The 2024 World Series of Poker keeps getting more exciting as fan favorites seem to be on the heater, making deep runs and picking bracelets left and right.
Of course, the biggest news of the last week was Phil Ivey winning his 11th WSOP gold, breaking off from the pack to take second place on the list of bracelet winners. Ivey still has a lot of catching up to do if he’s to take the top spot, but if anyone can do it, he can.
It was another big week for Scott Seiver, who picked up his second bracelet of the series, bringing his total count to six.
For those of you who love themselves a bit of controversy, there was plenty of that going around last week as well, as Men “The Master” was accused of short-changing another player after losing a three-way all-in.
-
1
Bonus £40 Freeor £600 bonus - Trigger the bonus: You need to deposit at least £10 and generate £10 in rake to trigger the FREE training bonus. | 18+ | BeGambleAware T&Cs Apply
-
2
Bonus $600or $100 tickets
-
18+ | BeGambleAware T&Cs Apply | Read full T&Cs
-
3
Return of the GOAT
It’s been a full decade since we’ve last seen Phil Ivey pick up a WSOP bracelet. His last triumph at the series before this year came in 2014 when he took down a $1,500 Mixed Game event.
This year, however, it was quite obvious Ivey was man on the mission, as he showed up for the start of the 2024 World Series of Poker, grinding hard and playing in almost every event.
It didn’t take long for his efforts to bear fruits, as Tiger Woods of Poker managed to outlast a really tough field in the $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship to win his 11th bracelet.
With this win, Ivey broke of from the pack becoming the only player with 11 bracelets and trailing only Phil Hellmuth, who remains firmly at the top with 17 wrist decorations to his name.
Ivey has once again shown to the world why he’s considered by many (including his peers) the best all-around poker player alive. He’s mastered all popular poker variations, allowing him to compete at the highest level in all types of mixed game events.
There are quite a few of these remaining on the 2024 WSOP schedule, and with No Home Jerome clearly in the zone, no one would be surprised to see him win another bracelet or two before things wrap up in Las Vegas.
The Year of Scott Seiver?
Ivey’s latest victory may be the talk of the town, but there is another player who clearly brought his best game and full determination to this year’s series, and it shows!
Scott Seiver managed to pick up another bracelet last week, bringing his running count to two. This time around, he triumphed in a $1,500 Razz event, outlasting 546 other players to pick up over $140,000 in prize money and his sixth career bracelet.
This win puts Scott one step closer to the Poker Hall of Fame induction, which he’ll be eligible for soon. With his 40th birthday coming up, Seiver will tick the last remaining box for the nomination, and he met the other criteria a while ago. His performance at the 2024 WSOP is just icing on the cake.
Men “The Master” Steers Controversy (Again)
Those who have been following poker for a while are well familiar with Men “The Master” Nguyen. He’s one of the old-school players who’s been around for a long time, and he’s been at the center of many controversies over the years.
Just last week, he became the center of another questionable situation involving a three-way all-in and allegedly short-changing the winning player.
The hand in question took place deep in the $300 Gladiators of Poker event, with just 28 players (of the original 20,000+ entries) remaining.
Men “The Master” got involved in an all-in pot with two other players, Steve Foutty and Brian Smith. Smith was the player at risk with J-5, while Men and Foutty held A-K. A magical 5 on the river saved Smith from elimination and gave him a much-needed triple-up.
After the hand was done, however, Smith claimed that he was short-changed and that he was missing 4,000,000 in chips. He alerted the floor and, after some happenings behind the scenes, it was decided that Foutty and Men had to surrender another 1,000,000 each to Smith.
However, this did not end the controversy. Shortly after, a video surfaced on Twitter, showing Nguyen pulling back chips after the hand was over, creating suspicions that it was “The Master” who short-changed Smith, not paying his portion of the pot.
The situation remained unresolved, and Smith was eliminated from the tournament, but it created a lot of turmoil in the poker community. With Nguyen being accused of angling in the past, there were quite a few strong opinions that “it was clear what happened.”
Men himself briefly responded to these allegations, stating that he did not purposefully short-changed the pot and that he simply pulled back the chips as it was a split pot between him and the other player, believing the dealer had already pulled the four million.
It’s unlikely we’ll get any answers beyond the ones that are already there, so everyone has to make up their own mind. In the meantime, the 2024 World Series of Poker continues, quickly approaching the halfway mark.
