Day #21 at the 2024 WSOP ended with two marathon heads-up battles, with veteran Xixiang Luo denying newcomer Daniel Hachem (son of Joe Hachem) a bracelet in the Mixed NLHE/PLO Double Board and James Obst claiming his second in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship.
Phil Hellmuth is channelling positive energy in the 1,500 Mixed: PLO Hi-Lo 8; Omaha Hi-Lo 8; Big O, where he’s secured a stack that puts him in sixth place out of 22 returning to fight for the title on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Monster Stack rumbles on, with the money having been reached but the bracelet still days away. This $1,500 event will award the winner with over a million dollars in prize money on Friday.
James Obst hits a triumphant return
James Obst captures his second braceletFrom teenage online prodigy to bracelet-winner to professional tennis player and back to bracelet-winning – no other players have had quite the journey that James Obst has. He secured his second WSOP title and $260,658 in Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship after over two hours of heads-up play against runner-up (and three-time bracelet-winner) Paul Volpe ($173,391).
Who wants a communal board when you can have your own, every hand? Seven Card Stud, once the most commonly played poker game in card rooms across the US, is now somewhat of a niche discipline. However, as represented by the 107-runner field in this Championship event, there are still many players who embrace the streets and compete at the highest levels in this variant.
Robert Mizrachi was denied a Scott Seiver-tying sixth bracelet, exiting in fifth place ($61,190), followed by Mike Lang in fourth ($83,932) and Jason Daly in third ($118,809). Other notable cashers include Juha Helppi (sixth for $46,084), Yuri Dzivielevski (eighth for $28,945) and Brad Ruben, collecting a $20,000 min-cash.
Obst, meanwhile, in winning his second bracelet becomes the sixth Australian player to ever have claimed more than one (and one more than former WSOP Main Event winner Joe Hachem - see below).
Paul Volpe had to settle for the runner-up spot
Luo ends on a high as he denies Hachem Jr
Day 2 chip leader Xixiang Luo ended up on top overall, edging out Daniel Hachem for the bracelet and $270,820 first prize after hours of heads-up play in Event #41: $1,500 Mixed NLHE/PLO Double Board Bomb Pot. Hachem’s father Joe (2005 WSOP Main Event champion) was on the rail supporting him as a back-and forth battle for the title finally ended in what had already been declared the last level of the day.
Though Luo already had over $3 million in tournament winnings, he had not to date claimed a WSOP bracelet, although he came close in Event #55: $1,500 HORSE last week (finishing sixth for $33,078). Quite apart from defeating the tenacious young Hachem, who picked up $180,541, he saw off the likes of bracelet-holders William Kopp in third ($127,925), Joseph Dulaney in ninth ($21,725), Dario Alioto, David Prociak and John Riordan.
Xixiang Luo, winner of event 41 and $270,820Hellmuth in top 10 for Day 3 of the Multi-O
Day 2 is in the bag for the $1,500 Mixed: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Big O, and so are 1,865,000 chips for overnight chip leader Ying Chu. He leads 22 players into Day 3, including 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, who also advances with over a million chips, as do Dylan Lambe, Michael Rodrigues and Aleksey Filatov. Shaun Deeb ended the day with a stack of 780,000 and gave the brief but pointed needle to Tim Duckworth…
Play resumes at 1pm with all remaining players guaranteed at least $7,543 for their varied Omaha efforts. The winner will take home the bracelet and $196,970.
Maxx Staxx
Maxx Coleman has ended Day 1 of the $10,000 HORSE Championship in the chip count top spot, leading an expectedly elite field of limit mixed-game specialists. His 307,000 chips give him a lot of wiggle room as 81 players return with the limits 3,000/6,000 at 1pm Tuesday. There is a whole level of Day 2 late registration allowed, so the current number of entries (152) is likely to grow considerably. What aren’t allowed are multiple entries – so Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow, Scott Seiver, Chad Eveslage and Carol Fuchs, among others, are no longer in the running for this one.
Coleman already has one WSOP bracelet to his name (claimed in the $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw in 2022) but led up to this victory with a string of cashes a mile long, and has proven his ability to take on the likes of Day 2 opponents Mike Lean (282,500), David Prociak (241,000), Brandon Shack-Harris (199,000), Maria Ho (177,500), John Hennigan (106,500) and Phil Ivey (73,500).
