Following three days of intense action at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #95: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-Limit Hold’em crowned Jamie Walden from the United Kingdom as its champion. Walden overcame a massive field of 1,119 entrants and defeated Naseem Salem in a heads-up match, securing his first gold bracelet and a top prize of $313,370. This victory took Walden’s live poker tournament winnings to just under $500,000.
Jamie Walden’s Victory and Future Plans
In an interview after his first WSOP victory, Walden shared his future plans. He said, “I play quite a bit on the UK tours, so I think potentially one or two in the UK. I was meant to be going to Barcelona, but it’s my daughter’s first day of school, so obviously, family comes first.”
Ankit Ahuja’s Impressive Run Ends In 5th Place ($77,787)
This event was significant for Team India, which has already secured over 160 cashes and two bracelet victories at the ongoing WSOP 2024. Ankit Ahuja, a two-time POY India winner, was aiming for India’s third bracelet in this particular event. Ahuja entered the final table with an impressive 2.975 million chips (12 BBs) and was doing well. Unfortunately, his impressive run ended in 5th place when his Ad 6c fell to Adam Hendrix’s Qd Qc, with Hendrix flopping a set. Ahuja earned $77,787, his fifth and best score at WSOP 2024. Another Indian to make his mark in this event was none other than Natural8 India director Kunal Patni, who exited 102nd place, earning $4,119 for his sixth cash of the ongoing series.
WSOP 2024 Event #95: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-Limit Hold’em Quick Recap
The final day saw nine players with David Stamm (25 big blinds) in the lead and Waden in third chip position. Denmark’s Henrik Juncker, who came into the final table with just five big blinds, became the first casualty. He three-bet shoved with ace-six over a Walden open. Walden held pocket nines, which held up, busting Juncker in ninth place for $25,559. He was followed by Akinobu Maeda (8th -$33,006) who slow-played aces and was punished by David Stamm who flopped set with pocket tens.
After over 40 minutes of play, Christopher Stevenson exited in seventh place, taking home $43,275 for his efforts. Stevenson shoved his last seven big blinds with ace-ten and lost to Walden’s king-queen. The next to fall was a WSOP bracelet in Germany’s Martin Finger, who exited in sixth place for $57,594 after his ace-two couldn’t improve against the ace-seven of Stamm.
The next player to fall was Ankit Ahuja, India’s last hope for bracelet victory. He played some top notch poker and was able to chip up but just before the break, he found the perfect spot to shove ace-six from the small blind against Adam Hendrix in the big blind. Hendrix had pocket queens and made the call. With no miracle for Ahuja, his bracelet dream ended in fifth-place, good for $77,787.
Despite scoring the elimination, the $25K fantasy player Hendrix was the next player to fall. He shoved his king-two and got a call from Salem with ace-four. Hendrix didn’t improve enough to win and had to settle for $106,598.
Down to three-handed play, Stamm became the shortest stack. He eventually put his last six blinds into the middle with pocket queens. Salem called with fours from the big blind and managed to spike a set on the turn to send the start of the day chip leader Stamm in third place ($148,143).
The heads-up began with Walden and Salem holding almost even stacks. However, after about an hour of play, Walden found himself with more than a 2:1 chip deficit. However, he made some good moves and started chipping up. He regained the chip lead before the final hand arose. Finally, Walden (10c 3c) check-raised all-in with a flush draw and Salem (9d 7d) called with two pairs. Walden spiked his flush on the turn and Qs landed on the river, his rail erupted in jubilation at his victory and new status as a WSOP champion.
This event saw 1,119 entrants and generated a massive prize pool of $1,970,906. Day 2 saw 167 players return to the felts, including two Indians in Ankit Ahuja and Kunal Patni. Ahuja continued his impressive run, securing a spot at the final table, while Patni’s journey unfortunately ended in 102nd place. He earned $4,119 for his sixth cash of the series.
The top 168 players made the money, with several big names running deep, including David Simon (13th for $16,056), 2014 Main Event champion Martin Jacobson (19th for $10,748), Rafael Reis (27th for $9,012), Stanislav Zegal (38th for $7,684), Weiran Pu (40th for $7,684), Maria Konnikova (56th for $5,880), Matthew Lambrecht (57th for $5,880) and Frank Brannan (62nd for $5,880).
WSOP 2024 Event #95: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout |
| 1 | Jamie Walden | $313,370 |
| 2 | Naseem Salem | $208,919 |
| 3 | David Stamm | $148,183 |
| 4 | Adam Hendrix | $106,598 |
| 5 | Ankit Ahuja | $77,787 |
| 6 | Martin Finger | $57,594 |
| 7 | Christopher Stevenson | $43,275 |
| 8 | Akinobu Maeda | $33,006 |
| 9 | Henrik Juncker | $25,559 |
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