Jonathan Tamayo won the World Series of Poker’s (WSOP) Main Event on Wednesday, along with its $10 million cash prize, gold bracelet, and a lifetime of bragging rights.
The 38-year-old poker pro from Humble, Texas bested Jordan Griff — a 30-year-old amateur from Scottsdale, Ariz. — after more than three hours of heads-up play at the Horseshoe Las Vegas.
Griff began the day as the chip leader but the final hand of 65 saw all the money go in as Tamayo flopped two pair against Griff’s top pair, snatching a Chris Moneymaker-level dream win from the data and analytics supply chain manager.
But $6 million for second place isn’t too shabby.
Before his win, Tamayo had accumulated $2.3 million in live tournament cashes and just over $1 million from online tournaments. The closest he previously came to winning the Main Event was in 2009, when he was eliminated in 21st place for a payday of $352,832.
Sweden’s Niklas Astedt — the online poker pro known as Lena900 — came into Day 10 with the tallest stack and the shortest odds of winning. Yet, owing to the unpredictable nature of the game, he was eliminated in less than an hour, holding top pair and a straight draw against a set of nines held by Griff.
He walked away with $4 million.
The $10K WSOP Main Event attracted a record 10,112 contenders, surpassing the previous record of 10,043 set last year.
