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Top 10 takeaways from the 2024 World Series of Poker

29 July 2024

Another World Series of Poker is behind us, and it was an epic one, as new records were set and some of the game’s most iconic characters added new silverware to their resumes.

The 2024 WSOP proved that live poker is still on an uptick, with record numbers of players showing up to play on the biggest stage once again despite the significant costs associated with playing in the festival.

WSOP has already announced another tournament series for December 2024, with the Series returning to Atlantis at Paradise Island Resort and Casino with a $50,000,000 guaranteed Super Main Event in the plans.

As we await the full schedule for the winter series, let’s take a step back and consider the top 10 takeaways from the 2024 WSOP in Las Vegas.

10. Scott Seiver could be poker’s next GOAT
Scott Seiver has been a regular at the WSOP since 2006 and he has done quite well for himself over the years, despite primarily focusing on high-stakes cash games for some time.

However, Scott openly said that one of his career goals it to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, which is hard to do just playing cash games, as those results and gameplay are not publicly available.

Seiver showed up to the 2024 WSOP with a clear intention of showing the poker community what he could do, and he did that in quite a way.

He won the $10k Omaha Hi/Lo Championship, the $1.5k Razz, and the $10k 2-7 Single Draw Championship, showcasing his versatility and capturing an impressive three WSOP bracelets.

Seiver even came close to winning his fourth late in the Series, placing third and sixth in two more major events to close out the summer.

Those results guaranteed him the WSOP Player of the Year title along with a hefty profit, but also made him a serious contender for future Hall of Fame induction.

Now sitting on seven WSOP bracelets, Scott turns 40 next year, which will make him eligible for Hall of Fame membership.

As things stand, his skills in over a dozen different poker games make him a very serious candidate for a spot in the Hall of Fame, as well as someone who could one day take over the GOAT title from Phil Ivey and be widely acknowledged as the best poker player in the world.

9. Winning money in poker is hard
This year’s WSOP handed out nearly 100 gold bracelets, paid out dozens of million-dollar prizes, and even saw a couple of players win more than one bracelet event.

And yet, while many players had a successful summer out in Las Vegas, most came back home with less money in their bank accounts than they had when they embarked on their journey.

A mixture of tournament poker variance and the fact average skill levels have risen to new heights has made it extremely difficult to consistently win at poker.

Perhaps the best example of this is that of Daniel Negreanu, a Poker Hall of Famer who won the $50k Poker Players Championship for well over a million dollars but still ended up losing money on the WSOP as a whole.

Despite the huge score in the Players Championship and many other cashes and final table appearances, Daniel lost over $150,000 in the 2024 WSOP, showing just how hard it is to actually win money in tournament poker.

Before the WSOP, Daniel also made a side bet with poker pro Matt Berkey, which related to the results of two up-and-coming poker players, Jeremy Becker and Landon Tice.

While the point of the bet was to prove how GTO poker would do against “street poker,” both players ended up losing for the summer despite playing dozens of tournaments across different venues in Las Vegas.

Plenty of other players came away as winners, and the three I mentioned here will also win in the long run, but all three were able to have losing summers despite being very skillful poker players and giving it everything they had.

The news is not all bad, though, as the results of this summer have simply shown us that it takes time and volume to actually beat tournament poker, whether you play live or enjoy online poker games, which could serve as an encouragement to many tournament players who are still waiting for their big score.

8. Poker commentary is evolving
Ever since poker appeared on TV over two decades ago, poker commentators have been an essential part of the poker industry.

This year, we saw multiple people commentate on various WSOP events on PokerGO, and they each brought something unique into the commentary booth.

When things boiled down to the final table of the Main Event, the poker community seemed a bit upset about the fact Lon McEachern and Norman Chad were in the booth instead of Nick Schulman and Ali Nejad.

While the former pair have been commentating on the Main Event for many years, the modern poker audience seems to be a bit fed up with what they believe to be repetitive jokes and very little focus on actual gameplay.

While the Main Event coverage is aimed at a general audience more than poker professionals, many believed Schulman and Nejad would create a more comprehensive and entertaining commentary and that they deserve a chance in the booth for the biggest final table of all.

