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Norway’s Espen Jorstad Makes Poker History as the First-Ever World Series of Poker Main Event Champion on the Las Vegas Strip
After 9 days of intense Main Event play, Norway’s Espen Jorstad solidified his place in poker history as the first-ever World Series of Poker (WSOP®) Champion to be crowned on the Las Vegas Strip. Defeating 8,662 players from around the world, Jorstad took home $10,000,000 in earnings and was presented with the newly designed Main Event bracelet by Senior Vice President and General Manager of Paris Las Vegas and Bally’s, the future Horseshoe, Jason Gregorec.
On Saturday afternoon, Jorstad outlasted Adrian Attenborough and Michael Duek at the Final Table. 23-year-old Duek took home third place, with a total of $4,000,000 in earnings. Attenborough called Jorstad in the intense heads-up, setting Jorstad up for a dramatic victory once he revealed his winning hand – a full house. Espen’s win cements the international dominance in poker’s World Championship – marking the fourth consecutive win by an international player. Following his life-changing win, Jorstad immediately called his mom.
“It was a very emotional call,” said Jorstad. “She could barely speak. She is my biggest fan, so to be able to share that moment with her was very special.”
“This year’s historic WSOP was special for the poker community,” said World Series of Poker Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Ty Stewart. “Against all odds, poker made its way back in a big way and for the first time to the Las Vegas Strip. To see Espen persevere through 8,662 Main Event entrants – the second most in WSOP history, was incredible. We’re looking forward to raising Espen’s banner and coming back bigger than ever in the new Horseshoe Las Vegas next summer.”
The newly designed Main Event bracelet is custom created from 500 grams of 10 karat white and yellow gold, featuring 55 and a half karats or 2,767 various precious stones including rubies, and black and white diamonds.
The 53rd annual WSOP continues at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas through Wednesday, July 20.
