Meet the Final Table of the WPT bestbet Scramble Championship

When the final table of the WPT bestbet Scramble kicks off on Tuesday afternoon in Jacksonville, a significant piece of World Poker Tour history will be on the line.

For the second time in Season XXII, Eric Afriat will have a chance to become a four-time WPT champion, which would tie him for the most all-time with Darren Elias. He’ll begin six-handed play with the chip lead and over 36 percent of the total chips in play

The $347,850 first-place prize will be a significant motivator as well, but beyond the chance at a fourth WPT title there’s also the matter of the Season XXII WPT Player of the Year race. Afriat is one of the top contenders of the race, but so is fellow final tablist Yunkyu Song, as both players chase the WPT bestbet Scramble title and highly covered WPT POY points on Tuesday. With only a handful of POY qualifying events left on the schedule, this tournament could very well shape how this race plays out.

They’ll both have to contend with four other tough competitors at bestbet Jacksonville. Twenty-two-year-old Nick Funaro has quickly established himself as one of the brightest young pros on tour right now, and after kicking off 2024 with a big win in Borgata he has a chance to bookend his year with another victory.

Nick Yunis has knocked on the door of a major title on several occasions, and he’ll have another chance to break through on Tuesday. Dion Jagroo has enjoyed significant success tearing through big fields in recent years, including a top-200 finish in the 2024 WSOP Main Event. And while Joe Jordan doesn’t have a ton in the way of major live tournament experience, his 15 years of cash game experience have afforded him well thus far in the WPT bestbet Scramble.

The final six players return at 2 p.m. ET Tuesday, with live streaming coverage on all of WPT’s channels beginning at 2:30 p.m.

Before play resumes, take a closer look at each of the six remaining contenders for the WPT bestbet Scramble title.

Player statistics courtesy of The Hendon Mob.

Eric Afriat – 6,570,000 (131 BB)

Age: 55
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $5,645,480
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $1,081,184, 1st, 2014 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown Main Event
Other Notable Results: $651,928, 1st, 2018 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship; $465,1210, 2nd, 2019 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown; $383,539, 1st, 2020 WPT Fallsview

If it feels like deja vu to see Eric Afriat’s name at a WPT final table, don’t worry – this sort of thing happens a lot. He has three career WPT wins, most recently taking down the WPT Fallsview title in 2020. Afriat also has two career runner-up finishes in WPT Championship events, the second of which came back in May at WPT Choctaw.

Tuesday represents Afriat’s second real chance at tying Darren Elias’ all-time record of four WPT titles. A victory would also officially make 2024 Afriat’s best statistical year of his career; in addition to his second place finish at WPT Choctaw, Afriat also won a title inside the PokerGO studio and made the final table of the EPT Paris Main Event.

A victory on Tuesday would also see Afriat take command of the WPT Player of the Year race, especially if he outlasts fellow top contender Yunkyu Song by a few spots at the WPT bestbet Scramble final table.

Back in May, Afriat summed up his feelings pretty succinctly.

“2024 is my year. I just feel very optimistic, and I feel like I’m really playing well.”

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 121,000 (71/124)
Day 2: 1,700,000 (1/18)

Nick Funaro – 3,680,000(73 BB)

Age: 22
Sewell, New Jersey
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $526,983
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $420,484, 1st, 2024 Borgata Winter Poker Open $800 Kick Off

Few players make as dramatic an opening statement in their poker career as Nick Funaro did back in January. At 21 years old, Funaro outlasted a field of 3,486 entrants to claim a $420,484 first-place prize in an $800 buy-in event at Borgata.

On Tuesday, Nick will hope to bring the second major live poker title to the Funaro family, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Frank. Frank Funaro has two WSOP bracelets and made the final table of the 2022 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas, where he finished 5th for $1.3 million.

Nick’s performance thus far in the WPT bestbet Scramble has been nothing short of dominant. He bagged one of the biggest Day 1 stacks, ascended to the chip lead by the close of Day 2 and the carried his chips all the way to an advantageous position at Tuesday’s final table.

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 286,000 (8/124)
Day 2: 2,250,000 (1/18)

Joe Jordan – 2,795,000 (56 BB)

Age: 36
Greenville, South Carolina
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $8,988
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $5,590, 1st, 2024 bestbet Winter Poker Open $400 Progressive Bounty

What Joe Jordan lacks in tournament poker experience he makes up for with over 15 year spent grinding out a living in cash games. His origins in poker date well back before he started playing professionally, in fact, to his time stationed overseas in the armed forces.

“I got started in Iraq, just like a weekly game,” said Jordan. “I was a soldier and a group of guys there, we just started playing. At the start, I ran real bad, didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Then, at one game towards the end of my time there, won all the money at the cash table and won a tournament.”

Jordan won his way into this tournament via a satellite at bestbet Jacksonville, shortly after returning to visit a city where he lived for five years. Jordan recently moved back home to South Carolina, but he’s certainly making the most of a return visit to Florida.

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 331,000 (5/124)
Day 2: 2,050,000 (2/18)

Nick Yunis – 2,690,000 (54 BB)

Age: 40
Miami, Florida via Vina Del Mar, Chile
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $2,367,102
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $249,152, 1st, 2015 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic $5,200 No Limit Hold’em
Other Notable Results: $141,478, 4th, 2021 WSOP $3,000 6-Max No Limit Hold’em; $133,950, 5th, 2016 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $25,500 High Roller; $111,724, 2nd, 2022 WSOP $1,500 8-Game Mix; $91,989, 3rd, 2021 WSOP $1,500 PLO/NLH

If you’ve been around major tournament poker over the last decade, there’s a very strong chance you’ve seen Nick Yunis at one stop or another. The Chilean-born Floridian has had many close brushes with winning a major title, including three separate final table appearances at the WSOP since 2021.

He’s accumulated over $2.3 million in live tournament earnings as well as online success in PokerStars SCOOP and WCOOP events. But Tuesday would represent the largest tournament victory of Yunis’ career, both in terms of notability and the amount of his potential prize.

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 86,000 (94/124)
Day 2: 1,175,000 (6/18)

Yunkyu Song – 1,335,000 (27 BB)

Age: 25
Washington via Seoul, South Korea
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $1,160,238
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $197,443, 1st, 2024 WPT Prime Playground Championship
Other Notable Results: $197,443, 3rd, 2024 WSOP $2,000 No Limit Hold’em; $181,430, 3rd, 2024 Borgata Winter Poker Open $800 Kickoff; $105,000, 4th, 2024 WPT Rolling Thunder

The last 12 months have been a matter of lots of ups and downs in the life and career of Yunkyu Song, but the highs have peaked in such a way that Song has made himself one of the true breakout poker players of 2024.

It started, much like Nick Funaro, at Borgata, when Song finished third in the very same tournament that Funaro found victory. Song crossed the country and, in March, made the final table of WPT Rolling Thunder with a dominant chip lead. He had to settle for fourth that day, but Song’s run had only just begun.

Song came close to another major victory over the summer in Las Vegas, finishing third in a $2,000 No Limit Hold’em gold bracelet event. Finally, after big paydays and no titles for most of the year, Song broke through in late October by winning the WPT Prime Playground Championship.

Song has another shot at a WPT Main Tour title a few short weeks later, and any finish higher than Eric Afriat on Tuesday will make Song the sole holder of the No. 1 spot in the WPT Player of the Year race with three qualifying tournaments to come.

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 221,000 (24/124)
Day 2: 830,000 (10/18)

Dion Jagroo – 1,035,000 (20 BB)

Age: 40
Orlando, Florida via London, England
Lifetime Live Tournament Earnings: $1,125,194
Biggest Lifetime Cash: $251,982, 1st, 2022 Millionaire Spring Mayhem Poker Series Round Rock Main Event
Other Notable Results: $102,222, 1st, 2023 Moneymaker Poker Tour Daytona Beach Main Event

One year ago this week, Dion Jagroo was punching his ticket to the 2023 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas via a satellite running at bestbet Jacksonville. With a little bit of luck on Tuesday, he could another golden ticket to the WPT World Championship in Las Vegas in his possession along with the largest payday of his career.

Jagroo has enjoyed success in big field events with slightly smaller buy-ins, but Tuesday represents the first true major live final table of his career. He’ll start six-handed play as the short stack, but after fighting through much of the tournament in a similar position, Jagroo may well feel comfortable coming back from the bottom.

End of Day Chip Counts:
Day 1: 179,500 (36/124)
Day 2: 505,000 (15/18)