The 2024 WSOP Main Event final table began on Tuesday and only three players remain. Swedish pro Niklas 'Lena900' Astedt is the current chipleader with 223M followed by Americans Jonathan Tamayo (197M) and Jordan Griff (187M). On Wednesday, a new champion will be crowned in Las Vegas and the history will be made by one of the final three when the last player standing ships $10 million.
And then there were three. Nine men gathered Las Vegas for a chance to win $10 million. The price tag to the prestigious WSOP Main Event was only a $10,000 ticket. On Tuesday, the last nine standing ou tof 10,112 combtants locked up at least $1 million for advancing to the final table. Yet, they each had a chance to walk away ten times richer with $10 million was at stake along with the coveted gold bracelet and the rare chance to etch their names into the history books.
On Tuesday also known as Day 9 of the 2024 Main Event, six players were knocked out at the final table including the only two bracelet winners. By the end of the evening, one of the greatest online poker players, Niklas 'Lena900' Astedt from Sweden bagged up the big stack with three to go. Only two Americans stand in his way of winning his first bracelet and the marquee event at the WSOP. On the flip side, if Jordan Griff or Jonathan Tamayo rally back to win the Main Event, they'll have to evade then conquer the Swedish shark.
Heading into the final table, Griff held an impressive lead with 143.7M or nearly 50M more than his closest challenger after his remarkable run from a short stack to a big stack on Day 8 on Sunday. The second tier of chips was clustered together that included Brian Kim (94.6M), Astedt (94.2M), and Joe Serock (83.6M). The three pros were the best remaining players at the final table and included two America bracelet winners and a Scandi who apparently won north of $40 million at the virtual tables.
The third tier of stacks or the 'mids' included Canadian Jason Sagle (67.3M) and Bulgarian Boris Angelov (52.9M). The bottom rung, or trio of shortstacks, included Jonathan Tamayo (26.7M) from Texas, Malo Latinois (25.5M) from France, and Andres Gonzalez (18.3M) from Spain.
The first bustout at the final table did not occur until 30 hands in during a classic flip: Ace-King versus pocket treys. It was a typical confrontation and race between a short stack trying to double through the big stack. Griff's 
held up against Latinois' 
, but the hand had plenty of drama. Latinois flopped a pair of aces to momentarily seize the lead, but Griff regained the lead on the turn with a set of treys. The river was the 
. Although Latinois improved to trip Aces, Griff rivered a full house. Ouch, malheureux! Griff dragged the pot, and Latnois headed to the rail as the first elimination. Griff inched closer to 200M. Latinois banked a cool million for his epic run as he captured the hearts and minds of French poker.
Astedt became the second player to pass 100M at the final table shortly after Latinois' knockout, while Griff began to slowly lose chips over the next 20 hands.
The second bustout occurred on Hand #54 when two bigger stacks threw down. Griff raised UTG, Astedt smooth-called from the small blind, Joe Serock shoved from the big blind, Griff folded, and Astedt snap-called. Serock took 
into battle against Astedt's 
. Serock paired a Jack on the turn but whiffed on the river. Astedt's pocket Queens held up and Serock was picked off in eighth place, which paid out $1.25M.
Astedt took over the chip lead with 172M while Griff slipped to 160M. With seven remaining, Andres Gonzalez was the shortie with 17M and Tamayo had some breathing room when he chipped up to 51M.
On Hand #61, the frenetic action continued when the final table lost its third player on a wild 5-bet shove with the blinds rumbling. Boris Angelov button raised to 4.6M, Brian Kim reraised from the small blind to 11.8M, Astedt four-bet from the big blind to 18M, Angelov folded, Kim five-bet shoved for 53.9M, and Astedt asked for a count. The chipleader called with 
and he was ahead of Kim's 
. The flop was 
and Astedt flopped a set of tens. Kim picked up a flush draw when the 
fell on the turn. The river was the 
. Kim missed his flush draw and busted. Astedt exhaled as he dragged the pot with a set of tens. For a seventh-place finish, Kim banked $1.5 million.
With six to go, Astedt chipped up to 231M after he took out two of the most experienced players and only two bracelet winners at the final table. The laconic Swede had almost 100M more in chips than Griff in second with 135M. Gonzalez and Sagle both held 73M, followed by Boris Angelov's 60M and Tamayo's 35M.
Griff's backslide continue and he was down to 100M by Hand #65, while the four others behind him attempted to close the gap. Tamayo doubled his stack and moved to third overall with 73M while Angelov was the new shortie with 60M.
On Hand #85, Bulgaria and Sweden jousted. Astedt missed a chance to knock out Angelov with Ace-Jack against Ace-five. Angelov flopped a five, and doubled up to 52M while Astedt slipped to 214M.The Bulagarians on the rail went bonkers.
Astedt coughed up the lead on Hand #93 when a re-hot Tamayo doubled up with a Broadway straight. The Texan flopped a joint against Astedt's set of tens. Tamayo passed the 100K mark with 108K. Griff regained the lead with 177M, and Astedt slipped to second with 145M. At that point, Sagle and Gonzalez were the shorties with 51M.
The final six lasted for several hours. They played for 85 hands before someone hit the bricks. Short-stacked Gonzalez bombed it all-in preflop with a pair of Jacks, and Astedt called with Ace-Queen. Astedt flopped Aces up which held up. His big stack was worth 223M and Gonzalez bowed out in sixth place which paid out $2 million.
On Hand #152, Angelov made his final stand with pocket sixes. Tamayo called wth 
and flopped a pair of Kings. Another King appeared on the turn and he improved to trip Kings. Angelov was drawing dead and the breezy Bulgarian bounced in fifth place which paid out $2.5 million.
On Hand #161, Sagle met his demise. The gregarious Canadian made a valiant final stand with pocket Jacks against Astedt's Ace-trey. Sagle still led on the flop, but Astedt slightly improved his hand when flopped bottom pair. He picked up a gutshot Wheel draw on the turn, but his pair of treys still trailed Sagle's pocket Jacks. The 
spiked on the river and Astedt made his Wheel straight. Tough break from Sagle, who failed to stave off elimination. For a fourth-place finish, Sagle banked $3 million.
With three to go, action was paused for the night and Day 9 had come to an end. Astedt led with 223M, followed by Griff's 197M and Tamayo's 187M.
Action resumes on Wednesday at 2pm Vegas time for Day 10 when the last three standing will play down to a winner and we find out who will become the next Main Event champion.
2024 WSOP Main Event - Day 9
Buy-in: $10,000
Entrants: 10,112
Remaining: 3
Prize Pool: $94,041,600
Payouts: 1,517
Final Table Chip Counts:
1. Niklas Astedt (Sweden) 223M
2. Jonathan Tamayo (USA) 197M
3. Jordan Griff(USA) 187M
Final Table Results:
1. TBD - $10,000,000
2. TBD - $6,000,000
3. TBD - $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 (USA) $1,500,000
8. Joe Serock (USA) $1,250,000
9. Malo Latinois (France) $1,000,000
