Jonathan Tamayo Wins 2024 WSOP Main Event for $10,000,000

Jonathan Tamayo is the 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event champion. Tamayo topped the record-breaking field of 10,112 entrants to take home $10,000,000 in prize money.

On the final day of play, three players returned to action. Tamayo was second in chips, while Sweden's Niklas Astedt was the chip leader, and Day 8 chip leader Jordan Griff was positioned slightly lower than Tamayo. After the elimination of Astedt, Griff held a five-to-two advantage over Tamayo, but the two would play an intense heads-up match as each traded blows with each other while exchanging the chip lead.

After 65 hands of heads-up play, the final hand would see Tamayo flop two pair against Griff's top pair. All the money went in, and Tamayo faded Griff's outdraw to be crowned the 2024 WSOP Main Event winner.

2024 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payouts

The 2024 WSOP Main Event final table was played in two parts. The first part took place on Tuesday, July 16, and saw nine players remain. When the final table commenced, Jonathan Tamayo was in seventh place on the leaderboard, while Jordan Griff was chip leader, and Niklas Astedt was second overall. After the early eliminations of Mal Latinois and Joe Serock, Brian Kim trusted his gut and five-bet shoved all-in only to run into the pocket tens of Astedt that improved to a set. Following a long stall with six players remaining, eventually, a rapid flow of eliminations saw Andres Gonzalez fall in sixth, Boris Angelov exit in fifth, and Jason leave in fourth, to leave the final three players battling it out for the title of 2024 World Champion.

Coming into the second day of the final table, Astedt was the chip leader with 223,000,000, ahead of Tamayo with 197,000,000 and Griff with 187,000,000. The action continued with a big blind of 3,000,000 and players having locked up $4,000,000 in prize money.

Griff and Astedt traded blows back-and-forth with each holding the chip lead. In a hand that appeared to develop out of the blue, Astedt and Griff played a three-bet pot which saw Griff flop second set. Astedt held a gutshot and two overs and called Griff's continuation-bet. The turn paired up Astedt and Griff shoved all-in. After several minutes in the tank, Astedt called all-in and the cards were tabled. The river bricked out and Astedt was eliminated in third place for $4,000,000 in prize money.

Griff entered heads-up play with 432,500,000 to Tamayo's 174,500,000 and a big blind of 4,000,000. In the first round of heads-up hands, Tamayo surged into the lead after picking off the queen-high bluff from Griff with top pair. Tamayo then extended his chip stack to 400,000,000 and then ramped up the pressure to hold his own five-to-chip advantage. Griff wasn't ready to quit yet as he scored a double when he was all-in on the turn with two pair against Tamayo's pair. Tamayo needed an ace or queen to grab the victory, but the wrong Broadway card fell on the river and Griff was back in the lead.

It was now Tamayo's turn to double when he shoved all-in with king-ten and was against the pocket sevens of Griff. Tamayo flopped the nut straight and no runner-runner outdraw came for Griff as the chip stacks were now relatively even. As Tamayo began to extend his lead, Griff would flip for his tournament life when he was all-in with pocket sixes against the ace-eight of Tamayo. Griff flopped a set and ensured a double, but a few hands later, it was Tamayo's turn to double. Tamayo was all-in on with top pair against the pair and straight draw of Griff. The board ran out clean and Tamayo now held a slender chip lead.

After some more back-and-forth between the two, the final hand played out which saw Tamayo raise the button with eight-three and Griff defended his big blind with nine-six. Griff flopped top pair and Tamayo bottom two pair. Griff checked and Tamayo bet out. Griff check-raised and Tamayo shoved. Griff called all-in and would be at-risk needing a nine, six, or a combo of runner-runner cards. The board ran out an ace and five, and Griff would have to settle for second place, while Tamayo was crowned the 2024 World Champion, and recipient of the $10,000,000 first-place prize and coveted WSOP bracelet.

Tamayo Moves to 2nd on PGT Leaderboard

Winning the 2024 WSOP Main Event earned Tamayo 1,550 PGT points, and when combined with his third-place finish in the Texas Poker Open, he soars up to second on the PGT leaderboard with 1,730 PGT points. Following Jordan Griff's runner-up finish, he is now sitting ninth on the PGT leaderboard with 1,350 PGT points, while 13th-place finisher Kristen Foxen climbs back into the top ten with 1,336 PGT points.

At the end of the 2024 PGT season, the top eligible 40 players, as ranked by the PGT leaderboard, will receive entry into the season-ending PGT Championship $1,000,000 freeroll event. The 2024 PGT Championship will award a $500,000 top prize. Previous winners include Jason Koon (2022) and Daniel Smiljkovic (2023).

These are the leaderboard standings as of Wednesday, July 17, 2024. The complete and current PGT leaderboard is at pgt.com/leaderboard.

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