Out of a record field of more than 10,000 players, professional Jonathan Tamayo finally reached the pinnacle of poker Wednesday night, capturing the 2024 World Series of Poker main event bracelet and this year's $10 million grand prize in Las Vegas.
The Texas native entered the final table in seventh place and fought his way to the top to become the first player to win from that position since Pius Heinz in 2011.
"Everybody who's great at poker plays this tournament, and I somehow won it and I still can't believe it," Tamayo said moments after winning. "A lot of us start playing it for the money and then when we get good, we start playing it for the prestige. This is both."
The final table of nine whittled down to three players after a full day of play Tuesday. When play resumed Wednesday, amateur Jordan Griff eliminated online poker great Niklas "Lena900" Astedt after he flopped a set of 9s.
From there, Tamayo and Griff battled it out heads up. On the final hand, Tamayo had 8-3 off suit and flopped two pair; Griff had 9-6 off suit and flopped top pair. Tamayo eventually went all-in and Griff called, and the board ran out with an ace and a 5 to give the former the win.
Tamayo previously had won four WSOP circuit events, and he took home $352,832 by finishing 21st at the 2009 WSOP main event, his previous best-ever cash and finish. This marked his first WSOP bracelet as part of its main proceedings.
His lifetime live earnings rose from $2.3 million to $12.3 million with the victory.
All players at the final table went home with at least $1 million, with Griff and Astedt cashing $6 million and $4 million, respectively. Last year's champion, Daniel Weinman, finished 1,357th to cash the minimum payout of $15,000.
The 55th iteration of the WSOP main event, a $10,000 buy-in freezeout hosted by Caesars Entertainment, amassed a record $94,041,600 total prize pool from 10,112 entries, surpassing the previous records of $93,399,900 and 10,043 players set in 2023.
The 2024 event also set a single-day registration record by welcoming 5,014 entrants July 6.