The $1,100 buy-in, $5,000,000 GTD WPT Prime Championship will take place from Dec. 8-14 at the Wynn Las Vegas as a part of the WPT World Championship Festival (Dec. 3-23). Last year, Calvin Anderson topped a field of 10,512 entrants – nearly double that of 2022 – to win the 2023 WPT Prime Championship for $1,386,280.
The WPT Prime proved so successful that it won the Global Poker Award for Best Mid-Major Tour/Circuit. While the ClubWPT Gold $5M Invitational and WPT World Championship have garnered their share of excitement, the WPT Prime World Championship remains one of the standout events on this year’s thrilling schedule and PokerNewsis preparing for it by catching up with some the 2024 Prime Season.
We previously caught up with WPT Prime Taiwan champ Jereld Sam as well as Timothy Chung, who back in September took down the £1,100 WPT Prime UK Championship title and £57,660 in prize money, plus a package to the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
Now, we catch up with Lorenz Schöllhorn, who back in April topped a 1,395-entry field to win the WPT Prime Gold Coast Championship in Australia for AUD $401,510 (USD $257,729).
| Rank | Player | Prize (AUD) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lorenz Schöllhorn | $401,510 | $257,729 |
| 2 | Andres Vasquez | $276,615 | $171,782 |
| 3 | Travis Endersby | $198,120 | $127,173 |
| 4 | Michael Fraser | $148,105 | $95,069 |
| 5 | Chin Yaw Chan | $111,810 | $71,771 |
| 6 | Rikiya Jibiki | $85,250 | $54,722 |
| 7 | Dylan Desmarchelier | $65,650 | $42,141 |
| 8 | Marco Perri | $51,075 | $32,785 |
| 9 | Martin Ward | $40,140 | $25,766 |
*includes a $10,400 seat into the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
A Deep Dive into the WPT Prime World Championship and the 2024 Prime Season
Born in Winterthur, Switzerland in 1990, the 34-year-old was the youngest of three brothers. He studied economics in Zurich, Switzerland and after obtaining his Masters he worked in an NGO as a Business Analyst. As for poker, he’s been playing for nearly 20 years.
“I started playing small NLH cash games with friends when I was 15 years old,” he told PokerNews. “After that, I played the occasional online tournament before finding my love for PLO cash games. Since I had to study a lot during my time in university my poker volume varied a lot. I always played poker and studied poker but never full-time.”
Two years ago, Schöllhorn had built his bankroll enough that he quit his job to travel the world while still playing poker, primarily online.
“These days I still mainly play PLO cash anything from $5/$5 up to $25/$50 while occasionally taking shots in bigger games. I still play the occasional tournament but would not call it my biggest strength.”
As for his proudest poker accomplishment?
“I guess my biggest poker achievement is being able to battle other good regulars in reasonably high stakes PLO games, and of course my WPT win which was super nice but also involved a lot of run good,” Schöllhorn said.
He added: “My friends and family were of course very proud of me. Especially my mom. It’s just nice to have something to show since everyone seemed a little worried when I told them I quit my job to travel the world and play poker. But after this win, everyone was like, “Oh, you must be very good at what you’re doing,’ and started being less worried. Non-poker players cannot seem to understand how cash games work but winning a poker tournament everyone seems to get.”
While Schöllhorn, who has a passion for flyfishing and running, is excited about the upcoming WPT World Championship, it will not be his first visit to Las Vegas. He’s been in the past to play PLO cash at ARIA, and last year he actually won a $1,000 satellite into the WPT World Championship, though he busted late on Day 1.
“Hopefully I can do better this year,” said Schöllhorn, who was also in town for the World Series of Poker (WSOP). “I like Vegas so I am really looking forward to playing a lot of live poker this December.”
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*Images courtesy of WPT & Lorenz Schöllhorn.
PokerNewswill be at the 2024 WPT Prime Championship offering even more great content, and of course we'll be sure to keep an eye on how Lorenz Schöllhorn does at the festival.
