Winners of the First 10 Events of WSOP 2024

While the WSOP 2024 is underway, PokerListings decided to share the weekly results, starting from the first ten events played from May 28th to June 4th.

Note: We did not include WSOP Online events and results of live WSOP events that were played next — you can find them in later articles on PokerListings.

Asher Conniff

The opening event of the WSOP was Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout (8-Handed), with 493 entries and a $2,267,800 prize pool. The event was won by US player Asher Conniff.

This victory is his first ever WSOP bracelet and fourth live best cash of $408,468.

Still, don’t be fooled. This triumph wasn’t Asher’s first trophy — he already has pretty successful poker career with highlights including:

Position	Tournament	Winnings
First Place	$15,4K NLH WPT World Championship 2015	$973,683
First Place	$560 NLH Deep Stack WPT World Championship/Borgata Spring Poker Open 2015	$203,231
First Place	$1,7K NLH Main Event WSOP Circuit Bally’s Las Vegas 2019	$193,147

According to TheHendonMob, as of June 5th, 2024, Asher’s career winnings exceed $4.3M.

After the event he shared his impressions own impressions:

“It’s incredible, man, just to not have to think about trying to win one anymore is great, and obviously the money, the experience — it’s awesome, I’m so happy! I think one of the advantages that I have is that I’ve been in live streams and spots before where people can see my cards [on the stream], and there’s bright lights, and it’s stressful. I’ve been here before, so I know what to do.”

Photo Credit: Hayley Hochstetler

Jose Garcia

Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em, had 1,189 entries and a total prize pool of $499,380. The maiden bracelet went to poker dealer and player Jose Garcia, from the US. Garcia got $79,134 in prize money; no small feat considering this is only his six ITM in live events — others were in the range between $382 and $1,315.

Jose was absolutely astonished by the triumph but credited his success to his own strategy named “The Placido Effect’’. While he didn’t share details of his secret, it sure did gave him enough confidence to go home with the first trophy of his poker career.

Photo Credit: Alicia Skillman

Daniel Willis

The third WSOP 2024 event was crushed by British businessman Daniel Willis. He conquered Event #3: $500 WSOP Kickoff No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout, which kicked off with 3,485 entries and a $1,463,700 prize pool. This victory brought Willis his first ever WSOP bracelet and best career live cash, a respectable $175,578.

Dan took his triumph emotionally — especially because of the tough competition — and shared his thoughts afterwards:

“In deep fields, thousands of players, you get these really crucial spots where you get your chips in and it’s a really critical hand to keep that momentum going. And so many times when I played poker professionally 10-15 years ago before I started my music journey and business, I found that those crucial spots weren’t going my way really deep for very big prize money. But in this tournament, it just went really, really well in those crucial spots. […]

The final table seemed to go really smoothly. Someone shoved all in and I have Kings; obviously an easy call. The same thing happened again and I had Aces, and it just kept going like that where I was in those dream scenarios, spots that a lot of poker players would just love to be in and would just appreciate that the luck is on your side… I’m just really grateful for this amazing opportunity. And how everything unfolded to be here and to be the winner.”

Photo Credit: Omar Sader

James Chen

The first non-Hold’Em event of WSOP 2024 was Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (8-Handed), with 928 entries and a total prize pool of $1,238,880. This time around, the bracelet went to seasoned U.S. poker pro James Chen. This is Chen’s first bracelet and the second best live cash, totaling at $209,350.

As of June 5th, 2024 James had more than $765K in total live earnings, with his best cash being $304,571 for scoring second place in the $10K Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship during WSOP 2023. In his post-event interview, James said that:

“It’s great. I play Omaha and the different variants. I primarily play cash games, but at The World Series I usually just play tournaments. Last year to come so close was disappointing, but this year to get it done was amazing. It was fun, cards were hitting. I made a lot of hands and it was great.”

Photo Credit: Danny Maxwell

Malcolm Trayner

Australian professional poker player Malcolm Trayner became one of three first “millionaires” of the WSOP 2024 as a winner of Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions No-Limit Hold’em. The event began with 18,409 entries and a prize pool totaling $16,199,920. 

In addition to his first bracelet, Malcolm is taking home a well rounded $1,000,000 prize. Right before him Ukrainian Valentyn Shabelnyk and American DJ Backley secured the same amount through knockouts.

Trayner was more than thrilled with his results, sharing that the first thing he plans to splurge on is a nice dinner:

“Get out all the boys. A really nice treat and I have no idea what to do next. Apart from a nice dinner and maybe fly my girlfriend to business class or something.”

