James Obst Caps His Triumphant Return to Poker With Second WSOP Bracelet in Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship
For four years, James Obst had to wonder whether he would ever get this kind of experience again, of sitting under the bright lights on the main stage competing against the best poker players in the world. Something that had been such a big part of his life since he was a teenager was no longer there. But, today at the final table of Event #42: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, the long wait finally came to an end and Obst was right back where he belonged.
The Australian pro, who left poker in 2019 at the age of 28 to attempt a career at professional tennis with the dream of competing at Wimbledon, defeated a field of 107 of the top names in the game to win his second World Series of Poker bracelet and $260,658 top prize after prevailing in a lengthy heads-up duel with Paul Volpe.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Obst | Australia | $260,658 |
| 2 | Paul Volpe | United States | $173,391 |
| 3 | Jason Daly | United States | $118,809 |
| 4 | Mike Lang | United States | $83,932 |
| 5 | Robert Mizrachi | United States | $61,190 |
| 6 | Juha Helppi | Finland | $46,084 |
| 7 | Andre Akkari | Brazil | $35,893 |
| 8 | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazil | $28,945 |
“A little bit overwhelming. Very strung out. It’s been a long couple of days,” Obst said following his victory. “I can’t really believe it just thinking about the week that I’ve had. To be here with a bracelet is surreal. It’s unreal.”
Obst had been a regular fixture at the WSOP since 2014, making seven final tables in a five-year span (including twice in this same tournament). His first bracelet came seven years ago in the $10,000 Razz Championship. He was also involved in one of the most memorable pots in recent WSOP history, when he folded a full house to Michael Ruane’s straight flush deep in the 2016 Main Event where Obst eventually finished 13th.
Obst was already a star in the online poker world well before that, while he was still in his teens. Playing under the name “Andy McLEOD,” Obst won four Spring Championship of Online Poker titles, one World Championship of Online Poker title, and had millions in career earnings.
But then he decided to walk away, even if he spent the entire time dearly missing the game that had meant so much to him. “I never really wanted to leave entirely. A part of my soul, I think, lives here at the World Series,” he said.
“It was a long few years without it, grinding away in Melbourne through lockdowns and doing other things. I missed it terribly. At the moment it’s balancing priorities and just figuring out how long I can stay here and enjoy this experience while not losing sight of doing the other things I want to do in my life.”
Obst returned to the WSOP last year, and it was like he never left. He made three final tables in 2023, including the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Now he’s a two-time bracelet winner, only the sixth player from his native Australia with multiple bracelets. The wait proved well worth it.
Day 3 Action
Day 3 began with 11 players remaining, with Iowa businessman Mike Lang holding the chip lead as the only player with more than 1,000,000 out of a starting field that included nine bracelet winners. Obst began the day in fourth place with 732,000.
Brazilian superstar Yuri Dzivielevski was in third place at the start of the day as he sought to win his fifth WSOP bracelet, but he took an early hit when Jason Daly made quad jacks on the first hand. Lang ran into Volpe’s trip aces to lose the chip lead as Volpe climbed up past 1,300,000.
Volpe then made a pair of kings to bust Alex Livingston in 11th place as the first casualty of the day. Yuval Bronshtein was eliminated in 10th place by Obst, who finished with two pair to set the nine-handed final table.
Volpe and Daly led the way to begin the final table, with Obst and Lang following behind. A flurry of quick eliminations followed as Kane Kalas was eliminated in a four-way pot as he held two aces in the hole, but Volpe made kings full to send him to the rail in ninth place. Dzivielevski’s day came to an end at the hands of countryman Andre Akkari, who hit kings and sevens on the river to beat Dzivielevski’s queens and deuces.
Obst moved into contention for the chip lead after having three sixes in the hole to go with the two fives on his board for a full house, taking a massive pot off Daly. Volpe then knocked out Akkari in seventh place with trip sixes against kings and tens, while Juha Helppi fell in sixth place to Obst, who made trip fives to beat aces and jacks.
The remaining five players then took their seats on the main feature stage for the start of the PokerGO live stream. Robert Mizrachi, already with one bracelet this summer, was first to depart when Obst had jacks and nines showing by seventh, while Mizrachi missed a flush draw to hit the rail in fifth place. Lang, the start-of-day chip leader, was ousted in fourth place by Jason Daly’s flush.
Obst, Volpe, and Daly played three-handed for more than three hours as they each took turns holding the chip lead. Daly made a full house in a pot against Volpe to leave the stacks virtually even, but Obst then called Daly with a pair of fours as Daly was caught bluffing to fall down to a short stack.
Daly was eventually eliminated in third place as Obst made nines and fives while Daly missed a flush draw. Obst led Volpe at the start of heads-up play, holding 3,535,000 to 2,890,000.
It would be a grueling battle for the bracelet that lasted into the early hours of the morning. Obst began to pull away when he called a bet on seventh with two pair, and Volpe mucked to surrender the big pot, giving Obst a 2-1 chip advantage. Obst then picked off a bluff when he called Volpe with a pair of eights, knocking Volpe down to barely over 1,000,000.
Volpe spiked a straight on the river to take down a massive pot and climb back up to 2,100,000, but Obst continued to dominate the match as he picked off another bluff with just a pair of threes as Volpe fell to 815,000. Obst made kings and threes to leave Volpe with just two big bets, and, nearly four hours after the heads-up match began and on the 255th hand of the final table, Volpe got in his last 235,000.
Obst finished with a pair of fours, while Volpe missed everything on seventh to fall short of his fourth bracelet and finish as runner-up.
The long day took its toll on Obst, both physically and mentally, but he managed to pull through and emerge the champion. “Honestly, I’m physically destroyed right now,” he said.
“I didn’t sleep much at all last night. It’s hard to put two and two together. But adrenaline got me through. It was very difficult, and Paul is a straight-up killer so tough to play heads-up against such a terrific player. It was daunting but also exhilarating at the same time.”
Obst once exchanged shuffling poker chips for gripping a tennis racket. Now, back in the game he loves, he has a shiny gold bracelet to put around his wrist.
That concludes PokerNews’ coverage of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship. Stay tuned for more coverage throughout the 2024 WSOP.