Reigning Main Event Champ Jonathan Tamayo on New WSOP Rules & Folding Pocket Queens
Life Outside Poker is a podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
In the 30th episode, Connor talks with 2024 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Tamayo about growing up in Humble, Texas, studying hotel management at Cornell University, graduating during the 2008 recession, running deep in the 2009 and 2015 Main Events, his friendship with fellow Main Event champion Joe McKeehen, winning the biggest-ever WSOP Main Event for $10 million, and his first purchase as world champion.
Tamayo also spoke about his infamous fold with pocket queens late in the 2024 Main Event, which he says cost him $120,000 in equity, and gave his thoughts on new rules implemented at the 2025 WSOP in the wake of "LaptopGate," as well as the Main Event structure and Phil Hellmuth's proposed boycott that he has since rescinded.