James Obst took a couple years off from professional poker starting in 2018 to pursue his dream of a tennis career. He returned to the live poker scene in 2023, and has seemingly not missed a beat despite his hiatus from the game. He has recorded 14 cashes since last summer, including a fourth place finish in the 2023 World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship and a win in this year’s WSOP $10,000 seven card stud championship for his second career bracelet.

The Australian poker pro’s latest triumph saw him best a field of 396 entries in the 2024 World Poker Tour Australia Championship $8,000 AUD buy-in no-limit hold’em event. The Adelaide native earned his first WPT title and $398,512 for his victory on home soil.

“It’s honestly just insane. It’s happened too quick to process it,” James Obst told WPT reporters after coming out on top. “I’m thankful for all the support that my friends showed off and got in the photos with me, and everyone who’s reached out afterwards to congratulate me. Yeah, just feeling fantastic.”

This event ended up with a $1,984,126 prize pool which was paid out amongst the top 50 finishers. Among those who ran deep included bracelet winner Angel Guillen (47th), 2023 WSOP Paradise main event third-place finisher Daniel Neilson (17th), and 2024 WSOP Mystery Millions champion Malcolm Trayner (8th).

James Obst entered the final day with the chip lead among the final six. Dillan Patel (6th – $82,168) and Matthew Wakeman (5th – $108,264) lost preflop coin flips early to narrow the field to four. A battle of the blinds then spelled the end of Oleg Ivanchenko’s run, with his Q-10 suited unable to overcome the A-2 of Daniel Murphy. Ivanchenko’s small-blind shove was called and ace high remained the best hand by the river. Ivanchenko waled away with $144,281 for his fourth-place showing.

The next knockout also pitted the blinds against each other. Travis Endersby shoved from the small blind with ASpade Suit3Club Suit and Murphy called out of the big blind with 8Heart Suit8Club Suit. An ace-high flop gave Endersby the lead, which he maintained through the river. Murphy was awarded $194,483 as the third-place finisher.

Heads-up play began with James Obst holding 15,800,000 to Endersby’s 4,000,000. Just a few hands into the final showdown, Endersby limped from the button with KDiamond SuitJDiamond Suit. Obst raised to 375,000 with ASpade SuitKClub Suit from the big blind and Endersby three-bet shoved for 4,115,000 (41 big blinds). Obst quickly called and the board came down QHeart Suit10Heart Suit7Spade Suit5Spade SuitKHeart Suit to give him top pair and a winning ace kicker. Endersby settled for $265,157 as the runner-up, the second-largest score of his career.

Here is the final table result:

The Canadian poker star claimed his 18th WSOPC ring by winning the $888 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Crazy 8’s event during WSOP Online Pennsylvania. Engel outlasted a field of 61 entrants on his second entry, earning $16,732 and defeating “D.Lafferty” in a heads-up showdown for the title.

Earlier in February, Engel secured his 17th Circuit ring in an online $500 8-Max tournament, putting him two rings ahead of Daniel Lowery, Maurice Hawkins, and Joshua Reichard. While Hawkins has since added his 16th ring, Engel’s latest victory further widens the gap, with Lowery and Reichard still sitting at 15 rings.

The $888 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament took place on the WSOP Online platform in Pennsylvania (formerly WSOP.com). The event had a guaranteed prize pool of $35,000 but ended up surpassing that with a total of $51,484. Despite only 33 players registering, the tournament saw 28 rebuys, boosting the prize pool.

Ari Engel, who plays under the screen name “Ngindn” — a tribute to the initials of his nieces and nephews, from oldest to youngest — took home the title. Engel, a veteran poker pro, boasts three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and is the only player with 15 or more Circuit rings to also have won a bracelet.

According to The Hendon Mob, Engel has amassed $8.7 million in lifetime live tournament earnings. WSOP announcer and Poker Hall of Fame nominee Norman Chad once referred to Engel as the “Shohei Ohtani of poker” — a nod to Ohtani’s status as the first MLB player since Babe Ruth to excel as both a hitter and a pitcher, though Ohtani is sidelined from pitching this year due to an arm injury.

