in third place for $127,925 as play moved heads-up.

Daniel Hachem initially started at a big deficit but made up the ground to level. In the final hand, however, he lost to Luo’s flopped trip nines and while Hachem had a spade flush draw, it missed on the turn and river to pronounce Luo the winner for $270,820 while Hachem had to settle for second place… and a hug from his Dad.

Obst Returns to Winning Ways in Seven Card Stud

In Event #42, the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship was won by Australia’s James Obst, as he managed to do what countryman Hachem couldn’t, denying Paul Volpe heads-up for the $260,658 top prize. Seven years after claiming his maiden title, Obst made it two after a gutsy heads-up battle concluded in his favor.

Mike Lang had the chip lead coming into the final day’s play but by the time the final table arrived, Paul Volpe looked good for a deep run. So it proved, as Lang left in fourth place eventually, after double Brazilian disappointment saw Yuri Dzivielevski (8^th) and Andre Akkari (7^th) bust out before Finnish star Juha Helppi in sixth place, his third final table showing this summer without a top three place.

Hellmuth Heroics, Deeb Delivers… But Who’ll Take Gold?  

Event #43 saw 215 players from 854 entries return to the felt in 7-Max Mixed PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better/ Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better drama, costing $1,500 to play and ending on Day 2 with 22 players still in seats.  With a $1,140,090 prize pool and a $196,770 top prize, the 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth ended play sixth in chips on 1,285,000, a little ahead of six-time winner Shaun Deeb (780,00).

Palayers to cash on Day 2 but miss the final list of remaining stars included John Racener, Benny Glaser and Ben Yu, but chip leader Ying Chu (1,865,000), second-in-chips Dylan Lambe (1,845,000) and Stephen Hubbard (1,725,000) will all be hoping that experience doesn’t count for the Poker Brat and Team Lucky’s most successful son.

Lima Leads Monster Stack as Day 2

In Event #38, 2,831 players returned to the felt from over 8,700 entries, with a bumper Day 2 seeing just 414 players surviving to Day 3 of this incredible event. With a prize pool of over $11.6 million, the top prize of $1,098,220 represents an enormous return on anyone’s investment who might win. Top of the leaderboard after Day 2 was the American player Vinicius Lima (3,700,000). With over $1 million in live poker earnings via The Hendon Mob, Lima has a chance to double his career earnings if he can win this event.

There is still a very long to go, of course, and with players like the talented Romania Catalin Pop (3,510,000), Moroccan tournament regular Mehdi Chaoui (2.95m) and French Winamax Pro Alexandre Reard (2.4m) all inside the top 10, anyone could win the Monster top prize yet.

Sun Shines on Opening Day of Latest NLHE Event

Day 1 of the 44^th Event of this year’s WSOP saw 235 players survive the $2,000-entry No-Limit Hold’em event, with 1,561 entries topped by Chinese player Jianfen Sun (820,000) at the close of play. Sun ended play with Jed Friedman (806,000) and Narcis Nedelcu (777,000) closest in his rear-view mirror, while Wai Kiat Lee (557,000) and Lou Garza (471,000) both made it to the top 15 places after great days at the felt.

Other big names to make the Day 2 cut included online poker legend and former WSOP bracelet winner Chris Moorman (213,000), the former 2013 world champion Ryan Riess (164,000) and German former Main Event winner Koray Aldemir (63,000), but there was no bag for stars such as Jesse Lonis, Anson Tsang or Chance Kornuth.

H.O.R.S.E. Race Set for Thrilling Conclusion

In Event #45, the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship began with 152 entries as players battled in Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better until only 87 remained.

Top of the chip counts after the opening day was Maxx Coleman with 307,500 chips, followed by Mike Leah (282,500) and Clayton Mozdzen (273,500) inside the podium places. Others to excel included David Prociak (241,000), Event #40 runner-up Brandon Shack-Harris (199,000) and 11-time WSOP title winner Phil Ivey (73,500).

With late registration still open, Day 2 may yet exceed last year’s total entries, with players such as Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow, Anthony Zinno, Matt Glantz and Daniel Negreanu all busting on Day 1.

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!