The World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2024 continues to crown champions and award hefty cash prizes. USA’s Christopher Moen and Argentina’s Franco Spitale were the latest bracelet winners crowned at the series, each claiming their maiden bracelets. Here is a quick recap of their victories.
Christopher Moen Wins First Bracelet and $289,323 in Event #64: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack
Christopher Moen, a humble bus driver from Sioux Falls, bested a field of 5,263 total entries in Event #64: $600 No-Limit Hold’em DeepStack at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) to capture his first bracelet and the top prize of $289,323. Moen’s previous best score included a victory in the 2009 Twin Cities Poker Open main event for $61,924. He now has more than $397,000 in live earnings.
Moen entered the final table with the third largest stack and started off well by eliminating Vance Isono in ninth place. Moen’s show continued as he then went on to bust Guilherme De Castro in eighth place, Daniel Hirose in seventh place, Cal Nailn in sixth place, John Ricksen in fifth place and August Smrek in fourth place before finally entering the heads-up with a 2:1 chip lead over Kuess.
The final showdown didn’t last long as Moen defeated Thomas Kuess in just ten hands. On the final hand, Kuess moved all-in with 9c 10d and Moen called with a strong Ks 10s. Kuess flopped a ten pair but Moen hit a king pair on the flop and held from there to win the coveted pot as well as the title.
This event only took two days to crown a winner. Day 2 began with 283 contenders remaining, and yet a champion was crowned before the midnight. Notables who cashed included 2021 WSOP main event champion Koray Aldemir (75th), two-time bracelet winner Nick Guagenti (52nd).
Kartik Ved Headlines Team India’s Scorecard
From Team India, several players cashed this event with WSOP bracelet winner Kartik Ved headlining the Team’s score card. He finished deepest among the Indians, earning $6,354 for his 48th place finish. This marked his eighth cash of the series, boosting his total winnings to $2,58,982 (INR 2.16 Crores).
Yudhishter Jaswal secured his first cash of the series, finishing 170th for $2,183. WSOP bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer (189th for $2,183), PokerBaazi Team Pro Abhishek Goindi (318th) were the other Indians who cashed this tournament. For Goindi, this marked his first cash of the series.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
1. Christopher Moen – $289,323
2. Thomas Kuess – $192,809
3. Cody Chung – $143,258
4. August Smrek – $107,289
5. John Ricksen – $80,996
6. Cal Nailn – $61,642
7. Daniel Hirose – $47,295
8. Guilherme De Castro – $36,586
9. Vance Isono – $28,536
10. Kevin Madar – $22,444
Franco Spitale Wins WSOP 2024 Event #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Event
Franco Spitale claimed victory in Event #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker after overcoming a record-breaking 10,939 entrants and Justin Carey in the heads-up battle. The 54th event awarded a top prize worth $1,250,125 to this player from Argentina, and that took his career earnings above $1.9 million.
The $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em event ran over the course of five days and generated a prize pool worth $14,603,565. The top 1,641 players took home at least $3,000 in prize money.
Out of 2,381 players, 315 of them advanced to day 2 after the money bubble burst earlier in the day. Day 3 whittled the field down to 45, and the penultimate day saw Spitale move into the chip lead when the last six players remained. The final day began with Stephen Dauphinais taking over the lead after busting Chalres Kersey in sixth place, and Harvey Jackson in fifth place. Justin Carey then took out Paul Saso in fourth place to take his turn with the chip lead.
After some back-and-forth battle between the final three players, Spitale found momentum when he busted Dauphinais in third place to take a slight chip lead into the final battle against Carey. On the final hand, Carey got it in with pocket deuces against the A-10 held by Spitale. The flop brought 10-5-2 but the turn and river were aces to give Spitale a runner-runner full house to beat his opponent’s flopped set.
Ankit Ahuja Headlines Team’s India’s Scorecard
The event witnessed the largest Indian contingent. An impressive 19 of them advanced to Day 2 but only 13 of them managed to cash. Topping the Indian scorecard was two-time GPI POY (India) Ankit Ahuja, who finished in 50th place for $30,300, his highest score and fourth cash at the WSOP 2024.
Several other Indian players who cashed this event at the WSOP 2024 were Kunal Punjwani (86th for $14,890), Young Gun Sanat Mehrotra (135th for $10,890), and Baazi Games CEO Navkiran Singh (231st for $8,200), Kunal Patni (481st for $5,080), WSOP bracelet winner Kartik Ved (570th for $4,600), Ankit Wadhawan (972nd for $3,150), Anju Abrol (1,025 for $3,150), Deepankur Gupta (1,236th for $3,000), Paawan Bansal (1,287th for $3,000), Anshul Kulshrestha (1,430th for $3,000), WSOP bracelet winner Aditya Sushant (1,515th for $3,000), and Ashish Ahuja (1,534th for $3,000).
Final Table Payouts (USD)
1-Franco Spitale – $1,250,125
2-Justin Carey – $1,001,169
3-Stephen Dauphinais – $651,039
4-Paul Saso – $500,109
5-Harvey Jackson – $376,469
6-Charles Kersey – $289,630
7-Jason Hickey – $224,270
8-Alex Kim – $174,800
9-Owen Savir – $137,150
10-Adam Croffut – $108,320
Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates and results from the WSOP 2024!
Image Credit: WSOP
