In what was certainly one of the strangest final tables in the event’s long history, Norway’s Espen Jorstad made it into the World Series of Poker history books. Using a solid and aggressive style, Jorstad managed to defeat Australian Adrian Attenborough and win the World Championship of Poker, winning the $10,000 WSOP Championship Event. He claimed the specially created WSOP World Champion bracelet and $10 million.
At the start of heads-up play, Jorstad had a lead of about 50 million chips over Attenborough (284.5 million to 235.8 million), so players had plenty of opportunities to play.
With the win, Jorstad becomes the first Norwegian player to win the World Poker Championship. He also beat his compatriot Felix Stephenson, who was runner-up to Martin Jacobson at the 2014 WSOP. The $10,000,000 prize also catapulted Jorstad into the all-time rankings, placing him 108th all-time (prior to the WSOP, Jorstad had just $271,155 in career earnings) and sending him to the top of the Norwegian all-time list (again over Stephenson).
Final table payout:
1. Espen Jorstad (Norway), $10 million
2. Adrian Attenborough (Australia), $6 million
3. Michael Duek (Argentina), $4 million
4. John Eames (UK), $3 million
5. Matija Dobric (Croatia), $2,250,000
6. Jeffrey Farnes (USA), $1,750,000
7. Aaron Duczak (Canada), $1,350,000
8. Phillippe Souki (UK), $1,075,000
9. Matthew Su (USA), $850,675