An epic summer in Las Vegas for the KK Elite Team with over $650,000 in tournament cashes!
Read the full recap and see who the biggest winners were!
What a summer it has been for the KKPoker Vegas Dream 2024 winners, who embarked on an epic journey from many continents to represent the KK Elite Team at the world's largest live poker event!
Having secured their $13,500 Vegas Dream package online at KKPoker, which included $10,000 cash to enter the Main Event and a $3,500 travel and accomodation budget, our heroes battled hard and won an incredible $650,000+ between them across the month.
Take a look at some of their stand-out results, as well as bonus experiences they enjoyed as part of the KK Elite Team at the KK House in Las Vegas.
Table of Content
AMBASSADOR RUNS DEEP
New KKPoker ambassador David Ko came into the 2024 World Series of Poker on a massive heater, having won the WPT Montreal Main Event for $319,000 just weeks before.
David started where he left off and managed a deep run in Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions No-Limit Hold'em, taking 43/18,409 entries for a $24,000 prize. The Mystery Bounty tournament got super exciting for David on his final day, as every elimination he earned gave him the chance to draw a bounty prize worth up to $1,000,000!
The pro was able to secure another 4 WSOP cashes and also achieved a 4th place finish in the $800 Aria NLH for $23,800. David was also able to achieve the dream of playing against poker legend Phil Ivey and stepped up into bigger buy-in events. The future looks bright for David, and KKPoker is delighted to support him on his journey.
DAY 7 OF THE MAIN EVENT
The World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event is by far the longest and most daunting poker tournament proposition. With 2 hour levels, patience is key, and it would take 10 days for the winner to be crowned.
Canadian Vegas Dream winner Robert Renaud came to the WSOP with $67,000 in recorded live cashes, and the Main Event was his biggest opportunity to add to that sum. Robert joined the Main Event action on the final starting flight, Day 1d, and after the eight hours of play, he had tripled his 60,000 starting stack to 181,000.
The Canadian continued to show his determination and by the end of Day 4, he was sitting on over 1.5M chips. But he didn't stop there and found himself in being one of only 50 players out of 10,112 returning to action on Day 7. Robert had a 5M chip stack, good for 20 Big Blinds, meaning he would need to utilize all his knowledge on all-in poker hand ranges to find a suitable spot to double up, and with 41 players remaining, he took his chance.
Robert three-bet all-in for 13 Big Blinds from the Small Blind after the Button had open-raised 2x. With the decision back on the Button player, he made the call, and Robert's tournament life was at risk. It was a classic flip situation for a poker tournament, Robert holdng the slight advantage with Pocket Fives, and up against Ace-King unsuited. His chances of survival were at an even 50/50.
The flop fell Jack-King-Ten, meaning Robert's opponent had paired their King card to take the lead, and the Canadian needed to see a Five card to survive. But the Turn and River cards brought no joy, and Robert's remarkable WSOP Main Event deep run was ended, but he could hold his head high and left the tournament area to collect his amazing prize of $250,000!
ANOTHER WSOP BRACELET
North Macedonia all-time money list leader Ilija Savevski was one of the most experienced poker players among the 2024 Vegas Dream winners.
Ilija already had a WSOP bracelet to his name and the honor of appearing at the WSOPE Main Event Final Table in 2021, securing 8th place for €125,000.
The professional player warmed up for this WSOP by attending the PokerStars EPT Paris, WPT Prime Amsterdam, WPT Voyage, and the KKPoker sponsored Slovenian Poker Tour KK Half Million.
In his pre-vegas interview with KKPoker, Ilija said "My goal this year is like any other poker trip; I'm going to focus only on playing my best game and not on results. I can only hope that results will come with playing my A-game, but if I do play my best and they don't come, I will still be happy that I did my best.
It would seem Ilija is a man of his word, as playing his A-game is exactly what he did, and the results speak for themselves, as KKPoker is delighted to announce Ilija is now a two-time WSOP bracelet winner!
Despite being focused on live poker in Las Vegas, it was actually the online poker streets that gave him victory, after winning the $500 No Limit Hold'em - PKO (Online Bracelet Event #7) for a spectacular $84,000 prize including bounties. The champion had an amazing 14 cashes during the event, which included 9th place in Event #22 and 8th place in Event #93 for another $46,000 prize, for an amazing summer of total cashes close to $190,000!
Even more impressively, Ilija displayed his array of poker game talents by cashing in various formats such as PKO, NLH, Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, Freezeout, 6-Max, High Roller, and Mixed Triple Draw.
As a prominent KKPoker North Macedonian poker community member, we look forward to welcoming Ilija back to his regular tournament schedule on KKPoker and at future KKLIVE events in Europe.
WINNING AGAINST PHIL IVEY
Poker talent is high in North Macedonia as Ilija's compatriot Toni Zengovski was also a lucky member of the KK Elite Team after winning his KKPoker Vegas Dream package at the second attempt. Toni, also known as 'ZENGA' on KKPoker, had previously lost a heads-up battle for a Vegas Dream package, but when the opportunity came again, he made sure he would be on the plane to Las Vegas.
