The 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) continues with epic wins and thrilling showdowns. Norway’s Erlend Melsom and USA’s Khang Pham were the latest winners crowned at the ongoing series in Vegas. Here is a recap of the latest victories!
Erlend Melsom Wins His First Bracelet in WSOP 2024 $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em
Erlend Melsom topped a massive field of 1,252 players in Event #49: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout of the WSOP 2024 , his first bracelet and the largest chunk of the $3,342,840 prize pool. Melsom walked away with a staggering $523,195, surpassing his previous top score of $64,758, which he had earned for a sixth-place finish in the 2011 European Poker Tour Tallinn main event. The Norwegian now has $604,323 in recorded tournament scores after his latest win. He has become the eighth player from his home country to win a WSOP gold bracelet.
It was a three-day event that collected $3,342,840 in prize pool. The top 188 players made the money, with only thirteen players returning for the final and third day. The action was fast and furious with four players getting eliminated within the first level of play. Andjelko Andrejevic (13th), Neil Warren (12th), Ivan Ruban (11th) and Clemen Deng (10th) all fell in quick succession. Two of those players, Andrejevic and Ruban, were eliminated by Melsom. Morgan Petro was the first player to be eliminated from the final table in ninth place, around an hour and a half into play. He was followed by
Uri Reichenstein, Joseph Carden and two-time bracelet winner Maxx Coleman were eliminated in eighth, seventh and sixth-place, respectively. Recent $25,000 buy-in fourth-place finisher David Stamm earned $132,053 for a fifth-place showing in this event. He impressed with his precise and aggressive play, but was unlucky to be busted in fifth place. Schwartz, especially, had to nurture a short stack for the majority of the day, but impressively secured a fourth-place finish. Later, Ben Hoy was busted in third place by Erlend Melsom whose pocket threes held up against Ac 7c of Hoy.
The heads-up play began with Bulgaria’s Nikolay Yosifov holding chip lead over Melsom. Following a back-and-forth battle, the tournament ended with Melsom winning the title to clinch his first bracelet. Bulgaria’s Nikolay Yosifov ended up as the runner-up, taking home a career-best payday of $348,784.
| 1 | Erlend Melsom | $523,195 |
| 2 | Nikolay Yosifov | $348,784 |
| 3 | Ben Hoy | $249,005 |
| 4 | Jonathan Schwartz | $180,127 |
| 5 | David Stamm | $132,053 |
| 6 | Maxx Coleman | $98,128 |
| 7 | Joseph Carden | $73,925 |
| 8 | Uri Reichenstein | $56,472 |
| 9 | Morgan Petro | $43,751 |
Khang Pham Wins WSOP 2024 Event #46: $1,000 SENIORS No-Limit Hold’em Championship
A total of 7,984 seniors aged 50 or higher entered the 2024 World Series of Poker Event #46: $1,000 SENIORS No-Limit Hold’em Championship, building a massive prize pool of $6,999,520. The lion’s share of the prize pool went to the champion Khang Pham took home $677,326 and his first bracelet.
This was the largest live tournament score for Pham, who came into this tournament with nearly $293,000 in prior recorded live earnings. The Southern California resident’s previous largest payday was $54,864, which he had earned for a victory in a $545 buy-in event at the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic.
Featuring two starting flights, this event ran for 5 days and paid out the top 1,196 finishers. Several notables cashed this event, including 2004 WSOP main event champion Greg Raymer (39th), bracelet winner Tamas Lendvai (27th), and two-time bracelet winner Mark Seif (12th).
Pham entered the final day in fourth chip position among the remaining 26 contenders and was in the middle of the pack when the unofficial final table of ten was reached. Pham began to climb up when he busted Shawn Stuart (8th for $90,060). Randy Levin bowed out in seventh place ($115,823) and was soon followed by Ray Devita (6th for $149,989) and Marc Wolpert (5th for $195,573).
Later, Mark David Bramley shoved K-6 trailing the A-4 suited held by Renmei Liu. Bramley was unable to come from behind and was busted in fourth place ($256,754). The next to fall was Renmei Liu who got it in with pocket eights facing the A-K suited of Pham. Unfortunatley, his pocket eights could not hold up and he was eliminated in third place ($339,366).
Heads-up saw Pham holding 88,000,000 to Wolpert’s 71,000,000. Pham won a healthy pot with a flush in the early going to extend his advantage. He then won an even larger pot without a showdown. Finally, it was all over with Pham’s jack-nine beating ten-nine on the Jh 8h 2d 10h 8d board. Pham was crowned as the champion, and Wolpert awarded an impressive $451,585 for his runner-up finish.
WSOP 2024 Event #46: $1,000 SENIORS NLH Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Earnings |
| 1 | Khang Pham | $677,326 |
| 2 | Marc Wolpert | $451,585 |
| 3 | Renmei Liu | $339,366 |
| 4 | Mark David Bramley | $256,754 |
| 5 | Luke Graham | $195,573 |
| 6 | Ray Devita | $149,989 |
| 7 | Randy Levin | $115,823 |
| 8 | Shawn Stuart | $90,060 |
| 9 | William Byrnes | $70,516 |
Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates and results from the ongoing WSOP 2024!
