WSOP 2024 Day 30 Recap: Dario Sammartino Wins Maiden Bracelet as Ivey Misses Out on Poker Players Championship Finale

An exciting day of action in the 2024 World Series of Poker saw 10 events in progress as big names and small battled for gold at Horseshoe and Paris casinos. With a very happy bracelet winner - a former Main Event runner-up - a stacked field in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship and eight more events, it was a day to remember for poker fans. 

Dario Sammartino Breaks Bracelet Duck

The Italian poker professional Dario Sammartino won his first-ever WSOP bracelet as he sealed victory in his 100th cash at the World Series of Poker. Sammartino, whose record in WSOP events includes finishing second to Hossein Ensan in the 2019 WSOP Main Event, beat Jon Kyte heads-up for the top prize of $222,703. 

At the final table, Sammartino outlasted the 2004 WSOP Main Event runner-up David Williams as the former Magic: The Gathering player finished third for a score of $102,335. Others to make it to the last table included Jeff Madsen (4th for $71,810) and Paul Zappulla, who was the first one to leave the action, crashing out in ninth in $16,159. 

WSOP Event  #61:  $2,500 Mixed Omaha & Stud Final Table Results

Brewer Leads from Negreanu on PPC Final Day

The final day of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship arrived overnight and with just five players remaining, Chris Brewer is the man who leads the way to the $1.1m top prize and the Chip Reese Trophy. Holding 10,465,000 chips, Brewer leads from Daniel Negreanu as 'Kid Poker' hit a one-outer miracle against Bryce Yockey to survive on the event's penultimate day, with the Canadian bagging up 7,635,000 overnight. 

Three other players made the final day, with Dylan Smith (4,030,000), Bryce Yockey (3,670,000) and David Benyamine (900,000) all surviving. All three will need to climb the ladder quickly on the final day, but the PPC is the event to do so, with the mixed games and maximum pressure ruling no-one out and guaranteeing no player victory until it happens. 

Ousted on the penultimate day, Phil Ivey (7th for $158,719) busted to Dylan Smith when the latter made an 8-7-6-5-3 to beat Ivey's 9-7. That sent the 11-time WSOP bracelet winner home, and with just one more elimination to come, it was the six-time WSOP winner Jeremy Ausmus who busted, Benyamine and Brewer chopping high and low to reduce the field to a final five. 

WSOP Event  #58: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Final Day Chip Counts

Spitale Leads Final Six to Millionaire Maker Showdown

Argentinian player Franco Spitale leads the final six into the last day of the $1,500-entry Millionaire Maker Event #54. Holding a big lead with 83.6 million chips, Spitale leads from Canadian Stephen Dauphinais (68.7m) and Justin Carey (63.9m) as he approaches the final day where not one but two players of the six will become millionaires. 

With 45 players beginning the day, two tables worth of players had been eliminated. By the time the final six players had gathered, the three-time bracelet winner Sean Troha had been long gone, busting in 43rd place for $36,830 before Day 3 chip leader Martin Mathis crumbled, dropping from chip leader to busting on the rail in 37th place for the same score. 

The other player who busted early was Mathis' fellow chip leader going into play, as Max Neugebauer lost out in 24th place for $55,560. There was still time for American professional Jason Wheeler to be ousted in 18th place for the same amount before Jason Hickey was taken out in seventh place when his ace-king couldn't hold against Stephen Dauphinais' jack-ten, finalizing the last table.

With a top prize of $1,250,125 on the line and only $289,630 on offer for the first player to bust tomorrow's final, broadcast exclusively on PokerGO, is sure to be an exciting one. 

WSOP Event  #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Final Day Chip Counts

Eminoglu a Huge Chip Leader in Super Seniors

Britain-based Turkish player Yucel Eminoglu (15.9 million) leads the way in the $1,000-entry Event #59, the Super Seniors event in Las Vegas. With just 11 players left, only one day of play remains, and it is the player affectionately known as 'Mad Turk' in British poker circles who has a great shot at landing WSOP gold for the first time.

With a gargantuan lead, Eminoglu is some way clear of his closest challengers Buck Bucceri (7,725,000) and Sean Jazayeri (7.05m) with a top prize of $368,025 on offer. The title could be anyone's when play resumes but it is Eminoglu - who has over $1.5m in tournament winnings - with the best chance of taking home gold tomorrow.