Talking about his emotions, he added:

“A bit of mix, everything. Lots of excitement. Overwhelmed. I just I can’t believe what’s happened. A lot of happiness as well. I mean, not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous going in, like, I made a few mistakes earlier on with falling out of turn and things like that.

But once I got used to it and settled, then it was just a matter of doing what I’ve done a few times or many times before, online and live as well. Just playing final table and just try to disassociate from the money and just think about the chips you have in front of you and just trying to win everyone else’s chips. That was my goal.“

Darius Samual

It’s fair to say that the story of Brit Darius Samual winning Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship can absolutely be included in poker history as one of the craziest runs to date.

For one, Darius spent half of his entire bankroll just to buy into the event, somehow hoping to hit ITM. He wasn’t wrong: in the end he took home not only his first WSOP bracelet but an additional $500,000 cash prize.

On the finish line Samual outran a bunch of solid pros — Faraz Jaka, Nikolai Mamut, Artur Martirosian and John Smith — and was very impressed by some of them:

“The match with John Smith I think was [my favorite]. His small ball style was a lot of fun and it lasted a long time. I don’t have an exact area, I just play for fun and making some money. I basically put 50 percent of my bankroll on one tournament. I really wanted to go for it and this payout is like 95 percent of my poker money now. I took a shot! I think I was the only one who didn’t care about the bracelet, I only cared about the money.”

Photo Credit: Hayley Hochstetler

John Hennigan

Also known as Johhny World, US professional John Hennigan made a splash during WSOP 2024 when he won Event #7: $1,500 Dealers Choice (6-Handed). The event saw 530 entries and an impressive prize pool o $707,550.

This victory is Hennigan’s seventh bracelet, which was only made sweeter by the $138,296 live cash that accompanied it.

It’s been a long time since a player’s crossed the 6 bracelets line. This latest victory made John one of just three players with 7 bracelets and sky-rocketed him to the Top 10 in rating:

“It’s Interesting to know, I guess, just like any other number. Very happy to win the tournament. I mean to me, the best thing about winning the tournament is not losing it. Not getting second, or knowing they’re still playing and wandering around after you go broke. It’s just very satisfying to come out on top.”

Photo Credit: Hayley Hochstetler

Bryce Yockey

Hennigan wasn’t the only player to add another bracelet to his trophy room — U.S. poker player Bryce Yockey did the same by winning Event #8: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (8-Handed). Unlike Hennigan’s, this event totaled at 733 entries and came with a $3,371,800 prize pool.

Along with the second bracelet in career, Yockey also secured his best live cash by winning $606,654. Bryce was ecstatic about the results, especially because of the hours spent studying and practicing:

“There’s no feeling like it. Like winning a tournament, especially a WSOP tournament is just a highlight of anyone’s poker career. I feel validated because I’ve worked really hard to get better at PLO specifically, and I feel like it paid off today. I feel really loved because I had a lot of people come and support me.

I’m going to win another one this year. Like honestly, when I saw myself get drafted for $13 in the fantasy draft, I’m like, f*** these guys. I’m just going to win two bracelets instead. I do a morning affirmation every day and I just tell myself I’m going to win two, and I got one down so far.”

Photo Credit: Rachel Kay Winter

Nick Guagenti

Before WSOP 2024, poker didn’t have an internationally renowned poet participating in the WSOP — or, at least, his namesake.

This precedent was settled in Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold’em (8-Handed), which saw 443 entries and a prize pool of $591,405. During the event, when U.S. players Nick Guagenti and Joseph Brodsky met at the same final table and finished in the top two.

No matter what Brodsky tried, he just couldn’t defeat Guagenti — in the end Nick emerged on top, securing his first bracelet, best live cash of $121,074, and a couple of kisses.

It was only Nick’s sharp comment after the event that brought us back down to earth: “I’m only here to win bracelets.”

Photo Credit: Alicia Skillman

Scott Seiver

One of the most successful poker player in the industry, American Scott Seiver started WSOP 2024 by winning his fifth bracelet in Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship (8-Handed). The tournament saw a total of 171 entries and a $1,590,300 prize pool. Of course, Seiver got a money “bonus” as well — but not even close to his top live winnings. This time it was only $426,744.

Still, Seiver was undoubtedly glad to secure another bracelet but couldn’t quite show it due to fatigue:

“This was exhausting. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was one of if not the longest non-Main Event tournament there has been. I feel great now that I’ve won. This bracelet actually means a lot to me. Everyone [who] plays a tournament, they always want to win. But I came into this summer with a real desire to try and win as many bracelets as I can.”

Photo Credit: Danny Maxwell

While we’ve recapped everything so far, there are still more than a few chips to be played. Join us next week for another recap; till then keep up with all the poker action with our social media.