When 2022 WSOP Champion Espen Jørstad appeared on The Mechanics of Poker podcast this week, he revealed the realities of how winning this prestigious title can affect your life - in ways both good and bad.
Let’s be fair: Jørstad is the first to acknowledge that the problems that arise from winning $10M are “good problems to have”. He’s not complaining or seeking sympathy, but nevertheless it’s fascinating to hear what actually happens after reaching the pinnacle of the poker world.
For example, did you know that he didn’t see a penny of his winnings for six months? As a Norwegian living in the UK, Jørstad had plenty of red tape to negotiate with the IRS before he could get his hands on his prize money. And even then, tax lawyers from three different countries got involved - and, two years later, are still involved.
Then there are the requests for money, from friends, strangers, distant relations and online scammers. New, traumatic stories of hardship and grief, hitting your inbox every single day, each one giving you a difficult and troubling decision to make.
And aside from the day-to-day anxieties you experience from the above, there’s the greater personal question: what to do once you’ve achieved what you set out to accomplish? How do you continue to grow, learn, or find the right next step for your life and career?
Check out the video above for a revealing and open chat with the 2022 WSOP Main Event winner.
The making of a champion
The interview with Jørstad also shines a light on how he reached the point in his career where he could play and win such a difficult tournament.
He discusses how a traumatic and difficult childhood gave him the resilience to cope with the adversity he’d face in later life, and how immersing himself in games such as World of Warcraft for up to 14 hours a day helped him through. How, in some ways, the "little weird fat kid" might still be trying to prove the school bullies wrong.
Jørstad also shares how the COVID-19 lockdown actually gave him the ideal opportunity to improve as a player. During the pandemic he shared a grindhouse in London with several other players, playing online poker and discussing strategy with like-minded players for months on end.
Would he have won the Main Event had he not had these experiences? A better question might be: would any of us be who we are and do what we do, without the context of everything we’ve already been through?
What’s certain is that Jørstad’s mindset has prepared him to win. And with the WSOP starting just next week, we’re looking forward to seeing him put that mindset into action at the tables.
Additional image courtesy of PokerGO
