James Obst Wins WPT Australia Main Event for $398,000 on the Gold Coast

The popular poker professional James Obst won the latest major title of his glittering career Down Under where it all began as he claimed the WPT Australia crown for a score of $398,512. At a final table including players such as Travis Endersby and Daniel Murphy, five Australias and one Brit battled for glory at The Star Gold Cast where a prizepool of $3 million was divided between the winners.

Patel Pushed Out Early

While the weather outside was hot and humid, the action was cool in The Star Gold Coast, where 300 entries and 96 re-entries meant a six-figure score for the winner at one of the World Poker Tour’s most glamorous stops.

It was Dillan Patel who busted in sixth place for $82,168. All-in during the very first hand of WPT Australia action between the final six, Patel pushed with and was called by Travis Endersby with . A flop of kept Endersby ahead and a flop of did likewise, although a gutshot straight draw opened up. On the river, however, all hope had gone for Patel, who departed in sixth place almost as soon as he had sat down.

Just two dozen hands later, another player hit the rail, with Matthew Wakeman busted in fifth for $108,264. All-in with the pocket pair this time, Wakeman’s were needing to hold against Daniel Murphy’s . A flop of kept Wakeman in the lead but gave Murphy the flush draw and it came in on the turn. Wakeman was drawing dead to the river and departed for the first six-figure score of the event.

Murphy’s Law is Shot Down

As Level 25 began, the blinds rose and the stack sizes looked noticeably shorter. Obst was the chip leader on 9.06 million, the equivalent of 151 big blinds. Endersby was second in chips on 84 big blinds. Murphy sat on 67 big blinds, while Ivanchenko was lowest on 26 big blinds.

It was Ivanchenko who left next, losing out in fourth place for $144,281 when he was beaten by the impressive local Daniel Murphy. Ivanchenko shoved from the small blind with but needed help from the board against Murphy’s when he called from the big blind. A flop of kept Murphy ahead, and after a turn and river, it was all over for Ivanchenko.

A crucial pot where Obst hit trips moved him ahead of Murphy and Endersby at a pivotal stage of proceedings, giving him 199 big blinds to Murphy’s 26 bigs and Endersby’s 22 big blinds. Endersby fought back a little and led Murphy by the time the two of them clashed in an important hand. All-in and at-risk with , Murphy lost to Endersby’s with all the chips committed pre-flop when a flop of was followed by a turn and river to send play heads-up and leave Murphy on the rail with $194,483 in third place.

The Last Obstacle

Down to just two players, James Obst had a big lead with 15.8 million against Travis Endersby’s stack of 4m, representing just 40 big blinds. Heads-up took less than 10 hands to produce a winner as the heads-up cooler of Endersby three-bet shove with was called by Obst’s played out. A board of [Th[] gave Obst the title and $398,512 as Endersby claimed $265,157 as runner-up.

For Obst, it was a truly memorable victory in his home country. Now aged 34, the Adelaide native, whose home is now Melbourne, is one of Australia’s biggest poker exports and has lifetime earnings of over $4.4 million. While this victory represents his biggest title-winning score, Obst earned slightly more for his 13^th place finish in the 2016 WSOP Main Event($427,930), while his fourth-place finish in the 2023 WSOP Poker Players Championship also earned him $411,824.

Playing mixed games often in the last few years, Obst is a hugely successful live poker player and this latest win in No Limit Hold’em is no surprise either. With multiple SCOOP titles online at PokerStars, Obst’s dominance of this event was impressive, as he ended Day 1 6^th out of 140 survivors, finished Day 2 in the top dozen of the final 50 and began the final 16 on Day 3 with the outright lead.

After an arduous final table with 173 hands, Obst defeated Endersby for his best result of the year and in doing so became the latest huge winner on the World Poker Tour.