It finally happened. We saw the biggest field in the history of poker. 10,112 players. That is a lot of people sitting in a room trying to out-bluff each other for a piece of a $94,041,600 prize pool. When the dust settled at the Horseshoe in Las Vegas, Jonathan Tamayo walked away with the jewelry and a massive check. But the 2024 WSOP Main Event payouts story isn't just about the guy at the top.
It's about the math. It's about how the World Series of Poker organizers decided to slice up nearly a hundred million dollars to keep everyone from the high rollers to the "vacationing accountants" happy.
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Honestly, the payout structure this year was a bit of a pivot. If you remember last year, Daniel Weinman took home over $12 million. This year? The winner got $10 million. You’d think with more players and more money, the top prize would go up, right? Not exactly. The WSOP shifted gears to spread the wealth a bit more across the final table and the mid-tier finishers.
The $10 Million Question
Why the "smaller" top prize? Basically, the organizers wanted to ensure that everyone who made the final table—all nine players—walked away as a millionaire. In 2023, the 9th-place finisher got $900,000. Close, but no cigar. For 2024, they fixed that.
The 2024 WSOP Main Event payouts for the final table looked like this:
Jonathan Tamayo, the champion from Texas, took the $10,000,000.
Jordan Griff, who put up a hell of a fight in second place, bagged $6,000,000.
Niklas Astedt, the Swedish online legend many expected to win, took $4,000,000 for third.
Jason Sagle finished fourth for $3,000,000.
Boris Angelov earned $2,500,000 in fifth.
Andres Gonzalez saw $2,000,000 for sixth.
Brian Kim took seventh for $1,500,000.
Joe Serock finished eighth for $1,250,000.
Malo Latinois was the first one out at the final table, but he still cashed for exactly $1,000,000.
It’s a different vibe when 9th place pays seven figures. It changes the pressure. It changes the "ICM" (Independent Chip Model) calculations that these pros obsess over. If you're sitting there with a short stack, knowing that one more bust-out earns you an extra quarter-million dollars, you play differently.
Spreading the Wealth Down the Line
What about the people who didn't make the bright lights of the PokerGO stream?
The money started flowing when the field hit 1,517 players. That's a massive "In The Money" (ITM) percentage.
The min-cash was $15,000.
If you spent $10,000 to enter and spent a week in a smoky (okay, they don't smoke anymore, but you get the point) casino, a $5,000 profit might feel small. But hey, it's better than walking away with nothing.
Interestingly, the "bubble" this year was a weird one. Christian Stratmeyer and Shaurya Reeves busted on the same hand. They ended up splitting the 1,517th-place prize, taking home $7,500 each. Stratmeyer won a high-card draw to get a free entry into the 2025 Main Event, which is basically a $10,000 consolation prize.
Here is how the mid-range of the 2024 WSOP Main Event payouts shook out:
Players finishing between 81st and 125th place earned a solid $100,000.
If you made it to the top 44, you were looking at $250,000.
The "jump" from 11th to 9th was particularly brutal. 11th place (Malcolm Franchi) and 10th place (Diogo Coelho) both received $800,000. That’s a $200,000 difference between being a "final table millionaire" and being the guy who almost made it.
The Reality of Taxes and Staking
Let's get real for a second. When you see "Jonathan Tamayo wins $10,000,000," he isn't actually putting ten million into his savings account.
First, there’s Uncle Sam. High-stakes poker players living in the US get hit hard. Depending on his deductions and status, a huge chunk—potentially 35% to 40%—goes to taxes.
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Then there’s the staking.
Most pros don't play for 100% of themselves. They sell "action." If a friend bought 10% of Tamayo’s action for $1,000 before the tournament started, that friend just turned a grand into a million dollars. Tamayo was seen consulting with his rail, including former champs Joe McKeehen and Dominik Nitsche, throughout the final table. While they provided coaching, it’s a safe bet there were some financial arrangements behind the scenes too.
Why the 2024 Numbers Matter for the Future
The record-breaking attendance proves that poker is in a second "boom."
For years, everyone pointed to 2006 (Jamie Gold's year) as the untouchable peak. We've now beaten that record two years in a row.
The WSOP has found a formula that works:
- Guaranteed $10M for first.
- Guaranteed $1M for the final table.
- A massive amount of qualifiers through GGPoker and WSOP.com.
More than 1,100 players won their way in through GGPoker alone. When you have that many people playing on a "discount," the prize pool balloons. It creates this pyramid where the bottom is wide enough to support these astronomical numbers at the top.
Actionable Insights for Aspiring Main Event Players
If you're looking at these 2024 WSOP Main Event payouts and thinking, "I want a piece of that next year," you need a plan. Don't just show up with ten grand and a dream.
- Satellite In Early: Don't pay the full $10,000. Start looking at "Step" tournaments on legal sites or live satellites at the Horseshoe starting in May.
- Study the Flat Structure: Since the WSOP is flattening payouts (paying more people less at the top, but more in the middle), your goal should be to "make the money" first. Survival is more valuable than ever.
- Understand Tax Implications: If you aren't a resident of a country with a US tax treaty (like the UK), the casino might withhold 30% of your winnings immediately. Plan your bankroll accordingly.
- Track the "M-Ratio": With the 2024 structure, the blinds move fast once you hit the later days. Practice deep-stack play, but know when to shift into "shove or fold" mode as the bubble approaches.
The 2024 series proved that the Main Event is still the "Big One." Whether the prize is $10 million or $12 million, the prestige—and the life-changing payouts—aren't going anywhere.
Check the official WSOP site for the 2025 schedule, which usually drops in early February, to start planning your satellite run.