With recorded live poker results dating back to 2015, all in Europe, it would be Toni's first opportunity to play poker in America, and he did not disappoint.
Toni turned his Vegas Dream package into a $50,000 prize after achieving 251st place in the Main Event, and propelled himself into 3rd on the North Macedonia money list. Toni also had the chance to play, and defeat, one of his poker heroes, Phil Ivey, after battling and winning in several pots against the legend.
Check out the global KKPoker social media to see Toni's interview, in which he discusses his Main Event experience!
DEEPSTACK DEEPRUN
Aleksandar Trajkovski is another Vegas Dream winner with high experience in WSOP events. In 2021, he was on the same WSOPE Main Event final table as compatriot Ilija Savevski. After Ilija fell in 8th place, Aleksandar battled on and secured 6th place for € 217,000.
Having also had a good run in the Las Vegas Main Event in 2022, cashing for $36,000 in 357th, he was looking to add even more results to his outstanding poker records. Aleksandar was able to cash in 7 WSOP events in 2024, including 3 top 100 finishes, such as taking 36th in Event #84 for $9,120 and 22nd in Event #62: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship for $11,332.
Now with over 150 recorded live tournament cashes combining to more than $640,000, there's no doubt we will continue to see his name at the top of the chip counts both online at KKPoker and at future live events!
INSTAGRAM FAMOUS
In his exclusive interview, Canadian Christopher Alcindor spoke of his delight at winning a KKPoker Vegas Dream package and how 2024 has been a year of live poker to remember for the recent WSOP Ring winner.
On Day 1 of the WSOP Main Event, Chris was involved in a spectacular final hand at the end of the day on the PokerGO streamed table! In a crazy all-in situation, Chris eliminated his opponent when his Ace-King defeated Pocket Aces with Three-of-a-Kind on the River! Chris' shocked reaction currently has over 320,000 social media views, and it is a must-watch!
Chris was able to qualify for Day 2, but late into the action, his luck ran out, and he exited before the money places. However, Chris secured cashes in Events #15 & #86 and ended his Las Vegas trip in style by securing 2nd & 5th place in the $400 buy-in Daily Deepstacks.
Not only did Chris have fun at the poker tables, but he also enjoyed hanging out at the KK House with his fellow KK Elite Team and friends!
INDEPENDANCE CELEBRATION
Another Canadian poker player made up the KK Elite Team for 2024, with Justin Anderson making his World Series of Poker debut.
In Justin's exclusive interview with KKPoker, he detailed how his attempts to qualify for live events in America before have not succeeded, and he was overly delighted at winning his KKPoker Vegas Dream package.
Ahead of playing the Main Event, Justin entered Event #80: $800 Independence Day Celebration No-Limit Hold'em, playing Day 1a and getting off to a great start by ending the day with a 1,115,000 chip stack, in 21st, out of 150 remaining from the 2,131 entries. Justin then had a day off from the event to take in Las Vegas before returning to Day 2 and battling for a hard-fought 53rd place out of 4,263 entries for a great $11,000 prize!
It was then onto the Main Event for Justin. On Day 1b, he turned his 60,000 starting stack into 90,000 after 8 hours of calling, raising, and folding. Despite grinding with determination on Day 2, his chips dropped to 64,000, but it was all to play for as he entered Day 3.
With the $15,000 money bubble approaching, play would always get more risky, with only 1,518 of the 10,112 entries cashing. Justin was still in the mix and playing to survive to be one of the lucky few, but poker is unpredictable. Unfortunately for the Canadian, he departed the tournament in approximately 1,750th place, surviving more than 80% of the field in his very first Main Event, a proud accomplishment!
KKPoker looks forward to welcoming Justin back and offering him more poker opportunities with our array of online and live tournaments and more qualification opportunities via satellites.
KK HOUSE LAS VEGAS
To create a relaxing and entertaining space for the KK Elite Team, friends and KKPoker players during the summer in Las Vegas, a stylish mansion was chosen as the party venue this year.
Located in a residential area about 10 minutes by car from the WSOP venue, players upon arriving at the KK House were greeted by the KKPoker flag and signboard, and inside the house it was decorated full of KKPoker spirit! The decorations, including signs, neon lights, and flags, were custom-made specifically for this KK House party. Outside, there was even a private pool, which was a hit in the scorching Las Vegas heat.
To help reduce player expenses, free food was laid on during the party days, with KKPoker-inspired green cocktails on offer too!
The KK House also hosted special SNG tournaments for the chance to win special Vegas experiences, such as a helicopter tour at night over the bright lights of the Vegas strip.
Players could also top up on their all-important KKPoker merchandise to use at the poker tables, such as hoodies, t-shirts, patches, masks, cards and card protectors.
It was an amazing experience at the KK House Las Vegas 2024! See some of our best photos below.
If you want to experience amazing live poker for less, then check out the KKPoker app now! We have partnered with many live poker tours to offer our players the chance to win big!
