(L to R) Niklas Astedt, Jonathan Tamayo and Jordan Griff are the last three standing in a field that started with a record 10,112 players. (Image: courtesy of WSOP)

It has all come down to this. 

After two weeks of battle, with the ammunition of chips and the determinate of cards and guile, the 2024 World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event World Championship has now just three men remaining. 

Starting from a record field of 10,112, these players are competing for how they’ll split up the last $20 million remaining from a $94 million prize pool – with $10 million and the coveted bracelet, title and banners going to the winner.

The chip leader is one of the legends of internet play but his two opponents, while lacking the resume of the “online wizard,” are closer to taking over the chip lead than many expected. 

From Nine to Six

The plan on Tuesday at the Horseshoe in Las Vegas was for the WSOP Main Event final table to play down from nine to three. This is an innovation that was done during the cable television days of the WSOP, when ESPN was the broadcast partner, to ensure that the play did not drag on for hours on end and lose viewership; some final tables have taken upwards of a full 24-hour day to determine a champion. By playing down from the final nine to a final three and suspending play until the next day, the viewers are guaranteed to return to see the conclusion. 

Griff would lead the runners to the line at the start of the final table, sitting on a stack of 143.7 million in chips. Astedt was joined by Brian Kim behind Griff, with both players neck-and-neck for the second post (only 400,000 chips separated the duo). Veteran pro Joe Serock was next in line with his 83.6 million chips, while Jason Sagle, Boris Angelov, Tamayo, Malo Latinois, and a short-stacked Andres Gonzalez rounded out the final table.

Niklas Astedt (Goteborg, Sweden)
Regarded as one of the greatest online poker players in the world, Astedt, 33, has over $48 million in online cashes. He also has 60 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP, and this is his third time cashing in the Main Event. 

There was not much action to talk about in the first level of the day, save for Gonzalez finding a double through Griff when his pocket eights flopped an unnecessary set against Griff’s pocket treys. For the most part, it was “raise it/take it” poker, with no one looking to make any missteps. Although each man was guaranteed a cool $1 million for whatever they did on Tuesday, they did not want to be the one to walk away with the minimum.

After the break, the players loosened up. Kim would tumble down the ladder when his nut flush on the river was crushed by the flopped set and turned full house of Griff, extending Griff’s lead. Griff then brought about the first elimination, sending Latinois to the rail when he caught a set of treys on the turn and rivered a boat against Latinois’ Big Slick on an A-10-9-3-A board. Griff would remain active, although it would result in Tamayo doubling through him, but not having a significant impact on Griff’s chip stack.

It was at this point that one of the stunner hands of the tournament occurred. Griff continued his aggressive ways in raising with pocket sevens and Astedt just called with his pocket Queens. Serock, seeing a chance to make a move through the two chip leaders, moved all in for almost forty million chips holding a questionable A-J, which was enough for Griff to fold. Astedt made the call quickly and Serock saw the sad news once the cards were on their backs. 

Jonathan Tamayo (Humble, Texas, United States)
Tamayo, 38, is an accomplished poker player who has amassed more than $2 million in live poker earnings with 63 WSOP cashes and four WSOP Circuit rings. His previous best WSOP Main Event finish came in 2009, when he finished in 21^st for $352,000. Tamayo is an avid golfer and Ivy League graduate with a degree in hotel management from Cornell.

Astedt led all the way, eventually catching a straight on the 10-9-4-J-8 board, knocking out the veteran Serock in a surprising eighth place. With the knockout, Astedt took over the chip lead from Griff and would reign from that position for the rest of the evening. 

If Serock’s departure was surprising, then Kim’s elimination was simply stunning. After a bet from Angelov, Kim three-bet the action only to see Astedt pop him. After Angelov folded, Kim moved all in and Astedt made a reluctant call, tabling pocket tens to go up against a shocking K♣ 6♣ from Kim. Astedt would flop a set on the Q-10-8 opener, but Kim caught a flush draw with a 5♣ on the turn. The questionable play from Kim would not be rewarded, however, as a blank came on the river to send him out in seventh place.

From Six to Three

That hand with Kim put Astedt into a dominant position. As the only player over the 200 million chip mark (231 million, to be precise), Astedt could sit back and let the carnage begin as the remaining five men on the table determined who would challenge him. While Griff was assumed to be one of the two men who would join Astedt in the final trio, it was Tamayo’s charge that surprised the ‘Thunderdome.’

Tamayo would get it started by doubling up through Griff when his dominated A-9 found a river nine against Griff’s A-K, then got aggressive after the table passed the century mark in hands played to crack the 100 million mark in chips. Astedt, Griff, and Tamayo stretched out their dominance over the final couple of hours of play on Tuesday night, while Angelov, Gonzalez, and Sagle slowly saw their stacks slip through their fingers. 

Jordan Griff (Schaumburg, Illinois, United States) 
Griff, 30, was the chip leader heading into the Final Table. He has just three career WSOP cashes, and one WSOP Circuit cash for his largest tournament payout of $18,104. He currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona and works as a data and analytics supply chain manager.

Gonzalez was the first to go, going to the races against Astedt with his pocket Jacks against Astedt’s A-Q; an Ace on the flop ended Gonzalez’s run in sixth place. Tamayo made a pot odds call against Angelov with a K-6 against Angelov’s pocket sixes and was rewarded with a King on the flop to send Angelov to the rail in fifth place. With one more knockout to the end of the night, it was appropriate that Astedt would do the dirty deed in taking down Sagle in fourth place when his A-3 made ‘the Wheel’ against Sagle’s pocket Jacks on an 8-4-3-5-2 runout. 

That hand would firmly keep Astedt on the top rung of the ladder, but there is plenty of danger in both of his opponents with the chip stacks as close together as they are: 

1. Niklas Astedt (Sweden), 223 million
2. Jonathan Tamayo (USA), 197 million
3. Jordan Griff (USA), 187 million

Despite his excellent play on Tuesday, Astedt is assured of nothing during Wednesday’s Championship Day. All it takes is one slight misstep – an untimely bluff, a bad river card – and Astedt’s rise to the top can immediately come crashing down. It should be an entertaining three-handed affair when they reconvene at 2 pm PT on Wednesday afternoon in the “Thunderdome” to determine poker’s next World Champion and the man who will walk away $10 million richer.