Event #9: $888 NLH Crazy 8’s Final Table Results

Many PokerGO Tour series points races come down to the wire. That was not the case in the 2024 Poker Masters, though. Jim Collopy had officially secured this year’s Purple Jacket before the final day of the festival-closing $25,000 high roller began.

“This run was incredible, no-limit hold’em is definitely a game I’ve played a lot of, but I play a lot of games, so it’s nice to perform well on a big stage against a lot of guys who specialize in specifically this format,” Collopy told PokerGO’s Jeff Platt after locking up the win.

“Purple will suit me really well,” the three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner offered when asked about the sartorial spoils of his victory at this festival.

In addition to the majestic velvet coat, Collopy was also awarded a $25,000 PGT Passport, and the PokerStars Gold Pass for the upcoming North American Poker Tour Las Vegas stop at Resorts World.

Collopy made four consecutive final tables from events 3-6, closing his run with back-to-back runner-up showings. All told, Collopy cashed for $521,600 across those four scores, the most of any player who participated in this festival.

His 522 total PGT points along the way gave him a final margin of 64 points over second-ranked Isaac Haxton, who had four cashes and one win.

Jim Collopy kicked off his spree with a sixth-place showing from a field of 94 entries in event no. 3, a $10,100 buy-in tournament. He earned $47,000 and 47 PGT points for that initial score.

The very next day, Jim Collopy navigated his way through a field of 81 entries in event no. 4, which was another no-limit hold’em affair at the same price point. Collopy secured another $105,300 and 105 points after hitting the rail in third place.

The final $10,100 buy-in of the series attracted 75 entries. Collopy made it down to heads-up play, only to fall one spot short of the title. He added $142,500 and 146 points after losing the final hand against David Chen.

The finishing blow for Jim Collopy was another runner-up finish, this time in the first of two $15,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em events on the schedule. There were 84 entries, which resulted in a $226,800 payday for Collopy, who added another 227 points to bring his total to 522.

Collopy now sits in seventh place on the season-long PGT leaderboard, with 1,574 points accrued across 15 total cashes. He also sits in sixth place in the 2024 Card Player Player of the Year standings, which are presented by Global Poker.

Here is a look at the final top 10 in the series points race:

The first champion of the 2024 Poker Masters has been decided. Spencer Champlin overcame a field of 131 entries in the $5,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em kickoff event to secure the title and the top prize of $160,475.

This was the Scarborough, Maine native’s first PokerGO Tour title, and his second-largest recorded tournament score. The two-time World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner now has nearly $3.2 million in lifetime earnings accrued across 387 in-the-money finishes.

Champlin now has seven final-table finishes in 2024, with this being his first title of the year. This win earned him 528 Card Player Player of the Year points and 160 PokerGO Tour points. He now sits in 87th place in the 2024 POY race standings presented by Global Poker, and is within reach of the top 200 in the PGT rankings.

This event ran for two days inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The strong turnout built a prize pool of $655,000 that was paid out among the top 19 finishers. Plenty of big names cashed, including current POY race second-ranked contender David Coleman (17th), 2013 WSOP main event champion Ryan Riess (16th), bracelet winner Alex Foxen (15th), bracelet winner Chris Hunichen (11th), Eshaan ‘Brown Balla’ Bhalla (9th), two-time Super High Roller Bowl winner Isaac Haxton (8th), and World Poker Tour champion Matthew Wantman (7th).

Only contenders six moved on to the live-streamed final table, with 2024 WSOP Circuit Commerce Casino main event champion Jessica Vierling coming into day 2 atop the chip counts.

The first knockout came right after cards got in the air. Champlin shoved with QClub Suit3Spade Suit from the small blind after it folded around to him. Bracelet winner Nicholas Seward called all-in from the big blind for 14 big blinds total with AHeart SuitKHeart Suit. Seward remained ahead through the turn, but a queen on the river saw him eliminated in sixth place ($32,750). This increased Sweards’s lifetime tournament haul to nearly $1.6 million. The largest chunk of that total ($516,135) came from his win in this year’s $3,000 six-max event at the WSOP.

