2024 World Series of Poker

Event #37: $10,000 Big O Championship

Day 3 Completed

John Fauver Wins The $10k Big O Championship For $681,998

Level 29 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
John Fauver
John Fauver

For the first time, the WSOP ran a $10,000 Big O Championship, which got 332 entrants to create a prize pool of $3,087,600. This ensured that the final 50 players in the event would get a payout of $20,306 while first place would take home a prize of $681,998.

After all was said and done, it was John Fauver who became the inaugural winner of the event for his first-ever WSOP bracelet. “It’s pretty cool that this is the first time this tournament has ever run,” the new champion said beaming. “It really doesn’t even feel real yet. Ask me tomorrow if it has set in.”

Fauver’s Hendon Mob before this win today sat at $251,061. With this newest cash and title added to his burgeoning resume, his lifetime total now sits at $933,014, nearing the $1 million mark. “It’s really nice,” he continued to talk about what to do with the new cash, “it’s a nice house.”

John Fauver
John Fauver and his rail

The West Virginia native primarily focuses on all five-card variants of poker. “I like five-card because you get to gamble. Everyone has a shot, and in general it is a very fun game. High or split-pot.”

“I was short the whole time and I was just trying to survive,” Fauver mentioned about the final table play. When four-handed began, he was by far the shortest stack. “I found a couple spots, where the cards fell perfect for me. Kept me at a playable stack and then it just kept working out for me.”

Fauver now stands alone as the only $10,000 Big O Champion.

Final Table Results

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1John FauverUnited States$681,998
2Calvin AndersonUnited States$454,668
3Nitesh RawtaniUnited States$311,737
4Farid JattinColumbia$217,783
5Dylan WeismanUnited States$155,065
6Alfred AtamianUnited States$112,573
7Michael RoccoUnited States$83,359
8Danny WongUnited States$62,985

Final Day Action

The final day saw action fly quickly out the gate as it took under four hours to go from 19 to 8 players left. Bracelet winners fell like Adam Friedman (18th-$25,340), Ryan Hughes (17th-$25,340), and Anson Tsang (14th-$30,800).

The final player to fall before the final table was set was French bracelet winner David Benyamine. He and Farid Jattin both flopped a queen-high straight and got it in on the flop, but the turn brought Jattin a flush and he took a monstrous chip lead into the final table, while the old school poker legend finished in ninth place for $48,582.

David Benyamine
Old school legend David Benyamine finished just shy of the final table

Final Table Action

Danny Wong has had quite the summer at the WSOP 2024. A little over a week ago, he made the $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw final table, and just a few days ago, he finished runner-up in the $10,000 2-7 Triple Draw Championship to Phil Ivey, who won his 11th bracelet. Wong came into the final table as the shortest stack but managed to hang around and survived through some quartering and doubling. His final chips went into the center when his ace-king-ten-seven-two, could not improve against Jattin’s king-ten-ten-seven-two and the WSOP bracelet winner exited the tournament in eighth place for $62,985.

After that, the pace of eliminations picked up significantly. Next to go was Michael Rocco, whose run came to an end in seventh place. Rocco had a rough start to the final table after a massive all-in confrontation with John Fauver saw him go from quartering to quartered. Rocco had got his ace-ten-eight-four-three all in against Nitesh Rawtani’s ace-king-four-four-three, and the board looked good for Rocco until the river paired up Rawtani’s king to have him scoop. Rocco added another final table to his 2024 WSOP resume and collected $83,359 for his efforts.

Within a couple of hands, Alfred Atamian was all in and at risk against Jattin. Atamian held aces with eights and a six preflop against Jattin’s kings with a ten-nine-five. He was in prime shape to double up at the expense of the chip leader, but the flop gave Jattin kings full of sevens and the river improved him even further to quads. Jattin took another stack to add to his massive chip lead and Atamian ended his run in sixth place for $112,573.

Dylan Weisman has already had a significant WSOP, winning his second bracelet; today he added another WSOP final table to his already stacked resume. His deep run also came to an end at the hands of Jattin as he got in his final chips with top pair, top kicker on a ten-high board against Jattin’s full wrap. The wrap came home on the turn and Jattin took the pot while Weisman collected $155,065 for his fifth-place finish.

Calvin Anderson
Two-time bracelet winner Calvin Anderson finished in second

At that point, Jattin held 60 percent of the chips in play while Calvin Anderson, Nitesh Rawtani, and Fauver held the other 40 percent between the three of them. Just when it looked like Jattin was going to extend his lead, Fauver doubled up through him four times, while also taking sizable pots off of him. Eventually it was Fauver who held the chip lead and Jattin who fell to the shortest stack, while Rawtani and Anderson were in the middle of the pack.

Eventually, the time came for Jattin. He defended his big blind with eight-six-four-three-two and flopped a pair of sixes to go against Anderson, who held ace-king-ten-four-three to flop second pair. The turn ten brought Anderson three tens to lock up the pot and Anderson rose to second in chips while Jattin, just one week after his runner-up finish in the $5,000 PLO, took home $217,783 for his fourth-place finish.

After that, the chip breakdown saw Fauver in front, Rawtani in second and Anderson in third. A massive pot saw a shift in the bottom of the chip counts as Anderson overtook the second-place spot while Rawtani fell to the bottom. Anderson and Rawtani clashed once more, this time the players getting all in before the flop, with Anderson holding ace-queen-jack-five-four and Rawtani holding ace-jack-ten-seven-two. The flop put Rawtani way in front with bottom two and a flush draw, but the runout came favorable to Anderson as he made a better two pair and low to scoop Rawtani and end his run in third place for $311,737.

