Samuel Vousden is the 2024 PokerStars WCOOP Main Event Champion

Matthew Pitt Senior Editor

Oct 03, 2024 6 min read

WCOOP 108-H: $10,300 NLHE Main Event Final Table Results
Vamos! "stek94" Takes Down $1,050 Main Event For $441,809
Three-Way Deal Concludes the $109 NLHE Main Event
WCOOP 108-L: $109 NLHE Main Event Final Table Results
Recent WCOOP Champions

Samuel "�urop�an" Vousden sat down at the 2024 PokerStars World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event with a reputation for being one of the toughest competitors in the tournament poker world. He leaves it as a world champion, a five-time WCOOP winner, and with $1,070,058 to show for his efforts in the $10,300 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Main Event.

Vousden was fifth in chips when the star-studded final table commenced under the watchful eyes of the PokerStars Twitch stream, with a stack over three times smaller than chip leader Guillaume "Nolet20" Nolet. However, anyone who has watched the proud Finn in action knows that he never gives up and is always a danger while he has chips at his disposal.

WCOOP 108-H: $10,300 NLHE Main Event Final Table Results

Rank	Player	Country	Prize
1	Samuel "�urop�an" Vousden	Finland	$1,007,058
2	Pascal "Pass_72" Lefrancois	Canada	$659,899
3	Guillaume "Nolet20" Nolet	Canada	$487,407
4	Davi "DaviMMaker" Cola	Brazil	$351,448
5	Darrell "FourSixFour" Goh	Austria	$252,488
6	Joao "IneedMassari" Simao	Brazil	$182,960
7	Natrium111	Belarus	$136,521
8	Preben "prebs" Stokkan	United Kingdom	$105,462

No eliminations occurred for the first 30 minutes of the eight-handed final table. United Kingdom-based Norwegian Preben "prebz" Stokkan was the unfortunate soul who broke the deadlock. After the action folded to Stokkan in the small blind, he open-shoved for 6.6 big blinds with ace-eight, and can consider himself unlucky to run into the dominating ace-king of Pascal "Pass_72" Lefrancois. Stokkan was drawing dead on the turn, and he bowed out with $105,462 to show for his latest deep run.

Vousden doubled his stack with pocket aces versus the jack-ten of Darrell "FourSixFour" Goh with the chip going in on a ten-high flop. Shortly after, Vousden doubled through Goh again when he backed into an ace-high flush with ace-ten of spades when Goh improved to a jack-high straight. The Finn was now only a few big blinds behind the leader.

Belarusian "Natrium111" was the next player to find themselves void of chips around 70 minutes into the final table's action. "Natrium111" open-shoved from early position for 6.6 big blinds with ace-queen, which folded out two players. Lefrancois flat-called on the button with pocket queen, putting the action on Vousden in the small blind holding ace-king. Vousden shoved, and Lefrancois called off the 40 big blinds he had behind. A nine-high board sent "Natrium111" to the showers, Lefrancois into second place, and cut a chunk from Vousden's stack.

Sixth place went to Brazilian superstar Joao "IneedMassari" Simao a few hands after Lefrancois' huge haul. Simao moved all-in from the button for less than 10 big blinds with ace-trey, Lefrancois called with pocket kings in the small blind, and flopped a full house to leave Simao drawing dead.

The five surviving players locked in over a quarter of a million dollars and were four bust-outs away from raking in a seven-figure prize. The blinds increased to 200,000/400,000/50,000a and started biting into the shorter stacks. Lefrancois min-raised to 800,000 under the gun, Vousden laid a trap by just calling with pocket kings, and Goh took the bait, jamming slightly less than 18 big blinds with king-jack of clubs. Vousden snap-called when the action folded back to him, and his kings held on an ace-high board.

Brazil's hopes of becoming the world champion of No-Limit Hold'em were dashed when Davi "DaviMMaker" Cola crashed out in fourth. Cola got to the river with king-ten having hit a heart flush on the final community card, but he was unknowingly up against Lefrancois' turned full house. Cola's chips went into the middle, and he saw his flush was a very expensive second-best hand. Cola bowed out in fourth for $351,448, while Lefranoics climbed to a dominant position.

The final three became only two with the untimely demise of Nolet. He lost a chunk to Vousden, and although he didn't bust for more than an hour, Nolet couldn't find any spots to improve his chip count because two aggressive and deep-stacked opponents sandwiched him.

Something had to give, and it did when Nolet looked down at pocket jacks on the button and min-raised to 1,200,000. Lefrancois called in the small blind with ace-four of clubs, with Vousden squeezing all-in from the big blind with king-queen. Nolet called, Lefrancois ducked out of the way, and the five community cards were king-high, sending Nolet home in third for $487,407.

That hand gave Vousden a significant 93,855,425 to 31,644,575 chip advantage over Lefrancois, making him a clear favorite for the title and the $1,007,058 top prize. Try as he may, Lefrancois couldn't get a foothold in the heads-up battle, partly because Vousden's aggression was relentless.

The final hand saw Lefrancois min-raise with five-three, and Vousden check with ten-six of diamonds. A flop reading three-three-ace with two diamonds hit both players, and the chips were destined to go into the middle. Vousden check-raised Lefrancois' lead on the flop, and Lefrancois called. The four of diamonds on the turn improved Vousden to a flush, and he bet one-third pot, which Lefrancois called. The river was an offsuit six, and Lefrancois only had a pot-sized bet behind. Vousden set his Canadian opponent all-in, and Lefrancois instantly called and saw the bad news.

