Meet the Final Table of the 2024 WSOP Poker Players Championship

After four long, grueling days of the best poker players in the world battling in nine different games on rotation, five contenders remain in the 2024 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship.

The headliner is undoubtedly Daniel Negreanu, who fought his way back from the brink of elimination multiple times and made a run late on Day 4 to put himself in position to win his seventh career World Series of Poker gold bracelet on Thursday. Negreanu has improbably gone over 10 years since his last WSOP victory, and though he’s had numerous close calls – five runner-up finishes and six third-place results in WSOP bracelet events since late 2013 – Negreanu is as well lined up for a run at the title as he’s been during that time.

Negreanu will start Day 5 of the $50K PPC in second place, behind two-time WSOP bracelet winner Chris Brewer. After breaking out with two wins during the summer of 2023, Brewer would mark another major milestone with a victory in this event.

Dylan Smith is in third place heading into Thursday, he’ll be looking to capture his first career WSOP bracelet in dramatic fashion. Smith is coming off of his highest profile result to date just over a month ago, as he finished fifth in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown.

Bryce Yockey is fresh off his second career gold bracelet win already at the 2024 WSOP, and he’ll be looking to match his previous best finish of fourth place in the PPC.

Rounding out Thursday’s finale is David Benyamine, who hung onto a short stack for a considerable stretch and caught a miracle river in Omaha Hi-Lo to survive onto Day 5. The WPT Champions Club member will have a long way to go to mount a comeback, but a second career WSOP bracelet is still within the realm of possibility.

The seven-handed nature of this event means that two players who made the official final table did not get the chance to play onto the final day. Phil Ivey was the chip leader for long stretches of this tournament, but a Deuce-to-Seven hand late in the night on Wednesday was ultimately his undoing in seventh. He won’t be closing the gap between himself and Phil Hellmuth on the all-time WSOP bracelet list in this tournament, but after winning No. 11 earlier this summer, there will be quite a few opportunities on tap for Ivey to take another shot at it.

Finally, Jeremy Ausmus was knocked out in sixth place, a finish that locked down a remarkable fifth final table thus far at the 2024 WSOP – three of which came in events with buy-ins of $50,000 or more. The six-time WSOP bracelet winner is making a stronger case for his Poker Hall of Fame eligibility by the day, and earning WSOP Player of the Year honors would go a long way in that regard.

But for now, we leave Ivey and Ausmus behind and turn our focus to the five players who can still win the $50,000 WSOP Poker Players Championship. Here’s what they’ll be playing for on Thursday, beyond the gold bracelet.

1. $1,178,703
2. $768,467
3. $519,158
4. $363,914
5. $265,054

Play will resume at 2 p.m. local time (5 p.m. ET) at Horseshoe Las Vegas, with all of the action airing on a delay on PokerGO. Ahead of that restart, let’s take a deeper look at each of these five contenders.

All tournament stats and earnings courtesy of The Hendon Mob.

Chris Brewer | 10,465,000

Age: 31
Birthplace: San Diego, California
Currently Resides: Eugene, Oregon
WSOP Bracelets: 2
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $23,489,404
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $5,293,556, 1^st, 2023 WSOP $250,000 Super High Roller
Other Prominent Scores: 4^th, 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Monte Carlo Main Event for $1,450,000; 1^st, 2023 EPT Paris Super High Roller for $1,026,159; 1^st, 2023 WSOP $10,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Championship for $367,599

You couldn’t have had a much bigger breakout year than Chris Brewer did in 2023. He won his first two WSOP bracelets, including a victory in the WSOP $250,000 Super High Roller for almost $5.3 million, and had two other seven-figure cashes on top of it.

Brewer shook off the stigma of never being able to win the big one, and on Thursday he stands to remove any doubt as to the versatility of his game. His big push towards the chip lead began during a round of Razz and spiked when Brewer eliminated Johannes Becker with a set of aces in Pot Limit Omaha. And as if his Wednesday wasn’t good enough, Brewer apparently had a piece of Brock Wilson’s action as Wilson went on to win the $25K WPT Alpha8 Trifecta.

End of Day Chip Counts:

Day 1: N/A (Did not play)
Day 2: 916,000 (13/29)
Day 3: 5,345,000 (1/12)

Daniel Negreanu | 7,635,000

Age: 49
Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Currently Resides: Las Vegas, Nevada
WSOP Bracelets: 6
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $52,699,876 (7^th all time)
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $8,288,001, 2^nd, 2014 WSOP Big One for One Drop
Other Prominent Scores: 1^st, 2022 PokerGO Tour $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl for $3,312,000; 1^st, 2004 WPT Championship for $1,770,218; 1^st, 2004 WPT Borgata Poker Open for $1,117,400; 1^st, 2013 WSOP Asia-Pacific Main Event for $1,087,160

There’s not a lot to be said about Daniel Negreanu that hasn’t already been written about in exhausting detail. He’s a two-time WPT champion, a two-time WSOP Player of the Year, a six-time WSOP bracelet winner and a Poker Hall of Famer.

After a rough 2023 following arguably his busiest WSOP to date, Negreanu took a step back and tried to regulate his schedule and his process with more care heading into the 2024 WSOP. His chase of WSOP bracelet No. 7 has been ongoing since he won a €25,600 High Roller at WSOP Europe in 2013, and despite some tough luck Negreanu has done pretty much everything there is to do in poker shy of winning another gold bracelet.

In fact, Negreanu will officially claim another piece of WSOP history on Thursday regardless of his finish. His cash in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship will be enough to push Negreanu past Antonio Esfandiari into the No. 1 spot on the WSOP’s all-time money list.

Negreanu’s made three deep runs of note thus far in 2024, making it to the final two tables of three events including a $500 buy-in tournament with a 3,485-player field. But as Negreanu plays out his first final table of the 2024 WSOP, he’ll have one thing on his mind – No. 7.

End of Day Chip Counts:

Day 1: 543,500 (10/58)
Day 2: 1,341,000 (7/29)
Day 3: 1,105,000 (10/12)

Dylan Smith | 4,030,000

Age: 32
Birthplace: New Jersey
Currently Resides: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
WSOP Bracelets: 0
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $2,046,225
Biggest Lifetime Cash: 1^st, 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller for $364,440
Other Prominent Scores: 5^th, 2024 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown for $230,000

While some poker fans might not know the name Dylan Smith well, those who follow World Poker Tour action will recognize Smith from his recent run at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. In April, Smith locked down a spot at the final table that played out in late May at HyperX in Las Vegas, where he finished in fifth place.

Fast forward one month and Smith finds himself playing for one of the most prestigious titles in poker.

“I’m really excited,” said Smith. “This is probably the most fun tournament that I’ve ever played in, and it’s definitely more of a grind than any other tournament I’ve ever been in. But yeah, I couldn’t be happier to come back tomorrow and play. I’m gonna have some friends on the rail. My girlfriend will be here, so it’ll be fun.”

Smith was at risk of going out in sixth place during a round of No Limit Hold’em, when he ran headfirst into Bryce Yockey’s pocket queens. But a timely king on the turn doubled Smith’s stack and thrust him directly back into the middle of the pack.

Day 1: N/A (Did not play)
Day 2: 1,036,000 (11/29)
Day 3: 1,715,000 (7/12)

Bryce Yockey | 3,670,000

Birthplace: Torrance, California
Currently Resides: Marina Del Rey, California
WSOP Bracelets: 2
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $5,130,217
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $606,654, 1^st, 2024 WSOP $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Other Prominent Scores: 1^st, 2017 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship for $511,147; 12^th, 2022 WPT World Championship for $338,500; 4^th, 2019 WSOP Poker Players Championship for $325,989

The two fashion trends that you can observe in abundance at the 2024 WSOP are bucket hats and nasal strips. The former is thanks to Phil Ivey wearing the hat. The latter happened after Yockey wore one across his nose on the way to winning his second career WSOP gold bracelet in a $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event.

Yockey was in a position to ascend into a clear second place and bring the evening to a close in his No Limit Hold’em confrontation with Dylan Smith, but it was simply not to be his hand. Still, he’s right in the thick of things despite sitting in fourth place among the final five.

Yockey is one of three remaining players to have previously final tabled the PPC; he and David Benyamine have each finished fourth, while Negreanu’s best finish to date in this tournament is fifth.

Day 1: 780,000 (4/58)
Day 2: 1,255,000 (9/29)
Day 3: 2,665,000 (4/12)

David Benyamine | 900,000

Age: 51
Birthplace: Paris, France
Currently Resides: Las Vegas, Nevada
WSOP Bracelets: 1
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $8,266,784
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $1,087,924, 3^rd, 2011 Aussie Millions AUD$250,000 Super High Roller
Other Prominent Scores: 2^nd, 2008 WPT Bellagio Cup for $840,295; 1^st, 2008 WSOP $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship for $535,687; 4^th, 2014 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship for $497,122; 1^st, 2003 WPT Grand Prix de Paris for $410,886

David Benyamine has been around the game of poker for more than two decades, and despite making cash games his primary pursuit he’s enjoyed significant tournament success as well. He became a WPT Champions Club member in 2003 when he won the Season II edition of the WPT Grand Prix de Paris in his native France.

Benyamine added a WSOP bracelet in 2008, and whenever he’s taken a moment to pursue tournaments, success has often followed.

He’ll have his work cut out for him with less than two big bets in the limit games and just four big blinds in the no limit and pot limit games when play resumes on Thursday.

Day 1: 418,500 (21/58)
Day 2: 1,531,000 (5/29)
Day 3: 3,110,000 (2/12)