Bracelet winner Zachary Grech lost a big chunk of his stack semi-bluffing with a straight draw into the flopped two pair of Vierling. He was left with fewer than three big blinds after bet-folding the river. He picked up pocket queens shortly after that to give himself some breathing room, but was soon all-in and at risk with 8Spade Suit6Spade Suit trailing the AHeart Suit5Club Suit of bracelet winner and WPT champion Dylan Linde. Linde made aces and fours to secure the pot, while Grech settled for $39,300 as the fifth-place finisher. The 2023 WSOP Online $400 turbo event champion now has over $862,000 in recorded earnings.

A preflop cooler spelled the end of Dan Shak’s run in this event. He had the best of it to start, with pocket tens leading the pocket nines of Vierling. A nine on the turn gave Vierling a set and the lead, but also improved Shak to an open-ended straight draw. The board paired on the end, though, giving Vierling nines full of queens and the pot. Shak was sent to the rail with $52,400 for his efforts. His tournament resume now features nearly $15 million in career cashes.

Linde was left as the shortest stack after his A-Q was outrun by the A-4 of Champlin in a preflop all-in confrontation. Not long after that he got all-in with Q-6 suited from the small blind, only to run into K-Q for Champlin. Linde was drawing dead by the turn and finished in third place. The $72,050 payout for this result increased his career earnings to nearly $10.3 million.

Heads-up play began with Vierling holding roughly a 2:1 lead over Champlin. She pulled even further ahead after winning a big pot with pocket aces against the top pair of queens held by Champlin. She almost closed out the title with K-Q leading Champlin’s Q-J in a preflop all-in, but Champlin paired his jack on the turn and held from there to double out of the danger zone. He then doubled again with ADiamond Suit7Diamond Suit holding against the KHeart Suit7Club Suit of Vierling to close the gap even more.

From there on it was a back-and-forth affair. Champlin took the lead with an eight-high straight besting Vierling’s seven-high straight, only to have Vierling jump back out in front with a set of fours besting Champlin’s second pair.

The two ultimately battled for roughly an hour before the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Champlin held roughly a 5:3 lead and ASpade SuitQSpade Suit on the button. He opened with a min-raise to 500,000 on the button and Vierling, who had 24.3 big blinds to start, three-bet shoved from the big blind with AClub SuitJSpade Suit.

Champlin quickly called and the board ran out 9Club Suit5Spade Suit3Spade SuitAHeart SuitQDiamond Suit to give him aces up and the title. Vierling, who earned her seat in this event in a $560 satellite, walked away with $98,250 as the runner-up. This deep run grew her lifetime earnings to more than $1.2 million.

Poker Masters Event #1 Final Table Results

At just 29 years of age, Stephen Song has already amassed a sizable tournament poker hardware collection. The professional player from Greenwich, Connecticut will have to make room next to his World Series of Poker bracelet and WPT Prime Championship trophy for a new marquee addition: the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona main event golden spade. This was his 13th recorded title.

Song overcame a field of 1,975 total entries in the €5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament that ran from Sept. 1-8 inside Casino Barcelona, earning a career-best payday of $1,432,328 for the win. He now has more than $8.1 million in lifetime earnings to his name.

The top 287 finishers earned a share of the prize pool in this event, which ended up being worth more than $10.6 million when reckoned in US dollars. After two starting flights and five more days of combined-field action, just six players remained heading into the final day of play.

Song held the chip lead to start. Andrew Hulme was able to earn an early double up with pocket aces on his way to overtaking the top spot in the chip counts. Rania Nasreddine, who finished third in the EPT Monte Carlo main event earlier this year, scored the first knockout of the day. Her A-K held against the Q-J suited of Boris Kuzmanovic (6th – $340,659) to narrow the field to five.

David Coleman was the next to fall. The American poker pro defended his big blind with JClub Suit9Spade Suit facing a small-blind raise of 1,100,000 from chip leader Hulme, who held QSpade SuitQHeart Suit. The flop came down JSpade Suit3Spade Suit3Club Suit and Hulme made a 750,000 continuation bet. Coleman called and the 2Diamond Suit rolled off on the turn. Hulme bet 1,450,000 and Coleman called again with his jacks and threes. The ASpade Suit on the river prompted a shove from Hulme, despite the late appearance of an overcard to his pocket queens. Coleman made the call and was shown a winning overpair by his opponent.

