When Daniel Negreanu won the 2024 WSOP Poker Players Championship, inside the main Horseshoe tournament room was a vibe.
As one of the most visible, active and vocal high rollers on the scene, Negreanu attracts his share of criticism — as do most in the public eye — but it can’t be denied that he has a legion of fans. Those in attendance last summer crowded the background of the TV stage to create surely the busiest winner’s photo of the series. It was his first bracelet in over a decade, and in one of the most prestigious and hard-to-win events on the schedule. In terms of the WSOP, Negreanu was back.
Speaking of ‘back’, do you recall 'the legend of Isildur1’? Viktor Blom was one of the fiercest competitors to be found in the online streets, seemingly appearing out of nowhere some 15 years ago to take on the biggest names at the highest stakes. Known first only by his screenname, the young Swede eventually came out from behind the mask to reveal he was not actually a myth — a bedtime story told to young online grinders to warn them away from the nosebleed tables — but a man of flesh and blood. Even if that blood ran icy cold in even the biggest pots.
Blom dropped out of the online limelight for a while but has built an impressive live resume, picking up over $5.8M in tournament earnings since his dazzling first win at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller in 2012. And yet, to date, no bracelet. But he's back at the WSOP to put that right.
On Tuesday, Blom and Negreanu will face off in the $10K Omaha 8 Championship, with $470,437 on the line, but also so much more. For Negreanu, another bracelet and one more chapter in his story as arguably the most famous poker player of all time. For Blom, a first WSOP title in a career unlike any other.
Five remain, each with at least $109,679 locked up. We spoke to Negreanu ahead of the big finale — head here to see what he had to say.
WSOP pay a million, WPT save one
It already seems like a long time ago that the $1K Mystery Millions event got going. The first event of the WSOP schedule, numerous starting flights and re-entries gave plenty of people a chance to play this mystery bounty event, and wouldn’t you know it, plenty did. 19,654 to be exact — a new record.
Along the way the mystery bounties were pulled, including million dollar prizes, but there was still a million dollar payday awaiting the winner. Or, in the case of one specific player, potentially double that.
Daniel Strelitz reached the final table as the only remaining player with ClubWPTGold’s promise of an extra $1M dangling as an incentive for winning a WSOP bracelet. Take the tourney down, the deal went, and he’d get a $1M bonus on top of any winnings he'd collect.
Rumors circulated that ClubWPTGold execs were spotted nearby holding an oversized novelty check, ready to grab the limelight in the guerilla-inspired style for which the brand has become known.
In the end the check went back in the 6-foot checkbook, as Strelitz finished a more-than-impressive third in this enormous event, banking $429,950. First place, and the $1M up top, went to Michael Wilklow.
We caught up with Wilklow after his win and he gave us his — succinct — take on events. FYI, it’s three words long, and 33% of his answer is NSFW.
Scratch that: More mysteries and more millions
Hold up, mystery bounty fans — the Mystery Millions wasn’t the last chance this week to win big with a lucky bounty pull. The $10K Mystery Bounty was also getting down to the serious business of a final table, and by end of play on Monday we were there.
James Mendoza has a healthy lead of 10.6M chips, ahead of 2nd place Alejandro Peinado’s stack of 6.9M, with Yosef Fox, Richard Green and Patrick Kennedy all still in with a shot at another $1M top prize.
They’ll return today, as will a crowd of absolute beasts in the $25K Mixed PLO/NLH High Roller. The price point and the mix of games being played mean this new event has attracted a huge number of accomplished players, and with late entry open until 2:15pm on Tuesday, more may come.
There’s plenty more poker to play, but at the moment Stephen Chidwick sits atop the chip counts, with the likes of Jared Bleznick, Shaun Deeb, Bryce Yockey and Ben Tollerene all sitting on big stacks too.
If you’re in the PokerOrg Fantasy Freeroll — and even if you’re not — this will be one well worth keeping an eye on. You can keep tabs on the big news relating to fantasy points right here.
