American Jonathan Tamayo has won the largest ever World Series of Poker Main Event, taking home a first prize of US$10 million after outlasting a field of 10,112 players at the Horseshoe in Las Vegas.
The massive starting field improved upon the previous record of 10,043 set in 2023.
Tamayo’s win marks the second year in a row that an American has won the WSOP Main Event after Daniel Weinman from Atlanta, Georgia, took home the title last year to break a streak of four-straight international winners.
Thursday saw the final three players return to play down to a winner, with Sweden’s Niklas Astedt the first to bust after a huge pot against eventual runner-up Jordan Griff. That saw Griff take a significant 2.5:1 chip lead into heads-up play, but Tamayo was ultimately able to claw back the lead and secure victory.
Ironically, Tamayo has shared a house throughout this year’s WSOP with 2015 Main Event winner Joe McKeehan with McKeehan leading Tamayo’s rail throughout the two-day final table and ultimately presenting him with the winner’s bracelet.
“[This is] not real life,” a stunned Tamayo said shortly after securing victory. “My roommate’s picture is right there from 2015. We both have banners now. What in the world just happened?”
This was the second WSOP Main Event deep run by Tamayo – who hails from Humble Texas and holds a degree in hotel management – following a 21st place finish for US$352,000 in 2009. However, he will now go down in history as winner of the largest and most prestigious WSOP Main Event ever held … at the very least until next year!
“The WSOP is about history, and this was another historic summer,” said WSOP Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Ty Stewart. “We thank every Team Member, business partner, and most of all, the participants who came together for the biggest World Series of Poker of all time. We’ll get to work on the banners, bracelets and improvements to make sure these records only last one year.”
