Espen Jorstad Beats Adrian Attenborough to Win 2022 WSOP Main Event

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The second-biggest WSOP Main Event in history is over, and we have the 2022 (un)official poker world champion.

His name is Espen Jostrad, and he is the first Norwegian to win the Main Event!

For his outstanding run through the tournament, Jorstad takes home the coveted bracelet and a cool $10,000,000 first place prize.

The final hand of the match was one for history books, if for no other reason than for how long it took Adrian Attenborough, the last man standing between Jorstad and the title, to make the decision.

And he eventually came up with the wrong one, calling off Norwegian’s all in with J♣4♠ on the board reading 4♥2♥2♣8♠Q♣.

Attenborough was probably hoping to see a busted flush draw, but his dreams were shattered when Espen tabled Q♦2♠ for flopped trips and rivered full house.

While busting the Main Event is always disappointing, the Australian will likely find some solace in the $6,000,000 prize he claimed for his runner-up finish.

Espen Jorstad’s Final Table Journey

The final ten players came back on Friday, July 15. Only a few hands into the day, Asher Conniff was eliminated in 10th place, and the official WSOP 2020 Main Event final table was set.

Jorstad started the final table second in chips, behind Croatia’s Matija Dobric. Matthew Su was rounding up the top three with 80 million in chips, but everybody else still had a very workable stack.

Everybody but Phillippe Souki, that is, who was the official short stack and was looking to make something happen quickly.

And that’s just what he did, biding his time and winning some pots, eventually getting back into the game.

The first person to be eliminated was actually Matthew Su, who fell at the hands of Souki, whose pocket kings held up against Su’s snowmen.

Souki tried to put his newly found chips to good use, but it wasn’t meant to be. He managed to get the last of his chips as a big favorite against Dobric, with pocket aces going against Croat’s Q♠J♠.

An ace on the flop gave Phillippe a set, but Dobric turned the Broadway straight, and it held up through the river to send Souki out in 8th, good for $1,075,000.

Not long after, another player found his way to the rail. It was Aaron Duczak, whose stack kept going in the wrong direction, and his final few chips were claimed by Michael Duek. Duczak’s 7th place finish brought him $1,350,000.

Jeffrey Farnes was next to go when his ducks failed to win a flip, and he was sent to the cage to claim his well-earned $1,750,000.

The chip leader to start the day, Matija Dobric, just couldn’t get the much-needed momentum on the final table. His stack kept dwindling, and he was eventually eliminated in the 5^th spot, taking home over $2.2 million.

Dobric fell at the hands of Espen Jorstad, and the pot gave the Norwegian some much-needed chips to continue his journey to the title.

The last player to be sent to the rail on Friday was John Eames. His A♦J♣ was no match for Jorstad’s K♥K♦, and Eames was eliminated in 4th place, banking $3,000,000.

Leading the Way With Last Three

With only three players left, the play was paused for the night. Espen Jorstad’s hot run in the final hours of play on the previous day gave him a big chip lead for the Saturday finale as he came back with more chips than the other two players combined.

Michael Duek started as the short stack on Saturday with just 72 million in chips. Attenborough had 150 million, while Jorstad was just short of 300 million.

Duek managed to pick up some chips early on, but his run was short-lived as he fell at the hands of Attenborough, who sent him packing in 3rd place, $4,000,000 richer.

The stage was set for the final skirmish between the Australian and the Norwegian, and although Espen was the chip leader, the stacks were fairly even after Adrian had taken hold of Duek’s stack.

The heads-up duel wasn’t without its drama. A few hands in, Adrian tanked for 20 minutes on the river, pondering calling off his entire stack with – J♦4♦.

The Australian only had a turned pair of fours, and Jorstad had him with the top pair. Had Attenborough called, it would have been the shortest heads-up in the Main Event history.

But, it was too early to call the entire stack with jack-four, so the Aussie found the fold button, and the battle continued.

The first hand of heads-up play started with a board of Ks Th 8h 4s 8c, as Espen Jorstad put Adrian Attenborough all-in, holding Kc QC. Attenborough, holding Jd 4d, thought for over 19 minutes before deciding to lay it down.

Jorstad 387,500,000
Attenborough 132,500,000

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 16, 2022

However, not many hands later, Adrian picked up the same hand again (minus the suited part), and this time, he went with it all the way.

Jorstad Seals the Deal

The final hand started with the Norwegian limping the button with Q♦2♠ and Attenborough checking his option with J♣4♠.

The flop came 4♥2♥2♣ and Adrian check-raised Espen’s 4,000,000 bet to 14,000,000.

This was probably music to Jorstad’s ears, and he proceeded to 3-bet to 32 million. Undeterred, Adrian made the call, and they saw 8♠ peel on the turn.

After Attenborough checked, the Norwegian went deep into his pile of chips and came out with a big bet of 62,000,000.

It didn’t take Adrian long to make the call, leaving himself with 131 million behind.

The river came the Q♣, and Jorstad emptied the clip, moving all in for the remainder of Attenborough’s stack.

The Australian thought about it for a while, going back and forth between calling and folding. And after almost ten minutes of tanking and talking to himself, he eventually grabbed a stack of chips and slammed them on the felt in front of him, indicating the call.

The Norwegian immediately turned over his hand, showing down the virtual nuts, and it was all over.

Espen Jorstad is the 2022 WSOP Main Event champion and the first player to take the most coveted piece of poker jewelry back to Norway!

WSOP 2022 Main Event Final Standings

Position	Player	Prize
1.	Espen Jorstad	$10,000,000
2.	Adrian Attenborough	$6,000,000
3.	Michael Duek	$4,000,000
4.	John Eames	$3,000,000
5.	Matija Dobric	$2,250,000
6.	Jeffrey Farnes	$1,750,000
7.	Aaron Duczak	$1,350,000
8.	Philippe Souki	$1,075,000
9.	Matthew Su	$850,675