Event #73: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha

David Eldridge has overcome a 476 entry-field inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas and defeated poker Hall-of-Famer Brian Rast heads-up to claim his second World Series of Poker bracelet and the $2,246,728 first-place prize.

Eldridge, who is commonly known by his friends as "Diamond Dave," won his last bracelet in 2021 in an online event. The Pennsylvania native overcame an over 5:1 chip deficit against Rast heads-up after putting on a show of poker prowess in the back-and-forth battle. His win today represents his largest tournament score by nearly a factor of ten and has effectively doubled his live tournament earnings.

Event #73: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

"I'm feeling good. It was a long four days, but things worked out," Eldridge said shortly after winning the event.

Eldridge suffered a beat from Rast early in the day in a hand that would have given him about half the chips in play. Humble in victory, Eldridge explained that he was able to maintain his composure and make good hands in key spots.

"That hand [against Rast] was a really big deal. I would have had about half the chips in play, and Rast would have been eliminated, so I think that was a pretty big swing. But, I just kept grinding, and I made a lot of good hands, fortunately."

Eldridge said that, despite the score, his plan for the series will remain unchanged.

"This win doesn't change anything. I'm just going to play the Main Event and then go home!"

Day 4 Action

Rast entered as one of the short stacks alongside Juha Helppi, but quickly found himself trailing after Helppi chipped up early. However, Rast scored a key double up after going runner-runner to crack Eldridge's bottom set.

Helppi made a nice call against Eldridge to get himself back to an average chip stack, but ended up exiting in fifth place after getting all in with a set of tens on the flop and losing to Rast, who held a combo draw and ended up making a wheel to assume the chip lead.

After a bit of a lull, Yang Wang lost a few small pots to find himself on the short stack. Wang committed the rest of his chips against Eldridge after flopping an open-ended straight draw with two overs against Eldridge's two pair. Eldridge ended up drilling a full house on the turn to send Wang out in fourth.

Three-handed play started with a bang as Ethan Cahn was quickly able to score a double up against Eldridge to even out their stacks. Not long after, Rast made the nuts with Broadway and was paid off by Cahn to leave him the short stack. However, the New York native proved resilient, and Cahn managed to double up again with aces in a blind versus blind confrontation against Rast. Despite the valiant effort, Cahn was forced out in third place after running ace-king-queen-deuce into Rast's ace-queen-six-five double-suited all in preflop. Rast turned a straight to leave Cahn drawing dead and set up heads-up play.

Rast looked to make quick work of Eldridge and hopped out to an early 5:1 chip lead, but "Diamond Dave" refused to go down without a fight. After winning series of small pots, Eldridge ended up on the right side of a cooler after flopping top set against Rast's bottom set to score a double up and take the chip lead.

Rast managed to wrangle a slight chip lead back in the hands that followed and caught Eldridge bluffing to get back up to a 2:1 chip lead. Eldridge answered right back, however, by doubling through Rast with two pair and fading Rast's flush draw.

Eldridge followed the double up with a key hand that saw Eldridge bluff Rast off of a straight, followed by getting value with quads with pocket kings to leave Rast on the brink.

Rast made his last stand with ace-ten-eight-six double-suited all in preflop, but he couldn't win the flip against Eldridge's ace-queen-nine-seven to fall just shy of his seventh career bracelet.

This concludes PokerNews coverage of the event. Be sure to check out our live-reporting hub for continuing coverage of the 2024 WSOP and other events around the globe.

David Eldridge opened to 3,000,000 on the button holding     , and Brian Rast called in the big blind with     .

Rast check-called a bet of 2,000,000 on the     flop.

The   turn improved Eldridge to quads, but neither player chose to put any more money in the pot.

Eldridge did bet 6,000,000 after Rast checked to him on the   river and was able to extract value as Rast made the call.

David Eldridge	66,700,000	8,000,000
Brian Rast	4,725,000	-8,000,000

David Eldridge opened to 3,000,000 on the button with      and Brian Rast defended in the big blind holding     .

Action checked through the     flop to the   turn. Rast led out for 2,500,000 and Eldridge called.

