Fourteen years ago, Jonathan Tamayo met Joe McKeehen at Turning Stone Casino, a location that’s proved a vital forging ground for some of the greatest poker players in the world over the last two decades. Little could they have known upon that first meeting that both individually would go on to enter poker’s brightest spotlight as a World Series of Poker Main Event champion – McKeehen in 2015, and Tamayo joining him by securing the 2024 WSOP Main Event title on Wednesday night at Horseshoe Las Vegas. It was a friendship that saw McKeehen and Tamayo as roommates for every WSOP since 2012, sharing a rental car as they played a full slate of tournaments. “I’m 33. Every year since I turned 21, we’ve roomed together in some capacity, maybe with a couple other people, a couple years by ourselves,” said McKeehen. “But we’ve always been together, just spent years and infinite car rides back and forth, talking about poker, talking about life, and talking about how to navigate the beast that is the World Series.” On Wednesday, Tamayo survived a wild rollercoaster of a final day that saw both he and Jordan Griff at risk multiple times during their heads-up battle. After trading the lead multiple times, Tamayo jumped out in front one final time and, holding 8-3 on a 9-8-3 board, managed to hold off Griff’s 9-x on the final hand to secure the oversized WSOP gold bracelet and the $10 million first-place prize. Tamayo, Griff, and Niklas Astedt started Day 10 of the 2024 WSOP Main Event with virtually even stacks and a lot of depth compared to the blinds. From hand one, Griff and Astedt battled and kicked off a chain of events in which big pots became the norm. McKeehen spent the entirety of the final table over the last two days sitting on Tamayo’s rail, as part of a support system that helped push Tamayo over the finish line. Having McKeehen and Dominik Nitsche running through scenarios over the last few days put Tamayo in just the right spot and frame of mind to be prepared for those kinds of fireworks. “That was one of the scenarios that was discussed overnight, what could happen,” said Tamayo. “And we had a game plan for that, if it ended up with them wanting to go to war. It was kind of sit back, watch it happen, and then once your heads up deal with the problem.” That’s exactly how it played out, with Astedt calling off his tournament with top pair and a gutshot straight against Griff’s flopped set of nines and failing to get there. That set up a heads-up match between Tamayo and Griff with Griff holding a tremendous chip advantage to start. Tamayo was ready when the pots got big right away. He called Griff down with one pair of aces, and then the battle really began. Each player won a key coinflip to continue their tournament run, and the best hand held during each and every heads-up collision through the very end of the tournament. Tamayo had his highs and lows, but he was prepared for the moment. From McKeehen’s perspective on the rail, the attention Tamayo and his assembled team on the rail paid was commensurate to the moment at hand. “One thing I noticed on the final table is it felt like a lot of people didn’t have a support system to tell them like in the middle of the game, how maybe they should adjust their play,” said McKeehen. “During the final table, Jonathan was the only one in the middle of hands getting up from his seat, coming to talk to us, and we’re giving him a lot of additional information that he could use to do what he did. “I think the game plan that we ended up formulating works very well,” said McKeehen. “The assumptions we made based on our film study worked very well and we kind of just put it all into play.” Beyond the technical side of things, McKeehen and Tamayo’s assembled rail of friends and family each took a level of responsibility for keeping Tamayo level-headed. BJ Craig, the friend who first introduced Tamayo and McKeehen on that fateful day at Turning Stone, became a willing punching bag and provider of humor and levity throughout the run. “Being friends with John for 12 years, I know some of his emotional tendencies – what gets him going and what doesn’t,” said McKeehen. “This morning, I was just trying to make him laugh a lot when we weren’t doing when we weren’t doing a lot of studying. I didn’t want him to get in his head or anything. “I think he was ready to go business-wise, I think the balance we had between study and fun worked out well,” said McKeehen. “BJ, he’s John’s emotional support animal and we made sure to fly him out for this. And when you have a human emotional support animal, the jokes do come pretty easily.” The results speak for themselves. Tamayo’s WSOP Main Event winner’s banner will be up on the wall next year, about 10 spots down from McKeehen’s. Tamayo was all smiles in his post-victory interview and relished in the fact that he and McKeehen could now team up against the rest of their friends as fellow champions. “We have a circle of friends that have two Main Event winners now, which you would never, ever think,” said Tamayo. “It’s gonna be kind of fun that we can both make fun of all of our friends at the same time.” Even when McKeehen is dropping jokes, though, he drops knowledge laced into it. He, Tamayo, and every player in the 10,112-entry field for the 2024 WSOP Main Event knew the impossibility of winning this tournament at the outset, and yet every moment in Tamayo’s career and friendship with McKeehen put Tamayo in just the right mindset to make a victory possible. “Joe McKeehen told me that this tournament is impossible to win,” said Tamayo. “And then when the field size is bigger, you feel like it’s even more impossible to win. But you just sit down Day 1 and think ‘Eventually, I’m going to bust this tournament. It’s not going to be pretty, I’m not going to feel great. And I’m going to go on with my life.’ And you can mentally prepare yourself for it. “And I just can’t believe I did not bust the Main Event.”

