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Phil Ivey Wins Historic Eleventh WSOP Bracelet

Written by Jennifer Newell
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It was a normal Thursday evening for most people. In Las Vegas, players filled poker rooms for cash games and some of the multitude of tournaments in various series this summer. One of them was the World Series of Poker, happening at the Horseshoe and Paris on the Strip.

Almost every night of the 2024 WSOP, there is a final table playing out, usually with substantial money and a coveted gold bracelet awaiting the winner. On this Thursday night, it was a different scene. Instead of a sparse group of poker fans and friends of final table players, there were many more than usual. There were extra members of the media. And poker fans around the world tuned in to social media updates, live reporting posts, and the PokerGO livestream.

The game was Limit Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw, not typically an exciting game to watch. But it was a $10K buy-in championship level event. And the final night of play featured Jason Mercier and Danny Wong, two well-known players with long histories in poker.

The other player was a bit more well-known.

Phil Ivey was attempting to win his 11th bracelet.

All-Star Tournament

Most $10K buy-in tournaments are filled with pros, showing off quite a few recognizable faces from the past and present poker scenes. And when it is a unique variation, the field is even more condensed. The $10K Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship was no different.

A total of 149 players took to the tables to compete for this bracelet. Jason Mercier, Bin Weng, Marco Johnson, and Naoya Kihara were among those holding substantial chips when Day 1 ended.

Some late entries then created the final numbers for Event 29:

  • Total entries:  149
  • Total prize pool:  $1,385,700
  • Number of paid players:  23
  • Minimum payout:  $20,272
  • Winner payout:  $347,440

By the time Day 2 worked its way through the money bubble, there were players like Keith Lehr, Macho Barbero, and Chino Rheem heading to the payout window to retrieve their cash.

Slow and Steady Day 3

The plan for a third day of a tournament like this is to play to and through the final table until only one player remains. This was no different except for the all-star lineup that comprised the 13 players who started Day 3.

Danny Wong was atop the leaderboard, seeking his second bracelet. Jason Mercier was in second and looking for a seventh piece of gold, with Benny Glaser as the 2023 champion of that exact event and on the lookout for his sixth bracelet. Players like Phil Ivey, Justin Saliba, Allen Kessler, and Steve Zolotow were also in the mix.

It took several hours after the start of play to send the first few players out. Kessler departed in tenth, Zolotow in ninth, and Renan Bruschi in eighth. That left seven for the final table.

Saliba was very short and quickly busted in seventh place, Play slowed tremendously until Philip Sternheimer busted in sixth place and Jonathan Cohen did the same in fifth, but it took another long while for Benny Glaser to bow out. He finished fourth and lost his bid to win a sixth bracelet and back-to-back championship titles.

One More Day

Normally, players and tournament staff alike try to avoid adding an extra day to a tournament. If unplanned and, especially, if livestreaming is involved, it creates complications with space and staff. But no one was complaining about this one, as three-handed play featured Jason Mercier, Danny Wong, and Phil Ivey. After hours of play with no eliminations, the three players stopped near dawn.

When the final three returned at 4pm on Thursday afternoon – the PokerGO livestream delayed another hour for security reasons – they started play with these chip counts:

  • Danny Wong – 3.73M chips
  • Jason Mercier – 2.955M chips
  • Phil Ivey – 2.26M chips

Wong started strong, but Mercier eventually doubled through him. Ivey took from Mercier, though, leaving the latter working a short stack again. More than an hour into play, Wong sent Mercier out in third place.

Heads-up play then began with these chip stacks:

  • Danny Wong – 5.315M chips
  • Phil Ivey – 3.63M chips

Ivey didn’t start two-handed play with all of the luck, but he found it soon after. He took over the chip lead with a wheel (7-5-4-3-2), Ivey simply soared from there, with only the occasional small pot to Wong. Finally, Wong shoved his last 250K chips and ended up with T-8-7-6-2, but Ivey had 7-5-4-3-2 for the win.

Wong collected $225,827 for his second-place finish, as Phil Ivey took pictures with his latest bracelet and then headed to the payout desk for his $347,440.

This was the first bracelet of the 11 that Ivey won in a $10K championship level event, and it was his first bracelet in nearly a decade. His list of bracelet wins shows the diversity and abilities that lead people to call him the GOAT.

  • May 2000:  $2,500 PLO
  • April 2002:  $1,500 Limit Seven-Card Stud
  • May 2002:  $2,500 Limit Stud-8
  • May 2002:  $2K Limit SHOE
  • June 2005:  $5K PLO
  • June 2009:  $2,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw
  • June 2009:  $2,500 Omaha-8/Stud-8
  • June 2010:  $3K HORSE
  • April 2013:  $2,200 8-Game (WSOP Asia Pacific)
  • June 2014:  $1,500 8-Game
  • June 2024:  $10K Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship

After this victory, Ivey has 78 cashes and more than $10M in WSOP lifetime earnings. In his full live tournament career, Ivey shows more than $45M.

Ivey had been tied at 10 bracelets each with Erik Seidel, Johnny Chan, and Doyle Brunson. Now, with 11, he trails only Phil Hellmuth and his count of 17.

*Feature photo credit: Hayley Hochstetler for PokerNews

Jennifer Newell

Jennifer Newell

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Jennifer Newell is a freelance writer at LegalUsPokerSites. She has two decades of experience in the iGaming industry. She is a respected poker media member, contributing to publications and websites like USA Today, PokerStars, and PokerScout. Her knowledge spans gambling legislation and the broader online gaming world. She has spent years advocating for diversity, most notably gender equity in the traditionally male-dominated poker sphere.

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