Hellmuth Denied 18th World Series of Poker Bracelet While Johannes Straver Wins First

All eyes were on all-time World Series of Poker title leader Phil Hellmuth as he entered the final table of the 2024 WSOP Paradise $10,000 GGMillion$ no-limit hold’em championship with a shot at capturing his record-extending 18th gold bracelet. In the end the Poker Hall of Famer was eliminated in eighth place, earning $130,830 but falling short of adding to his hardware collection.

The bracelet for this event was ultimately awarded to Johannes Straver of the Netherlands. It was the first for the Dutch player, who also walked away with a career-best score of $807,430 as the champion.

This victory came roughly two-and-a-half years after Straver fell one spot short of a bracelet at the 2022 WSOP in Las Vegas. That deep run came in a $5,000 eight-max NLH freezeout, with Straver earning $411,279 as the runner-up. With this latest big payday, his career earnings now sit at more than $4.3 million.

Straver also earned 2,100 Card Player Player of the Year points for taking down this tournament. This was his first title and fifth final-table finish of the year. With 2,929 points in total, he now sits in 115th place in the 2024 POY standings presented by Global Poker.

This tournament attracted 532 entries, building a prize pool of $5,320,000 which was paid out among the top 75 finishers. Plenty of big names ran deep, including two-time bracelet winner Jesse Lonis (26th), World Poker Tour champion Taylor von Kriegenbergh (24th), bracelet winner Joey Weissman (23rd), 2020 WSOP Online main event winner Stoyan Madanzhiev (20th), bracelet winner Noah Schwartz (18th), bracelet winner Young Eum (12th), MMA fighter Colby Covington (10th), and, of course, Hellmuth (8th).

Hellmuth’s final hand saw him defend his big blind with J10 facing a min-raise from Fabian Niederreiter in the hijack and a call from Jon Vallinas in the cutoff. The flop came down 982 and Hellmuth checked dark. The other two checked behind and the 9 hit the turn. Hellmuth led out for 800,000 and Niederreiter folded. Vallinas called and the A completed the board. Hellmuth’s straight draw had bricked out. He elected to shove for 2,500,000 and Vallinas went into the tank before calling with AJ for aces and nines with a jack kicker. Hellmuth now has more than $27.1 million in recorded earnings to his name, with the majority ($18.3 million) coming from his success in WSOP events.

It’s the end of the road for Phil Hellmuth in Event #12: $10K GGMillion$ NLH Championship. He cashes $130,830! #GG #wsopPARADISE #Poker pic.twitter.com/eSnhiaAEza

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) December 19, 2024

Vallinas then proceeded to eliminate Rui Neves (7th – $169,660) and Abdelhakim Zoufri (6th – $220,030) to narrow the field to five. France’s Arthur Conan outflopped the pocket kings of Wookuk Lee with A-9 suited, flopping two pair and holding to send Lee home in fifth place ($285,340).

Conan was the next to hit the rail, with his A7 unable to overcome the A8 of Vallinas despite flopping the nut flush draw. Neither player improved any further on the turn or river and Vallinas’ superior side card played. Conan earned $370,040 for his fourth-place showing.

Niederreiter slid to the bottom of the chip counts as three-handed action continued. He eventually got his last few big blinds in with 103 facing K9 for Straver. Niederreiter flopped middle pair after J102 rolled off, but the Q turn gave Straver a straight and a lock on the hand. The A was a mere formality. Niederreiter was awarded $479,890 as the third-place finisher.

With that, Straver took more than a 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play. In the final hand, Vallinas limped in for 1,000,000 total with 98 on the button. Straver raised to 4,000,000 from the big blind with KJ and Vallinas called. The flop came down 832 and Straver bet 3,500,000 with his overcards and flush draw. Vallinas shoved for 19,000,000 with his top pair and Straver called. The turn was the Q, leaving Vallinas drawing dead. After the 4 came on the end, the Spanish player headed to the payout desk to collect his career-best score of $622,340.

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

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