TOP 7 Live Poker Events of 2024

Two records in WSOP Main Events

The World Series of Poker changed ownership in 2024. NSUS Group Inc. (GGPoker) bought the WSOP for $500M. Now, the leading live and online poker brands are under the same ownership.

This change should fully come into effect in 2025, although the WSOP broke two records in its Main Events in the year ending.

For the second year, the Las Vegas Main Event attracted over 10,000 players and became the largest $10,000 poker tournament in history. Jonathan Tamayo won the tournament out of 10,122 entrants ($10,000,000 prize pool).

The new project – WSOP Paradise, was held in the Bahamas for the second year. This time, the organizers deliberately wanted to break the record set by the WPT last year by announcing a $50M guaranteed prize pool for the Super Main Event.

The tournament had an overlay of $550,000 and officially became the poker tournament with the largest guaranteed prize pool in history. Chinese Yinan Zhou won first place with a prize of $6,000,000.

$5,000,000 WPT Freeroll

In 2024, the World Poker Tour abandoned the idea of ​​fighting with the WSOP Paradise. Adam Pliska confirmed that the WPT World Championship Main Event would not have a guaranteed prize pool, but they also hosted the largest live freeroll in poker history.

The ClubWPT Freeroll, which had $5,000,000 added to the tournament, was won by Texas businessman Chase Bricker, who received one million dollars. The tournament gave away 2,000 tickets to promote the new ClubWPTGold app in the United States and Canada, although 1,457 players actually played it.

As part of the promotion, Richard Wilson took home a completely free Golden McLaren GTS. The tournament also gave away several Mystery Prizes, including one worth $100,000.
Including a freeroll with online qualifiers in a regular series was an excellent move by the WPT to attract recreational players to the brand's festivals. 

Bryn Kenney Surpasses $70M Mark in Total Earnings

Many expected one of the players with over $60M in career earnings to break the $70M mark in 2024. The most likely, Bryn Kenney, had a great year at Triton Poker that propelled him up the ranks.

Kenney took first place in the Main Event ($4,410,000) and fourth in 8-Handed ($1,616,000) at the Monte Carlo Series, increasing to $73M in earnings.

Triton Poker Cash Game Invitational

In 2024, Paul Phua's team decided to host cash games outside of the high roller series and organized two seven-day marathons with live streams and $1k/$2k/$2k betting.

The Triton Poker Cash Game Invitational brought together a diverse group of players:

• Poker legends from the 2000s represented by Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and Daniel Cates
• Linus “LLinusLLove” Loeliger was the only online grinder
• European businessmen and poker enthusiasts like Rob Yong and Tony G
• Famous players like Brian Kim and Adrian Mateos
• Nine players from China and Malaysia led by Paul Phua, and the only woman in the game, Elizabeth Chen.

The live stream on YouTube and Twitch had hundreds of thousands of viewers.

The largest pot in High Stakes Poker history

Old poker brands, especially those in the United States, still maintain their audience. High Stakes Poker had two seasons this year.

On April 22, the ninth episode of season 12 featured the largest pot in the show's history: $992,000 between pro Andrew Robl and Indian businessman Santosh Suvarna.

After 12 years, a new episode of PokerStars' The Big Game aired on YouTube. Although all episodes were recorded during the resurrected NAPT series in Las Vegas at the end of 2023.

Chris Moneymaker's best year

The man responsible for the online poker boom in 2000 had an incredible year.

Chris Moneymaker won almost $2M in live tournaments in 2024. For the American, this is a huge figure. If you didn't count his win in 2003, Chris would have won $5M in over 20 years.

Moneymaker's first cash came at Triton's Montenegro stop. The American won the $26.5k GGMillion$ Live 8-Handed (Event #1), cashing $903,000, and added another $360,000 in two tournaments.

Chris then won his first-ever Enjoy Poker Tour for $179,770, and in December, he took 10th place in the WSOP Paradise Super Main Event ($500,000). Interestingly, 2024 saw the resurgence of “old school” players:

• Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu won their 11th and 7th WSOP bracelets, respectively.
• Viktor “Isildur1” Bloom took third place in the WSOP High Roller Event #47, cashing in at $1,311,091
• Patrick Antonius, who became the youngest member of the Poker Hall of Fame, took first place at the Special Triton Invitational, earning $5,130,000

Alejandro Lococo “Papo MC” won his first WSOP bracelet

Alejandro “Papo MC” Lococo reached the Poker Olympus this year. After having a dream in 2022 and 2023 in which he won several EPT titles, Lococo surpassed his own records by far by winning the Triton Million Paradise at the Bahamas stop of the WSOP.

With this, Lococo:

• He won his first WSOP bracelet, the eighth in the history of Argentine poker.
• He was ranked second among Argentine players who have earned the most money on the live circuit, with $14M

Papo's triumphs have served as an incentive for poker not only in Argentina and Latin America but globally, as they revive the idea that the poker dream is more alive than ever.

Bonus track:  at the events of the year!

This year, the Worldpokerdeals team was present at some of the most fun poker events, both organized by the World Poker Tour with the help of its online room, WPT Global.

1. In April 2024, WPT Voyage visited several Caribbean beaches in partnership with Virgin Voyages, a brand specializing in luxury cruises for adults. An edition of the WPT Championship and WPT Prime was played on the ship, and cash games were held 24 hours a day, creating a week of emotional memories for the poker industry.
   
   
2. WPT World Championship at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas. Our team remembered why the mighty AK hand is known as “Big Slick” when they slipped on it just before dinner. Leaving this aside, the World Poker Tour organized a top-notch event in partnership with one of the best casinos in the poker mecca.
   
   

We wish all our players a bright 2025 and hope the new year brings the best rakeback deals possible!

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