Poker Pro Jonathan Tamayo Wins WSOP Main Event in Vegas

On Wednesday, Jonathan Tamayo emerged victorious in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, taking home a gold bracelet, a $10 million cash prize, and a lifetime of bragging rights.

After more than three hours of heads-up play at the Horseshoe Las Vegas, the 38-year-old poker pro from Humble, Texas defeated Jordan Griff, a 30-year-old amateur from Scottsdale, Ariz.

Griff led in chips at the start of the day, but Tamayo's two pair versus Griff's top pair in the final hand of 65 saw all the money go in, giving the data and analytics supply chain manager a dream win comparable to Chris Moneymaker.

However, $6 million isn't bad for coming in second.

Tamayo had won slightly over $1 million in online tournaments and $2.3 million in live tournament cashes prior to his victory. His only prior experience with winning the Main Event was in 2009, when he was paid $352,832 for finishing in 21st place.

On Day 10, Niklas Astedt, a Swedish online poker pro who goes by Lena900, had the biggest stack and the slimmest chances of winning. Despite having top pair and a straight draw against Griff's set of nines, he was ousted in less than an hour due to the unpredictable nature of the game.

Taking $4 million with him, he left.

10,112 competitors entered the $10K WSOP Main Event, breaking the previous record of 10,043 achieved the year before.