Coleman earned $442,835 as the fifth-place finisher, his fourth-largest score yet. This was his 21st final-table finish of the year, with five POY-qualified titles and more than $3.6 million in POY earnings accumulated along the way. His 8,300 total points are good for second place on the POY leaderboard.

A battle of the blinds saw Nasreddine left on fumes. Marius-Catalin Pertea shoved from the small blind with 9-8 and Nasreddine called with A-K. The flop and turn were safe for Nasreddine, but a nine on the river gave Pertea the double-up and left Nasreddine with fewer than three big blinds. She was soon all-in with ASpade Suit3Spade Suit trailing the AHeart Suit8Club Suit of Hume, which made two pair on the flop. Nasreddine was drawing dead by the turn and was eliminated in fourth place ($575,646). She now has more than $1.7 million in lifetime earnings, with the majority of that coming from her back-to-back EPT main event final table showings this year.

Song was the clear chip leader heading into three-handed play. That gap was closed considerably, though, when Hulme’s AClub Suit6Diamond Suit outraced Pertea’s 5Heart Suit5Club Suit. A six on the river sent Pertea, who qualified for this tournament online for just $55, packing in third place ($748,307). This was far and away the largest score yet for the Romanian.

Heads-up play began with Song holding 33,550,000 to Hulme’s 25,980,000. The two struck a deal to redistribute the remaining prize money, locking up $1,293,832 for Hulme and $1,369,281 for Song while leaving the title and $63,048 to play for.

Song was able to get a big bluff through to extend his lead. In the final hand, Song shoved from the button with AClub Suit7Heart Suit and Hulme called off his last nine or so big blinds with 8Heart Suit8Diamond Suit. The board came down 56Club Suit5Diamond Suit3Diamond Suit4Spade Suit9Diamond Suit and Song turned a seven-high straight to win the pot and the title. Hulme walked away with the payout he negotiated for in the deal. This was the largest score yet for the player from the UK, topping the $350,000 he earned as the 18th-place finisher in the 2023 WSOP main event.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

The 2024 PokerStars Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona €1,100 no-limit hold’em main event attracted a massive field of 7,138 total entries, building a prize pool of nearly $7.6 million when rendered in UD dollars. After eight starting flights and three more days of action at the European Poker Tour festival at Casino Barcelona, that sea of players was narrowed down to a single champion: France’s Sylvain Berthelot. Bethelot secured the title and $554,139 in prize money for the win. This was far and away his best live tournament score.

Bethelot struck a three-way deal with Spain’s Santiago Nadal and two-time bracelet winner Martin Zamani that redistributed most of the remaining prize pool, leaving $49,914 and the title to play for. Zamani was the chip leader at the time, and locked up the largest guaranteed payday of $514,208. He ultimately finished third, though, while Santiago survived to heads-up play. Santiago then ran the nut straight into the nut flush of Berthelot to hit the rail in second place ($437,924).

Berthelot was also awarded 1,320 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion. This was his first POY-qualified score of the year, and was enough to catapult him within striking distance of the top 300 in the 2024 standings presented by Global Poker.

The final day of this tournament began with 19 players remaining and Nadal in the lead. Berthelot was the shortest stack to to start the day, but had worked his way into the top half of the leaderboard by the time the last nine contenders converged onto a single table.

Zamani scored four of the first five knockouts to enter four-handed play as the chip leader. The next big clash saw Zamani open from the button with 9Club Suit7Club Suit and called a three-bet shove from PokerStars ambassador Parker Talbot out of the big blind. Talbot rolled over ADiamond Suit10Club Suit. The board ran out 9Spade Suit9Heart Suit4Diamond Suit10Spade SuitQHeart Suit and Zamani’s trip nines earned him yet another elimination. Talbot hit the payout desk to collect $251,970 for his fourth-place showing. This was his fifth final-table finish of 2024. The 660 POY points he earned in this event grew his total to 2,532, which is good for 75th place in the 2024 standings.

