There have been a number of previous winners at the World Series of Poker that have already won another gold bracelet, but the first-time winners tend to generate the most excitement. One of the most recent first-time winners was Magnus Edengren, and he was a winner that basically came out of nowhere to win a title.
Edengren took home the top spot at the $1,500 Mixed Omaha tournament, and he became the first player from Sweden to win in 2024. While Edengren has had his fair share of experience at the WSOP, he had never come close to winning a gold bracelet.
There were 853 entries in this tournament, and that pushed the prize pool to $1,138,755, and it allowed Edengren to cash in. He nearly walked away with $200,000, and his previous best cash at the WSOP was less than $60,000.
A Long Road For Edengren
Edengren has been competing at the WSOP off and on for more than two decades, but he had only cashed out five times throughout his career. There was actually many years where Edengren gave up poker altogether, but his decision to jump back in the mix paid off in a big way.
Despite living in Sweden, Edengren makes trips to Las Vegas periodically, and coming to the WSOP in 2024 was always in the plans. The first three tournament cashes for Edengren came back in 2013 and 2018, and then he went through a long drought.
2024 has proven to be a banner year for him, as this is already the third time that he has won money at the 2024 WSOP. After winning this tournament, he noted that he will be in Las Vegas for two more weeks, and that could lead to some additional wins.
Others Win Big
The final three players in this event battled it out for less than 30 minutes as Edengren made quick work of the others. Even though the other two players were unable to win a gold bracelet, both men were able to score the biggest wins of their career.
Tim Seidensticker walked away with $131,308 with a second place finish, and he had never won more than $100,000 at a live poker event. James Juvanic won just over $91,000, and that was also the biggest win of his career.
This event was without many of the biggest names as the top players were all busy competing in other events. It is events like this one that make the WSOP so popular as it allows smaller players a chance to cash in.
Phil Hellmuth was in the mix at the final table, and he’s always a name to watch when he enters an event. Some bad luck was in play for Hellmuth in this event as he had to settle for a disappointing fourth place finish.
Edengren was the only player at the final table from outside of the United States and he was able to pick up a huge win for his home country.
