James Obst took a pair years off from skilled poker beginning in 2018 to pursue his dream of a tennis profession. He returned to the reside poker scene in 2023, and has seemingly not missed a beat regardless of his hiatus from the sport. He has recorded 14 cashes since final summer time, together with a fourth place end within the 2023 World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship and a win on this 12 months’s WSOP $10,000 seven card stud championship for his second profession bracelet.
The Australian poker professional’s newest triumph noticed him finest a subject of 396 entries within the 2024 World Poker Tour Australia Championship $8,000 AUD buy-in no-limit maintain’em occasion. The Adelaide native earned his first WPT title and $398,512 for his victory on dwelling soil.
“It’s honestly just insane. It’s happened too quick to process it,” Obst informed WPT reporters after popping out on high. “I’m thankful for all the support that my friends showed off and got in the photos with me, and everyone who’s reached out afterwards to congratulate me. Yeah, just feeling fantastic.”
Obst additionally secured 1,200 Card Player Player of the Year factors because the champion. This was his second POY-qualified rating of the 12 months, becoming a member of the 600 he earned for his win on the collection. With 1,800 factors, he now sits inside the highest 200 within the 2024 POY standings offered by Global Poker.
This occasion ended up with a $1,984,126 prize pool which was paid out amongst the highest 50 finishers. Among those that ran deep included bracelet winner Angel Guillen (forty seventh), 2023 WSOP Paradise predominant occasion third-place finisher Daniel Neilson (seventeenth), and 2024 WSOP Mystery Millions champion Malcolm Trayner (eighth).
Obst entered the ultimate day with the chip lead among the many last six. Dillan Patel (sixth – $82,168) and Matthew Wakeman (fifth – $108,264) misplaced preflop coin flips early to slim the sector to 4. A battle of the blinds then spelled the tip of Oleg Ivanchenko’s run, together with his Q-10 suited unable to beat the A-2 of Daniel Murphy. Ivanchenko’s small-blind shove was known as and ace excessive remained the most effective hand by the river. Ivanchenko waled away with $144,281 for his fourth-place displaying.
The subsequent knockout additionally pitted the blinds in opposition to one another. Travis Endersby shoved from the small blind with A
3
and Murphy known as out of the large blind with 8
8. An ace-high flop gave Endersby the lead, which he maintained by way of the river. Murphy was awarded $194,483 because the third-place finisher.
Heads-up play started with Obst holding 15,800,000 to Endersby’s 4,000,000. Just a couple of fingers into the ultimate showdown, Endersby limped from the button with Ok
J. Obst raised to 375,000 with AOk from the large blind and Endersby three-bet shoved for 4,115,000 (41 massive blinds). Obst rapidly known as and the board got here down Q1075Ok to present him high pair and a profitable ace kicker. Endersby settled for $265,157 because the runner-up, the second-largest rating of his profession.
Here is a have a look at the payouts and POY factors awarded on the last desk:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | James Obst | $398,512 | 1200 |
| 2 | Travis Endersby | $265,157 | 1000 |
| 3 | Daniel Murphy | $194,483 | 800 |
| 4 | Oleg Ivanchenko | $144,281 | 600 |
| 5 | Matthew Wakeman | $108,264 | 500 |
| 6 | Dillan Patel | $82,168 | 400 |
| 7 | Yuanting Wang | $63,075 | 300 |
| 8 | Malcolm Trayner | $48,970 | 200 |
| 9 | Gautam Dhingra | $38,452 | 100 |
Photo credit score: WPT.