Rast bet again on the   river, this time making it 7,000,000. Eldridge responded by moving all in with the covering stack. That did not sit well with Rast as he went over his opponent's possible holdings out loud. After discarding the nut straight as an option, Rast still could not make the call to leave himself short as Eldridge's continued aggression yielded positive results.

David Eldridge	58,700,000	9,500,000
Brian Rast	12,725,000	-9,500,000

David Eldridge opened to 2,400,000 on the button with      and Brian Rast called in the big blind holding     .

Eldridge continued for 3,500,000 after Rast checked to him on the     flop. Rast flatted to see a turn.

The turn came  , prompting Rast to check once more. Eldridge was in no mood to give up on the hand, instead betting a hefty 12,600,000. After some thought, Rast moved all in, standing as he did so as if he was sure he was going to be called. Eldridge quickly folded, somewhat to Rast's surprise as the six time bracelet winner raked in a large pot without going to showdown.

Brian Rast	49,325,000	23,700,000
David Eldridge	22,100,000	-23,700,000

Brian Rast limped on the button with      and David Eldridge checked his option with     .

Rast called a 1,000,000 bet from Eldridge on the     flop and then Eldridge check-called a 3,300,000 bet from Rast after he made a straight on the   turn.

The   completed the board and Eldridge fired 6,300,000 into the middle.

Rast laid the best hand down after a bit of thought and Eldridge collected the pot.

David Eldridge	39,900,000	5,500,000
Brian Rast	31,525,000	-5,500,000

David Eldridge raised to 2,000,000 on the button with      and Brian Rast called in the big blind holding     .

Rast check-called a bet of 1,800,000 on the     flop.

The   turn gave both players the nut straight, though Eldridge did have a redraw to a better one. Rast checked before raising to 21,300,000 after Eldridge bet 4,300,000. Eldridge moved all in for a little more with Rast quickly calling with the slightly larger stack.

David Eldridge:     
Brian Rast:     

Eldridge was freerolling but ended up chopping the pot once the   river completed the board, much to Rast's relief.

Brian Rast	37,025,000	650,000
David Eldridge	34,400,000	-650,000

Brian Rast opened to 1,800,000 on the button holding      and David Eldridge called in the big blind with     .

Eldridge checked following the     flop before calling a continuation of 1,300,000 from Rast.

The   turn saw Eldridge check again. Rast bet out 3,400,000 and Eldridge called with his flush draw.

Rast bet one more time after Eldridge checked to him on the   river, this time sizing up to 10,800,000. Edlridge quickly folded to concede a decently sized pot.

David Eldridge	38,350,000	-5,250,000
Brian Rast	33,075,000	5,250,000

David Eldridge has won a number of small pots to narrow the gap between himself and Brian Rast.

Rast limped on the button holding      and then called after Eldridge raised to 1,800,000 in the big blind with     .

Eldridge bet 2,600,000 after Rast checked to him on the     flop. That bet alone was enough to force a fold and keep Eldridge chipping up.

Brian Rast	49,925,000	-9,100,000
David Eldridge	21,500,000	9,100,000

Brian Rast raised to 1,500,000 with      on the button, and David Aldridge called with     .

Both players checked on the     flop and   turn.

The   completed the board, and Eldridge checked a final time, prompting Rast to place 2,200,000 into the middle.

Aldridge decided to look Rast up, and Rast showed him his kings-up to put more distance between himself and Aldridge.

Brian Rast	59,025,000	3,700,000
David Eldridge	12,400,000	-3,700,000

Brian Rast opened to 1,750,000 on the button with      and then called after Ethan Cahn three-bet jammed for 6,300,000 out of the big blind holding     .

Ethan Cahn:     
Brian Rast:     

Cahn was a marginal favorite, that is until the flop came    . The   turn gave Rast a straight and left Cahn drawing dead prior to the inconsequential   river, bringing his impressive run to an end in 3rd place.

Brian Rast	55,325,000	8,800,000
David Eldridge	16,100,000	-500,000
Ethan Cahn	0	-8,300,000