Circuit Update

Moritz Dietrich Banks $4M In WSOP Online Main
By Erik Fast
The World Series of Poker Online international series on GGPoker crowned its main event champion in late September. Moritz Dietrich overcame a field of 6,146 entries made across 17 flights, earning his first career bracelet and the massive top prize of $4,021,012.
The German-born player, now based out of Austria, beat out a stacked final table on his way to securing the gold, with high-stakes online regulars like Benjamin ‘bencb’ Rolle (8th -$651,921), recent WSOP main event 10th-place finisher Diogo Coelho (5th – $1,421,478), and bracelet winners Isaac Baron (4th – $1,843,337) and Rui Ferreira (3rd – $2,390,418) all joining him among the final nine.
Baron’s elimination in fourth place was particularly brutal. He called all-in with pocket kings from the small blind facing a button shove from Evgenii Akimov, who was the chip leader. Baron flopped top set, but Akimov hit running cards to make an eight-high straight to score the knockout.
Akimov then busted Ferreira in third place to take a sizable lead into heads-up play against Dietrich. A preflop coinflip early in the match went Dietrich’s way. He then overtook the lead when he made a straight to win a big pot off of Akimov’s two pair.
The final hand began with a limp from the button for Akimov with 9♣ 5♦. Dietrich checked with 8♥ 2♠ and the flop came down K♣ 8♣ 6♠. Dietrich checked and Akimov bet a single big blind. Dietrich called and the turn brought the 3♥. Another check from Dietrich prompted a shove of just over five big blinds from Akimov. Dietrich made the call with his second pair and the 3♦ paired the board the bring the tournament to a close. Akimov earned $3,099,896 as the runner-up.
Player Payout
1 Moritz Dietrich $4,021,012
2 Evgenii Akimov $3,099,896
3 Rui Ferreira $2,390,418
4 Isaac Baron $1,843,337
5 Diogo Coelho $1,421,478
6 Ilya Anatski $1,096,180
7 Hai Pan $845,342
8 Benjamin Rolle $651,921
9 Audrius Stakelis $502,771

Native James Obst Wins WPT Australia Championship
By Erik Fast
James Obst took a couple of years off from professional poker in 2018 to pursue his dream of a tennis career. He returned to the live poker scene in 2023 and has seemingly not missed a beat despite his hiatus from the game.
The former online crusher has recorded 14 live cashes since last summer, including a fourth-place finish in the WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship and a win in this year’s WSOP $10,000 stud championship for his second career bracelet.
The Australian poker pro’s latest triumph saw him best a field of 396 entries in the World Poker Tour Australia Championship $8,000 AUD buy-in no-limit hold’em event. The Adelaide native earned his first WPT title and $398,512 for victory on home soil.
This event ended up with a $1,984,126 prize pool which was paid out amongst the top 50 finishers. Obst entered the final day with the chip lead among the final six. Dillan Patel (6th – $82,168) and Matthew Wakeman (5th – $108,264) lost preflop coin flips early to narrow the field to four. Daniel Murphy eliminated Oleg Ivanchenko (4th – $144,281), only to lose the next crucial clash with pocket eights facing the A♠ 3♣ of Travis Endersby. An ace-high flop gave Endersby the lead, which he maintained through the river. Murphy was awarded $194,483 as the third-place finisher.
Heads-up play began with Obst holding a 4:1 lead. Just a few hands into the final showdown, Endersby limped from the button with K♦ J♦. Obst raised with A♠ K♣ from the big blind and Endersby three-bet shoved for 41 big blinds. Obst quickly called and the board came down Q♥ 10♥ 7♠ 5♠ K♥ to give him top pair and a winning ace kicker. Endersby settled for $265,157 as the runner-up, the second-largest score of his career.
Player Payout (POY)
1 James Obst $398,512 (1,200)
2 Travis Endersby $265,157 (1,000)
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)