James Hartigan is not a grinder and is not about to become one. Hell tell you that straight up if you ask him. But who knowsmaybe that will change. Change, and accepting change, has become a big part of Hartigans life over the past two years. Id say the last 18 months have been transformative, Hartigan said. I went through a period of very dramatic change in my life. My dad died, my wife and I separated, we got divorced, we had to sell the house. I had to move. And so the joke I always make is there’s that list of the most stressful things you can go through in life: grief, divorce, moving a house. I mean, I was playing bingoin a very short period of time, all this was happening. And I have always been one of those people who has very much feared change. And that change also extended to his career. Its a shift that sees the GPI award-winning commentator for PokerStars Live spending more time on the road, on the felt, and in the action. Hes in the mix – celebrating the wins and taking the tough losses as opposed to solely being behind the mic on the sidelines. Im not a professional poker player and never have any aspirations to be, Hartigan said. There was not an ounce of hedging in his declaration. Still, from the outside, taking a look at his social media for the past six months, one could be convinced otherwise. Hartigan has been playing far more poker than he has in the recent past with his adventures taking him from battling online in the UK to the WSOP Circuit event at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, from Las Vegas for the start of the WSOP to Spain for UKIPT Malaga. Most recently, Hartigan found himself back in Vegas, making a Day 2 run in the WSOP $1,979 Hall of Fame Bounty event for a career-high score and his first-ever WSOP cash. If this isnt grinding, fine. But its clearly a significant uptick in Hartigans poker volume, the seeds of which were planted roughly two years ago. When PokerStars partnered with the Irish Open in 2023 to livestream its Main Event, Joe Stapleton, Hartigans long-time co-commentator and podcast partner, took the opportunity to surprise Hartigan with not just an entry to the Irish Open but a spot on the featured table. It was one part present for Hartigan, who has dual citizenship with Ireland and England, and one part gimmick – the star commentator would get commented on. I did not know what to expect, he said. I did not know what the audience was going to be like. I know that playing on a livestream can be nerve-wracking and you’ve got the entire world telling you everything that you’re doing is wrong. And I’ve got to be honest with you, I quite enjoyed the experience. The one thing I found is that the community was very, very supportive. It could have been a one-and-done. As much as he loves the game of poker, at that time Hartigans duties at PokerStars as Head of Poker Editorial simply didnt leave a ton of time for getting in the game – he was too busy showcasing it from the other side. But it was Stapes who, once again, opened the door for Hartigan to jump back in. Joe then tells me he won some charity event where the prize was free entry to the World Series of Poker Main Event, he said. I kind of had this insane idea that we should both play. Having had the experience of playing in the Irish Opennow Im going to enter the World Series of Poker Main Event for the first time because, lets be honest, its a bucket list item for anyone whos into poker. Even though he didnt make it terribly far in his first WSOP Main Event, the experience sparked an idea, one that may have been in the back of his mind for some time. Playing those two tournaments, I guess, made me realize that Ive been missing out. His multiple roles, in front of and behind the camera, were akin to having two full-time jobs. And its more than just the time, its the creative capital that it takes to continually create high-caliber content. For the better part of a decade, Hartigan juggled these roles, winning industry awards for his work, but ultimately, for him, it became a little bit unsustainable. So coincidentally, having had that experience of playing live poker and having this epiphany that I can’t do two jobs anymore, conversations opened up about how I could effectively change my relationship. And to cut a very long story short, coming into 2024, I left my full-time job at PokerStars, and signed a deal as a PokerStars Ambassador. Of course, Hartigan is still fully committed to commentary for the PokerStars livestreams, the podcast, and presenting but now hes formally patched up and out in the field. Hartigans Hendon Mob page is sparse (but growing), however, he notes that his love of the game has spanned nearly three decades and has never waned. Dating back to discovering poker at 18 from films like The Cincinnati Kid, and learning the rules of Seven Card Stud from his fathers copy of the book Gambling by Alan Wykes, Hartigan has always had a healthy competitive spirit. I’m very lucky in that when I play, it’s for entertainment. And if I win, fantastic. If I lose, I paid my money, I got my entertainment, he said. So for me, it’s a game and I will never take it too seriously. I’m never going to have a ‘Hellmuthian’ blow-up at a poker