The second half of Season XXII of the World Poker Tour is officially underway with Main Tour events traversing the globe for the last four months of 2024 – starting with WPT Australia.
After five days of poker, the final table of the WPT Australia Championship is officially locked in, headlined by runaway chip leader James Obst. The 34-year-old from Adelaide, Australia is one of the most accomplished Australian poker players of all time, first traversing the online poker with a multitude of major titles and then crossing over into success in live poker with two World Series of Poker bracelets to date. He currently sits at No. 10 on Australia’s all-time money list, according to Hendon Mob, and he’ll have a chance to climb depending on his result at this final table.
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Obst has been at or near the top of the chip counts for much of the tournament, and he’ll be looking to close out a dominant performance with his first ever WPT Main Tour title. Standing in his way is a predominantly Australian slate of competition, led in the standings by Travis Endersby, who regularly streams his online poker play on Twitch.
There’s also Australians Daniel Murphy and Matthew Wakeman – Irish-born and South Korea-born, respectively – as well as a wild card in Oleg Ivanchenko and England’s Dillan Patel.
All six will be playing for a top prize of AUD $585,359 ($398,512 USD), which includes a seat in the upcoming WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December.
Action will resume on Wednesday morning at 11:30 a.m. local time at The Star Gold Coast (9:30 p.m. EST Tuesday), with the action streaming on a one-hour delay on all of WPT’s streaming channels.
Ahead of the final table action, here’s what you need to know about each of the remaining six contenders for the WPT Australia title.
Stats are courtesy of The Hendon Mob.
James Obst – 8,840,000 (177 BB)
Age: 34
Birthplace: Adelaide, Australia
Currently Resides: Melbourne, Australia
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $4,025,253
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $427,930, 13th, 2016 WSOP Main Event
Other Notable Results: $411,824, 4th, 2023 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship; $265,138, 1st, 2017 WSOP $10,000 Razz Championship; $261,354, 2nd, 2016 WSOP $10,000 HORSE Championship; $260,658, 1st, 2024 WSOP $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship
In recent years, James Obst has been tearing it up in the mixed game streets every summer in big buy-in, non-Hold’em events. He’s won bracelets in Razz and Seven Card Stud (the latter just a couple of months ago at the 2024 WSOP), and made the final table of both the $50,000 Poker Players Championship and $10,000 HORSE Championship.
But don’t let that distract you from the fact that Obst is a tremendously accomplished No Limit Hold’em player as well. He’s made multiple deep runs in the WSOP Main Event, most notably finishing 13th in 2016, made the final table of the 2011 $100,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions, and that’s without even scratching the surface of Obst’s online poker exploits, which include multiple SCOOP titles.
Now, after holding the chip lead at the end of both Day 3 and Day 4, Obst is on the precipice of adding a WPT title to his growing list of accolades.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 291,500 (6/140)
Day 2: 666,000 (12/50)
Day 3: 3,450,000 (1/16)
Travis Endersby – 4,450,000 (89 BB)
Birthplace: Perth, Australia
Currently Resides: Willetton, Australia
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $1,127,708
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $300,100, 5th, 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Monte Carlo $31,800 No Limit Hold’em
Other Notable Results: $127,172, 3rd, 2024 WPT Prime Gold Coast
When he’s not actively chasing a WPT title, Travis Endersby spends most of his time streaming his online poker action on Twitch, with 3,200 followers to his credit. But his poker career stretches back decades, with a long stretch dedicated to playing in cash games all over the world before re-establishing a home base in Australia.
The move towards playing more tournaments has already worked out quite well for Endersby, who locked down a final table appearance at WPT Prime Gold Coast a few months ago and now returns to the spotlight at Star Gold Coast for a chance at a WPT Main Tour title.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 137,500 (64/140)
Day 2: 671,000 (11/50)
Day 3: 1,700,000 (4/16)
Daniel Murphy – 2,530,000 (51 BB)
Age: 46
Birthplace: Ireland
Currently Resides: Madeley, Perth, Australia
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $240,353
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $51,694, 3rd, 2014 WSOP Asia-Pacific No Limit Hold’em Accumulator
Daniel Murphy’s first recorded live tournament poker cash was recorded almost exactly 10 years ago when he made a serious run at a World Series of Poker bracelet. During the short-lived WSOP Asia-Pacific series, in 2014, Murphy ultimately finished third in an AUD $1,100 No Limit Hold’em Accumulator event for $51,694, and he’s been in search of a similar run ever since.
A decade later, Murphy has lined himself up for his best shot at a major poker title to date, entering Wednesday’s final table comfortably in third place.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 230,000 (17/140)
Day 2: 492,000 (19/50)
Day 3: 915,000 (8/16)
Matthew Wakeman – 2,145,000 (43 BB)
Age: 39
Birthplace: Busan, South Korea
Currently Resides: Newcastle, Australia
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $1,424,473
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $273,321, 5th, 2019 Aussie Millions Main Event; $188,867, 1st, 2018 WSOP International Circuit AUD $5,000 Challenge
Like Obst, Matthew Wakeman sharpened his poker game in the online streets as he made a name for himself posting more than a decade’s worth of major results. He won most of the major events there are to win, accumulating well over $6 million in lifetime earnings on PokerStars alone, including a WCOOP title and wins in the $1,050 Super Tuesday and $530 Sunday 500, among many other victories.
Wakeman is also one of three players at this final table with over $1 million in career live earnings, most notably making the 2019 Aussie Millions Main Event final table and winning a $5,000 WSOP Circuit high roller in major events in Australia
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 211,500 (23/140)
Day 2: 673,000 (10/50)
Day 3: 2,395,000 (2/16)
Oleg Ivanchenko – 1,100,000 (22 BB)
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $7,342
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $2,942, 2nd, 2024 A$300 Recurring at The Star Sydney Casino
Oleg Ivanchenko is a true wild card among this final six at WPT Australia. Ivanchenko’s Hendon Mob profile includes exactly four cashes in daily tournaments at The Star Casino in Sydney – two inside of a week back in March, and another two within a week of each other earlier this month.
Ivanchenko stands to multiply his career live tournament earnings many times over regardless of his result on Wednesday – and perhaps, if he wins, the poker world may get to know a little bit more about this mysterious player.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 209,500 (25/140)
Day 2: 827,000 (5/50)
Day 3: 1,060,000 (7/16)
Dillan Patel – 695,000 (14 BB)
Age: 28
Birthplace: Manchester, England
Currently Resides: London, England
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $83,118
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $25,382, 5th, 2024 London Poker Festival £700 Main Event
Dillan Patel may be coming into this WPT Australia final table as the short stack, but regardless of his result on Wednesday it will be the windfall of his career thus far. Even if he goes out in sixth place, his prize will match the sum total of all of his live career results to this point.
Patel ended Day 3 of WPT Australia as one of the shortest stacks, and after a seemingly perpetual grind to stay alive bagged only slightly larger stack when Day 4 came to an end – maximizing the value of his limited chips, to say the least.
End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 196,000 (33/140)
Day 2: 591,000 (14/50)
Day 3: 665,000 (13/16)