WSOP 2024: Samual Slays Jaka for Heads-Up Gold, Johnny World Wins Seventh WSOP Bracelet

The fifth day of action in the 2024 World Series of Poker saw John Hennigan claim his seventh WSOP bracelet in the Dealer’s Choice event, while Darius Samual conquered Artur Martirosian and Faraz Jaka as he took gold for the first time in a career-defining victory. Cards were in the air in four other events as two reached their final days in some style.

Samual’s Risk Provides Huge Reward

Darius Samual’s poker record before the WSOP was quite simple. The UK businessman had cashed for less than $85,000 in a series of small matches in his home country of England, and had enjoyed a few deep runs in the WSOP Europe in Rozvadov. After a stunning few days in this summer’s Vegas World Series, Samual has won over half a million dollars and has his first gold bracelet after the kind of week at the felt poker players dream of.

First, Samual cashed in 45^th place in the opening event, the Champions Reunion, scoring just under $10k. That built his poker bankroll to around $50,000. He put half of that amount into the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship – and won it! Taking on the favorite for the event in the semi-final, Samual initially fell behind to the experience Russian poker professional and two-time WSOP bracelet winner. But the British player ground himself back into contention, taking the lead after three streets of value with a top pair of aces and then got it in good with ace-king against the Russian’s ace-ten to prevail.

Waiting for Samual in the final was popular pro and coach Faraz Jaka. He came through a titanic battle against another Russian, Nikolai Mamut, eventually surviving thanks to a superb call when Mamut bluffed big. Jaka had the best of it thereafter, with ace-jack against king-queen taking him through.

The final match saw Samual hit some terrific early cards to move ahead 3:1. Jaka won a pivotal flip for his recovery with ace-king hitting against Samual’s pocket queens, but the British player was undeterred and reestablished a lead. In the final hand, Jaka correctly called off his stack with when Samual had shoved with . The Brit was a 40% dog, but knew that if he won the hand he had the title and a dramatic flop of saw the British player flop bottom two pair as Jaka paired only his ace. No help for the American on turn or river ended the event and Samual had the gold.

After the event, he told PokerNews that his earlier match on Day 2 with John Smith was his favorite.

“His small ball style was a lot of fun and it lasted a long time. I just play for fun and making some money. I basically put 50% of my bankroll on one tournament. I really wanted to go for it and this payout is like 95% of my poker money now. I took a shot! I think I was the only one who didn’t care about the bracelet, I only cared about the money.”

Darius Samual’s carefree attitude and excellent heads-up play earned him the WSOP bracelet and half a million dollars!

Hennigan’s World! Johnny Makes it Seven

“Get ready for the burn.”

John Hennigan was already a poker legend long before sitting down on the final day of the $1,500-entry Dealer’s Choice Event #7 here at the 2024 WSOP. Along with Shaun Deeb, Hennigan was going for his seventh WSOP bracelet and the mixed game specialist made it happen across a special day for him personally and an exciting day for poker fans around the world. ‘Johnny World’ as he is known now has a seventh gold bracelet and it was hard-earned in Las Vegas.

Hennigan wasn’t one of the big stacks when play began but took out two players in one hand during the opening level of play and that set him on the path to victory. Shaun Deeb bubbled the final table before Swedish sensation Viktor Blom took most of Ryan Pedigo’s chips in Triple Draw, Hennigan handing Pedigo his trip to the rail moments later. After overnight leader Clint Wolcyn and Brayden Gazlay departed, Blom himself busted in fourth as Peter Gelencser scored a knockout that helped Hennigan as much as it did himself.

The Hungarian busted soon after in third place, leaving Robert Wells as Hennigan’s only remaining challenger to the title. With a better than 5:1 chip lead, ‘Johnny World’ would not be denied, however, as the American pivoted from largely opting for Stud hands to prioritizing No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw. Hennigan’s pat-nine triumphed over  Wells jack-ten and bracelet number seven was confirmed for the poker legend.

