2024 WSOP Wrap-Up

We Recap the Main Event Winner and Catch Up with Crazy Sixes and Casino King to See How They Did

The 2024 WSOP is in the books (don’t worry, you can still brush up on your strategy and hit the Ignition poker tables), and with a prize pool of over $94M handed out, the world has several new millionaires to congratulate.

The Main Event winner: Jonathan Tamayo comes out on top and wins $10M

Jonathan Tamayo outlasted a field of 10,112 (the largest ever) and took home the top prize as the 2024 WSOP Main Event winner. Tamayo is a 38-year-old man from Humble, Texas who is into golf and fantasy sports. He’s also been a cash game grinder for some time. But after his victory, when asked if he thought he could win the big one, he said he thought there was no chance, and that he was told winning the WSOP Main Event was not possible.

It’s a long shot, but as we all know, dreams DO come true at the ‘Shoe.

Tamayo defeated fellow American Jordan Griff in the final table heads-up battle, sending Griff home with a mere $6M. He did it with help from his roommate, Joe McKeehen, who won the Main Event in 2015. That’s one star-studded residence!

The help has caused a bit of controversy, however. Discussion is still ongoing about in-game assistance and possibly using solvers or other poker analysis tools with friends at the rail. Tamayo refers to the rail activity with his helpers as “in-game adjustments.” Poker tournament organizers will no doubt be considering rule changes and clarifying what activity is permitted when players confer with their team at the rail.

For now, it’s just time for Tamayo to pop bottles and schedule a call with his investment adviser if he has one.

What about our Team Ignition poker pros? How did Shaundle “Crazy Sixes” Pruitt fare at the WSOP?

Sixes had a decent run at a very challenging event this year, cashing in three of his four events, and picking up a ton of live experience and confidence! Here are his results:

• He cracked the top 10% in Event #62, the PokerNews $600 Deepstack tourney. He placed 82^nd and took home $3,500.

• He finished 16^th in a $1,100 buy in tourney at the Venetian, also winning $3,500.

• He and his friend God’s Big Toe played Event #75, the $1,000 Tag Team tourney. Together they just about broke even, finishing in 160^th place to win $1,100.

The competition and cards proved tough. Sixes had to battle back from a rough first few hours of play in Event #62 where he couldn’t take down a single pot. He was able to ride out the choppy water and ultimately score a profit, at the end of the tourney.

One thing he enjoyed was the “challenge of needing to stay focused,” while the long 11 to 14-hour days wore on. Other than a 15-minute break every two hours, players are in the game the whole time. And the competition level is high. But that chance at glory is always there to motivate everyone to play their best.

Next time around, Sixes is aiming to add another week to the trip and play a few more events, as well as the Main Event, if possible.

Sixes is going to stay sharp over the rest of the year, taking on the challenge of trying to play at least one live event each month consistently. Look for him at the Mid-States Poker Tour in August, Borgata in September, and a WPT event at Wynn Las Vegas. He’ll also be continuing his usual online poker activity, and you can catch him regularly streaming on Twitch.

What about our favorite “reckless” bettor, Casino King?

Sadly, King did not place in his two WSOP events (Event #70, the $400 COLOSSUS and Event #78, the $1,000 Mini Main).

He DID have a great time with his double up challenge, where he tried to turn $5,000 into a $10,000 Main Event buy in. We won’t spoil the end for you. Just check out his vid on YouTube to see the thrilling conclusion and find out if he pulled it off.

(We’ll tell you this – he made it to at least $9,000).

He also made a bet at EVERY casino on the Vegas Strip in one night. What can we say? The guy knows how to have fun!

The birth of his daughter has cut severely into his poker playing schedule, but he’ll be playing more in the coming year, he hopes. The Main Event is definitely calling his name.

You can also see more of his hijinks because he’s going all in on content by building a full-on studio in his home of Minneapolis. Expect more Ignition streams, more casino vids, and more madness as the King straightens his crown and takes on another year of (occasionally) ill-advised wagers.