WSOP 2024: Scott Seiver Wins Fifth Bracelet, David Prociak Proves the Badugi King for Second WSOP Title

The eighth day of the 2024 WSOP produced the most bracelet winners of any day so far as four players all captured gold on a frantic day’s fun in Las Vegas. Paris and Horseshoe casinos were jam-packed as players from all over the world celebrated bracelet wins, deep runs and final tables.

Scott Seiver Claims Fifth WSOP Gold

Until today, Scott Seiver had never won a WSOP bracelet in Omaha. The American laid that statistic to rest as he took down the $10,000 Omaha hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada last night. Winning the  top prize of $426,744, Seiver’s victory came on a final day when just four players returned and each player finished in the position they started in.

Paul Zappulla was short-stacked long before he ran into Calvin Anderson’s quads, busting for $140,273 in fourth place. Anderson himself went next, out for $197,582 in third place when his pre-flop queens lost to Seiver’s aces. That gave Seiver a 4:1 chip and he was never going to blow it. It took just half an hour for Seiver’s naturally aggressive style to pay off, ace-high better than king-high pre-flop and post-flop good enough to seal victory and his fifth bracelet.

Seiver, who turns 40 before next year’s Poker Hall of Fame induction, told PokerNews reporters after the event that he felt ‘exhausted’.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this was one of if not the longest non-Main Event tournament there has been. I feel great now that I’ve won – this bracelet actually means a lot to me. I came into this summer with a real desire to try and win as many bracelets as I can. I’ve been one of the best in the world at cash games, heads-up no-limit tournaments, literally almost any form of poker there has been – it was important to let people know that I’m still here and doing this.”

Seiver is going nowhere and with his hunger in place for the series, will be a WSOP Player of the Year frontrunner too.

Aussie Trayner Wins Mystery Millions for Career-High Score

The final day’s play in the $1,000 Mystery Millions Event #5 saw Aussie Malcolm Trayner take home the million-dollar top prize after he beat Carson Richards to the title and his first-ever WSOP bracelet. Just 18 began the final day at the felt and Trayner held the lead going into the final table. Richards got off to a great start, however, wrestling back the lead when his doubled through Jake Brown’s and the overnight leader Brown was first to bust of the official final table of nine.

Junho Song scored a big knockout with pocket kings only to fall in fourth place eventually, before Eugene Tito’s elimination in third place sent play heads-up with the eventual winner Trayner leading in chips by the same amount Seiver had. The final duel lasted two levels before Trayner’s limp with king-jack trapped Richards who shoved with queen-ten, a king on the turn confirming the Australian’s victory for a million dollars, as Richards made do with $536,080.

“I was a bit nervous going in,” Trayner admitted afterwards. “Once I got used to it and settled, then it was just a matter of doing what I’ve done a few times or many times before, online and live as well; just playing final table and just try to disassociate from the money and just think about the chips you have in front of you.”

With his first bracelet coming in an event which had a staggering 18,409 entries, Trayner can claim to have outlasted one of the biggest WSOP event fields in poker history.

David Prociak Wins Second WSOP Title in Badugi Masterclass

The PokerStake player David Prociak won his second WSOP bracelet when he took down the $1,500-entry Badugi event for a top score of $129,676. Coming into the final day shooting for his second title at the World Series, Prociak took the win in the 478-player event which paid just 74 hopefuls profit.

Norwegian player Tobia Leknes began the final day and the final table of six with the chip lead but was unable to stop Prociak’s rise to prominence as chips changed hands and another bracelet winner, Brandon Cantu, exited first in sixth place for $19,330. Polish player Tomasz Gluszko busted in fifth before the former leader Leknes left in fourth place. Edward Yam from Hong Kong finished third when he ended with a three-card three that lost to Prociak’s ten-eight and that gave Prociak a virtually unassailable 6:1 chip lead which he saw out, beating Matt Grapenthiem heads-up.

“I have two fourths, two thirds, two seconds, and now I have two firsts,” Prociak told reporters afterwards. “It feels great; winning one could be a fluke. Winning two, you just can’t be a fluke. Coming in second twice last year sucked; now I feel like I can actually take in some compliments.”

Prociak has earned those plaudits after a stirring display that will have pleased his PokerStake backers too!

Thibault Perissat Wins First Bracelet for France

French player Thibault Perissat won his first-ever WSOP bracelet and France’s first of the 2024 series when he defeated Ron Schindelheim heads-up in the $1,000 Super Turbo Event #14. Taking a single day to go from 2,594 entrants to a single winner, the event saw a very deep run from Team Lucky (and PokerStake) player Josh Arieh as the six-time WSOP bracelet winner finished in 14^th place.

Palau and Fan on Top as 17 Chase Gold in 6-Max Event

Just 17 players are still in with a chance of winning Event #12, the $1,500-entry 6-Max NLHE event. Daniel Palau (6,790,000) and Chih Fan (6,765,000) are at the top of the leaderboard, but there are some very dangerous players remaining, with Daniel Buzgon (4.5m) among them. Former WSOP bracelet winners Anthony Marquez (3.9m), Simeon Spasov (3.75m) and Tommy Nguyen (1m) will not have given up on adding more gold to their collections.

After Day 2 reduced 197 returning players to 17 players, the top prize of $439,815 was confirmed, with Wednesday’s finale sure to be a spectacular ending to the story.

Negreanu and Ivey Survive to Final Day in Dealer’s Choice

Daniel Negreanu and Phil both survived to the final day of the $10,000-entry Event #13 in Dealer’s Choice. Both the Canadian six-time bracelet winner Negreanu (312,000) and the 10-time WSOP champion Ivey (563,000) are below the average stack with just 11 remaining in the event but will rely on their decades of skill at the felt to attempt to make the final table, then win, the latest bracelet event at this year’s WSOP.

The chip leader in the event is Robert Mizrachi, whose stack of 1,511,000 is some way clear even of his closest challenger, Venkata Tayi (1,112,000). With legends of the felt such as David Bach (909,000), Ben Lamb (683,000) and even the short stack, former Wolfsberg player Max Kruse (268,000) all still in there swinging, it’s anyone game.

Daniel Lowery Leads After Opening Day of PLO Hi-Lo Event

The opening day of action in Event #15, the PLO Hi-Lo event, saw 1,277 entries, an increase on the 2023 total of 1,125 players who played this event. With a top prize of $265,361 on the line, Daniel Lowery leads the remaining field with 775,000 chips after the former Hollywood movie actor James Woods bubbled the event to put the remaining players into the 192 paid money places.

Weng and Hendrix Flying High in $5k 8-Max

With 660 entries, the $5,000 buy-in 8-Max NLHE Event #16 saw just 239 survivors make Day 2, with Clemen Deng (554,000) the chip leader. Bin Weng (343,000) and Adam Hendrix (334,500) both made the top 10 with appearances from Seth Davies (280,500), Sam Soverel (272,000) and Stephen Chidwick (271,500) inside the top 20 players.

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!