John Hennigan Wins Seventh World Series of Poker Bracelet

John Hennigan has done it again.

The 53-year-old Poker Hall of Fame member has won his seventh World Series of Poker gold bracelet, taking down the 2024 WSOP $1,500 dealer’s choice six-max event to become just the ninth player to have won as many titles at the series.

“Very happy to win the tournament. I mean to me, the best thing about winning the tournament is not losing it. Not getting second, or knowing they’re still playing and wandering around after you go broke,” Hennigan told WSOP reporters after closing out the victory. “It’s just very satisfying to come out on top.”

All seven of Hennigan’s wins have come in non-no-limit hold’em events. His first two victories were the 2002 $2,000 H.O.R.S.E. and the 2004 $5,000 limit hold’em. A decade removed from that later triumph, Hennigan took down the king of all mixed game tournaments, the 2014 $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship. His next three bracelets all came in $10,000 championship events, with wins in the 2016 triple draw deuce-to-seven lowball championship, the 2018 H.O.R.S.E. championship, and the 2019 stud championship.

Hennigan now has nearly $9.6 million in career tournament earnings, with roughly $6.1 million of that coming from his 50 cashes in WSOP events. He also has a World Poker Tour title to his name, having won the WPT Winter Poker Open for $1.6 million back in 2007.

In addition to the money and the hardware, this latest victory also conveyed 840 Card Player Player of the Year points upon the man known to many by his nickname, ‘Johnny World’. This was his second title and sixth final-table finish of the year. His 1,744 total points are good for 79th place in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker.

This event drew a field of 530 entries, resulting in a $707,550 prize pool that was paid out among the top 80 finishers. As one might expect from a tournament that includes over 20 poker variants to choose from, plenty of the most accomplished players in the game made deep runs. Among those to make the final few tables were three-time bracelet winner Phil Hui (25th), five-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser (24th), four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen (12th), and six-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb (8th).

Clint Wolcyn was the first to be knocked out at the official final table, with his top pair and low draw unable to win any piece of the pot facing three pair for Brayden Gazlay during a round of pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better. The river improved Gazlay to nines full of aces to send Wolcyn to the rail with $20,665 for his sixth-place finish.

Despite scoring that knockout, Gazlay was ultimately the next to fall. He got all-in by the river during a round of limit Omaha eight-or-better with a flopped full house, eights full over aces. Hennigan called him down with kings full, having turned a higher boat. Hennigan scooped the pot to enter four-handed play with more than three quarters of the total chips in play in his stack, while Gazlay earned $28,845 as the fifth-place finisher.

Viktor Blom, known to many poker fans by his online screen name ‘Isildur1’, recorded his first live tournament cash of 2024 by making it to the final four in this event. He was knocked out while playing badacey, as he was unable to top the monster 5432A of Hungarian bracelet winner Peter Gelencser. The Swedish poker pro earned $41,237 for his fourth-place showing.

Gelencser soon found himself squaring off against Hennigan, who remained the runaway leader. The two got all-in playing pot-limit Omaha after a flop of J52. Gelencser held KJ93, while Hennigan showed AQJ9. The Q turn improved Hennigan to queens and jacks, which remained best after the 6 completed the board. Gelencser walked away with $60,343.

Heads-up play began with Hennigan holding 11,300,000 to Robert Wells’ 1,950,000. It didn’t take long for Hennigan to convert that sizable lead into the title. He shoved from the button in a round of no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw lowball. Wells called and both players stood pat. Wells had J-10-7-3-2, but it was second best to Hennigan’s J-9-8-7-5. Wells earned a career-best live score of $90,339 as the runner-up.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Visit the Card Player 2024 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews, and the latest event results. WSOP coverage sponsored by Global Poker.

Photo credits: WSOP / Hayley Hochstetler.

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