The penultimate day of the 2024 World Series of Poker has come and concluded at the Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas. While several gold bracelet events took place, most of the attention was on undoubtedly the record-breaking 2024 WSOP Main Event. Out of a field of 10,112 unique entries, only nine players from six different countries took their seat in the mothership, each of them supported by a boisterous rail.
When the dust had settled, only three of them remained. The two big stacks heading into the day, Jordan Griff and Niklas Astedt, retained their prime spot while Jonathan Tamayo went from seventh in chips to nearly even atop the leaderboard. One year ago, it took 164 hands to whittle the final nine contenders to a winner. This is still possible in tomorrow’s grand finale, albeit very unlikely as 161 hands have already been completed to reach the final three in the record-breaking contest.
Astedt did the lion’s share throughout the day and notched up four eliminations en route to a stack of 223,000,000 while Tamayo (197,000,000) and Griff (187,000,000) both dispatched one opponent each. Only eight big blinds separate them, though, most onlookers will give the role of favourite to Swedish online poker legend Astedt, who is known for his moniker of “Lena900”. Tamayo’s rail included 2015 WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen and four-time bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche.
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The Final Three in the 2024 WSOP Main Event
| 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 in the interview after the conclusion of Day 9 and jokingly referred to this event as a “football game” and “nothing like playing online”.
For the Swede, it was just another day at the office on the grandest stage possible. “I mean, now it’s only three guys left and all the money’s up top, so it’s pretty simple,” Astedt mentioned and added that his preparation for the conclusion won’t be any special. “Same usual. Not much. Try to sleep as long as possible. Eat a banana. Come over here.”
While he earned several double-ups and won sizeable pots once he was propelled to a bigger stack, one of the defining moments of Tamayo’s final table was the double through Astedt with broadway against a set.
“It made me want to jump on top of the wall, but I know I’m not athletic enough.”
Upon reaching the final three, Tamayo says he’s finding it hard to believe it’s real life.
“Most people never make it,” he told PokerNews. “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.”
And does Tamayo think he has a fighting chance three-handed tomorrow?
“I have chips, so I do have a fighting chance.”
Griff’s rail was full of friends and family, all supporting the start-of-day chip leader.
“It’s amazing. It’s the greatest thing ever for me. WE are all just together. These are people who are all different parts of my life, coming together as one and sharing in this moment. It’s really unbelievable. And I just feel so amazing to be here with them.
Does Griff think he has what it takes to take down the Main Event?
“I’m going to try and get as much sleep as possible. I’m going to try to make it happen.”
Action of the Final Day
As has been the case throughout the last few years, the rails of each player were very vocal and rowdy as the flagship tournament of the summer headed towards the climax. Around 50 minutes were left in the first level when the action resumed and it was a cagey affair from the get-go. Table short stack Andres Gonzalez doubled against chip leader Griff and there would be no further all-in showdown until the first break while Astedt slowly gained momentum.
The second level of the day brought instant action when chip leader Griff flopped a set of fours and rivered a full house to decimate the stack of Brian Kim. In the very next hand, he found another small pocket pair and took on Malo Latinois. It was a classic flip that ended in dramatic fashion when Latinois’ ace-king suited hit the flip only for Griff’s pocket treys to spiked a two-outer on the turn.
“Well, I was super happy to have the chance to play to this final table. I just wanted to take and 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. I mean, that’s one of a kind. And unique moments. So I just try to be in the moment, enjoy it. as long as I can. It was not very long, but, I mean, still, I’ll take that. And I will maybe never be on this final table again.,” the young Frenchman said in his interview after the roller coaster coin flip.
Joe Serock had dropped into the middle of the pack and then three-bet jammed with ace-jack out of the big blind. Griff folded but Astedt called with his slow-played queens in the small blind. Only one jack appeared and Serock became the second casualty of the final table. The very next hand, Gonzalez doubled once more with kings against the queens of Kim.
Astedt climbed into the lead with seven players remaining and pulled further ahead when catching Kim with the fingers in the cookie jar. Kim five-bet jammed out of the small blind with king-six suited and Astedt looked him up with pocket tens. A ten on the flop left Kim on thin ice and he missed running clubs to bow out next.
Tamayo doubled once more with ace-nine against Griff, who had him dominated this time and the bottom four stacks were suddenly within six big blinds on the second break of the day. Boris Angelov doubled off Astedt and Tamayo earned another double soon after with flopped broadway to double against Astedt’s set of tens to shift the momentum.
The Swede jumped back into the driver’s seat with trips sixes against Griff and from there on, it became a survival contest for the short stacks in which Tamayo chipped up significantly to join Astedt and Griff atop the leaderboard.
Gonzalez first doubled through Astedt with jacks versus treys but he could not do so again a couple of hands later. This time, the Swede took the flip with ace-queen and spiked an ace on the flop to knock out the Spaniard. Only six hands later, Angelov’s sixes were outflopped by Tamayo’s king-six were down to the final four already.
Sagle was the far shortest stack and his fate was sealed with the now dreadful pocket jacks once more. Astedt called his shove with ace-try suited, flopped a trey but got there with running cards to a wheel instead to unleash wild celebrations from the large Swedish rail. The Canadian left the stage with a smile, whereas the Scandinavians chanted “Lena, Lena, Lena” over and over again while the yellow-shirted bird armada of Sagle headed out of the Horseshoe Event Center.
The final three will return at 2 p.m. Local time on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, to play down to a winner. There are 17:40 minutes remaining in level 42 with blinds of 1,500,000/3,000,000 and a big blind ante of 3,000,000.
With at least $4 million locked up and seven-figure pay jumps on the horizon, the final trio is separated by a mere eight big blinds to potentially turn the conclusion into a tense and lengthy affair.
Final Table Results and Remaining Payouts
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 | ||
| 2 | $6,000,000 | ||
| 3 | $4,000,000 | ||
| 4 | Jason Sagle | Canada | $3,000,000 |
| 5 | Boris Angelov | Bulgaria | $2,500,000 |
| 6 | Andres Gonzalez | Spain | $2,000,000 |
| 7 | Brian Kim | United States | $1,500,000 |
| 8 | Joe Serock | United States | $1,250,000 |
| 9 | Malo Latinois | France | $1,000,000 |
As usual, the final day will be broadcasted on the PokerGO platform and all PokerNews updates for the final day will be published on a delay to not spoil any of the action.