table. But yes, of course, it’s a game of competition. And as much as you converse and are friendly with the other people at the table and you wish them no ill will, you want to win their chips, you want to beat them in a hand. So it’s the outlet for my competitive spirit. And hes finding, outside of potentially winning money, the extended benefits of showing up in events. Its sitting with the players, getting into their mindset, understanding whats important to them. Its a massive benefit and Hartigan gets it. Not just for commentating, but in every aspect of the industry, from media to management, understanding the game and the players is the recipe for success. The great thing about playing a multi-day multi-table tournament is that there’s a lot of time where nothing is happening and a lot of time where everyone is folding. So it’s a great opportunity to talk to people and get to know people. I’ve had the experience now in multiple events, over multiple months where I’ve sat down with people who are pro players, who I respect, who I’ve commentated on probably multiple times. I get to meet them and they get to know me as a person rather than just that objective voice behind the microphone. I think that is really, really good. I do think it’s important as part of my job in the industry and as a commentator that I am also in the game as well but to be clear, it wasnt because the desire wasnt there. The poker community can also be incredibly supportive. Hartigan admits that thrugh this time of major life transformation, there were kind of dark periods but he chose to focus on the positive aspects that this change has brought about. And that includes a new balance of both playing and being a part of the poker media and getting to feel the appreciation that comes from the community for both. A trip to Northern California for the RunGood event at Thunder Valley is next up for Hartigan, followed by another intercontinental flight back to London for a PokerStars Ambassador Meet Up – of which he is now an official one. It’s so weird because on paper – and if you look at it rationally – this was the obvious move I should have made years ago. But it took all that other crap to happen. It needed my mindset to change and have a more positive view of change and a more positive view of risk, dare I say, which is kind of essential if you’re going to be a poker player to understand that, go for it, do it, make this happen. Yeah, it was just everything in my life has just been uprootedand I know this is going to sound so fucking wanky, but I generally feel that I’ve come out of it a happier, better person and I have very much latched on to all of the positive things that have come out of that change. And there have been many positive things that have come out of that change and just feel that almost in every single aspect of my life, I’m in a much better place right now.

This summer, WPT Global, the online arm of the World Poker Tour, is really starting to cook. From July 28 running through August 18, the WPT Global Summer Festival not only gives players around the world an action-packed festival with more than $8 million guaranteed but also, a shot at becoming a WPT Champion. It has been incredible to witness the growth of WPT Global, said WPT CEO Adam Pliska. This coming Summer Festival is one for the books and is, once again, giving players around the world a chance to compete for the Sexton Cup. In addition to a diverse schedule jam-packed with high-value tournaments, the Summer Festival is headlined by the $3,500 buy-in WPT Championship Event with a $1 million guarantee. The winner will not only have their name etched on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup, and be admitted to the WPT Champions Club, but will also win their seat to one of the biggest events of the year, the 2024 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. Thats not the only shot at a major title during the WPT Global Summer Festival. Players will have the chance to become a WPT Prime Champion in the $1,060 buy-in WPT Prime Championship that boasts a $750,000 guarantee as well as the $530 WPT 500 Championship that offers up a $400,000 guarantee – the first flight of which takes place on July 28. This is the most expansive festival WPT Global has ever run, said WPT Global President Alex Scott. From the jam-packed schedule with tons of guarantees to having a chance to become a WPT Champion, the value is abundant for online poker players at all levels. The full schedule of events for the WPT Global Summer Festival spans more than 350 tournaments and has buy-in that is sure to appeal to players at every level. Plus, for players who enjoy the grind, there are two ways to pick up some extra value in the WPT Global Summer Festiva. First, theres a $75,000 freeroll that will take place after the festival, on August 25, for players who enter at least 30 or more Summer Festival events or have a total cumulative buy-ins of more than $500. Then, for those who are fortunate enough to win an event outright, WPT Global will issue a ticket to the $25,000 Champion of Champions freeroll, also on August 25. Sign up now to receive an exclusive sign-up bonus from WPT.com

