GGPoker Qualifier Stanislav Zegal Crowned Champion in Paradise – 2024 Las Vegas WSOP Dates Revealed

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Another incredibly successful leg of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) drew to its conclusion last night, as online satellite winner Stanislav Zegal from Germany took down the WSOP Paradise Main Event, winning a cool $2,000,000 for his efforts.

The first-ever WSOP Paradise brought thousands of players out to the Paradise island in the Bahamas, with more than 3,000 joining the $5k Main Event alone, and the Series creating an overall prize pool of over $70 million, with 15 WSOP bracelets in total awarded over the course of the festival.

The international character of the festival ended up creating one of the most international WSOP Main Event final tables ever, with players from seven different nations competing for the coveted title on the final day.

When all was said and done, the online qualifier ended up winning by far the biggest score of his poker career, defeating fellow European Michael Sklenicka from Czech Republic in the heads up match.

With action at the Atlantis Resorts put to rest, all eyes will be turning towards next summer’s WSOP in Las Vegas, with the Series announcing the official Main Event dates for July 3 – 17, 2024.

From Home Games to World Champion

It is not every day that an online qualifier wins a tournament like the WSOP Paradise Main Event, or that one takes home $2,000,000 in cash for their efforts.

For German Stanislav Zegal, the poker dream came true on Thursday evening, as he was able to turn a small online buy-in he paid over at GGPoker into a massive life-changing win he will never forget.

Unlike so many other players who made it deep in the inaugural WSOP Paradise Main Event, Zegal was an unknown to the poker community before this week, as he truly put his name on the map in some style, winning one of the biggest tournaments of the year.

Speaking on his way up in poker, Zegal revealed that he, like so many other players out there, started playing poker for cents with his friends at the age of 18, and never quite expected to come this far in the game.

Yet, Zegal says he will not be looking to play higher stakes games now that he booked the $2,000,000 win, but will rather invest the money into his health, his friends and family, and overall quality of life.

WSOP PARADISE CONCLUDES WITH CROWNING OF FIRST CHAMPION, THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER UNVEILS DATES FOR 2024 WSOP IN LAS VEGAS @GGPoker Online Qualifier Stanislav Zegal named first WSOP Paradise Main Event Champion, taking home $2 million and the first WSOP Paradise Main Event… pic.twitter.com/acyzWNxz8h

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) December 15, 2023

Matt Glantz Breaks the Cycle for “Team Lucky”

The poker world was abuzz when the WSOP Paradise Main Event final table was set, as Matt Glantz, a close friend of this year’s WSOP Main Event champion Daniel Weinman made it to the final nine.

Representing “Team Lucky” in Paradise, Glantz was railed by a rowdy crowd of poker friends and fans, which included Shaun Deeb and a number of other notable poker professionals.

In the end, Glantz was not able to close the deal for his crew, but still ended up winning $685,000 in cash for his fourth place finish, quite a return on his initial $5k investment.

Glantz and his friends have had an incredible year on the tournament circuit, as they continue to demonstrate the kind of impact having a strong group of poker friends to discuss the game with can have on your overall results.

15 WSOP Bracelets Awarded in Paradise

Winning a WSOP bracelet has certainly become a lot easier in recent years, as more and more events are offered with each passing year at festivals like WSOP Europe, WSOP Paradise, and various online WSOP events.

The inaugural WSOP Paradise awarded a total of 15 gold bracelets, with Erik Seidel winning the tenth of his career being one of the most notable moments of the festival.

WORLD SERIES OF POKER® PARADISE BRINGS BUZZ, HUGE PRIZE POOLS AND BIG STARS TO THE BAHAMAS

First WSOP Paradise eclipses $70 million in total prize pool; Main Event Champion to win biggest $5K tournament of 2023.

Full PR: https://t.co/b1WrivQurl pic.twitter.com/PwEtj5BQO1

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) December 14, 2023

Yet, he was not the only one to celebrate in the Bahamas, as 13 other joined him and Zegal and added WSOP silverware to their cabinets.

Here is a full look at all the 15 WSOP bracelet winners from this December’s WSOP Paradise festival:

• Event #1 – $1,500 Mystery Millions: Jin Hoon Lee ($420,000)
• Event #2 – $1,425 Millionaire Maker in Paradise: Allan Mello ($1,000,000)
• Event #3 – $25,000 GGMillion$ High Roller Championship: Samuel Mullur ($2,726,300)
• Event #4 – $1,000 Mini Main Event: Martin Raus ($334,380)
• Event #5 – $25,000 High Roller PLO: Nikolaos Lampropoulos ($871,600)
• Event #6 – $3,000 NLH 6-Handed: Boris Kolev ($424,500)
• Event #7 – $50,000 Super High Roller: Erik Seidel ($1,704,400)
• Event #8 – $2,000 Mystery Million PLO: Ben Wilinofsky ($139,379)
• Event #9 – $100,000 Ultra High Roller: Masashi Oya ($2,940,000)
• Event #10 – WSOP Paradise Main Event: Steven Zegal ($2,000,000)
• Event #11 – $740 Flip & Go: Artur Martirosian ($110,591)
• Event #12 – $1,000 NLH Freezeout: Anton Bardziyan ($178,261)
• Event #13 – $10,000 PLO Championship: Dante Goya ($277,700)
• Event #14 – $2,000 The Closer Turbo Bounty: Bernardo Neves ($166,000)
• Event #15 – $10,000 High Roller NLH 6-Handed: Dong Chen ($411,659)

Official WSOP 2024 Dates Released

As the inaugural WSOP Paradise at the Atlantis wrapped up, the Series decided to take the opportunity to release the first dates for the upcoming WSOP 2024 in Las Vegas.

We now know that the WSOP Main Event next year will be played between July 3 and 17, with Day 1 flights scheduled for July 3, 4, 5, and 6.

The Series will once again be played at the new Las Vegas Strip venue in Horseshoe and Paris, with Day 2 flights happening on July 7 and 8. Players will have an option to buy-in directly into Day 2, as the Main Event once again looks to break its own attendance records.

The full WSOP schedule for the summer will be released in the coming weeks, and we can expect to know the dates for all major events by the end of January 2024.

That puts one of the most successful years for WSOP to bed, as we look forward to yet another exciting year of live poker and all the surprises that GGPoker and WSOP will have for us in 2024.