Lefrancois banked $659,899 for his bridesmaid finish, leaving Vousden to get his hands on a colossal $1,007,058 top prize and the title of 2024 WCOOP Main Event champion.

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Vamos! "stek94" Takes Down $1,050 Main Event For $441,809

The $1,050 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event's final table ran alongside the $10,300 edition that Vousden won. It ended in a three-way chop, with Brazilian "stek94" coming out on top and the lion's share of the $3,856,000 prize pool.

"stek94" saw a cool $441,809 land in their PokerStars account, with the other deal-makers hailing from the United Kingdom. "Riverbanged" officially finished in second place for $410,482, with Andy "BowieEffect" Wilson collecting $371,915 for his third-place finish.

The prize pool was so vast that the top six finishers won six-figure prizes. "KKrichitAAs" ($101,450), "99dm84" ($142,319), and "absoluteD37" ($199,653) were the players to capture those huge payouts.

WCOOP 108-M: $1,050 NLHE Main Event Final Table Results

Rank	Player	Country	Prize
1	stek94	Brazil	$441,809*
2	Riverbanged	United Kingdom	$410,482*
3	Andy "BowieEffect" Wilson	United Kingdom	$371,915*
4	absolutD37	Germany	$199,653
5	99dm84	Bosnia & Herzegovina	$142,319
6	KKrichitAAs	Argentina	$101,450
7	KingHellgren	Sweden	$72,316
8	J.Creutz	Sweden	$51,549
9	Luis "luisdono" Dono	Mexico	$36,746

*reflects a three-way deal

PokerStars Player Turns $1.50 Power Path Ticket Into WCOOP Title and $36K

Three-Way Deal Concludes the $109 NLHE Main Event

The $109 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event also ended in a three-handed deal, where players from Ukraine finished in first and second. All eyes were on Finland's Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro at the start of the final table, but he could only muster a sixth-place finish worth $46,895.

After "giannisLg" busted in fourth, the final three players struck a deal that leveled the payouts. The deal meant "Muringa.SP" banked $182,258 for their third place finish, almost $9,000 more than the $173,890 awarded to runner-up "psyoagromor."

"777ANTONY777" came out on top with the title and $209,747 in tow.

WCOOP 108-L: $109 NLHE Main Event Final Table Results

Rank	Player	Country	Prize
1	777ANTONY777	Ukraine	$209,747*
2	psyoagromor	Ukraine	$173,890*
3	Muringa.SP	Brazil	$182,258*
4	giannisLg	United Kingdom	$92,288
5	Andr the gun	Lithuania	$65,787
6	Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro	Finland	$46,895
7	Hasseh922	Finland	$33,428
8	krzysiek1928	Poland	$23,829
9	Joao Mathias "joaoMathias" Baumgarten	Brazil	$16,986

*reflects a three-way deal

Recent WCOOP Champions

There was a first WCOOP title for Mathias "mdf92" Duarte, who won WCOOP 119-M: $215 NLHE Super Tuesday for $39,819, and a second for Fernando "JNandez1987" Habegger, who triumphed in WCOOP 122-H: $1,050 PLO 6-Max for $25,178.

Juanki "B4NKR0LLER" Vecino finally got his hands on a WCOOP title after winning the final event of the series, WCOOP 123-H: $530 NLHE 7-Max Hyper PKO for $20,965.

Event	Entrants	Prize Pool	Champion	Prize
WCOOP 108-L: $109 NLHE Main Event	25,075	$2,507,500	777ANTONY777	$209,747
WCOOP 108-M: $1,050 NLHE Main Event	3,856	$3,856,000	stek94	$441,809
WCOOP 108-H: $10,300 NLHE Main Event	502	$5,020,000	Samuel "�urop�an" Vousden	$1,007,058
WCOOP 119-L: $33 NLHE Super Tuesday	4,817	$144,510	Szmolec	$20,579
WCOOP 119-M: $215 NLHE Super Tuesday	1,266	$253,200	Mathias "mdf92" Duarte	$39,819
WCOOP 119-H: $1,050 NLHE Super Tuesday	270	$275,000	Budziara	$52,491
WCOOP 121-L: $22 NLHE Final Mystery	9,492	$189,840	Juan "jiskliar" Skliar	$11,761*
WCOOP 121-M: $109 NLHE Final Mystery	2,644	$264,400	K1rushka_I	$18,982*
WCOOP 121-H: $530 NLHE Final Mystery	389	$194,500	Wertos85	$34,991
WCOOP 122-L: $11 PLO 6-Max	2,598	$25,461	evstaliss	$3,742
WCOOP 122-M: $109 PLO 6-Max	618	$61,800	Aces Amin	$10,806
WCOOP 122-H: $1,050 PLO 6-Max	112	$112,000	Fernando "JNandez1987" Habegger	$25,178
WCOOP 123-L: $5.50 NLHE 7-Max Hyper PKO	6,581	$33,234	JoseMarcucci	$3,308*
WCOOP 123-M: $55 NLHE 7-Max Hyper PKO	1,865	$97,688	TimmyRussia	$12,093*
WCOOP 123-H: $530 NLHE 7-Max Hyper PKO	204	$103,942	Juanki "B4NKR0LLER" Vecino	$20,965*