Monster Stack is a millionaire-maker
With a total of 8,703 entries, the 2024 $1,500 Monster Stack has built a total prize pool of $11,618,505 and will be handing its winner over a million dollars ($1,098,220 to be precise). Not a bad return on investment. That winner won’t be determined until Friday, but for now, it is Vinicius Lima out in front with 3,700,000 chips, just in front of Catalin Pop (3,510,000) and Bart Crego (3,400,000).
John Allen was probably the most popular man in the room today, as his exit burst the money bubble (see Hand of the day), guaranteeing the remaining 1,306 players at least $3,001.
Now down to what almost seems a pocket-sized field of 416, the Monster Stack restarts at 11am Tuesday. Still in the running (and chipped up) are Stephen Song, Alexandre Reard, Kristen Foxen and Joao Simao, while Alex Foxen, Barry Greenstein and Bryan Yoon finished the day more modestly stacked.
Photo of the day
Like father like son: Daniel Hachem consults dad – and WSOP Main Event Champion – Joe Hachem on the rail as he makes his way to second place in Event #41.
Joe Hachem takes his turn on the rail as son Daniel finishes runner-up in the 1,500 Mixed NLHE/PLO Double Board Bomb PotHand of the day
How often does your pain bring joy to 1,306 other people? At least once this WSOP, if your name is John Allen and you burst the bubble in the 8,703-runner $1,500 Monster Stack. He called Ardit Kurshumi’s preflop three-bet, and called following bets on the flop, turn and river – the latter for his remaining stack as the board ran out 
.
After Kurshumi fired the final time, having taken every opportunity to drive the action, Allen took a while to consider the call before finally committing his whole stack with 
. His set was no good against Kurshumi’s 
, however, and the straight took the pot and everyone else into the money.
Tweets of the day
#POSITIVITY as Hellmuth runs deep yet again…
When it doesn’t go to plan, there’s no reason you still can’t update your followers with refreshing honesty. Caitlin Comeskey demonstrates how:
Video of the day
Tiffany Michelle gets jinxed!
The day in numbers
1
The number of bullets you’re allowed to fire in Championship events like the $10,000 Seven Card Stud
51
Big bets in chip leader Maxx Coleman's stack as he heads to Day 2 of the $10,000 HORSE Championship
732
How many times the winner of the $1,500 Monster Stack would be able to enter this event next year, using their whole top prize of $1,098,220
Coming up on Day #22
Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em brings back 235 in-the-money players for Day 2, with Jianfeng Sun in the chip lead. Though 1,561 entries might seem modest when compared with this week’s Monster Stack (8,703), it’s still a field that would raise eyebrows at most poker festivals and has generated a $2,778,680 prize pool. Day 2 begins at 11am; returning along with the chip leader are the likes of Ryan Riess, Barry Shulman, and UK crushers Jack Sinclair, Christopher Brammer, Patrick Leonard and Chris Moorman.
Day 2 of the $10,000 HORSE Championship brings back 87 players (and will inject quite a few new ones, with late reg still open) at 1pm, with current chip leader Maxx Coleman looking for a deeper run that could bag him a second bracelet. The possibility of an 18th bracelet remains open for Phil Hellmuth in the $1,500 Mixed: PLO Hi-Lo 8; Omaha Hi-Lo 8; Big O event, with 22 players remaining.
Fresh stacks await those starting out in several events, including the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship that is guaranteed to attract interest from the biggest of names with the deepest of pockets. Alongside it open the $1,000 Seniors NLHE Championship (you’d be surprised who qualifies for this event this year) and $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha.
