James Obst Wins Second Career World Series of Poker Bracelet After Returning From Pro Tennis Hiatus

James Obst began playing poker seriously online as a teenager in his home country of Australia. He battled his way to the top on the internet and began to make his presence felt on the life tournament scene by the early 2010s. In 2017, he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet, taking down the $10,000 razz championship for $265,354.

Then in 2018, at the age of 27, Obst announced that he’d be stepping away from poker to pursue a career in professional tennis. He had been a serious player in his youth, but put his aspirations to the side after dealing with some health issue as a younger player.

After a few years away from live poker, Obst returned to the WSOP in 2023 and made several deep runs, including a fourth-place finish in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. He hadn’t missed a beat, as far as his skills at the table were concerned.

Just a few weeks into the 2024 WSOP, Obst has managed to emerge victorious with his second bracelet. He topped afield of 107 entries in the $10,000 seven card stud championship to secure the hardware and the top prize of $260,658. He now has more than $3.5 million in recorded tournament earnings to his name.

Obst scored 600 Card Player Player of the Year points and 261 PokerGO Tour points for the win.

Only the top 17 finishers earned a share of the $995,100 prize pool in this event. Big names that ran deep included four-time bracelet winner Brad Ruben (17th), three-time bracelet winner Chad Eveslage (14th), bracelet winner and 2019 WSOP main event third-place finisher Alex Livingston (11th), two-time bracelet winner Yuval Bronshtein (10th), four-time bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski (8th), bracelet winner Andre Akkari (7th), two-time bracelet winner Juha Helppi (6th), and five-time bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi (5th).

Obst knocked out Mizrachi won his fifth bracelet just shy of two weeks earlier in the dealer’s choice championship. Obst made jacks up to send Mizrachi to the rail with $61,190.

Mike Lang was the next to fall, as he ran into an ace-high flush for bracelet winner Jason Daly. Lang walked away with $83,932 as the third-place finisher. It took more than three hours for the next elimination to arise. Despite busting Lang in fourth, Daly was ultimately the next player to be sent home. He got all-in on fifth street with an ace-high flush draw against nines-up for Obst. Daly ended up with just a pair of eights by seventh street and was knocked out in third place ($118,809).

Obst entered heads-up play with 3,535,000 to 2,890,000 for three-time bracelet winner Paul Volpe. he was able to extend that advantage as the night wore on. Kings up for Obst in one of the final pots saw Volpe left on fumes as the hour approach 3:00 AM.

Volpe was soon all-in with three to a flush facing a split pair of fours for Obst. Volpe was unable to make his flush or a pair higher than fours, which meant his run came to a conclusion in second place ($173,391). He now has nearly $9.9 million in recorded tournament earnings across 292 in-the-money finishes.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings 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: PokerGO / Miguel Cortes.

Related Articles

PGT Texas PLO Roundup Main Event Starts Thursday

Charity Series Of Poker Hosts Betting On Miracles On Dec. 4

Yunis Wins WPT bestbet Scramble Championship

Most Viewed Articles