Jonathan Tamayo Turns 14-Year Friendship into WSOP Main Event Win
Fourteen years ago, Jonathan Tamayo met Joe McKeehen at Turning Stone Casino, a location thatâs 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 pokerâs brightest spotlight as a World Series of Poker Main Event champion â 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.
âIâm 33. Every year since I turned 21, weâve roomed together in some capacity, maybe with a couple other people, a couple years by ourselves,â said McKeehen. âBut weâve 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.â
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 Griffâs 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 Tamayoâs 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.
âThat was one of the scenarios that was discussed overnight, what could happen,â said Tamayo. âAnd 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.â
Thatâs exactly how it played out, with Astedt calling off his tournament with top pair and a gutshot straight against Griffâs 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 McKeehenâs perspective on the rail, the attention Tamayo and his assembled team on the rail paid was commensurate to the moment at hand.
âOne thing I noticed on the final table is it felt like a lot of people didnât have a support system to tell them like in the middle of the game, how maybe they should adjust their play,â said McKeehen. âDuring the final table, Jonathan was the only one in the middle of hands getting up from his seat, coming to talk to us, and weâre giving him a lot of additional information that he could use to do what he did.
âI think the game plan that we ended up formulating works very well,â said McKeehen. âThe assumptions we made based on our film study worked very well and we kind of just put it all into play.â
Beyond the technical side of things, McKeehen and Tamayoâs 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.
âBeing friends with John for 12 years, I know some of his emotional tendencies â what gets him going and what doesnât,â said McKeehen. âThis morning, I was just trying to make him laugh a lot when we werenât doing when we werenât doing a lot of studying. I didnât want him to get in his head or anything.
âI think he was ready to go business-wise, I think the balance we had between study and fun worked out well,â said McKeehen. âBJ, heâs Johnâs 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.â
The results speak for themselves. Tamayoâs WSOP Main Event winnerâs banner will be up on the wall next year, about 10 spots down from McKeehenâs. 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.
âWe have a circle of friends that have two Main Event winners now, which you would never, ever think,â said Tamayo. âItâs gonna be kind of fun that we can both make fun of all of our friends at the same time.â
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 Tamayoâs career and friendship with McKeehen put Tamayo in just the right mindset to make a victory possible.
âJoe McKeehen told me that this tournament is impossible to win,â said Tamayo. âAnd then when the field size is bigger, you feel like itâs even more impossible to win. But you just sit down Day 1 and think âEventually, Iâm going to bust this tournament. Itâs not going to be pretty, Iâm not going to feel great. And Iâm going to go on with my life.â And you can mentally prepare yourself for it.
âAnd I just canât believe I did not bust the Main Event.â
FAQ
Can you win real money at WPT Global?
Can you win real money at WPT Global?
Yes, you can win real money at WPT Global. WPT Global also offer the chance to win seats in any number of exciting live tournaments.
How many decks are used in poker?
how many decks are used in poker?
In most popular poker variants, such as Texas Hold’em and Omaha, a standard deck of 52 playing cards is used. Each deck contains four suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades) and consists of 13 ranks (Ace, 2 through 10, and the face cards: Jack, Queen, and King).
However, it’s important to note that the number of decks used in poker can vary depending on the specific game or variation being played. For example, some poker tournaments or cash games may use multiple decks to speed up the gameplay or reduce the frequency of card shuffling. In such cases, it is common to use two or more decks that are shuffled together.
What is the bonus code for WPT Global Poker 2023?
What is the bonus code for WPT Global Poker 2023?
We’ll save you time. The best bonus code for WPT Global is WPT777. By entering the bonus code, players will get a welcome bonus 100% up to $1,200 on the first deposit. The minimum deposit is $20.
What is the best WPT Global bonus code?
What is the best World Poker Tour bonus code?
Use the WPT Global bonus code WPT777 when registering to get a 100% deposit bonus up to $1200 plus a $100 No Deposit poker bonus.
What is the WPT bonus code?
What is the WPT bonus code?
The WPT bonus code is WPT777. Use this code at WPTglobal.com to get up to $1200 poker bonus. This code has been approved by WPT Global and gives new users the maximum new user offer.
Download & Play WPT Global Application In Shortly
This site only collects related articles. Viewing the original, please copy and open the following link:Jonathan Tamayo Turns 14-Year Friendship into WSOP Main Event Win
