PokerNews Staff 2024 WSOP Predictions featuring Maiden Bracelets, POY and Tice vs. Becker!

May 23, 2024

They're back. The PokerNews staff has returned with some predictions ahead of the 2024 WSOP, featuring previous favorites such as Player of the Year and Main Event entries, but also some 2024-specific ones featuring a certain highly-publicized prop bet and a certain 17-time WSOP bracelet winner.

This year we spoke to ten members of the PokerNews team for their thoughts: Head of Content Yori Epskamp, Head of Commercial and Live Events Ben Cundall, Global Live Events Manager Shirley Ang, Managing Editor Will Shillibier, PR & Media Manager Chad Holloway, Digital Media Manager Milko van Winden, as well as editors Matthew Pitt, Calum Grant, Connor Richards and Jon Sofen.

Which poker player will win their first bracelet this year?

Matt: Patrik Antonius seems to be playing a lot of tournaments lately, so if he gives the cash games a miss I'm going with the Finn.
Calum: Roland Israelashvili and Allen Kessler. Both are finally going to cross the line.
Ben: Dan Sepiol
Jon: Kane Kalas
Milko: After some close calls, I think this is the year for Felipe Ramos.
Will: Bin Weng
Yori: Cary Katz. Long overdue.
Shirley: Ioannis Angelou-Konstas
Chad: Josh Reichard. The MSPT Hall of Famer is Wisconsin’s best player, has 15 WSOP Circuit gold rings, and has come close to winning a bracelet in the past
Connor: Bin Weng

Five Questions to Ask Yourself at Your First WSOP

What will 2024 be “The Year Of?”

"The WSOP will go to great lengths to ensure last year's record fields weren't a flash in the pan. Not that they'll need to - live poker is booming!"

Matt: The old school pro, pulling the rug on the young wizards!
Calum: EURO 2024 Fever
Ben: GTO vs Street Poker
Jon: Negreanu
Milko: The Year of the EUROS! Let’s go idiots from Northen Europe, let’s win some bracelets!
Will: Consolidation. The WSOP will go to great lengths to ensure last year's record fields weren't a flash in the pan. Not that they'll need to - live poker is booming!
Yori: Americans starting to refer to soccer as “football”
Shirley: The year of Main Event champs with deep runs in many events.
Chad: The Year of First Timers. I’ll go so far as to say four well-known players will claim their first WSOP gold bracelets
Connor: The PokerNews DeepStack Championship, which I expect to be a smashing success!

Which former WSOP Main Event champ will add to their gold bracelet collection?

Matt: Koray Aldemir
Calum: If WSOPE winners count, then Max Neugebauer. He’s shown he can rise to the top in big field events.
Ben: Joe McKeehen
Jon: Phil Hellmuth
Milko: Chris Moneymaker is on FIRE! I think he’ll ride the momentum towards another WSOP Gold Bracelet.
Will: Damian Salas
Yori: Koray Aldemir will win two, actually
Shirley: Espen Jorstad
Chad: Joe McKeehen will bag a fourth bracelet and his third since his Main Event victory.
Connor: Espen Jorstad

Who will win the $250,000 Super High Roller?

Matt: What a way this will be for Adrian Mateos to bag his fifth WSOP bracelet.
Calum: Adrian Mateos
Ben: Cary Katz (pictured)
Jon: Daniel Negreanu
Milko: Back-to-Back Brewer!
Will: Ben Heath
Yori: Cary Katz. Willing this into existence here.
Shirley: Alex Foxen
Chad: Daniel Negreanu
Connor: Alex Kulev. Fourth last year but he's one of the best high-stakes players and is fresh off winning a Triton Montenegro $100,000 event.

How many players will enter the 2024 WSOP Main Event?

Matt: 10,288
Calum: 10,088
Ben: 10,151
Jon: 8,888
Milko: 10,000 exactly
Will: 10,321
Yori: 10,968
Shirley: 11,111
Chad: 10,124
Connor: 10,050

Who will win the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship?

