By the PokerHands.Shop Editorial Team · Reviewed: September 3, 2026
The 2026 WSOP Main Event ended the way very few Main Events do: with the chip leader entering the final table still holding the lead when the last card fell. Lucas Jumalon came to the nine-handed final with 194 million chips, more than double anyone else. He never gave the lead up across three days of play in August. This recap covers the full results, how the final table unfolded, the hands that decided it, and where the tournament sits in WSOP history. If you want to watch these hands with the rankings in front of you, keep our poker hands in order guide open in another tab.
2026 WSOP Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Lucas Jumalon | United States | $10,000,000 |
| 2nd | Lauri Sääskilahti | Finland | $6,000,000 |
| 3rd | Greg Mueller | Canada | $3,750,000 |
| 4th | Michael Gagliano | United States | $2,750,000 |
| 5th | Han Feng | United States | $2,250,000 |
| 6th | Rami Hammoud | Canada | $1,750,000 |
| 7th | Jamie Shaevel | United States | $1,500,000 |
| 8th | Mario Boos | France | $1,250,000 |
| 9th | Evagoras Evagorou | Cyprus | $1,000,000 |
Payouts per the official WSOP payout schedule. Every finalist was guaranteed at least $1,000,000.
The Field: 9,208 Entries and an $85.6 Million Prize Pool
The $10,000 buy-in Main Event ran its four starting flights from July 2 to July 5 at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Day 1D alone drew 4,694 entries, which is more than the other three flights combined. The final count of 9,208 makes 2026 the fourth-largest Main Event ever played:
| Year | Entries | Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 10,112 | Jonathan Tamayo |
| 2023 | 10,043 | Daniel Weinman |
| 2025 | 9,735 | Michael Mizrachi |
| 2026 | 9,208 | Lucas Jumalon |
The prize pool came to $85,634,400, with 1,382 places paid and a minimum cash of $15,000. So a player who just sneaked into the money made a small profit on the buy-in, while the top prize was a flat $10,000,000, the same headline figure as in 2024 and 2025. The entry count was down slightly on the previous three years, but it was still the largest live tournament field of 2026 by a distance. For context on how it compares with the other giants of the game, see our guide to the biggest poker tournaments in the world.
How the Final Table Played Out
For the first time, the Main Event final table was not played straight through in July. The last nine players were set on July 13, then flew home and came back to Las Vegas nearly a month later for a three-day final that ran from August 3 to August 5, with the delay built around ESPN's return as the broadcaster. Here is how the nine stacked up at the start of play:
| Rank | Player | Chips | Big blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucas Jumalon | 194,000,000 | 129 |
| 2 | Rami Hammoud | 79,000,000 | 53 |
| 3 | Jamie Shaevel | 56,000,000 | 37 |
| 4 | Greg Mueller | 48,500,000 | 32 |
| 5 | Michael Gagliano | 46,500,000 | 31 |
| 6 | Mario Boos | 44,000,000 | 29 |
| 7 | Lauri Sääskilahti | 37,500,000 | 25 |
| 8 | Han Feng | 25,000,000 | 17 |
| 9 | Evagoras Evagorou | 22,500,000 | 15 |
Day 1 (August 3): a slow grind
The opening session was long and cautious. More than 100 hands were dealt and only two players went out: Evagoras Evagorou of Cyprus in ninth for $1,000,000 and France's Mario Boos in eighth for $1,250,000. With seven left and pay jumps of $250,000 or more between every finish, nobody was in a hurry, and Jumalon was happy to let the shorter stacks fight each other.
Day 2 (August 4): the logjam breaks
Everything happened on Tuesday. Five players were eliminated in one session, three of them by Jumalon. Jamie Shaevel fell in seventh and Rami Hammoud in sixth, both to the chip leader. Then came the hand of the tournament for the wrong reasons: Han Feng got his short stack in with pocket aces against Sääskilahti's pocket nines, was miles ahead, and watched a ten-eight-three flop turn into a jack and a queen for a runner-runner straight. Feng left in fifth for $2,250,000.
Michael Gagliano went out in fourth in a three-way pot. He moved all in for 9.5 million with king-queen suited, Mueller called with pocket fours, and Jumalon shoved over the top with king-jack, forcing Mueller out. Gagliano was ahead on the king-high flop, but the jack on the turn gave Jumalon two pair. Greg Mueller, the veteran of the table, finished third for $3,750,000 after calling a river all-in from Sääskilahti with ten-four on an ace-ace-four-jack-three board. Mueller had aces and fours; Sääskilahti's pocket kings made a better two pair. Mueller's Canadian rail sang the national anthem for him on the way out.
Day 3 (August 5): a two-hour finish
Heads-up play started with Jumalon on 328 million (about 109 big blinds) against Sääskilahti's 225 million (about 75 big blinds). The blinds moved to 2,000,000 and 4,000,000 within minutes, so both players knew it would not take long. It didn't. The whole final table took 169 hands over three days; the heads-up match was over in under two hours.
The Hands That Decided the 2026 WSOP Main Event
Three hands tell the story of the heads-up match. Each one is a small lesson in hand rankings.
Sääskilahti's double-up: the flush that kept him alive
Early in the match, Sääskilahti got his chips in with ace-ten against Jumalon's ace-nine and looked to be racing for the title on a kicker. The river brought the six of diamonds and completed a flush for the Finn. A flush beats any pair, two pair or three of a kind, which is why Jumalon's better kicker never mattered. If you have ever wondered why a flush beats a straight but loses to a full house, this is the hand rankings table doing exactly its job.