This summer, WPT Global, the online arm of the World Poker Tour, is really starting to cook. From July 28 running through August 18, the WPT Global Summer Festival not only gives players around the world an action-packed festival with more than $8 million guaranteed but also, a shot at becoming a WPT Champion. It has been incredible to witness the growth of WPT Global, said WPT CEO Adam Pliska. This coming Summer Festival is one for the books and is, once again, giving players around the world a chance to compete for the Sexton Cup. In addition to a diverse schedule jam-packed with high-value tournaments, the Summer Festival is headlined by the $3,500 buy-in WPT Championship Event with a $1 million guarantee. The winner will not only have their name etched on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup, and be admitted to the WPT Champions Club, but will also win their seat to one of the biggest events of the year, the 2024 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. Thats not the only shot at a major title during the WPT Global Summer Festival. Players will have the chance to become a WPT Prime Champion in the $1,060 buy-in WPT Prime Championship that boasts a $750,000 guarantee as well as the $530 WPT 500 Championship that offers up a $400,000 guarantee – the first flight of which takes place on July 28. This is the most expansive festival WPT Global has ever run, said WPT Global President Alex Scott. From the jam-packed schedule with tons of guarantees to having a chance to become a WPT Champion, the value is abundant for online poker players at all levels. The full schedule of events for the WPT Global Summer Festival spans more than 350 tournaments and has buy-in that is sure to appeal to players at every level. Plus, for players who enjoy the grind, there are two ways to pick up some extra value in the WPT Global Summer Festiva. First, theres a $75,000 freeroll that will take place after the festival, on August 25, for players who enter at least 30 or more Summer Festival events or have a total cumulative buy-ins of more than $500. Then, for those who are fortunate enough to win an event outright, WPT Global will issue a ticket to the $25,000 Champion of Champions freeroll, also on August 25. Sign up now to receive an exclusive sign-up bonus from WPT.com

James Hartigan is not a grinder and is not about to become one. Hell tell you that straight up if you ask him. But who knowsmaybe that will change. Change, and accepting change, has become a big part of Hartigans life over the past two years. Id say the last 18 months have been transformative, Hartigan said. I went through a period of very dramatic change in my life. My dad died, my wife and I separated, we got divorced, we had to sell the house. I had to move. And so the joke I always make is there’s that list of the most stressful things you can go through in life: grief, divorce, moving a house. I mean, I was playing bingoin a very short period of time, all this was happening. And I have always been one of those people who has very much feared change. And that change also extended to his career. Its a shift that sees the GPI award-winning commentator for PokerStars Live spending more time on the road, on the felt, and in the action. Hes in the mix – celebrating the wins and taking the tough losses as opposed to solely being behind the mic on the sidelines. Im not a professional poker player and never have any aspirations to be, Hartigan said. There was not an ounce of hedging in his declaration. Still, from the outside, taking a look at his social media for the past six months, one could be convinced otherwise. Hartigan has been playing far more poker than he has in the recent past with his adventures taking him from battling online in the UK to the WSOP Circuit event at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, from Las Vegas for the start of the WSOP to Spain for UKIPT Malaga. Most recently, Hartigan found himself back in Vegas, making a Day 2 run in the WSOP $1,979 Hall of Fame Bounty event for a career-high score and his first-ever WSOP cash. If this isnt grinding, fine. But its clearly a significant uptick in Hartigans poker volume, the seeds of which were planted roughly two years ago. When PokerStars partnered with the Irish Open in 2023 to livestream its Main Event, Joe Stapleton, Hartigans long-time co-commentator and podcast partner, took the opportunity to surprise Hartigan with not just an entry to the Irish Open but a spot on the featured table. It was one part present for Hartigan, who has dual citizenship with Ireland and England, and one part gimmick – the star commentator would get commented on. I did not know what to expect, he said. I did not know what the audience was going to be like. I know that playing on a livestream can be nerve-wracking and you’ve got the entire world telling you everything that you’re doing is wrong. And I’ve got to be honest with you, I quite enjoyed the experience. The one thing I found is that the community was very, very supportive. It could have been a one-and-done. As much as he loves the game of poker, at that time Hartigans duties at PokerStars as Head of Poker Editorial simply didnt leave a ton of time for getting in the game – he was too