We have a new world champion and he hails from Norway. Espen Jorstad faded a field of 8,663 runners to win the 2022 World Series of Poker Main Event at Bally's/Paris on Las Vegas Blvd. He knocked out Australia's Adrian Attenborough heads up to bank $10,000,000 and etch his name in the history books.
Ship it to Norway! Once again we need to emphasize the "world" part of the World Series of Poker. For a fourth year in a row, someone outside of North America was the last player standing in the most prestigious poker tournament in the world. Germany. Argentina. Austria. And now you can add Norway to the list after Espen Jorstad won the coveted Main Event Championship in Las Vegas.
The final table of ten did not last a full orbit before someone hit the bricks. Asher Conniff got it all-in with pocket tens in a race against Michael Duek's 
. The flop was 
. Yikes. Duek dragged the pot with quad Kings, and Conniff was the first player knocked out at the final table, which paid out $675K.
On Hand #102, Matthew Su got it all-in with pocket eights but he unfortunately ran into Philippe Souki's pocket Kings. The cowboys held up and Su earned a ninth-place payday worth $850,675.
On Hand #112, the UK's Philippe Souki saw his epic run in the WSOP Main Event come to an abrupt and drastic halt when his pocket Aces were snapped off by Matija Dobric's 
. Dobric flopped a Broadway gutter draw and got their on the river. Ugly way to go out for Souki, but he banked $1,075,000 for eighth place.
On Hand #122, a shortstacked Aaron Duczak got picked off by Michael Duek's Big Slick. Ducxak made a final stand with 
after losing most of his chips on a previous hand. Duek led all the way until the river when he paired an ace and dragged the pot with Aces up. Canada's Duczak earned $1.35 million for seventh place.
On Hand #147, Jeffrey Farnes was sent packing in sixth place. His pocket Deuces lost to John Eame's 
. They got it all in on the flop of 
:. Yup, Eames flopped a straight-flush draw and had a slew of outs. The turn was the 
and the river was the 
. Even though Farnes dodged a straight and flush draw, the board paired and he lost with sixes and treys and a paltry five-kicker against Eames's nine-high kicker. Rough way to end the Main Event, but that's the poker gods playing a cruel joke on Farnes. For his elimination in sixth place, Farnes banked 1.75 million.
On Hand #168, Croatia's Matija Dobric was the next player to bid adieu. Dobric moved all in with and Jorstad wanted to rumble with 
. Alas, Ms Slick prevailed when Jorstad flopped a pair of Queens. Dobric could not rally from behind with a set of sixes and he was picked off in fifth place, which paid out $2.25 million. Jorstand's big stack head over 200M at that point.
On Hand #186, the UK's John Eames made a final stand with 
but he was ambushed by Espen Jorstad's pocket Kings. The held up even though Eames flopped a pair of Jacks. Eames won $3 million for fourth place. With his bustout Day 8 concluded.
The final day of action had three players remaining, with Jorstad the betting favorite to become the next world champion. The Norwegian sat on a mountain of chips with 298M compared to Adrian Attenborough's 150M and short-stacked Michael Duek's 72M.
On Hand #196, or just nine hands into the final day, Michael Duek finally met his fate in third place. He lost with 
against Attenborough's . Duek turned a pair of Kings but it lost to Attenborough's turned Broadway straight. Duek hit the rail in third place, which paid out $4 million.
When heads-up began, Espen Jorstad led 284.5M to Adrian Attenborough's 235.5M. With $10 million to first place and just $6 million to second place, it was a $5 million heads-up joust.
on Hand #215, or just 19 hands of heads-up action, it was a battle of 
versus 
. Yup monster hands! The board was 
. Jorstad bombed the river for 131M, which woulda put Attenborough all in. Attenborough headed into the tank and thought about if his two pair were good. He eventually called and Jorstad turned over the Queen-deuce for a full house.
For a runner-up finish, Australia's Adrian Attenborough took home $6 million. Not to shabby, eh?
All hail the new champion. Espen Jorstad from Norway won $10 million and the swanky bracelet for shipping the most prestigious event in poker. Congrats.
2022 WSOP Main Event
Buy-in: $10,000
Entrants: 8,663
Prize Pool: $80,782,475
Payouts: 1,300
Final Table Results:
1 Espen Jorstad (Norway) $10,000,000
2 Adrian Attenborough (Australia) $6,000,000
3 Michael Duek (USA) $4,000,000
4 John Eames (UK) $3,000,000
5 Matija Dobric (Croatia) $2,250,000
6 Jeffrey Farnes (USA) $1,750,000
7 Aaron Duczak (Canada) $1,350,000
8 Philippe Souki (UK) $1,075,000
9 Matthew Su (USA) $850,675
10 Asher Conniff (USA) $675,000