Matt: Phil Ivey
Calum: Ray Dehkharghani
Ben: John Hennigan
Jon: Michael Mizrachi
Milko: Daniel Negreanu
Will: Daniel "Jungleman" Cates
Yori: Benny Glaser
Shirley: James Obst
Chad: Todd Brunson. His father always thought highly of the tournament, and after losing both parents in 2023 wouldn't it be a fitting tribute for Todd?
Connor: Matthew Ashton

Who do you like to win the 2024 WSOP Player of the Year?

"It would take a crazy person not to select Shaun Deeb, so I’m going with Josh Arieh"

Matt: It would take a crazy person not to select Shaun Deeb, so I’m going with Josh Arieh
Calum: I’m backing Jesse Lonis this year
Ben: Shaun Deeb
Jon: Shaun Deeb in a close race over the surprise Kane Kalas, with Daniel Negreanu in third.
Milko: Shaun Deeb. We know he always has his eyes on the POY leaderboard and I don’t expect this year to be different.
Will: Someone who wins three bracelets, which hasn't happened since 2014. Let's say Joao Vieira.
Yori: Daniel Negreanu will go on a rampage with two bracelet wins plus POTY
Shirley: Shaun Deeb
Chad: No one loves it more and puts in more volume than the slim-and-trim Shaun Deeb.
Connor: Cherish Andrews. She's not just chasing Female POY this year, but rather the overall POY distinction.

Will Negreanu or Hellmuth win a bracelet?

Matt: I wouldn’t be surprised if both bag a bracelet. Negreanu is well overdue, while Hellmuth is Hellmuth.
Calum: I’m going with both. Negreanu's lighter schedule may reduce the number of opportunities, although being more rested could see him finally break his WSOP hoodoo. But I can’t bet against Hellmuth. He just somehow keeps collecting bracelets!
Ben: Both
Jon: Both
Milko: Hellmuth. Number 18.
Will: Kid Poker's drought has to end sooner or later, right? Negreanu
Yori: See above
Shirley: Neither
Chad: Both of them. I’ve spoken with each of them, and I can say they’re ready and focused to give this year’s WSOP their all.
Connor: Hellmuth tends to not win bracelets in consecutive years, so my money is on Negreanu

Who will have a better summer - Landon Tice or Jeremy Becker?

Matt: Jeremy Becker — flying the flag for those of us who have never picked up a solver!
Calum: Can I opt for a tie? Who’ll give me odds on that?
Ben: Becker
Jon: There probably isn’t more pressure on anyone this summer than these two, so I’m going to predict that both will underperform expectations.
Milko: When the Euros come into town, I think Landon Tice has the advantage over Becker.
Will: I just hope the sweat lasts all summer and goes down to the Main. I'm rooting for Becker though
Yori: Becker will win easily
Shirley: Landon Tice
Chad: I'm going to join Team Tice. The kid is a crusher. I've seen him in action and have to give him the nod
Connor: I will say Tice since he will have plenty of momentum coming off a massive WPT Seminole Hard Rock final table.

Give us one last bold, unique prediction

"Mr. Beast will play in an event"

Matt: A female player will win multiple bracelets; don’t ask me who, though!
Calum: A satellite winner will win the WSOP Main Event
Ben: Someone will win four bracelets
Jon: The old-school GOATS are going to make a splash this summer. Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, and Daniel Negreanu will combine to win at least three bracelets. You just wait and see.
Milko: Allen Kessler will get heads-up for a bracelet
Will: A former Main Event winner will make the final table again à la Joe Cada 2018
Yori: Mr. Beast will play in an event
Shirley: Lukas Robinson will make the Main Event Final Table
Chad: We haven’t seen a three-time bracelet winner in many years (maybe Jeff Lisandro at the 2009 WSOP?) but I think someone is going to claim three bracelets at the 2024 WSOP!
Connor: There will be a new record set for the biggest-ever live tournament field.

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