Espen Jørstad Wins WSOP Main Event for $10 million

Norwegian player Espen Jørstad won the tournament of his life as he claimed victory in the WSOP Main Event for $10 million. Taking the title against Australian player Adrian Attenborough in the final duel, Jørstad triumphed as the Run It Once player won the biggest prize of his poker career by far, claiming the $10 million top prize and the title of the 2022 world champion.

Jørstad Wins World Championship for $10 million

“Jørstad could have called the clock, but [watched] his enemy toil with his mind.”

It took just under two hours for the WSOP Main Event title to be won on the final day, with three men playing down to a winner in a packed Thunderdome at Bally’s in Las Vegas. Espen Jørstad may have won the event, but he didn’t knock out the third-place finisher, as Adrian Attenborough eliminated Argentinian player Michael Duek for $4,000,000.

Duek was all-in with top pair and couldn’t beat Attenborough’s nut straight, making it an easy call for the Aussie. Play went heads-up, with Attenborough holding 235.5 million to Jørstad’s 284.5 million.

Jørstad initially slipped behind, but a pivotal pot saw him shove on the river of a board where he hit top pair. Attenborough had only bottom pair, but somehow took 20 minutes trying to force himself to either call or fold. Jørstad could have called the clock, but instead, he sat in a meditative state, waiting it out, all the while watching his enemy toil with his mind.

Attenborough Gets It Right… Then Very Wrong

Attenborough would take 20 minutes tanking his life away waiting to call or fold, but in the end he made the right decision, to fold. That pot went Jørstad’s way and put the Norwegian 3:1 up in chips, but it was a lot more even by the time the final hand played out.

Holding jack-four again, just like he had in the previous tanking hand, Attenborough was faced with the same river shove from Jørstad on a board of 4-2-2-8-Q. Could a four be good enough to win? It very much wasn’t. Jørstad had queen-deuce for flopped trips and a rivered full house.

Attenborugh went back into the tank, but this time, his mind was exhausted. Viewers on PokerGO could see the exertion he’d already been through laid bare on his features as he argued with himself, then eventually, after eight minutes during which time Jørstad had stared ahead like a stature, Attenborough cursed… then called.

A Win for the Ages

Attenborough turned away in disgust as Jørstad turned over his winning hand. The Aussie ran to his rail, almost to justify the call, in part to bemoan it. Commiserating with his rail, Jørstad was the champion of the world and went to his own rail, hands pressed together in a prayer of thanks to his support team.

The first thing Espen Jørstad did after becoming world champion was to call his Mom.

With his lifetime’s ambition realised, the Norwegian fulfilled his media requirements with charm and humility as he spoke with Kara Scott and received his bracelet, itself worth over $500,000. You can watch all the action on PokerGO in a full final day replay here. Read about Day 1 of the WSOP Main Event final right here or relive how the final 10 were reached here.

On behalf of everyone at Gamble Online, congratulations to Espen Jørstad on becoming the 2022 WSOP world champion!

Do you know who won the WSOP 2022 Events 61-65?

Photographs courtesy of PokerGO, home of the 2022 World Series of Poker, with final table live streams throughout July.