WSOP 2024: Willis and Chen Win Bracelets, Faraz Jaka Favorite for Heads-Up Gold and Phil Ivey Arrives in Vegas

The fourth day of the World Series of Poker saw seven events in progress as two WSOP bracelets were won, play reached the final four in the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship and Phil Ivey sat down in the $5,000 PLO event. Sin City was the place to be as thousands of poker players descended on the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos on the Strip.

Willis Wins Debut Bracelet in Kickoff Event

The British player Daniel Willis won his first WSOP bracelet in the $500-entry Kickoff event, claiming a top prize of $175,578. Life-changing money comes with even the smaller buy-in events at the WSOP in 2024 and with 3,485 total entries, a prize pool of $1,442,960 was fought for at the final table by eight players.

While Willis began with the chip lead, Steven Borella began with the momentum after eliminating a short-stacked David Niedringhaus in eighth place. Shawn Smith was next to seize the moment, using many of the chips he took from Daniel Negreanu on Day 2 to further his chances, taking out John Marino in seventh as Marino’s apt pocket sevens were shot down by Smith’s pocket tens.

Daniel Sherer lost a flip to Michael Wang to leave in sixth place, before Japanese player Yoshinori Funayama busted in fifth place, shoving with and running into the of Daniel Willis, the British player enjoying perfect timing when he had premium hands. The same situation arose when Steven Borella moved all-in with . Willis snap-called with and held – everything was going his way.

Shawn Smith lost a flip to Wang to bust in third and momentarily took the lead. But a flush for Willis when Wang had committed his stack a little later gave the British player a big lead and when Wang shoved on the river of a board with , Willis had a simple call to take the title with .

“The final table seemed to go really smoothly,” Willis told PokerNews following the event. “Someone shoved all in and I have kings; obviously an easy call. The same thing happened again and I had aces, and it just kept going like that where I was in those dream scenarios.”

After a dream run, Willis has his first – and Britain’s first – WSOP bracelet of the 2024 World Series.

James Chen Wins First Gold in Omaha Hi-Lo Event

James Chen finally got over the line in a WSOP event, winning Event #4, the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Event for $209,350 last night. Chen, who finished as runner in the 25^th event of last year’s World Series, the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship to Ben Lamb, beat Lewis Brant heads-up to the title as he won his first bracelet in style.

The final day began with 22 players, with many eyes on the progress of ‘Miami John’ Cernuto and Jamie Kerstetter. The latter started with a much short stack but managed to spin it up early to put herself back in contention. However, despite battling back, Kerstetter crashed out in ninth place for $15,920, one place better than Cernuto, who busted in 10^th or $12,497.

The overnight leader Adam Nattress fell in fourth place, as Chen’s experience and Brant’s momentum on the day put them in charge. Sovann Pen busted in third place for $97,445 and heads-up began with Chen holding an almost 10:1 chip lead. Brant battled back, doubling on multiple occasions, but eventually Chen reestablished a formidable lead and got over the line when a weaker starting holding flopped middle pair, turned trips and rivered a full house to give him the gold.

Smith Shot Down by Samual as Jaka and Martirosian Dominate Heads-Up Matches

The second day of action in the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship saw 16 players become four as Faraz Jaka, Artur Martirosian, Darius Samual and Nikolai Mamut all made it into the semifinals. Heading into the third round at the start of play, all the remaining players knew that if they could win one more heads-up battle, they’d be in the money and would score a result worth $86,000.

Russian player Artur Martirosian is perhaps the player who has crushed hardest from the remaining four, beating Cary Katz in the Round of 16 thanks to his flush cracking Katz’s kings before triumphing against Patrick Kennedy in the quarterfinals. Owen Messere needed a lot of luck to get past Kane Kalas in the Round of 16, a miracle eight helping his ace-eight beat Kalas’ ace-king when the match was on the line. That hand prompted an eventual recovery for Messere only for Faraz Jaka to beat him in the final eight. Jaka had previously come through a tense battle with Sam Soverel to make the money after coming from behind when 2:1 down in chips.

