This hand occurred during the 2024 WSOP Main Event final table with two players remaining: professional Jonathan Tamayo and recreational player Jordan Griff. The eventual winner would take home a life-changing $10,000,000.
The chip count between the two in this hand was deadlocked. Griff led by the thinnest of margins of 3,000,000 chips with a 305,000,000 stack to Tamayo’s 302,000,000. The blinds are 2,500,000/5,000,000 with a 5,000,000 big blind ante.
This hand broke the proverbial logjam as one player would emerge on top with a gut-checked hero call to take a 202,000,000 chip lead.
In the video above, Tamayo talks through the hand moment-to-moment, providing exclusive insight into the thought process of a long-time professional hoping to win the most prestigious event in poker.
No lane changes for Tamayo
Don’t expect Tamayo to start jumping into the nosebleed high roller circuit. He’s well aware of which skill set has served him best over the last 10-15 years.
“The best in the game probably squeeze out a 6%-8% ROI in MTTs in the high roller events,” shared Tamayo. “That’s not my idea of a good time [laughs]. I’ll most likely stay in my lane. I’ll play some mid-stakes buy-ins and play what I want when I want.”
Next stop – $600 buy-in
Tamayo's first event after winning $10M was a $600 buy-in preliminary tournament at the Seminole Hard Rock, Ft. Lauderdale.
“I don't know how my brain will react to being at that series,” confessed Tamayo. “I don't want to go in there punting it off. That's no fun. If I want to punt the money off, there are a lot more entertaining and fun ways to do it than playing a poker tournament. We’ll see how it goes. I’ve already played it out in my head. It’s definitely going to be a strange experience.”
Stop press: Tamayo cashed the $600 event, finishing 10th for $1,870 from a field of 141 players.
Learn more about Jonathan Tamayo’s journey to the WSOP Main Event title and the controversy that raged afterwards.
