James Obst Wins World Poker Tour Australia Championship

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 stay 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 season, together with a fourth place end within the 2023 World Collection of Poker $50,000 Poker Gamers 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 truthfully simply insane. It’s occurred too fast to course of it,” Obst advised WPT reporters after popping out on high. “I’m grateful for all of the assist that my buddies confirmed off and bought within the pictures with me, and everybody who’s reached out afterwards to congratulate me. Yeah, simply feeling implausible.”

Obst additionally secured 1,200 Card Participant Participant of the 12 months 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 sequence. With 1,800 factors, he now sits inside the highest 200 within the 2024 POY standings introduced by International Poker.

This occasion ended up with a $1,984,126 prize pool which was paid out amongst the highest 50 finishers. Amongst those that ran deep included bracelet winner Angel Guillen (forty seventh), 2023 WSOP Paradise most important occasion third-place finisher Daniel Neilson (seventeenth), and 2024 WSOP Thriller Thousands and thousands champion Malcolm Trayner (eighth).

Obst entered the ultimate day with the chip lead among the many closing six. Dillan Patel (sixth – $82,168) and Matthew Wakeman (fifth – $108,264) misplaced preflop coin flips early to slender the sector to 4. A battle of the blinds then spelled the top of Oleg Ivanchenko’s run, along 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 towards one another. Travis Endersby shoved from the small blind with A3 and Murphy known as out of the massive blind with 88. An ace-high flop gave Endersby the lead, which he maintained via 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 some arms into the ultimate showdown, Endersby limped from the button with OkJ. Obst raised to 375,000 with AOk from the massive blind and Endersby three-bet shoved for 4,115,000 (41 huge blinds). Obst shortly known as and the board got here down Q1075Ok to provide him high pair and a successful ace kicker. Endersby settled for $265,157 because the runner-up, the second-largest rating of his profession.