The 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is now in the books after 6 weeks of grueling poker action in Las Vegas and the big prize in the end went to Jonathan Tamayo. He pocketed a cool $10 million for his epic run through the 10k+ field of the Main Event this year.
On the final day of action, Tamayo was facing down fellow American Jordan Griff as well as the chip leader coming into the final day, Swede Niklas “Lena900” Astedt. Tomayo started the day second in chips but collected them all on the final hand of the Main Event.
“Not real life.” That was how Tamayo described the feeling after the win, adding “My roommate’s picture is right there from 2015. We both have banners now. What in the world just happened?” Tamayo has spent the summer sharing a place with Joe McKeehan and the 2015 champ was on his roommate’s rail for the big win.
2024 Main Event Final Results
- Entries: 10,112
- Prizes: $94,041,600
- Winner: Jonathan Tamayo ($10 million)
| Place | Player | Home | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Tamayo | United States | $10,000,000 |
| 2 | Jordan Griff | United States | $6,000,000 |
| 3 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | $4,000,000 |
| 4 | Jason Sagle | Canada | $3,000,000 |
| 5 | Boris Angelov | Bulgaria | $2,500,000 |
| 6 | Andres Gonzalez | Spain | $2,000,000 |
| 7 | Brian Kim | United States | $1,500,000 |
| 8 | Joe Serock | United States | $1,250,000 |
| 9 | Malo Latinois | France | $1,000,000 |
“Play your Game”
2024 Main Event with his rail that included
roommate and 2015 champ Joe McKeehan
That was the advice that 2015 Main Event champ McKeehan dished out to his friend and summertime roommate Tomayo before his epic run in this year’s Main Event. The former champ was on the rail for Tamayo’s big win and no doubt the support of someone who knows what it takes was a crucial part of the process.
Tamayo seemed to take the advice to heart, playing a very solid game that included some out of the box thinking, as well as some solid run-good. “I shouldn’t have been here after Day 4,” he said, describing a spot where an opponent folded ace-king, allowing Tamayo to survive a huge all-in spot against pocket jacks with his ace-queen.
When the ace hit and the other player said after the hand what he’d folded, Tamayo knew he’d dodged a bullet as the king kicker would have sent Tamayo to the rail on Day 4 had it been in the hand. Hitting the variance is one side of going deep in a big multi-table tournament, but the other side is making huge, crucial decisions.
In a move that sparked widespread discussion online from some of the game’s greatest, Tamayo mucked pocket queens preflop to a single raise late in the game with play 10-handed. While poker is often a game of “what-ifs” and it’s unclear how Tamayo’s tournament would have turned out had he played the hand, what is clear is that folding those queens was one of the steps on his path to becoming Main Event champion this year.
The hand will likely be debated in poker circles for years to come, but one of the things that separates average from great on the green felt is the ability to think out of the box in the moment and find answers no one else can. It’s safe to say that few people in his position late in the day in the biggest game of their lives would find an answer that said “fold pocket queens pre” but it’s also pretty hard to argue with the strategy of the guy holding the Main Event bracelet.
Griff Scores Huge
in late-stage action from the 2024 Main Event
action in the 2024 Main Event
While Jordan Griff was likely a little disappointed that he missed out on the big $10 million prize and the coveted Main Event bracelet, when the dust settles in a few days and he has time to reflect, he’ll no doubt be pretty happy with his run. Every player in that position wants to win and is devastated when they don’t, but coming into this game, his lifetime earnings were sitting at less than $50k.
That means the $6 million for second place was a bump to his Hendon earnings by more than 100x, something that would delight nearly every player. But for Griff, who isn’t a professional player and instead works a real job back in Schaumburg, Illinois to support his pregnant wife, the prize will seem like a gift from heaven as his new baby arrives in a few weeks, at least once the disappointment has time to dissipate.
Online GOAT a Surprising Third
third place in the 2024 Main after a huge
early hand against Jordan Griff
Poker is absolutely a game of skill, and the best players are the ones who consistently rise to the top. But among the “mental sports” poker is perhaps unique in that a huge amount of variance is baked into the game. In a sport like golf, when the best player in the world plays their best game on any given day, it’s exceedingly rare for someone else to beat them.
In poker, that happens every day because the skill edge is actually a lot smaller than many think. Skill makes a difference over large sample sizes, but in the moment of any given hand, variance will often play the largest role in determining results. Online legend Niklas “Lena900” Astedt has proven across pretty much all forms of poker, live or online, that he has the skill set, and many experts had him pegged for this year’s ME champ coming into the final day of play.
But then poker happened. He got into a massive hand with Jordan Griff early on the final day that was essentially for all the chips as Astedt was covered by just 500k. Whoever won the hand would have a massive lead while the other would be out the door or on less than fumes.
Griff shoved the turn and after an agonizing tank, Lena900 put in the call with top pair and a straight draw, only to see a set of nines in front of Griff. The high-stakes online crusher bricked his draw on the river and hit the rail in third place. Still, the $4 million for third place was enough to more than double his previous Hendon Mob total for more than $7 million in total wins now on the live felt.
That brings the 2024 WSOP to a close for another year. Get a look at some of the earlier action from the Main Event here on PokerPro, and check out our full slate of recaps from the biggest summer poker party ever.
