The 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is winding down now with the start of the final week of play. Event #90: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-Handed) marked one of the final chances to win a bracelet this summer, and at least one player can check that achievement from his list — Joseph Sanders.
Sanders fought through a field of 1,304 entries over three days of poker to take down the $1,500 event. The more than 1,300 entries put the total prizes at more than $1.7 million for this one, with the six-handed final table all guaranteed at least $46,144.
As is always the case at the WSOP, Sanders had to get through some big names on his way to the win. Canadian Mike “GoLeafsGoEh” Leah was among the players he had to face at the final table, but even before that some of the players to cash the game included Nenad Medic (20th, $12,126), Dylan Lambe (28th, $9,768), Sebastian Pauli (34th, $8,010), Jessica Teusl (47th, $5,688), and Ludovic Geilich (65th, $3,920).
Final Table Results for $1,500 PLO
- Entries: 1,304
- Prizes: $1,740,840
- Winner: Joseph Sanders ($269,530)
| Place | Player | Home | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Sanders | United States | $269,530 |
| 2 | Anatoliy Zlotnikov | Russia | $179,689 |
| 3 | Alfred Karlsson | Sweden | $124,984 |
| 4 | Long Tran | United States | $88,273 |
| 5 | Mike Leah | Canada | $63,321 |
| 6 | Dustin Nelson | United States | $46,144 |
“I felt like it was my tournament to lose”
That was how Sanders described the feeling after he doubled up against Anatoliy Zlotnikov with play heads up. It was a roller-coaster of a hand that saw the money go in on a rainbow flop of ten-deuce-three between the single-suit ace-ace-eight-trey for Sanders and the three-spade queen-queen-five-four for Zlotnikov.
It was about as coolery as it gets in heads-up PLO, with the aces needing to fade an open-ender, and the board runout provided extra sparks. Zlotnikov got there on the turn ace of hearts to wheel into the lead, but PLO is a game of swings, and the river flipped the script once again, pairing the three to improve Sanders’ turned set into a riverboat.
That wasn’t the final hand of the game, but it really sealed the deal for Sanders. In the final confrontation shortly after, Sanders cracked Zlotnikov’s single-suit aces and fives when he flopped trip nines and held to the end.
“I doubt I’ll run as pure as I did in this one but I gotta give it a try, ya know,” he added referencing the upcoming Event #97: $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha. It was a pretty pure run for the Las Vegas resident who pocketed a score more than five times his previous best and bumped his lifetime earnings up by about 50% in a single game.
Leah Running Hot at End of Series
tabling everything in the final few weeks of the series including this one
for 5th place and $63,231
Among the players at the final table of this one was Mike “GoLeafsGoEh” Leah. The Canadian veteran is something of a Circuit grinder with six rings to his name, but he also owns a bracelet from the big series here in Vegas.
While Leah is yet to score a win this summer, he’s been sniffing around the top spot for the last few weeks. This was his third final table since June 16 with his second coming less than a week ago in the Flip & Go event. So far, he’s earned more than $400k from WSOP games with five other cashes so far this summer in addition to his three final tables.
Leah had to settle for 5th place in this one for $63,321, his third-best score of the summer.
