On Day 4 of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, the 1,518th place finisher has busted. And that means every player still standing is guaranteed to go home with money and a profit.
The top 1,517 players in poker’s most prestigious annual event are now all guaranteed at least $15,000, with the potential to win as much as $10 million. But for two players — Lucas Reeves and Christian Stratmeyer — the dream of winning all that money and becoming world champion ended Wednesday at quite an inopportune time. For one individual, the dream died in a kings versus aces situation, and the player with kings had a big stack.
The 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event Bubble
Last year’s Main Event bubble ended with a three-way race-off as three players all busted in the same hand on the stone-bubble. Jeppe Bisgaard, who lost with kings against aces to reach the race-off situation, ended up as the bubble and received a free entry into the 2024 WSOP Main Event.
With his free entry this year, Bisgaard made a run into Day 3 but failed to make the money. Early in the day, the Danish poker player ran queen-jack into the kings of Jayphong Nguyen and failed to improve for yet another unsatisfying end to his Main Event.
At around 1:45 p.m. PT on Day 4, nearly two hours into the session, six players were at-risk to bust at separate tables one spot from the money. As Jack Effel and crew made their way around the room table by table, one massive preflop pot had transpired.
Reeves seven-bet jammed for around 120 big blinds with KxKx and was snap-called by the bigger stacked Marcelo Tadeu Aziz Junior, who had AxAx. The board ran out 6x7xJxQx4x, and Reeves was out on the bubble. But he could still chop the first post-bubble elimination payout if another player at a different table during the same hand would also bust.
At another table, Terrance Reid, a big stack at the table, had opened to 16,000 with 8♣3♣ from middle position. Stratmeyer than jammed for 57,000 with AxKx and Reid was pot committed so he made the call. Reid, a poker media veteran, would flop trips and take down the pot, sending Stratmeyer home as a co-bubble.
The two bustouts would split 1,518th place money — $15,000 — for $7,500 each. But via a high-card draw, Stratmeyer received the free entry into the 2025 WSOP Main Event and was declared the official bubble of the 2024 WSOP Main Event.
Shortly after the bubble burst, Daniel Negreanu, who had been sitting on just a few big blinds throughout the day, was eliminated.
