James Obst

One of the most successful poker players to ever come out of Australia, James Obst has been playing the game since he was 14. An extremely talented chess player growing up (he represented his country multiple times at the World Junior Chess Championship), the strategically complex nature of poker soon captured his attention. James began playing the game online under the pseudonym ‘Andy McLEOD’ and would regularly play late at night while hiding his newfound passion from his parents. Starting at the $0.02/$0.0.04 limit Hold’em tables, he has evolved into being a tournament specialist and has since proved his ability time and time again both online and live.

 In terms of his online successes, Obst has won tournaments in all of the big events. With multiple SCOOP and WCOOP titles to his name. Winning the SCOOP player of the year back in 2010, he most recently won the 2016 SCOOP-11-H $1,050 + R PLO event for $155,020. His results in Omaha tournaments demonstrate that he is not just a one-trick pony, with Obst also showing his ability to win at online cash games as well. Though his cash game winnings aren’t tracked, his online tournament winnings total over $5,000,000.

 James’s live résumé is equally as praiseworthy, and again demonstrates his propensity to succeed at a variety of poker formats. During the summer of 2017, Obst won his first WSOP bracelet in the $10,000 Razz Championship event for $265,138. Along with that win, he cashed in multiple other events including the $2,500 Limit Mixed Triple Draw Lowball for $80,922 and the $10,000 Dealers’ Choice for $32,474. In 2016, James was featured on a large portion of the WSOP Main Event coverage during his run that ended just short of the final table in 13th for $427,930. He was involved in one of the most talked about hands of the tournament when he correctly folded a full house (7h7d on Qs7cJcTcTd) to Michael Ruane’s straight-flush (8c9c). He actually calls Ruane’s exact hand before laying his own monster down – if you’ve not seen it, you can relive the moment here. With multiple Aussie Millions titles to boot, Obst’s live winnings are over $2,500,000 and counting.

 As well as playing the game, James is also a coach of it. He makes poker training videos on the training site Run It Once. He often critically analyses tournaments that he has played and his insight is highly regarded by others.