The heads-up match began with Fauver holding a slight lead over Anderson, but it quickly grew into 2:1 then a 3:1 lead as Fauver put on maximum pressure. The final hand came quickly as Anderson got his last chips in with aces and a gutshot against Fauver’s top set. The turn gave Anderson the gutter to put him in the lead, but the river paired the board and gave Fauver kings-full and the two competitors shook hands as Fauver was crowned champion while two-time WSOP bracelet winner Anderson was eliminated in second place for $454,688.

Thank you for reading along here at PokerNews. Stay tuned for all updates on the World Series of Poker.

Tags: Adam FriedmanAlfred AtamianAnson TsangCalvin AndersonDanny WongDavid BenyamineDylan WeismanFarid JattinJohn FauverMichael RoccoNitesh RawtaniPhil IveyRyan HughesScott Abrams

Calvin Anderson Eliminated in 2nd Place ($454,668)

Level 29 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Calvin Anderson
Calvin Anderson

John Fauver limped in from the button before Calvin Anderson made it 600,000 to go in the big blind. Fauver made the call for the K97 flop to roll off.

Anderson led for a pot-sized bet, after which Fauver put his opponent all in. Anderson made the call and the cards were tabled.

Calvin Anderson: AAA106 All in
John Fauver: KKQJ4

The 8 turn saw Anderson make a straight against the set of kings of Fauver, but the 8 river paired the board and secured the victory for Fauver.

Anderson fell one place short of his fifth bracelet, exiting the tournament as runner-up.

Player Chips Progress
John Fauver us
John Fauver
19,925,000
6,000,000
6,000,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Calvin Anderson us
Calvin Anderson
Busted
Day 2 Chip Leader
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 4X Winner

Tags: Calvin AndersonJohn Fauver

Fauver Four-Bets Flop

Level 29 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Calvin Anderson limped in from the button before John Fauver checked his option in the big blind. The flop fell A10J and Fauver checked to Anderson, who bet 200,000.

Fauver then raised to 700,000, after which Anderson three-bet to 1,600,000. Fauver threw in another pot-sized raise, and this time Anderson's cards instantly hit the muck as he forfeited the pot.

Player Chips Progress
John Fauver us
John Fauver
13,925,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Calvin Anderson us
Calvin Anderson
6,000,000
Day 2 Chip Leader
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 4X Winner

Tags: Calvin AndersonJohn Fauver

Nitesh Rawtani Eliminated in 3rd Place ($311,737)

Level 29 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Nitesh Rawtani
Nitesh Rawtani

Calvin Anderson raised to 500,000 on the button and Nitesh Rawtani potted from the small blind, which saw John Fauver fold and Anderson put him all in from the button which Rawtani called to put himself at risk for 1,800,000.

Nitesh Rawtani: AJ1072 All in
Calvin Anderson: AQJ54

The board ran out 2K74Q and while the flop put Rawtani in front with bottom two pair and a flush draw, the turn completed the low for Anderson and the river gave Anderson a superior two pair to scoop the whole pot and Rawtani exited the tournament.

Player Chips Progress
John Fauver us
John Fauver
11,500,000
3,150,000
3,150,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Calvin Anderson us
Calvin Anderson
8,425,000
3,425,000
3,425,000
Day 2 Chip Leader
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 4X Winner
Nitesh Rawtani us
Nitesh Rawtani
Busted

Tags: Calvin AndersonJohn FauverNitesh Rawtani

Rawtani Enters Tank

Level 29 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Calvin Anderson raised the small blind to 600,000 and Nitesh Rawtani made the call in the big blind. Rawtani then called Anderson's bets of 450,000 and 650,000 on the 754 flop and K turn respectively.

On the 10 river, Anderson shoved all in for 2,600,000. Rawtani thought it over for several minutes, stating how close the situation was.

Eventually, though, he opted for a fold, tabling Ax10x4x3x without any clubs, and Anderson showed the 3 before raking in the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Calvin Anderson us
Calvin Anderson
5,000,000
1,200,000
1,200,000
Day 2 Chip Leader
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 4X Winner
Nitesh Rawtani us
Nitesh Rawtani
4,700,000
-2,200,000
-2,200,000

Tags: Calvin AndersonNitesh Rawtani

Anderson Doubles Through Fauver

Level 29 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Calvin Anderson
Calvin Anderson

John Fauver raised to 600,000 on the button and in the small blind, Calvin Anderson three-bet to 1,815,000 and Fauver called.

Calvin Anderson: AJ1082
John Fauver: A8765

The board ran out JK3310 and the jacks up was good for Anderson to take a bit out of Fauver's stack.

Player Chips Progress
John Fauver us
John Fauver
8,350,000
-2,500,000
-2,500,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Calvin Anderson us
Calvin Anderson
3,800,000
1,900,000
1,900,000
Day 2 Chip Leader
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 4X Winner

Tags: Calvin AndersonJohn Fauver

Anderson Leaves Himself Short

Level 29 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

John Fauver raised his small blind to 600,000 before Calvin Anderson three-bet to 1,800,000 in the big blind. Fauver called and shipped it in on the 1092 flop to put Anderson's 1,900,000 remaining chips at risk.

Anderson stared at his cards for a while before making the fold, leaving himself with less than ten big blinds.

Player Chips Progress
John Fauver us
John Fauver
10,850,000
650,000
650,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Calvin Anderson us
Calvin Anderson
1,900,000
-950,000
-950,000
Day 2 Chip Leader
$25K Fantasy
WSOP 4X Winner

Tags: Calvin AndersonJohn Fauver

Level: 29

Blinds: 100,000/200,000

Ante: 200,000