The World Series of Poker Main Event will be determined today, and the last three players are very different. Niklas Astedt is an online poker God looking for his first World Series of Poker hardware. Jonathan Tamayo’s last WSOP bink came in 2013 at a Circuit event.
And then there’s Jordan Griff, who just multiplied his lifetime poker tourney earnings by 80 — yes eight-zero — by the minimum $4 million pay-out he will take home today as the WSOP Main Event finishes.
And if luck continues to go his way, he’ll be forever linked with the greatest tournament in the world as a champion. Oh, and the $10 million top prize isn’t too bad, either.
The 2024 WSOP Main Event will conclude starting at 2 p.m. PDT today. All three remaining men have healthy stacks, and are ready to battle for the extreme jumps in pay that face them. The difference between third and first is $6 million, and from second to third, $2 million.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | 223,000,000 | 74 |
| 2 | Jordan Griff | United States | 187,000,000 | 62 |
| 3 | Jonathan Tamayo | United States | 197,000,000 | 66 |
“I think I played well, yeah. I don’t have too many regrets. I haven’t seen the hands, all of them, but I think I played well. It’s a big stage to stay composed, to try to make the best decision looks easy but if I get most of them right I am happy,” chip leader Astedt told PokerGO after he knocked Jason Sagle out in fourth place to end play yesterday.
Sagle was Astedt’s fourth knock-out victim of the day. He also took out Andres Gonzalez (sixth for $2 million), Brian Kim (seventh for $1.5 million), and Joe Serock (eighth for $1.25 million).
Finishing fifth was Boris Angelov, who won $2.5 million. Jason Sagle took home $3 million for fourth, and Malo Latinois was the first to go, taking home $1 million for finishing ninth out of a record-breaking 10,112 entries.
“Well, I was super happy to have the chance to play to this final table,” Latinois said after his elimination. “I just wanted to take (each hand) one by one and try to play my best poker, and, yeah, see what happens. And also, one of my main goal was to enjoy the moment. So I just try to be in the moment, enjoy it as long as I can. It was not very long, but, still, I’ll take that. And I will maybe never be on this final table again.”
Tamayo, who’s last victory came in a $1,100 event at the 2021 The Wynn Summer Classic for $237,935, knows how hard and improbable it is to make it to this stage in the Main Event.
“Most people never make it,” he told the WSOP. “Most people never make it to the top hundred. And sure as heck almost nobody makes it to the final three. You just have to play and wherever you end up, you end up. And it is what it is.”
Enjoy the ride, gentlemen. It only gets better from here.
