WSOP 2024 Day 35 Recap: Shiina Okamoto Wins Ladies Championship, Brian Rast Reaches PLO High Roller Final Table

A thrilling dayof action at Horseshoe and Paris casinos in the 2024 World Series of Poker saw just one bracelet won as Japanese player Shiina Okamoto took down the $1,000-entry Ladies Championship a year after coming second in the same event. In the $25,000 PLO High Roller event, David Eldridge leads the final five, but Brian Rast is hunting him down, while the $1,000 Tag Team event began with heroes at every table in one of the most fun tournaments to take place this summer in Las Vegas.

Okamoto Takes Gold One Year After Silver

Event #71, the $1,000-entry Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship, concluded with the Japanese player Shiina Okamoto winning the event she finished second in last year as she came back to win the title against the overnight chip leader Jamie Kerstetter. 

Six players made the final table and Kerstetter got off to a fast start, busting French player Cecile Ticherfatine after dominating her pre-flop with king-queen against king-jack. Ticherfatine hit a jack on the turn but it opened up a flush draw for the American, who hit on the river to reduce the field to five. Soon, play was three-handed, as Kerstetter wielded the axe twice more, taking out Mor Kamber in fifth for $43,125 before eliminating the popoular Linda Durden in fourth for $58,910.

With a big lead, Kerstetter was dominant, but Okamoto came back when kings bettered Ceci Liao’s pocket queens for an elimination of her own and while she started behind in the heads-up duel, Okamoto was never outclassed. Calling a big bluff with trips, Okamoto moved ahead of Kerstetter and when the chips all went into the middle, the Japanese player had by far the best of it, a board of A-T-9-5 seeing Kerstetter commit the smaller stack with ace-seven, Okamoto having shoved witht he superior two-pair of nine-five. 

No miracle came for the American and the two women embraced. It was a painful near-miss for Kerstetter but a gracious defeat as Okamoto avoide the previous year's fate at the last, claiming the top prize of $171,732, with Kerstetter runner-up for $114,479.

WSOP Event #71: $1,000 Ladies Championship Final Table Results

Rast on a Roll in PLO High Roller 

Event #73 came down to the final day with five players still in seats as the $25,000-entry 8-Max PLO High Roller event saw David Eldridge (23.4 million) a big chip leader. He's not the headline-maker, however, with the six-time WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer Brian Rast (9.45m) on the hunt for his seventh bracelet. Having won his first-ever gold in 2011 in PLO (albeit a $1,500 buy-in event not $25,000) Rast will be looking to join legends of the felt such as Billy Baxter, Scott Seiver and Daniel Negreanu on seven WSOP titles. 

On a day that featured eliminations for Eelis Parssinen, Joni Jouhkimainen, Alex Livingston and Viktor Blom, others such as Ethan Cahn (17.55m), Yang Wang (12.25m) and the Finnish player Juha Helppi (8,775,000) did make the chase for the top prize of $2,246,728.

WSOP Event #73: $25,000 PLO High Roller Final Day Chip Counts

Todd Brunson and Norman Chad Both Make Day 3 of Seven Card Stud Event

The $10,000-entry Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, otherwise known as Event #74, saw Todd Ivens (1,190,000) end the day as chip leader ahead of Andrey Zhigalov (983,000), Todd Brunson (859,000) and Brad Ruben (738,000), as a day of drama flipped the script for many players in action.

While those players and Norman Chad (288,000), one half of the WSOP commentary team with Lon McEachern, bagged up chips, many others fell from grace. Overnight, Allen ‘Chainsaw’ Kessler had been in the top 10, but he didn't make the second halof the day, while the Day 2 chip leader Ali Eslami also busted, along with players such as Chad Eveslage, Anthony Zinno, and Brandon Shack-Harris.

WSOP Event #74: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Championship Chip Counts

Colossal Day 2 Sees Raymer Make the Final Stage

In Event #70, the $400-entry ‘Colossus’, Day 2 began with 2,358 players and ended with only 92 from a total field of 19,337. Chip leader at the close of Day 2 was Joel Vanetten (20,650,000), with Andrew Dubuque (18,575,000) and Justin Fawcett (17,500,000) making the podium places. Those are not the only stars of the remaining show, however, with the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Greg Raymer still in there scrapping with 8,100,000 chips.

The ‘Fossilman’ made hay early on Day 2, chipping up with pocket aces while others fell at an enormous rate. Raymer wasn't the only big name to survive, with Matt Glantz (12,825,000) and Ari Engel (4,400,000) both making the cut. Others weren't so fortunate, with Kane Kalas, David ‘ODB’ Baker and Craig Chait all departing on Day 2. 

Three New Events Kick Off 

Three more WSOP bracelet events began on Day 35, with Event #75, the $1,000-entry Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em event seeing 1,437 teams in action. With over $1.25 million gathered into the prizepool, Derek Stark (485,000) is in the lead, with Ivan Rezzonico & Alejandro Lococo (331,500) and Charlton Zhu & Nick Bond (319,500) in the podium places. With each of the winning team due to bank $95,455, other players such as Kyle Cartwright & Scott Stuart (302,500), Chris Moorman & Dan Charlton (260,000) and Rachel & Josh Arieh (151,000) all have great chances to win, while Maria Ho & Kami Hudson and Mike Matusow & Sara Ralston busted.

In Event #76, the $10,000-entry NLHE Mystery Bounty 8-Max event, 965 entries were whittled down to 236 survivors. Matthew Beinner (1,090,000) ended Day 1 with the chip lead, with British players Roberto Romanello (868,000) and Stephen Chidwick (825,000), American poker pro Isaac Haxton (669,000) Sergio Aido (495,000), Chris Hunichen (419,000), and Santhosh Suvarna (323,000) all well above average. Shaun Deeb (483,000), Chris Brewer (452,000), Joao Vieira (350,000), Adrian Mateos (338,000), Dan Smith (336,000), Kristen Foxen (210,000), Espen Jorstad (122,000), Jennifer Harman (399,000), Erik Seidel (271,000), Daniel Negreanu (198,000) and Johnny Chan (67,000) all made the Day 2 draw too.

Finally, in Event #77, the $2,500 buy-in Mixed Big Bet Event, Patrick Moulder (388,500) ended play in the lead, with others such as Joshua Adcock (312,500) Andres Korn (295,000), Allan Le (290,000), David ‘ODB’ Baker (264,000), Ryan Riess (183,000), Phil Hui (150,000) and Phil Hellmuth (25,000) all survived. With 388 total entrants, 156 players made it to Day 2, as players such as Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow, David Williams, and the 2023 event winner Julio Belluscio all busted. 

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