The final three hashed out the deal before resuming play. Not long after they shook hands on the agreement, Berthelot was hoisting the trophy. Zamani increased his career tournament earnings to over $6.5 million with this performance, while Nadal’s lifetime haul grew to nearly $1.7 million.

The 2024 Super High Roller Series concluded at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa in North Cyprus, with Richard Gryko winning the final event and claiming his first PGT title in Event #10: $25,750 Pot-Limit Omaha Mystery Bounty (6-Max). It drew 19 entries to create a $465,500 prize pool.

The majority of that money was captured by the UK’s Richard Gryko. He earned every knockout inside the money, securing the title, the top payout of $115,000, and the entire bounty prize pool of $232,750. Gryko now has more than $2.2 million in recorded tournament earnings.

The top three finishers made the money in this event, with Lautaro Guerra Cabrerizo placing third for $42,250. The 2023 PokerGO Tour PLO Series champion also has more than $2.2 million in career cashes.

2023 World Series of Poker main event fourth-place finisher Jan Peter Jachtmann was the runner-up, earning $79,000 for his efforts. He is now approaching $4.6 million in cashes.

Super High Roller Bowl Final Table Results

The 2024 Super High Roller Bowl Series at Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in Cyprus is soon drawing to a close. The highest buy-in pot-limit Omaha tournament of the festival wrapped up on Sunday, Aug. 25. Joni Jouhkimainen emerged victorious from the 27-entry field in the $51,150 buy-in PLO affair earning a career-best score of $526,900.

The bracelet winner from Finland now has $7,173,919 in career earnings, good for third all-time on Joni Jouhkimainen home nation’s tournament earnings leaderboard. Only Patrik Anotnius ($22.8 million) and Juha Helppi ($8.4 million) have cashed for more on the circuit.

This was Joni Jouhkimainen’s first title of 2024. He was awarded 306 Card Player Player of the Year points and 316 PokerGO Tour points as the champion.

Only the top four finishers made the money in this event, with $1,323,000 in total prizes up for grabs. Gergo Nagy, who finished fourth in a $25,750 buy-in PLO event at this festival just a day earlier, placed second this time around for $431,100. The Hungarian now has more than $1.1 million in lifetime tournament earnings.

Final table result:

The third and final $25,750 buy-in no-limit hold’em event of the 2024 Super High Roller Bowl Series at Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino in Cyprus ended up with 41 total entries, resulting in a prize pool of $1,004,500.

After two days of high-stakes six-handed tournament action, Maher Nouira emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $333,000.

This was the third-largest live payday yet for Maher Nouira, who has recorded four of his top-five paydays this year. His biggest score came with a fourth-place showing in the $100,000 buy-in event at Triton Montenegro, which earned him $933,000. He now has nearly $3.5 million in career cashes.

Nouira earned 420 Card Player Player of the Year points for this, his second title of the year. With 2,241 total points earned across six POY-qualified final tables, he is now tied with Raminder Singh for 104th place in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker.

Maher Nouira earned his first 200 PokerGO Tour points of the year with this triumph, which were sufficient to move him into 219th place in the season-long PGT points race.

Nouira had plenty of stiff competition to contend with down the stretch, including Samuel Ju (6th – $65,000), two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Daniel Dvoress (5th – $87,500), Yulian Bogdanov (4th – $122,000), and Jamil Wakil (3rd – $166,000).

It came down to a heads-up clash between Nouira and current POY race leader Adrian Mateos for the title. The Spanish superstar entered the final showdown with 1,135,000 to Nouira’s 7,070,000. He managed to fight his way back to nearly even, only to run a failed bluff attempt against a straight to finish as the runner-up.

Mateos earned $231,000 and 350 POY points for his 14th final-table finish of 2024. With two titles and more than $8.8 million in to-date POY earnings, he remains the player to beat in the POY race. His 7,825 points give him a 605 point lead over second-ranked David Coleman in the standings.

Maher Nouira also secured 139 PGT points, enough to climb into 24th place on that high-stakes-centric leaderboard. He now has nearly $49.8 million in career cashes to his name.

Final table Results: