Strategic Run Ends in Third for Steven Jones in Squid Game: The Challenge

Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge wrapped its season with one of poker’s most recognizable recent finalists in the spotlight once again. Steven Jones, the 2023 WSOP Main Event runner-up, advanced all the way to the last three contestants in the show’s winner-take-all format. But the $4.56 million prize ultimately slipped away during the final challenge.

The Arizona professional built his reputation on reading pressure, not succumbing to it. Throughout the series, he relied on those instincts, making alliances, breaking others, and occasionally drawing criticism for his tactical approach. 

Just before the finale began, the remaining players sat down for a dinner overshadowed by the weight of the single-payout structure. Jones summarized the stakes plainly:

The first elimination of the night came in a challenge involving a gold coin and a black coin. Jones held both coins in separate hands and told Trinity Parriman exactly which hand contained the black coin, an honest read that Parriman ignored. 

He chose the losing hand anyway, opting to protect friendships over expected value, eliminating himself in the process.

With four players left, the final challenge, Red Light, Green Light, became a pressure test with no margin for error. Vanessa Clements moved too soon and was knocked out first. Jones followed moments later after a slight misstep during one of the silent intervals, ending his bid for the grand prize.

His departure set up a final confrontation between Dajah Graham and Perla Figuereo, with Graham remarking: