With victories for Scott Seiver, Daniel Negreanu and a very famous name who moved clear or poker legends in pursuit of Phil Hellmuth, the 2024 WSOP had it all. But what were the most popular poker moments of the series and how did the poker world react? We look back on five moments that summed up the World Series of Poker across a crazy summer in Las Vegas.
Jonathan Tamayo Wins the Main Event… Via a Laptop?
The WSOP Main Event finale was a moment of celebration for many… but controversy for many others. When Tamayo won the top prize of $10 million, the celebrations could start in earnest for him and his team, including Dominik Nitsche and Joe McKeehen. The problem only arose afterwards, when poker fans with keen eyes noticed that Nitsche and other railbirds helping Tamayo had sims running on the final table during the final table.
Afterwards, the fallout from the controversy has threatened to overshadow Tamayo’s victory, but the memory of his victory will live long in his memory and those of his many fans. After two decades in the game, to win the Main Event is the crowning achievement of his career.
Scott Seiver Wins 2024 WSOP Player of the Year with Three Bracelet Victories
Scott Seiver was a clear winner in this year’s WSOP Player of the Year race, with three bracelet victories. In fact, Seiver even had a chance at a fourth WSOP bracelet as he made a final table in great shape to break the record of three bracelets in a single World Series of Poker.
Ultimately, Seiver fell short of that new record, but after declaring his intention to win multiple bracelets during the summer, his record in the 2024 summer series was one of the best in poker history. Seiver is no stranger to long-distance travel and will be looking at the WSOP Europe and WSOP Paradise schedules with a view to breaking the record for the most WSOP bracelets in a calendar year.
Shiina Okamoto Exacts Revenge in Epic Ladies Event
This year’s Ladies Event threw up a fascinating final battle. On the one hand, many inside the poker industry and outside it wanted Jamie Kerstetter to end her long wait for a bracelet. On the other, the 2023 runner-up Shiina Okamoto had made the final two for the second year running.
In the end, Okamoto got her revenge on the event as the Japanese architect constructed a brilliant comeback and rose to prominence to claim her first-ever WSOP bracelet. In one of the most moving moments of the World Series, her modest bow to the supporters on her rail was truly humbling.
Phil Ivey Wins Bracelet No. 11, Closes in on ‘The Brat’
While many other players grab headlines in Las Vegas during the WSOP, there is something magical about Phil Ivey winning a bracelet. Ivey managed to claim his 11th title in 2024 and that puts him just six behind the man at the top of the tree, Phil Hellmuth.
Closing in on the ‘Poker Brat’ Ivey managed to go one better than the late, great Doyle Brunson, Johnny ‘Orient Express’ Chan and Erik Seidel by winning his 11th WSOP title and now looks like being a permanent fixture in big WSOP Events again after some years out of the Las Vegas limelight.
Daniel Negreanu Breaks 11-year Hoodoo to win Seventh WSOP Bracelet
Finally, after an incredible 16 years, Daniel Negreanu finally won a WSOP bracelet in Las Vegas after a barren run that stretched back over a decade and a half. I mean, his two WSOP bracelets on foreign soil that reduce that wait to 11 years for his seventh bracelet, itself a huge number mean he hasn’t done too badly in the interim period. And sure, he won a Super High Roller Bowl for $3.3m in that time. And fine, Kid Poker stretched his tournament winnings past $50 million in the intervening period.
OK, drought?! What drought. Negreanu’s bracelet win in 2024 came in possibly the toughest event of all, the $50,000-entry Poker Players Championship where he beat Bryce Yockey to the title and $1.17m in prize money. His after-the-event interview went around the world and will give you all the feels.