WSOP 2024: Daniel Sepiol and Sean Troha Win Bracelets, Phil Ivey Flying High in $25k High Roller

There were six WSOP bracelet events in action on the latest day of drama at the 2024 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. With the Horseshoe and Paris casinos packed out Gladiators took another swing at each other in a variety of different tournaments where gold and glory were on offer.

Daniel Sepiol Wins First Gold in Shootout Finale

Daniel Sepiol had been climbing ever higher on the list of players never to win a bracelet over recent years. Today, his name can be struck from that list, after he performed an astonishing comeback from worse than an 11:1 deficit heads-up to claim the top prize of $305,849 and his first WSOP victory.

Sepiol’s star has been rising for some time in poker but without a bracelet until this point, today’s thrilling final table correcting that anomaly. With players such as Jeremy Ausmus and Daniel Strelitz, along with Scott Ball all at the final table, Sepiol’s triumph is even better.

The final table began with Darius Samual bubbling it and Aaron Pinson busting it, both times courtesy of running into the eventual runner-up Robert Natividad’s pocket aces. He also eliminated Scott Ball in a coinflip before Jeremy Ausmus took out Sean Ragozzini. After Richard Dixon busted in sixth place, Daniel Strelitz ran pocket jacks into Sepiol’s pocket queens, the winner of the event picked up momentum at the perfect time.

Ausmus ran short and got it in good for a double up, but his A♠ 9♠  lost to Sepiol’s Q♣ 6♣ to send play three-handed before James Davidson busted in this when dominated by Natividad. The chip leader going into heads-up improved from a 3:1 leader to having over 16 times Sepiol’s chips, but somehow, all-in with 5♣ 3♦ on a board of 7♠ 4♠ 2♣ against Natividad’s 4♦ 2♠ worked out for Sepiol, an ace on the river giving him a wheel straight. After showing a big bluff to take the lead, Sepiol got his chips in with the lead holding Q♠ 10♠ on a board of Q♣ 8♠ 7♥ with the at-risk Natividad holding A♥ 9♥. No help on turn or river gave Sepiol his first bracelet and he could celebrate an incredible victory.

“It feels amazing man, I’ve been chasing a bracelet for years now,” he told PokerNews after the event. “I played my stack that was in front of me and just tried to make the best decisions. [There’s] too much poker to celebrate; I’ll play the $25k tomorrow.”

With a comeback bracelet under his belt already this series, who wouldn’t?

Sean Troha Wins Third Bracelet as Brazilians Fall Short of Glory

American Sean Troha won his third WSOP bracelet, taking down the $10,000 PLO Hi-Lo Championship for $536,713, the second-biggest score of his poker career. After previously winning the2022 PLO Championship for $1.24 million, Troha’s latest victory pushes him high up the list of multiple WSOP event winners with three gold bracelets to his name.

The final day saw Troha top a leaderboard that was initially led by Robert Tanita go his way. Tanita busted in fifth place and two Brazilian challengers Joao Simao and Yuri Dzivielevski made the top four. Both men busted in quick succession, however, with Simao making third place. Perennial threat in this tournament Tyler Brown made the heads-up with the chip lead with just under 11 million chips to Troha’s 4.55m. Troha came roaring back into it, however, doubling through Brown with a straight before kings in the hole were enough to take the top prize of over half a million dollars.

“I’m still kind of in shock!” Troha told reporters after the event. “I’m trying to make plans for the celebration, which will be muted. It all happened so fast. I was just lucky enough to come out on top. I imagine I’ll be back next year, God willing, and the rest of this series. I’ll be in almost any PLO event.”

Not many will want to face Troha in the ‘four-card game’ after this latest mastery of its mechanics.

Israelishvili Chases Elusive Title After 500^th WSOP Cash

Overnight, American poker player Roland Israelishvili (875,000) made the final ten of Event #25 the $3,000 Limit Hold’em 6-Max event, good for fifth on the leaderboard. In doing so, he made the money in his 500^th WSOP event – a clear record. Israelishvili has, however, never won a bracelet. Could tomorrow be his time, finally?

If so, he’ll need to make it past some excellent players, with Daniel Vampan a big chip leader on 2.47 million chips. The only former bracelet winner is the Canadian player Daniel Idema, but since he will begin on just 130,000 chips, a sixth of Israelishvili’s, he looks a rank outsider to prevent a first-time winner with all the other players, including Frank Yakubson (1.65m) and Daniel Maczuga (1.5m) without a win in WSOP events.

Laskowitz Leads $25k High Roller, Ivey Chasing Down Leaders

The second $25,000 buy-in High roller of this year’s World Series of Poker began in earnest as 99 players survived from 274 entries in Event #26 on the schedule. Late registration is still open on Day 2, with a single re-entry for anyone who busted only once on Day 1 also permitted.

Top of the lot after one day was Samuel Laskowitz, who started with 150,000 chips and ended the day on over 1.2 million of them. PokerStake favorite Chino Rheem (1,101,000) was not far behind in second place, with the runner-up to Dylan Weisman earlier in this series looking to go top of the WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard with a win.

With a possible seven-figure sum up top, legends of the felt such as Poker Hall of Famers Daniel Negreanu (482,000) and Erik Seidel (389,000) survived, while Galen Hall (1,026,000), Dario Sammartino (1,030,000) and Phi Ivey (838,000) all made a star-studded top 10. Behind them, Jesse Lonis (761,000) and Dan ‘Cowboy’ Smith (719,000) among others will be looking to shoot down the opposition on Day 2 as the money bubble approaches.

Gladiators of Poker Reaches Day 2

In Event #20, the $300-entry Gladiators of Poker event reached the last of its fur Day 1 flights and with another 5,388 entries bumping the total number of entrant to well over 19,100.  Brazilian bracelet winner Rafael Reis (2,000,000) finished inside the top 10, with players such as Rajaee Wazwaz (1,240,000) Quincy Borland (1,040,000), and Pei Li (540,000) all hoping tomorrow is the day they make the final and have a shot at a WSOP bracelet and life-changing money.

Big O Draws Huge Field

Lastly, there were 1,555 entrants on Day 1 of the $1,500 Big O Event #27, with Sammy Farha (590,000) top of 232 survivors. With 234 paid, the bubble has already burst in this three-day event, with Yuval Bronshtein (425,000), Calvin Anderson (335,000) and Michael Mizrachi (301,000) all looking good for a deep run.

With thanks to PokerGO for their official WSOP photography. The 2024 World Series of Poker is available to watch exclusively on PokerGO. Subscribe today and watch all the drama play out in Las Vegas!

This article originally appeared on PokerStake.com