WSOP Day #21 gallery
Results
Event #41: $1,500 Mixed NLHE/PLO Double Board Bomb Pot (8-Handed)
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xixiang Luo | $270,820 |
| 2 | Daniel Hachem | $180,541 |
| 3 | William Kopp | $127,925 |
| 4 | David Funkhouser | $91,891 |
| 5 | Quan Zhou | $66,930 |
| 6 | Marcos Exterkotter | $49,439 |
| 7 | Gaby Livshitz | $37,044 |
| 8 | Robert Cote | $28,161 |
Full results on WSOP
Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Obst | $260,658 |
| 2 | Paul Volpe | $173,391 |
| 3 | Jason Daly | $118,809 |
| 4 | Mike Lang | $83,932 |
| 5 | Robert Mizrachi | $61,190 |
| 6 | Juha Helppi | $46,084 |
| 7 | Andre Akkari | $35,893 |
| 8 | Yuri Dzivielevski | $28,945 |
Full results on WSOP
Ongoing events
Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack No Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vinicius Lima | 3,700,000 |
| 2 | Catalin Pop | 3,510,000 |
| 3 | Bart Crego | 3,400,000 |
| 4 | Alexandros Dranovitsas | 3,345,000 |
| 5 | Long Ma | 3,265,000 |
| 6 | Michael Murphy | 2,900,000 |
| 7 | Lukas Guenzel | 2,825,000 |
| 8 | Joshua Payne | 2,790,000 |
| Notables |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #43: $1,500 Mixed: PLO Hi-Lo 8; Omaha Hi-Lo 8; Big O
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ying Chu | 1,865,000 |
| 2 | Dylan Lambe | 1,845,000 |
| 3 | Stephen Hubbard | 1,725,000 |
| 4 | Joshua Adcock | 1,665,000 |
| 5 | Michael Rodrigues | 1,470,000 |
| 6 | Phil Hellmuth | 1,285,000 |
| 7 | Aleksey Filatov | 1,220,000 |
| 8 | Magnus Edengren | 1,185,000 |
| Notables |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #44: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jianfeng Sun | 820,000 |
| 2 | Jed Friedman | 806,000 |
| 3 | Narcis Nedelcu | 777,000 |
| 4 | Damien Le Goff | 751,000 |
| 5 | Philip Wiszowaty | 662,000 |
| 6 | Yunkyu Song | 650,000 |
| 7 | Hiroto Watanabe | 637,000 |
| 8 | Paraskevas Tsokaridis | 559,000 |
| Notables |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Event #45: $10,000 HORSE Championship
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maxx Coleman | 307,500 |
| 2 | Mike Leah | 282,500 |
| 3 | Clayton Mozdzen | 273,500 |
| 4 | Sergey Rybachenko | 266,500 |
| 5 | Peter Rouviere | 247,000 |
| 6 | David Prociak | 241,000 |
| 7 | Robert Wells | 236,000 |
| 8 | Gary Bolden | 215,000 |
| Notables |
Full chip counts on WSOP
Bracelet winners
- Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion – Asher Conniff (USA)
- Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em – Jose Garcia (USA)
- Event #3: $500 Kickoff No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout – Daniel Willis (UK)
- Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better (8-Handed) – James Chen (USA)
- Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions - Malcolm Trayner (Australia)
- Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship – Darius Samual (UK)
- Event #7: $1,500 Dealer's Choice – John Hennigan (USA)
- Event #8: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha (8-Handed) - Bryce Yockey (USA)
- Event #9: $1,500 Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Guagenti (USA)
- Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #11: $1,500 Badugi - David Prociak (USA)
- Event #12: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em - Simeon Spasov (Bulgaria)
- Event #13: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship - Robert Mizrachi (USA)
- Event #14: $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold'em - Thibault Perissat (France)
- Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Caleb Furth (USA)
- Event #16: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Brent Hart (USA)
- Event #17: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack - TJ Murphy (USA)
- Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha - Dylan Weisman (USA)
- Event #19: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship - John Racener (USA)
- Event #20: $300 Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold'em - Stephen Winters (USA)
- Event #21: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (6-Handed) - Brek Schutten (USA)
- Event #22: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw (6-Handed) - Aaron Cummings (USA)
- Event #23: Event #23: $1,500 SHOOTOUT No-Limit Hold'em - Dan Sepiol (USA)
- Event #24: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship - Sean Troha (USA)
- Event #25: $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Daniel Vampan (USA)
- Event #26: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Nick Schulman (USA)
- Event #27: $1,500 Big O - Michael Christ (USA)
- Event #28: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em - Evan Benton (USA)
- Event #29: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship (6-Handed) - Phil Ivey (USA)
- Event #30: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack - Alen Bakovic (Canada)
- Event #31: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Nicholas Seward (USA)
- Event #32: $1,500 Seven Card Stud - Richard Ashby (UK)
- Event #33: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack (8-Handed) - Alex Manzano (Chile)
- Event #34: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout - Antonio Galiana (Spain)
- Event #35: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. - Phillip Hui (USA)
- Event #36: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack (8-Handed) – Timur Margolin (Israel)
- Event #37: $10,000 Big O Championship – John Fauver (USA)
- Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) - Sergio Aido (Spain)
- Event #40: $1,500 Razz – Scott Seiver (USA)
- Event #41: $1,500 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em/Pot Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot - Xixiang Luo (China)
- Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship - James Obst (Australia)
