2024 World Series of Poker
Raymond Chiu, a 42-year-old IT consultant, has taken the first week of the PokerNews Deepstack Challenge by storm. His impressive performance has secured him a place among the top ten weekly players, who each receive a $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship ticket at the 2024 World Series of Poker.
Chiu's remarkable run started on Friday, May 31, when he won the $400 Daily Deepstack. This event drew 177 entries and a prize pool of $58,410, with Chiu taking home $13,709. The very next day, on June 1, he triumphed again in the same event, which attracted 229 participants and generated a prize pool of $75,570. This victory earned him $16,489, marking his largest payout to date.
These consecutive wins have boosted Chiu's total earnings from these events to $30,198—not bad for an $800 investment.
In the 835th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway is joined by poker pros Shaun Deeb and Josh Arieh, who fill in as special co-hosts at Level 9 in Las Vegas where the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is happening now!
Hear about how Fortnite helped them form Team Lucky alongside Matt Glantz and reigning WSOP Main Event champ Daniel Weinman, Arieh's Poker Stake venture, and their thoughts on the Poker Hall of Fame, including Scott Seiver's chances of getting in after he recently won his fifth gold bracelet.
They also weigh in on two hot topics from this week in poker — whether or not phones, spurred by solver software debates, and excessive masking should be allowed at poker tables.
Speaking of gold, Malcolm Trayner captured his first WSOP bracelet in Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions for $1,000,000, while two other players scored million-dollar bounties. Unfortunately, their reactions were a bit subdued, much to the dismay of many in the poker community.
That said, two other players had boisterous celebrations when they pulled six-figure bounties. See them all in the latest episode as well as a winner interview with Trayner.
Finally, learn about other bracelet winners such as David Prociak and Simeon Spasov, get an update on the $25K Fantasy league, and see Jack Binion walk the halls of the Horseshoe and reminisce about 55 years of the WSOP!
Here's a name you'd better start learning the rest of the summer — Darius Samual. That isn't a household name in poker yet, but it will be soon.
The poker player from England entered the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) with less than $100,000 in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob. Twelve days into the series, there's an argument to be made that he's one of a few "players to beat" regarding WSOP Player of the Year.
And, here's what's really crazy — Samual gambled half his poker bankroll in one event just to get to this point.
Life Outside Poker is a new podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
For the sixth episode, Connor spoke with longtime poker pro and coach Faraz Jaka, who was fresh off a runner-up finish in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship. Jaka talked about running up a six-figure bankroll in college, going broke and moving down stakes, battling back from a debilitating back injury to win his first bracelet in 2023 and running deep in this year's $25,000 Heads-Up Championship.
Jaka also talked about his site Jaka Coaching, discussed what makes a good poker coach and offered advice for players looking to grind the WSOP this summer.
The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Faraz Jaka by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.