The hero call
The pot that effectively decided the title came on a board of 4♣ A♠ K♠ J♠ 6♠. Four spades on board, so any spade in the hand made a flush. Jumalon held Q♠5♦ for the queen-high flush, which was the nut flush on that board because the ace and king of spades were already face up. He bet 180 million on the river. Sääskilahti had J♦3♦, a pair of jacks with no spade, and called. Afterwards he put it simply: "I made a hero call, it didn't go my way this time." The call would have been right against a bluff. Against a made flush, a single pair is drawing dead on the river, and there was no way back from there.
The final hand
Jumalon shoved the button with K♠6♦. Sääskilahti called with A♠7♦, a clear favourite before the flop. A six came on the flop. Another came on the turn, and trip sixes left the Finn drawing dead. Three of a kind against ace-high: the same ranking you learn on day one, deciding a $10,000,000 pot. Run the numbers on any of these spots yourself with our poker odds and probability guide or the free odds calculator.
Who Is Lucas Jumalon?
Before this summer, Jumalon was a recent college graduate from Spokane with reported lifetime tournament earnings of about $145,000. He works with coach Patrick Leonard, whom he credited immediately after the win: "I wouldn't be here without him." His own reaction was less analytical: "It's a pure feeling of euphoria." His mother Robin, part of a loud rail all week, was more direct: "It was a lot of hard work."
The win set a small pile of records and firsts:
- Second-youngest Main Event champion ever, at 22 years, four months and 28 days. Joe Cada was 21 when he won in 2009.
- Youngest champion since Scott Blumstein in 2017, and only the third player to win the title at 22.
- First Main Event winner from Washington state.
- First player to enter the final table as chip leader and win since Koray Aldemir in 2021. Jumalon held the lead after every single hand of the final table, which observers compared to Joe McKeehen's run in 2015.
- Fourth American champion in a row, following Daniel Weinman (2023), Jonathan Tamayo (2024) and Michael Mizrachi (2025).
WSOP chief executive Ty Stewart called it "one of the most spirited final tables of all time," and the atmosphere was a talking point in itself: walkout music, Bruce Buffer introductions, Mueller's rail singing, and Sääskilahti high-fiving Jumalon's supporters after losing. Almost nobody at the table wore sponsor patches, a sharp contrast with the previous year's champion, and ESPN's Main Event coverage was back after a five-year absence, with at least six hours a day of live coverage on the ESPN app during the July run and the final table itself in August.
Why Was the Final Table in August?
The delayed final table is the biggest structural change to the Main Event in years. In 2008 the WSOP introduced the "November Nine," pausing the tournament for months so the final could be edited and broadcast with a build-up. It was last used in 2016. The 2026 version is a shorter pause of about three weeks, tied to the new ESPN rights deal, and it produced a final that felt like a standalone event with its own audience. Our 2026 poker tournament calendar now lists the Main Event as a July tournament with an August finish, and unless the WSOP changes course, that is the shape to expect in 2027 too.
What Else Happened at the 2026 WSOP
The 57th World Series of Poker ran from May 26 to mid-July with 100 live bracelet events and 30 online bracelets, plus 166 Daily Deepstack side events that drew more than 93,000 entries on their own. The Poker Hall of Fame announcement in August drew the loudest reaction of the summer: Jason Koon, third on poker's all-time money list with a record 12 Triton titles, was inducted in his first year of eligibility, but he was the only inductee even though a new voting system allowed up to four. Finalists including Shaun Deeb, Chris Moorman, Justin Bonomo, Isaac Haxton and Isai Scheinberg all missed the threshold, and the process is likely to be revisited before 2027.
What's Next on the Poker Calendar
The Main Event is done, but the year is not. PokerStars' 25th WCOOP runs online from September 6 to 30 with 121 events and 350 tournaments, with the $10,300 NLHE Championship on September 27 carrying a $2.5 million guarantee. In December the WSOP heads to the Bahamas for WSOP Paradise (December 2 to 17 at Baha Mar, 20 bracelets and $120 million in guarantees, including a $50 million guaranteed Super Main Event), while EPT Prague and the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas close the live year. If you want to play any of them for a fraction of the buy-in, our satellite guide explains how qualifiers work, and the tournament calendar has every major date.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the 2026 WSOP Main Event?
Lucas Jumalon, a 22-year-old from Spokane, Washington, won the 2026 WSOP Main Event on August 5, 2026, beating Lauri Sääskilahti of Finland heads-up for $10,000,000.
How many players entered the 2026 Main Event?
9,208 players entered, making it the fourth-largest Main Event in history. The prize pool was $85,634,400, with 1,382 places paid and a minimum cash of $15,000.
Is Lucas Jumalon the youngest WSOP Main Event champion?
No. Joe Cada was 21 when he won in 2009 and remains the youngest. Jumalon, at 22 years, four months and 28 days, is the second-youngest champion ever.
Why was the final table played in August?
The WSOP paused the tournament after the final nine was set on July 13 and played the final table from August 3 to 5, 2026, in a format built around ESPN's return as broadcaster. It is the first delayed Main Event final since the last November Nine in 2016.
What was the final hand?
Jumalon moved all in with K♠6♦ and Sääskilahti called with A♠7♦. Jumalon paired his six on the flop, made trip sixes on the turn, and Sääskilahti was drawing dead by the river.
Sources
- WSOP.com: 22-year-old Lucas Jumalon wins the Main Event
- PokerNews: Lucas Jumalon goes wire-to-wire at final table
- Card Player: Wire-to-wire WSOP Main Event win for 22-year-old Lucas Jumalon
- Card Player: Main Event draws 9,208 entries, fourth-largest in history
- ESPN: WSOP 2026 final table delivers
- Pokerfuse: Jason Koon is the lone inductee for the 2026 Poker Hall of Fame