While McEachern and Chad have certainly paid their dues, it seems like only a matter of time before younger and more dynamic commentators will take over the WSOP coverage altogether.

7. Main Event shouldn’t be behind a paywall
For many years, the WSOP Main Event aired on ESPN, which meant the event was aired to the general public free of additional charges.

This year, we saw some of the comprehensive WSOP coverage by PokerGO shown for free on YouTube; the vast majority of it was only available to PokerGO subscribers. This included the Main Event final table, which means an average poker fan had no chance to watch it and get hyped about poker as they could back in the day.

By and large, the poker community agreed that the Main Event final table footage of all things should be made available for free, as this is probably the best way to bring new players into the game.

What’s even more, showing the Main Event final table for free could also help PokerGO bring in hundreds of new subscribers over the long run.

The final decision will remain with PokerGO, but it’s likely that airing the Main Event final table on YouTube instead of PokerGO would only help everyone involved.

6. New and improved WSOP POY formula
The WSOP introduced several changes to its Player of the Year formula in 2024, with each player’s top 10 results now counting for the POY status and only the best score from online events adding points to the player’s score.

Regardless of the formula used, Seiver, who won three WSOP bracelets and final tables additional events, would have become the POY, but the new formula created a truly interesting contest that had the best-performing players in key WSOP events battling for the title.

The likes of Michael Rocco, Jeremy Ausmus, John Racener, Chance Kornuth, Yuri Dzivielevski, and Phil Ivey all finished in the top 10 and were followed by even more big names in the poker world.

As WSOP continues to tweak its POY formula, it will be more and more likely that players who truly excel at the Series actually take down the prestigious title and get their names forever etched into the poker history books.

5. GTO players "aren’t that good"
One of the best parts of the summer for many poker fans out there is watching Negreanu’s daily WSOP Vlogs. This year, he was back with his daily Vlogs, and one player who made quite a few appearances in them throughout the summer was Jared Bleznick.

The popular poker player and sports cards connoisseur came out to play the WSOP in full for the first time in a while, and he did quite well for himself.

Blez made one deep run after another before finally winning $2,000,000 in the $50k High Roller event in the final days of the Series.

Throughout his various appearances in Daniel’s Vlogs and his interviews, Jared kept mentioning how GTO players who base their plays on solver solutions "are just not that good."

It turned out that Jared was perhaps right, as he was able to beat those players consistently and eventually even win one of the events that had the biggest number of GTO players in it, the $50k High Roller.

Of course, Bleznick and everyone else know that GTO players are pretty good, but it seems that “street poker” solutions can still compete with the solvers, at least to some degree.

4. Cheating is a problem for poker
Long gone are the days when the best poker players were the ones who could cheat better, as the game has evolved into a respectable contest on fair terms. Yet, there are always individuals looking to gain edges through various forms of cheating in poker, and this year’s WSOP had a few instances when various allegations were made.

Perhaps the most publicized case was the one where Men “The Master” Nguyen, a WSOP veteran, was accused of pulling chips back after a three-way all in confrontation, leaving the winner of the hand short on chips.

Despite looking over the footage, the floor staff was unable to identify the culprit and made a sloppy decision for both losing players to pay extra chips, which probably cost one of them chips they should never have lost.

Further cheating and collusion allegations were made in other events, while usage of RTA tools at the table or by those on the rail at final tables were also brought into question.

Namely, WSOP Main Event Jonathan Tamayo was accused of using solvers with the help of his friends on the rail during the Main Event final table, the biggest moment in the entire tournament.



The 2024 WSOP taught us that cheating is still a problem in poker, and there are no clear and easy solutions to some cheating methods being used.

Yet, dealers, floor people, and everyone else involved with the organization of major poker tournaments should be vigilant and continue to find solutions for cheating to ensure that every poker festival deals with cheaters in a better way than the previous one.

Therefore, never try any of these moves when playing, and even avoid using software on the spot. While there are great tools for learning the game, like pot odds calculators, solvers, and others, stick to it off the table and avoid any confusion or problems.

