After a long fight that lasted just over four hours, Moritz Dietrich emerged victorious at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online International Main Event. This win awarded the young German player $4,021,012—the largest payout in online poker history.

Hard work paid off

“I first played poker at the end of 2009 with $10 that I received as a Christmas gift from my brother,” recounts Moritz Dietrich. While he initially pursued a degree in mathematics, he decided to drop out after two years due to his growing success in poker. “Unlike all of the beautiful stories you’ve heard from pros about using their first few dollars to go from micro-stakes to high-stakes, I wasn’t able to make that transition as cleanly and had to “invest” some money,” he explains. Realising that poker was far more complex than his childhood Monopoly games, he dedicated himself to the craft: “I started reading poker books, studying theory, and talking to other players to become better.” Hard work paid off.

Unprecedented turnout creates 6 millionaires

Hosted by GGPoker, the $5,000 buy-in event far surpassed expectations, attracting 6,146 entries across 17 starting flights. This unprecedented turnout pushed the prize pool to $29,193,500, breaking the previous online poker record. GGPoker initially guaranteed $25 million, but overwhelming player enthusiasm pushed the final total even higher.

The final table was broadcast live on GGPoker’s YouTube channel. Despite the intense pressure, each finalist was guaranteed at least $502,771 for making it this far, and the top six were all on track to become millionaires.

Nine players from seven different countries

The final table was a testament to the international scope of the WSOP Online Main Event, with players hailing from diverse countries. Russia’s Evgenii Akimov, playing from Mexico, led the group with 86 big blinds. Close behind were Portugal’s Rui Ferreira with 67 big blinds and Germany’s Dietrich, holding 57 big blinds. Other competitors included Belarusian Ilya Anatski (43 BBs), American Isaac Baron (34 BBs), and China’s Hai Pan (30 BBs). Lithuania’s Audrius Stakelis (20 BBs), Portugal’s Diogo Coelho (17 BBs), and Germany’s Benjamin Rolle, with just 14 big blinds, rounded out the field.

Diogo Coelho, who had narrowly missed the final table of the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas earlier this year, finishing 10th for $800,000, was looking for redemption.

The moment of triumph

As the final showdown unfolded, Akimov held a strong position but needed to hit one of seven possible outs to stay in contention. Dietrich, however, managed to fade those outs, and in a climactic moment, the final card was slowly revealed, sealing his victory. Thousands of viewers watched live as Dietrich clinched the title and secured the record-breaking first-place prize.

Dietrich garnered significant support after selling 5% of his action on the GGPoker staking platform, which Thorsten Legit swiftly purchased. That $250 investment grew to $25,138 and ultimately soared to $201,050 when Dietrich became the champion of the WSOP Online International Main Event.

His victory sets a new benchmark in online poker, both in terms of prize money and global participation.

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