John Smith’s record in this event sets him apart from many, but the gentleman of the WSOP failed to make the final four. Three of his four heads-up matches were the final ones to finish as he took out Weston Mizumoto in Round 3, but a late defeat to Darius Samual after the latter had requested a change of deck and conjured a change of fortune in the process ended Smith’s dream.

Nikolai Mamut completes the final four, beating James Gorham and Marko Grujic on his way to a titanic meeting with Faraz Jaka in the final four. Martirosian will play Samual as he bids to win a third WSOP bracelet, with Jaka pursuing bracelet number two. Both Samual and Mamut would be first-time winners, and with $500,000 up top, tomorrow’s final – screened on PokerGO is sure to be a WSOP classic.

Hennigan and Deeb in Contention as Dealer’s Choice Reaches Final Day

Just 10 players are left chasing the gold in Event #7, the Dealer’s Choice 6-Max event. With Clint Wolcyn (2.77m) leading the field towards a top prize of $138,296, it’s all about the bracelet for players such as six-time WSOP bracelet winners John Hennigan (1.87m) and Shaun Deeb (585,000).

A busy day at the felt took care of players such as Allan Le (17^th for $6,998), Jeff Madsen (12^th for $6,998) and serial WSOP casher Roland Israelashvili, who ‘bubbled’ the final day, cashing for $8,823 in 11^th place. The remaining top 10 players are packed with talent and experience in equal measure, with Swedish superstar Viktor Blom (1.65m) a massive threat heading into the final day.

Phil Ivey Survives Day 1 of $5,000 PLO Event

The opening day of action is complete in the $5,000-entry Pot-Limit Omaha Event #8 and Phil Ivey was among the 734 entries who filled tables at both Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas casinos. With 130 survivors to Day 2, the top prize of $606,654 – along with the WSOP gold bracelet, naturally – will be drawing players towards a final table tomorrow if all goes to plan, with the bubble due to burst 20 eliminations into Day 2.

Top of the leaderboard after 15 levels of play was Jered Laurence (887,000), who led by less than a big blind from Yang Wang (885,000) at the close of play, with Phil Ivey joining late to survive with 159,000 chips. The 10-time WSOP bracelet winner needs one more bracelet to move clear of the late Doyle Brunson and the great Johnny Chan.

With a prize pool of $3,371,000 on the line, others to make the cut included Dan Zack, who bagged 230,000 after a re-entry, with other legends Farid Jattin (588,000), Julien Sitbon (542,000), Joao Simao (512,000), Anthony Zinno (486,000), Joao Vieira (466,000), and Chance Kornuth (400,000) all making Day 2 with even more. Players who failed to survive featured Daniel Negreanu, Adam Hendrix, and Patrick Leonard.

Betito Leads the Field on Day 1b of Mystery Millions

Another mammoth field took part in the $1,000-entry Mystery Millions, as 3,272 Day 1b entries swelled the total number of entrants to 5,519, with 171 making Day 2 from the latest starting day. Liran Betito of Israel led the Day 1b players into the overnight chipcounts with 2.72 million chips, with Nicholas Lee closest behind on 2.58 million.

Elsewhere, former WSOP bracelet winners such as Ian Steinman (1,675,000), James Calderaro (1,660,000), Michael Banducci (1,205,000), 2004 Main Event runner-up David Williams (1,080,000) and Triple Crown winner Roberto Romanello (1,015,000) all finished into the top 40 players and will have big hopes of adding more gold to their collections.

Renan Bruschi in Top 10 of Limit Hold’em Event After Day 1

Finally, the last event to pack up its tent for the night was the $1,500-entry Limit Hold’em Event #9. Chip leader at the close of play was American player Abdulrahim Amer, who bagged up 308,500 chips, good for a slim lead over fellow high-flier Howard Mann (290,500) and a better lead from third-place Christopher Bartley (233,200). Brazil’s Renan Bruschi (184,000) will be one to watch with so many chips and a lot of matchplay experience.

Other luminaries to survive included Nick Guagenti (170,000), Kenny Hsiung (141,000), Ryan Hansen (134,500), Brock Parker (85,500), and Juha Helppi (36,500) as 118 players made the cut from 434 total entries.

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!