busy showcasing it from the other side. But it was Stapes who, once again, opened the door for Hartigan to jump back in. Joe then tells me he won some charity event where the prize was free entry to the World Series of Poker Main Event, he said. I kind of had this insane idea that we should both play. Having had the experience of playing in the Irish Opennow Im going to enter the World Series of Poker Main Event for the first time because, lets be honest, its a bucket list item for anyone whos into poker. Even though he didnt make it terribly far in his first WSOP Main Event, the experience sparked an idea, one that may have been in the back of his mind for some time. Playing those two tournaments, I guess, made me realize that Ive been missing out. His multiple roles, in front of and behind the camera, were akin to having two full-time jobs. And its more than just the time, its the creative capital that it takes to continually create high-caliber content. For the better part of a decade, Hartigan juggled these roles, winning industry awards for his work, but ultimately, for him, it became a little bit unsustainable. So coincidentally, having had that experience of playing live poker and having this epiphany that I can’t do two jobs anymore, conversations opened up about how I could effectively change my relationship. And to cut a very long story short, coming into 2024, I left my full-time job at PokerStars, and signed a deal as a PokerStars Ambassador. Of course, Hartigan is still fully committed to commentary for the PokerStars livestreams, the podcast, and presenting but now hes formally patched up and out in the field. Hartigans Hendon Mob page is sparse (but growing), however, he notes that his love of the game has spanned nearly three decades and has never waned. Dating back to discovering poker at 18 from films like The Cincinnati Kid, and learning the rules of Seven Card Stud from his fathers copy of the book Gambling by Alan Wykes, Hartigan has always had a healthy competitive spirit. I’m very lucky in that when I play, it’s for entertainment. And if I win, fantastic. If I lose, I paid my money, I got my entertainment, he said. So for me, it’s a game and I will never take it too seriously. I’m never going to have a ‘Hellmuthian’ blow-up at a poker table. But yes, of course, it’s a game of competition. And as much as you converse and are friendly with the other people at the table and you wish them no ill will, you want to win their chips, you want to beat them in a hand. So it’s the outlet for my competitive spirit. And hes finding, outside of potentially winning money, the extended benefits of showing up in events. Its sitting with the players, getting into their mindset, understanding whats important to them. Its a massive benefit and Hartigan gets it. Not just for commentating, but in every aspect of the industry, from media to management, understanding the game and the players is the recipe for success. The great thing about playing a multi-day multi-table tournament is that there’s a lot of time where nothing is happening and a lot of time where everyone is folding. So it’s a great opportunity to talk to people and get to know people. I’ve had the experience now in multiple events, over multiple months where I’ve sat down with people who are pro players, who I respect, who I’ve commentated on probably multiple times. I get to meet them and they get to know me as a person rather than just that objective voice behind the microphone. I think that is really, really good. I do think it’s important as part of my job in the industry and as a commentator that I am also in the game as well but to be clear, it wasnt because the desire wasnt there. The poker community can also be incredibly supportive. Hartigan admits that through tis time of major life transformation, there were kind of dark periods but he chose to focus on the positive aspects that this change has brought about. And that includes a new balance of both playing and being a part of the poker media and getting to feel the appreciation that comes from the community for both. A trip to Northern California for the RunGood event at Thunder Valley is next up for Hartigan, followed by another intercontinental flight back to London for a PokerStars Ambassador Meet Up – of which he is now an official one. It’s so weird because on paper – and if you look at it rationally – this was the obvious move I should have made years ago. But it took all that other crap to happen. It needed my mindset to change and have a more positive view of change and a more positive view of risk, dare I say, which is kind of essential if you’re going to be a poker player to understand that, go for it, do it, make this happen. Yeah, it was just everything in my life has just been uprootedand I know this is going to sound so fucking wanky, but I generally feel that I’ve come out of it a happier, better person and I have very much latched on to all of the positive things that have come out of that change. And there have been many positive things that have come out of that change and just feel that almost in every single aspect of my life, I’m in a much better place right now.

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