3. Ladies have what it takes
The position of women in poker has been an often-debated topic in recent months, as more and more industry insiders call for a more inclusive and less hostile environment for the ladies.

Female participation in 2024 WSOP has not increased compared to previous years, but one woman in particular has shown that the ladies have just as much to bring to the table as men.

Kristen Foxen has been a staple of the poker world for years, and with over $8.3 million in tournament winnings, she has long proved that she belongs in the high-stakes poker community.

At this year’s WSOP, Foxed recorded nine cashes before making an epic run in the Main Event that eventually led to a 13th place finish out of more than 10,000 players.

Kristen busted in an epic bluff attempt that demonstrated she had absolutely no fear of her opponents and eventually walked away with $600,000 in cold hard cash.

Her run is likely to entice more women to follow in her footsteps and join the tables and perhaps open the eyes of some of those who still believe that women don’t belong in poker.

2. Live poker is alive and well
There have been times when it seemed like interest in live poker was diminishing, but those times are now behind us, as a massive resurgence of live poker has been going on over the last couple of years.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic officially ended, live poker festivals around the world have been seeing record numbers of players show up, and this includes the WSOP.

For the second year in a row, the WSOP Main Event broke its attendance record, with over 10,000 players ponying up $10,000 to play in the world’s biggest poker extravaganza.

Sure enough, plenty of those made their way to Vegas via online satellites, but plenty more paid the price in full for their chance to make poker history.

The Main Event was not the only tournament to break records either, as both small buy-in tournaments with a huge field and high rollers shattered records and showed the interest in live poker has never been higher.

The 2024 WSOP was also one of the best organized to date, and while long lines and huge crowds are an inevitable part of such festivals, WSOP did all in its power to minimize downtime and maximize efficiency.

1. Phil Ivey is still the GOAT
Poker is a rare game that you can play excellently and still lose over long periods, making it very difficult to decide who the very best players are. The GOAT debate in poker has been going on since the days of the Poker Boom, and Phil Ivey's name has been brought up time and time again.

Known for his prowess in all forms of poker, Ivey is always mentioned as one of the game’s greats, but his absence from major poker events for a number of years brought his GOAT status into question.

One thing we have learned about Phil over the years is that he doesn’t care too much about the status and opinions of others but rather just plays the poker games he enjoys and wins for the sake of winning.

This year, Ivey decided to take the WSOP seriously once again, and the results showed immediately as he added a bracelet to his resume for the first time since 2014 , demonstrating he is still one of the very best poker players.

Along with his 2-7 Triple Draw Championship win, Ivey added a final table appearance in the $50k Poker Players Championship, cash in the $250k High Roller, and plenty of other deep runs that kept him in contention for the Player of the Year until the very end.

Phil added over $1.4 million to his tournament record, going to over $46 million overall, but more importantly, he showed that he has no problem competing with the "internet kids."

While there may be players who are more consistent winners in No Limit Hold’em, when all poker games are considered as a whole, Ivey remains the undisputed Greatest of All Time.
Top 10 takeaways from the 2024 World Series of Poker is republished from Online.CasinoCity.com.
Tadas Peckaitis

Tadas Peckaitis has been a professional poker player, coach and author for almost a decade. He is a manager and head coach at mypokercoaching.com where he shares his experience, and poker strategy tips.
Tadas plays poker, mostly online, but also manages to play live events while travelling through Europe and the U.S.
He is a big fan of personal effectiveness and always trying to do more. Tadas regularly shares his knowledge about both of these topics with his students, and deeply enjoys it.
Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, or visit www.mypokercoaching.com
Tadas Peckaitis
Tadas Peckaitis has been a professional poker player, coach and author for almost a decade. He is a manager and head coach at mypokercoaching.com where he shares his experience, and poker strategy tips.
Tadas plays poker, mostly online, but also manages to play live events while travelling through Europe and the U.S.
He is a big fan of personal effectiveness and always trying to do more. Tadas regularly shares his knowledge about both of these topics with his students, and deeply enjoys it.
Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, or visit www.mypokercoaching.com