Jonathan Tamayo, a 38-year-old professional poker player from Humble, Texas, has won the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, pocketing a staggering $10 million and securing his first gold bracelet. The event, which saw a record-breaking 10,112 entries, concluded after two weeks of intense competition.
It goes without saying that this win is a huge milestone in his poker career. With previous tournament earnings of $2.3 million from 187 recorded cashes, this victory brings Tamayo’s total earnings to over $12.3 million. Reflecting on his achievement, Tamayo said, “Joe McKeehen told me that this tournament’s impossible to win. And then, when the field size is bigger, you feel like it’s even more impossible to win. But, you just sit down on day 1, you’re just like, ‘Okay, eventually I’m going to bust this tournament. It’s not going to be pretty, I’m not going to feel great and you’re going to go on with your life and mentally prepare yourself for it.’ I just can’t believe I did not bust the main event.”
The victory was made even more special with the presence of his friend Joe McKeehen, the 2015 WSOP Main Event winner. McKeehen, along with four-time bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche, supported Tamayo throughout the final stages of the tournament. “Joe and Dom helped. If they weren’t here, I’d likely do not win this tournament,” Tamayo admitted. “I might be out eighth, I might be out seventh… I might win this tournament, but a whole other bunch of good things would actually would’ve had to happen for that to happen.”
This win also adds to Tamayo’s collection of four WSOP Circuit rings. His previous best performance in the WSOP Main Event was a 21st-place finish in 2009, earning him $352,832. He also achieved a top-100 finish in 2015, placing 78th. “If you get one deep run, chances are that’s the one deep run,” Tamayo said. “I can’t believe I was able to get two, to get a second chance, and actually close it.”
Tamayo’s victory continues the trend of American winners at the WSOP Main Event, following Daniel Weinman’s win in 2023. Before that, champions hailed from various countries, including Norway’s Espen Jorstad in 2022, Germany’s Koray Aldemir in 2021, Iran’s Hossein Ensan in 2019, and Argentina’s Damian Salas in 2020.
Final Table Results 2024 WSOP Event #81: $10,000 MAIN EVENT No-Limit Hold’em World Championship
| Result | Player | Prize |
| 1 | Jonathan Tamayo | $10,000,000 |
| 2 | Jordan Griff | $6,000,000 |
| 3 | Niklas Astedt | $4,000,000 |
| 4 | Jason Sagle | $3,000,000 |
| 5 | Boris Angelov | $2,500,000 |
| 6 | Andres Gonzalez | $2,000,000 |
| 7 | Brian Kim | $1,500,000 |
| 8 | Joseph Serock | $1,250,000 |
| 9 | Malo Latinois | $1,000,000 |
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