James Obst, who started his journey playing poker online as a teenager in his home country of Australia, began to make his presence felt on the live scene by the early 2010s. In 2017, he clinched his first World Series of Poker bracelet, taking down the $10,000 razz championship for $265,354.
Then in 2018, he stayed away from poker to pursue a career in professional tennis. Obst returned to the WSOP in 2023 and made several deep runs, including a fourth-place finish in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Just a few weeks into the 2024 WSOP, Obst has managed to clinch a victory to win his second bracelet. He topped a field of 107 entries in Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, taking home $260,658. He now has more than $3.5 million in live tournament earnings.
The event generated a $995,100 prize pool that was shared by the top 17 players. Four-time bracelet winner Brad Ruben (17th), three-time bracelet winner Chad Eveslage (14th), bracelet winner Alex Livingston (11th), two-time bracelet winner Yuval Bronshtein (10th), four-time bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski (8th), bracelet winner Andre Akkari (7th), two-time bracelet winner Juha Helppi (6th), and five-time bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi (5th) were the big names to run deep in this tournament.
Obst knocked out Mizrachi, who won his fifth bracelet earlier in the WSOP 2024 dealer’s choice championship. Obst made jacks up to bust Mizrachi from the tournament for $61,190.
Mike Lang fell in fourth place for $83,932 after he ran into an ace-high flush for bracelet winner Jason Daly. Despite busting Lang in fourth, Daly was the next player to fall. He got all-in on fifth street with an ace-high flush draw against nines-up for Obst. Daly made just a pair of eights by seventh street and was knocked out in third place ($118,809).
Obst entered heads-up play with 3,535,000 to 2,890,000 for three-time bracelet winner Paul Volpe. He was able to extend his chip advantage and eventually win the tournament. Finally, Volpe was all-in with a hope of a flush facing a split pair of fours for Obst. Volpe was unable to hit flush and was busted in second place ($173,391). After this cash, he now has over $9.9 million in live earnings.
| 1 | James Obst | $260,658 |
| 2 | Paul Volpe | $173,391 |
| 3 | Jason Daly | $118,809 |
| 4 | Mike Lang | $83,932 |
| 5 | Robert Mizrachi | $61,190 |
| 6 | Juha Helppi | $46,084 |
| 7 | Andre Akkari | $35,893 |
| 8 | Yuri Dzivielevski | $28,945 |
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