Steven Jones, the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event runner-up, couldn’t close it out in the finale of Squid Game: The Challenge, a reality game show with a winner-take-all $4,560,000 prize.
The poker pro who won $6.5 million for his second-place finish to Daniel Weinman two years ago, reached the Netflix show’s finale after having been put through a number of grueling challenges.
He used his poker skills to manipulate his way to potentially hit a seven-figure score for the second time in his life, ruffling some feathers along the way, most notably creating a bitter rivalry with Dajah Graham (Player 302), who also reached the Final Five. Episode 9 aired on Netflix Tuesday night, and the pressure was on for the handful of contestants still standing. One would walk away with life-changing money, and the four others would go home with nothing but disappointment.
Poker Player Can’t Close it Out
Steven Jones, Player 183.
The final episode began with the competitors sharing a dinner. Jones, a poker player from Arizona, gave a brutally honest assessment of the situation the remaining players faced.
“Everyone is just on Cloud Nine right now,” Jones said in an interview before the last day’s challenges began. “But there’s nothing to celebrate just quite yet. If you don’t win the money, it’s technically the same thing as getting out in 456th place.”
Squid Game: The Challenge, a spinoff of the British reality competition TV series, Squid Game, began with 456 players all trying to be the last person standing to win the seven-figure prize. The challenge differs from a poker tournament where all players finishing in the top 10%-20% get paid, creating intense pressure throughout for those involved.
Jones, Player 183 in the game, built up some enemies throughout the competition. But his poker skills put him in position to win, although some of his opponents wondered if he was deserving of winning the money given his seven-figure poker earnings.
After dinner, the players were given instructions on how to complete the finale’s first challenge, which involved bluffing with the players passing around a gold coin and a game-eliminating black coin. Jones held one coin in his left hand and the other in his right hand and asked Trinity Parriman, Player 398, to pick a hand.
He wasn’t bluffing when he verbally announced the correct hand that held the black coin. But Parriman, who knew he would be close to facing elimination had he picked the black coin, chose the hand that would put him in jeopardy.
Parriman then decided he valued friendships more than winning the money, so he essentially gave up and ensured he would end the game with the black coin. In doing so, he was eliminated.
The final challenge then began, and it was a game of Red Light Green Light, a popular childhood game but with financial well-beings at stake. Players were instructed they could only move when the doll was singing, and if they continued running during quiet time, they would be eliminated. Vanessa Clements (Player 017) was the first player eliminated, leaving just three individuals left to battle for big bucks.
Jones could sense his second massive score since 2023, but he was unable to stop himself from moving when the doll stopped singing, meaning he was out of the game in third place, which paid nothing.
“I’m glad Player 183 was eliminated. Eventually, karma comes back,” Graham said just before going heads-up for all the marbles.
Graham would then take on Perla Figuereo (Player 072) for the final battle. She felt great about eliminating the poker player, but she would inevitably go home with the same amount of money as Jones — $0. Figuereo, however, won $4,560,000.
Jones didn’t pull it out, but he does have nearly $7.3 million in lifetime live tournament cashes, The Hendon Mob database shows.
Squid Game: The Challenge Finale Results
PlacePlayerPrize
1Perla Figuereo (Player 072)$4,560,000
2Dajah Graham (Player 302)$0
3Steven Jones (Player 183)$0
4Vanessa Clements (Player 017)$0
5Trinity Parriman (Player 398)$0
