Espen Jorstad Takes WSOP Main Event Down with $10M Prize

The 2022 World Series of Poker Main Event has wrapped up with a champion elected. Espen Jorstad of Norway managed to top a field of 8,663 players, one of the largest in the history of the event and won $10 million along with the coveted WSOP bracelet. This is the biggest win in the player’s career who had $271,872 in live poker winnings until this weekend.

A Fiery Final Table That Favored the Norwegian

The Norwegian had a highly-contested head-to-head with Adrian Attenborough, an Australian who sought to win the title and bring the trophy home. Australia has not had a WSOP winner since 2005 when Joe Hachem clinched the title. Jorstad said that he could not comprehend his victory just yet, and added that he will be clearer about how he felt about the victory in a few days.

Speaking to reporters, Jorstad said that he had never hoped to win the bracelet or trophy, but rather remain focused on the game and do his best. His best was good enough, it turns out, as he blazed past thousand of players who were hoping to achieve at least a fraction of his success.

Jorstad admitted that there was only one opponent he didn’t want to meet head-to-head with and that was Attenborough whom he respected and admittedly feared at the green felt. He recounted Day 6 of the event when Attenborough would win every pot against him.

Jorstad admitted that he felt like Attenborough should “get out of there.” But in the final table, the Norwegian kept his cool and did what he had done best since the event’s beginning – he focused on the game and played to the best of his ability.

However, Jorstad admitted that he had good cards which truly made all the difference in the end, helping him secure the WSOP title which has been played for at Bally’s. This is the first time the WSOP event had been relocated from Rio. WSOP is one of the most significant – if not the most significant event – in poker.

The event has distributed more than $238 million in prize money across 88 events and secured 127,245 entries in the 2021 edition alone, according to Pokerfuse data.