WSOP Event  #59: $1,000 Super Seniors Final Day Chip Counts

Rodriguez Leads from Kade and Others in No Limit Hold'em Event 

In Event #60, the $3,000-entry No-Limit Hold'em event reached its final 13 players as 1,773 total entrants were reduced to a 'baker's dozen' as Noel Rodriguez (15,425,000) bagged the chip lead. With a prizepool of $4.7m and a top prize of $676,900 on the line, 105 players played on Day 3 with just 13 surviving to the fourth and final day's play.

Justin Belforti (15,050,000) and Brandon Mitchell (6,050,000) are Rodriguez' closest challengers with Vanessa Kade (5.62m) just one day away from winning her own first WSOP bracelet.

Big names such as Benjamin Spragg (75th), Simon Wiciak (70th), Anthony Zinno (62nd), Andre Akkari (57th), and Kristen Foxen (55th) all lost out on a dramatic day, but while only one day remains, the prizes on offer are very different. Whoever comes 13th will win $37,580, but everyone will want to take home that $676,900 first-place prize.

WSOP Event  #60: $3,000 NLHE Final Day Chip Counts

Kenny Huynh On Top in Deepstack Event  

Event #62, the $600-entry PokerNews Deepstack Championship saw 767 players battle down to just 60 as Day 2 saw exits from the off, with players such as Jamie Kerstetter, Ben Yu and Martin Kabrhel all busted, despite the latter once again running up a stack. 

Top of the leaderboard at the end of Day 2 was Kenny Huynh (5,920,000), with the former WSOP bracelet winner one of only two remaining in the field with Chris Dombrowski (1,620,000). Present in the top 10 are Michael Dobbs (5.8m), Huynh's closest challenger, along with Darryll Fish (5,130,000) and Kenneth Kemple (4.55m) with an exciting day guaranteed tomorrow. 

WSOP Event  #60: $3,000 NLHE Final Day Chip Counts

Funkhouser Chasing Leibgorin in Lowball Showdown

Just six players remain in the $1,500-entry No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw event, where the final day will crown a winner and award the top prize of $123,314. With 453 total entries, French player Michel Leibgorin will begin the final day with the lead, after he totalled 3,995,000 chips at the close of play. Two American players, Charles Tucker (2,325,000) and David Funkhouser (1,645,000) are closest to challenging Leibgorin's lead. 

On a day where so many talented players hit the rail, legends such as 'Walmart' WSOP bracelet winner Ryan Depaulo, Poker Hall of Famer Jennifer Harman, and WPT crusher Bin Weng all failed to survive to the next day, with Australian former WSOP Player of the Year Robert Campbell, Mixed Triple Draw bracelet winner Patrick Moulder, WSOP mixed game regular Robert Wells, and the three-time WSOP bracelet winner Chance Kornuth all busting on the penultimate day, as David 'ODB' Baker bubbled the final when he cashed for $14,030.

WSOP Event #63: $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Final Day Chip Counts

Three New Events Kick Off

Three other events took place, starting with Event #64, the $600-entry NLHE Deepstack event. With 5,271 total entrants, just 790 players were paid, with 283 of them surviving to Day 2, including players such as chip leader Samuel Summers (1,750,000) and closest rivals Jamie Robbins (1,700,000) and Shinya Nakajima (1,625,000). Others to survive included Nick Guagenti (1,000,000), Justin Pechie (710,000) and Lexy Gavin-Mathers (670,000).

In Event #65, 680 entries at $5,000 each took part in the Seniors High Roller with just 161 of them remaining for Day 2 to take place and 102 due to cash. Popular player Angela Jordison (707,000) led the field at the close of play, with Michael Bickel (616,000), Scott Andrews (544,000), Bruno Lopes (256,000), Eli Elezra, (108,000) and John Juanda (98,000) all surviving too.

Finally, Event #66 saw 726 total entries in the $10,000-entry Pot-Limit Omaha Championship. Only 245 of their number survived, with PLO cash game player James Chen (675,500) ahead of other luminaries such as Jim Collopy (636,500), Josh Arieh (410,000), Michael Mizrachi (405,000), Juha Helppi (376,500), Maxx Coleman (361,000), Danny Tang (315,000), Kahle Burns (290,500) and David Williams (257,500).

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