A millionaire was crowned on Saturday when Zak VanKeuren defeated fellow American Jim Casement heads-up in the $1,100 buy-in WPT Prime Championship to win the $1,162,350 top prize and a ticket to the 2025 WPT World Championship valued at $10,400 on the World Poker Tour live stream.
A second millionaire this festival will be crowned on Sunday with the ClubWPT Gold $5 Million Invitational Freeroll with just nine players remaining. Las Vegas resident Daniyal Gheba will start the final live-streamed day with a substantial chip lead with more than double the stack of his nearest competitor, Jacob Stufflebean.
“I’ve been playing fairly consistently for the last five years. So, I felt very comfortable, understood what was supposed to happen and what I needed to do,” he said, shared a confident and relaxed Gheba to the World Poker Tour. “Actually I didn’t. I was very calm, very relaxed and I think that’s just something that comes with experience and the amount of reps you put in.”
Meanwhile, the $1,100 WPT Ladies Championship drew a crowd of 475 entries to create a $470,450 prize pool. Australia’s Jenny Ding bagged the overnight chip lead with 60 players remaining to start Day 2. The Day 2 field will already be in the money for at least a $2,232 min-cash for more than double the $1,100 buy-in, while Sunday’s eventual winner will bank a huge $90,432 top prize.
The highlight of the festival in the $10,400 WPT World Championship kicked off in style with 675 runners getting into the mix and 245 players advancing to Day 2. Phillip Lee bagged the flight’s chip lead after parlaying his 100,000 starting stack into 1,102,000 in chips. WPT Prime Slovakia champion Fabian Gumz was the only other chip millionaire coming from the Day 1a flight and he will advance to Day 2 with 1,013,000 in chips.
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Daniyal Gheba Leads Final Table of ClubWPT Gold $5M Invitational Freeroll
The ClubWPT Gold has lived up to its billing and has created an electric atmosphere with $5 million on the line in the biggest freeroll in live poker history.
Floyd Achtzehnter bagged the overnight chip lead on Day 1 but fell just short of the final table after his ace-ten suited didn’t improve against Victor Avallone’s jacks to exit in 13th place for $10,000.
Two big names hit the rail just before Achtzehnter. Nick Pupillo ran his jacks into the final table chip leader Daniyal Gheba’s queens to exit in 14th place for $10,000. This was just after Israel’s Eli Elezra was sent packing on a bad beat in 15th place for $15,000 when his big slick didn’t hold against Joshua Guindon’s ace-nine to collect the same $10,000 prize for 15th place.
Gheba ended the penultimate day with momentum still on his side as his ace-ten held against ace-five suited to eliminate Ivan Tsao in 10th place for $15,000.
Many players throughout the event collected mystery bounties, including a couple valued at $100,000 and others to the $10,400 WPT Championship after they were introduced when 297 players remained. The mystery bounty element has been reset for the final table with one lucky player collecting an extra $200,000 on top of their previous winnings.
The action resumes at 5 p.m. on the featured table with blinds at 75,000/125,000 along with a 125,000 big blind ante. The action will be streamed 30 minutes later on the World Poker Tour YouTube channel and other outlets. Check out the seat draw below:
ClubWPT Gold $5M Invitational Freeroll Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniyal Gheba | 11,725,000 | 94 |
| 2 | Jacob Stufflebean | 5,175,000 | 41 |
| 3 | Patrick Eskandar | 4,005,000 | 32 |
| 4 | Chase Bricker | 3,175,000 | 25 |
| 5 | Victor Avallone | 3,150,000 | 25 |
| 6 | Tyler Hancock | 3,075,000 | 25 |
| 7 | Jason Christopher | 2,850,000 | 23 |
| 8 | Josh Guindon | 2,075,000 | 17 |
| 9 | Eric Zheng | 1,225,000 | 10 |
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ClubWPT Gold $5M Invitational Freeroll Final Table Payouts
The final nine players each locked up a $20,000 payout. However, there is a lot more on the line with a steep payout structure, eventually awarding 50 times as much with a $1 million top prize on tap. This is in addition to all of the mystery bounties players can still collect, including one for $200,000. Check out all of the payouts of the 2024 ClubWPT Gold $5M Invitational Freeroll below:
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 |
| 2 | $250,000 |
| 3 | $125,000 |
| 4 | $75,000 |
| 5 | $60,000 |
| 6 | $40,000 |
| 7 | $30,000 |
| 8 | $25,000 |
| 9 | $20,000 |
2024 WPT World Championship Schedule (Dec. 15)
It’s another big day at the 2024 WPT World Championship. The day begins with the second of three opening flights for the $10,400 WPT World Championship at 11 a.m. with the $600 TORSE scheduled to begin at the same time.
All eyes will be on who wins the $1 million top prize in the ClubWPT Gold $5M Invitational Freeroll after the action commences at 5 p.m. The stream at the World Poker Tour YouTube channel and other outlets will be on a 30-minute delay so hole cards can be shared.
There are also a pair of $1,100 Milestone Satellites for those still looking to get into the $10,400 WPT World Championship at a fraction of the cost. Check out the full schedule for Sunday below:
| 11 a.m. | $10,400 WPT World Championship Day 1b | |
| 11 a.m. | $600 TORSE | $50,000 |
| 12 p.m. | $1,100 Milestone Satellite to WPT World Championship Day 1b/c | 25x $10,400 Seats |
| 5 p.m. | ClubWPT Gold $5M Invitational Freeroll Final Table | $5,000,000 |
| 6 p.m. | $1,100 Milestone Satellite to WPT World Championship Day 1c | 25x $10,400 Seats |
