The WSOP Main Event is a tournament every player wants to win, but they all know it takes more than skill alone to do so. The size of the field - 2024 saw over 10,000 players for the second straight year - means no one can make it deep without a little luck on their side.
The flipside, of course, is that every player who takes their shot has a chance. Anyone will need to ride their luck at times, and anyone can: that’s what luck is all about.
The final table of this year’s Main Event is set, and due to kick off on Tuesday, July 16. Among those who have demonstrated their poker skills - while staying on the right side of the poker gods - are high rollers, online crushers and longtime pros.
And then there’s Jordan Griff.
A surprise frontrunner in poker’s biggest race
Jordan Griff comes to the final table as chip leader with 143 million chips, having started off with the same 60,000 as everyone else. Now, as the only player left with over 100 million chips, he is in a prime spot to claim the win and the staggering $10,000,000 prize that goes with it.
At this table, Griff is the definition of the underdog. He’s no Las Vegas pro or online phenom, but a supply chain manager from Scottsdale, Arizona. If there’s anyone a neutral watching at home would want to cheer for, it’s him: humble, relatable, and having the time of his life.
Speaking to PokerGO’s Jeff Platt at the end of Day 8, Griff was visibly moved by the occasion.
“Tons of emotions,” said Griff as the crowds cheered behind him, “it’s insane, it’s a dream, it’s more than I ever wished for. It’s gonna be a crazy day on Tuesday, I’m excited for it, but, like…wow…wow!”
Running good when it counts
Griff is a father-to-be, and isn’t discounting the notion of ‘baby rungood’ (“My wife was telling me it’s a real thing”), but has certainly managed to hit the right cards at the right times so far - never more so than in two key hands at either end of Day 8, which began with 18 players and played down to nine.
Early on in the day Griff found 
and, with barely 10 big blinds left in his stack, soon got his chips in the middle. He was happy to be called by Jesse Bryant holding 
, but that soon turned to dread when the flop came 
.
Griff needed that rungood, and when the 
dropped on the turn he knew there were just two cards left in the deck to save his tournament life. One of them was the 
, and that’s just what arrived on the river to give him a full double up.
If that lucky river allowed Griff to survive, another one later on in the day meant he would thrive.
With 10 players remaining, Griff found 
and opened with a raise which was called by Joe Serock holding 
and Niklas Astedt with 
.
The flop of 
was always going to bring action, as Griff flopped bottom set, Astedt a straight draw with a pair, and Serock the nut straight. Astedt led for 3.5M into a pot of 11.2M, and was called by Griff and Serock.
The on the turn changed nothing, but Astedt, correctly sensing he was beat, slowed down with a check. Serock came out firing, betting 11M into the pot of 21.7M while holding the nuts. Griff called while Astedt mucked.
It was not looking good for Griff, until it looked great: the 
on the river gave him quads. Serock, hoping his nut straight was still in the lead, bet another 35M - almost the size of the pot - only for Griff to shove his whole stack.
A frustrated Serock eventually let his hand go, and suddenly Griff was sitting on the monster stack he now brings to the final table.
Griff is chip leader when play resumes
It’s always a thrill when an amateur wins the WSOP - just ask Chris Moneymaker - but a win for Griff would be something extra special.
His lifetime tournament earnings of $47K are vastly overshadowed by the rest of the field; the next lowest figure belongs to Malo Latinois, who has literally double that, while five of the remaining players have winnings of over $1,000,000. Then there’s the matter of Niklas Astedt, who with over $48 million in online winnings is understood to be the most successful online tournament player in history.
But reputations and fortunes mean little in the heat of battle. The winner will need to play at the best of their ability, and they’ll need the cards to run in their favor too. Could it be that Griff has used up his luck just to get here? Or perhaps he was just getting started?
We’ll soon see when play resumes on Tuesday.
