Raucous, bawdy, and beer-soaked, the 2024 WPT Prime Championship had a guttural scream for every eventuality and a twist for every gut-wrenching turn. More than that, it featured a Thor-armed holistic wellness coach in a moment that commentator David Lappin suggested could be "the birth of a poker star."
Zak VanKeuren, has been grinding since 2018 and ran very deep in the 2023 Prime Championship. This year, VanKeuren broke through, winning a WSOP Online High Roller Bracelet for more than $200,000.
Tonight he looked both like he could throw Thor's hammer and meditate at the same time while he ran roughshod over a stacked and talented final table. Known as 'Lucid Poker' online, VanKeuren made a seven-figure name for himself in this $1,100 buy-in event. His victory earned him $1,162,350.
He told his rail he'd buy them dinner. The tab looks to be expensive.
Prime Championship literally steals stage
Saturday at the Wynn featured the $5 million ClubWPT Gold Invitational reaching the final table and the first day of the 2024 WPT World Championship. In almost any other world, a $1,100 mid-major would barely have turned a head. Today, with a $1.1 million first prize on the line, the Prime Championship not only stole everyone's attention, but also took over the main stage in Encore ballroom.
Featuring a list of well-known pros (and Colin Hong, a mysterious maybe-crypto-genius from MIT who looks a lot like and shares a name with this guy), the final table sounded at times like a sports arena and at other times smelled like a brewery. Runner up Jim Casement will fortunately be able to afford the dry cleaning bill forced on him by a boozy mid-game celebration. Casement's effort earned him more than $750,000.
| 2024 WPT Prime Championship final results | |
|---|---|
| Zak VanKeuren | $1,162,350 |
| Jim Casement | $759,890 |
| Kevin Calenzo | $569,000 |
| Malik Zaman | $420,000 |
| Joe Ozimok | $320,000 |
| Ryan Stiner | $240,000 |
| Colin Hong | $186,000 |
| Ralph Marquez | $145,000 |
| Justin Young | $114,000 |
Another millionaire on Sunday
With the stage once again open, the $5 million Invitational will have its closeup Sunday when the final table plays out and awards the winner a $1 million first prize. After that, it's on to the 2024 WPT World Championship. Day 1A of the event pulled in more than 750 entries. Day 1B begins Sunday at 11am.
Photos courtesy WPT
