Scott Seiver Wins 2024 WSOP Player Of The Year Race

Scott Seiver will turn 40 next year, which will make him eligible for nomination into the Poker Hall of Fame. This impending milestone lit a fire under the 39-year-old poker pro based out of Las Vegas. He dedicated himself to the World Series of Poker Player of the Year grind in 2024, with the hope that a strong performance this summer might help him cement his status as a worthy candidate for induction in the future.

“It’s always been something in the back of my mind, and as I’ve gotten older and more people I know have gotten in, I realized that a lot of my life I’ve dedicated to this game and this profession, and it would mean a lot to me to show that I’ve left my mark on this field,” Seiver told Card Player when asked about the Poker Hall of Fame as a motivating factor. “So, I thought by coming out here this summer and really just reminding people that I am someone that came through poker.”

Seiver definitely reminded the poker world what he is capable of this year. He cashed 17 times during the series for a total of $1,449,736 in earnings, winning three bracelets along the way to bring his career total to seven. He is just the 11th player in history to have won seven, and the seventh player to ever win three during a single year.

As a result of his impressive run this summer, Seiver locked up the Player of the Year award with 4,403.85 total points to hold off fellow high-stakes pros Michael Rocco (3,803.67) and Jeremy Ausmus (3,686.6).

This year’s POY race featured a new set of rules that required at least five cashes to qualify while also limiting contenders to the points from their top ten results. The changes also stipulated that only one online bracelet event’s results would count towards a player’s final point total.

Seiver’s first win of the summer came in event no. 10, the $10,000 Omaha eight-or-better championship. He defeated a field of 197 entries to earn his fifth overall bracelet and the top prize of $426,744. He cashed in four more events before buying into the $1,500 razz, and ended up overcoming a field of 547 entries to earn $141,374 and his second title of the festival.

After another series of four smaller cashes, Seiver found himself at a stacked final table in the $10,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven single-draw lowball championship, which had drawn 186 players. He was able to navigate his way to victory yet again, earning $411,041 and his third bracelet in the span of a month.

“It means everything to me,” said Seiver when asked about taking down that prestigious event. “I was really devastated when I got second in this two years ago. I’ve always wanted this bracelet so much. This final table was unbelievably difficult. From two tables down, everyone was tremendous and honestly, that makes it even more special.”

Seiver managed two more final tables after that, including finishing third from 134 entries in the $10,000 buy-in online no-limit hold’em championship for $182,214. His final hurrah was a sixth-place run in the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. event.

The New York native now has more than $27.2 million in career tournament earnings to his name, with over $7.7 million of that coming from his 87 in-the-money finishes at WSOP events over the years. His first four bracelets came in the 2008 $5,000 no-limit hold’em event, the 2018 $10,000 limit hold’em championship, the 2019 $10,000 razz championship, and the 2022 $2,500 no-limit hold’em event.

2024 WSOP POY runner-up Michael Rocco cashed 12 times, accruing over $2.2 million along the way. His top scores were his win in the $10,000 six-max no-limit hold’em championship for a career-high $942,922 payday and third-place finish in the $25,000 high roller for $639,620. He also took third in the $10,000 super turbo bounty for $282,983, and added final tables in the $10,000 Big O and the $10,000 stud eight-or-better events.

While he didn’t add to his career total of six bracelets, third-place finisher Jeremy Ausmus did cash a whopping 21 times this series, accumulating nearly $3.5 million along the way. The biggest of which was an unlucky runner-up finish in the $100,000 high roller for $1,892,260. He made seven final tables overall, tying a record set by Phil Hellmuth for the most in a single WSOP.

The top five was rounded out by John Racener, who won the $10,000 limit hold’em championship and had four other final tables, and Xixiang Luo, who won both the $1,500 double board bomb pot event and the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship. ♠

Final WSOP POY Standings