WSOP Main Event final table set, Illinois man owns chip lead

Jordan Griff of Schaumburg, Illinois, owns the chip lead entering the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event.

The recreational poker player had 143.7 million chips when action was halted in the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship late Sunday at Horseshoe Las Vegas.

The tournament resumes Tuesday as the final nine players continue their quest for the $10 million first prize. All the remaining players are guaranteed at least $1 million.

Griff survived an all-in on the first hand of Day 8, hitting a two-outer on the river to double-up against Jessie Bryant. He ended the night making quad fives against Joe Serock to win a massive pot and finish with 90 big blinds.

Prior to the Main Event, Griff was credited with $47,192 in live tournament earnings and his biggest score was $18,104.

There are several experienced pros chasing Griff, including Brian Kim of Diamond Bar, California, in second place. Kim knocked out Yegor Moroz in 15th place to soar up the leaderboard and finished with 94.6 million chips (59 big blinds).

This is the second deep Main Event run for Kim following a 23rd-place finish in 2022.

Sweden’s Niklas Astedt made a steady climb up the leaderboard on Day 8 and ended in third place with 94.2 million chips (59 big blinds).

Known by the screen name “Lena900,” Astedt is widely regarded as one of the greatest online tournament poker players of all time with more than $47 million in documented winnings.

Serock is in fourth place with 83.6 million (52 big blinds). He had the lead for much of the evening session after knocking out professional poker player Kristen Foxen in 13th place in a stunning turn of events.

Foxen, who was seeking to become the second woman to the reach the final table in the Main Event’s 55-year history and had the lead with 16 players remaining, went all-in after the turn holding second pair and a straight draw. Serock called with top two-pair and dodged the river to win in the biggest pot of the tournament to that point.

“More than anything just so, so thankful for all the support that I had,” Foxen said in an interview with PokerGO after being eliminated. “It was overwhelming. Really, really sweet. It just feels like it was a really cool tournament where I felt very prepared for the spot and the run.”

Kim and Serock are the only players remaining with a WSOP bracelet, which are awarded for tournament victories. Jonathan Tamayo in seventh place owns four WSOP Circuit event wins and was 21st in the 2009 Main Event.

Chip counts

1, Jordan Griff (Schaumburg, Ill.) 143,700,000

2, Brian Kim (Diamond Bar, Calif.) 94,600,000

3, Niklas Astedt (Gothenburg, Sweden) 94,200,000

4, Joe Serock (San Diego) 83,600,000

5, Jason Sagle (Sudbury, Ontario) 67,300,000

6, Boris Angelov (Sofia, Bulgaria) 52,900,000

7, Jonathan Tamayo (Humble, Texas) 26,700,000

8, Malo Latinois (Liffre, France) 25,500,000

9, Andres Gonzalez (Cartagena, Spain) 18,300,000

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.