Across the whole of 2024, more money has been won in poker tournaments than ever before. But poker isn’t all about the winners and losers in the game – it’s about their journey to the felt. From Las Vegas to The Bahamas, Asia and Australasia, poker legends have been created and reputations have grown or faded.
It’s been a fantastic 12 months at the felt, whether online in events such as the GGMillion$, where stars such as Artur Martirosian and Michael Addamo have crushed, or in the live arena, with the WSOP Main Event once again breaking records for attendances… and drama.
In part two of our round up of 2024 and the best PokerStake stories, we’re heading to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas… but nor before we’ve ‘checked’ out another game entirely.
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Kid Poker Welcomes the Queen
Daniel Negreanu took to the screen to introduce a new GGPoker ambassador to poker fans in March, with chess queen and grandmaster level player Alexandra Botez patching up with GG. As Botez explained in a fascinating video, her father idolized Negreanu back in the day and Negreanu was genuinely touched at Alexandra recounting the memory.
Botez has since cashed in some big tournaments and cash games and so far, has straddled the line between chess and poker brilliantly, helping to welcome new players to both games. Negreanu will no doubt be a great support to the young player and for her part, Botez looks like she’ll want to be playing more and more poker in the coming years.
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Jason Koon Wins Epic Flip
Jason Koon is known as a master of the game of poker. But he busted out his dance moves when he backflipped into the action on the Triton Poker Tour, stunning fans with a superb entrance. Final tables have started with players in seats for far too long and Koon’s head-over-heels – literally – approach to the action at the felt was a joy to behold.
We delved deep and came up with some new entrances for some of our favorite players. This is something that we really want to see developed in 2025. We don’t care who makes the first move, be it the PokerGO guys, Triton Poker’s finest or Game of Gold Season 2. Someone has got to get these poker players moving and shaking to their favorite song. Just check out Jason Koon’s epic moves.
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Steve Albini Passes Away
The legendary rock music engineer, producer and poker enthusiast Steve Albini passed away at the age of 61 in early June as the poker world was stunned into sadness. The former Big Black and The Shellac frontman turned engineer and continued his epic work with Pixies and Nirvana.
Albini had always been a big fan of poker throughout his career and winning WSOP bracelets in 2018 and 2022 was a star on and off the felt. Steve Albini’s tragic death left the poker world and music world poorer places in his absence and his loss will always be felt.
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Moneymaker Wins Triton GGMillion$
Chris Moneymaker will always be recognized as the man behind the 2003 ‘Poker Boom’, but his success in Montenegro in May solidified his reputation as a present poker powerhouse too. Moneymaker won the Triton Super High Roller Series version of the GGMillion$ event as the Americas Cardroom Pro took home the top prize of $903,000.
With a massive 163 entries (including 56 re-entries) in the event, the $4 million prizepool was a good example of yet another boosted GGMillion$ benefitting from a travelling tour collaborating with the online poker brand.
“I wasn’t going to lose today,” Moneymaker told reporters. “I could have put it in with any hand and I would have won. I ran pure. I hit a three-outer, a six outer. I thought to myself, ‘You know what, this is going to be 2003. I’m not going to lose any more hands today.’”
He was right and you can read all about how he did it in more detail here.
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Guess Who’s Back?
“The easier default place to be is at the back of the class doing spitballs and cracking jokes.”
In June, we spoke to one of the most unique players in poker, as Ryan Depaulo talked to us about his current role as a poker ambassador, his hopes and dreams and even how he won a WSOP bracelet from a Walmart car park. He told us ‘I don’t ever want to leave the poker world’ and its clear that the poker world feels the love right back.
Depaulo courts controversy at times but it always feels like he only ever speaks the truth and he’s a refreshing player to read about, with the ‘Eminem of Poker’ never scared to speak his mind and always brutally honest about himself too.
“The easier default place to be is at the back of the class doing spitballs and cracking jokes,” he said. “Eminem was silly, but he was in your face too.”
Who’ll make our favorite features from the second half of 2024? Stay tuned to PokerStake and GGPoker this festive period and find out.