“I had a similar experience at PokerGO where I had a huge chip lead and every hand just played themselves,” he told PokerNews after the heads-up match. “It was very easy. This tournament was similar to that. When you have a monster chip lead, it’s a pretty simple game. I guess I’ll be in the mix for Player of the Year now. Get ready for the burn.”

Bryce Yockey in Charge as $5k PLO Event Reaches Final Day

Just 11 players are left in the hunt for gold in Event #8, the $5,000-entry Pot Limit Omaha event. There are bracelet winners everywhere in the remaining field, with Yockey joined by other former bracelet winners Joao Simao (2,995,000), Naoya Kihara (2,740,000), Brian Rast (2,065,000) and Joao Vieira (870,000) all hoping to add more gold to their collections.

Six bracelet winners from the past are joined by five potential first-time winners, however, with Aditya Sidhu (5,825,000) Farid Jattin (5,510,000), Jason Berilgen (3,640,000) and Zachary Schwartz (3,240,000) all in the top five chipcounts.

It was a day of defeat for many players as stars of the felt such as David Prociak (106^th), Phil Ivey (57^th) and Scott Eskenazi (43^rd) were just three of the players who made the money but not the final day, with $606,654 and the WSOP gold bracelet on the line tomorrow.

Guagenti on the Brink of Bracelet Number Two but Helppi Hopeful

The $1,500-entry Limit Hold’em Event #9 event whittled players down a talented final six last night as Nick Guagenti took the chip lead into the final day’s play. Guagenti, who already has one bracelet, will start the last day of this 434-entrant tournament with a strong chip lead of 2.88 million chips to his nearest rival Jospeh Brodsky’s 1,885,000 as the American-led final table begins.

The only other player to have won a WSOP bracelet before is Juha Helppi. The Finnish player – the only non-American in the final – has two WSOP wins in his glorious past and will be looking to win his first bracelet since a 2020 PLO event when he sits down at the felt.

While the Finn is short stack of the six, he still has 1,285,000 chips and very playable stack. Add into the mix that Helppi’s previous live bracelet victory was in the 2019 $10,000 Limit hold’em Championship where he beat a final table featuring Kevin Song and Josh Arieh and no-one can be ruled out.

Scott Seiver Tops Omaha Hi-Lo Championship After Day 1

American poker hero Scott Seiver topped the remaining 104 players as a field of 171 battled on Day 1 of the $10,000-entry Omaha Hi-Lo Championship. Some true poker legends survived Day 1, with Phil Hellmuth (85,000) to Seiver’s left for most of the day. Even on breaks, the pair couldn’t be separated as they ran deep in a WSOP Online event too!

The Poker Brat wasn’t the only big name to make Day 2 along with Seiver. Canadian poker legend Daniel Negreanu made it through with 48,500 chips, while others did even better, as Josh Arieh (82,000), Benny Glaser (92,000), Felipe Ramos (107,000), Dylan Weisman (125,000), Erik Seidel (138,000), and Chino Rheem (180,000) won through with increasingly impressive stacks. Others weren’t so lucky, with poker GOAT Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harman and Jeff Madsen all failing to ‘grab a bag’ at the close of play.

Galiana Takes Overall Lead in Mystery Millions

The third day of action in the $1,000 Mystery Millions saw the biggest Day 1 field yet as 5,290 entries swelled the overall total entrants to 10,809. Of those hopefuls, just 789 have made it through to Day 2 with Day 1c’s chip leader Antonio Galiana (3,230,000) taking the overall lead in the tournament with more chips than Day 1a leader Pete Chen (3,150,000).

Others who survived to dream of taking home a seven-figure sum out of the $4.66m current prize pool included David ‘ODB’ Baker (1,630,000), Eric Wasserson (1,500,000), Lawrence Brandt (1,500,000), Mike Leah (670,000), and the 2007 WSOP world champion Jerry Yang (555,000).

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!