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Lev Margolin's €1M Poker Coup Reshapes WSOP Paradise 2024 Leaderboard

One daring move turned near-elimination into dominance. How a pair of Jacks rewrote the fate of WSOP Paradise's €160M prize pool.

, and Administrator

2026 February 15 . 7:22 PM

1 min read

The image shows a group of men sitting around a table playing poker, with coins and cards spread... — The image shows a group of men sitting around a table playing poker, with coins and cards spread out in front of them. In the background, there is a pillar and other objects, suggesting that the men are participating in a poker tournament.

Lev Margolin's €1M Poker Coup Reshapes WSOP Paradise 2024 Leaderboard

A dramatic poker hand at the World Series of Poker Paradise 2024 saw Lev Margolin quadruple his chip stack in a high-stakes showdown. The clash at Level 24 involved three players and a pot worth €1,000,000, reshaping the tournament's leaderboard with 40 competitors still in contention.

The hand unfolded with Margolin holding a pair of Jacks (J♠️ J♣️), facing off against Antoine Vranken's King-Ten offsuit (K♣️ 10♠️). The board favoured Margolin, securing him the massive pot and catapulting his stack from near-elimination to 240,000 chips. Vranken, despite the loss, retained a strong position with 1,160,000 chips, while Veli-Pekka Penttinen also took a hit, dropping to 880,000.

The win triggered a €500 increase in the minimum cash prize for the remaining 40 players. This hand took place during Level 24, with blinds at 10,000/20,000 (20,000), as part of a record-breaking tournament series. The WSOP Paradise 2024, held in the Bahamas from December 6-19, distributed $160.6 million across 15 bracelet events, each guaranteeing at least $1 million in prizes. It became the largest tournament series outside Las Vegas, drawing 9,494 entries and crowning 28 millionaires, including Lautaro Guerra's $2.13 million victory.

The $25k Super Main Event alone attracted 1,978 entries, smashing previous records and eclipsing last year's $69.9 million total prize pool.

Margolin's quadruple-up shifted the tournament dynamics, while the €1,000,000 pot highlighted the high stakes of the event. With 40 players remaining from an initial field of 1,033, the competition continues as part of the WSOP Paradise 2024, which has already cemented its place as a historic series in poker.