Joe Cada did it at 21-years-old. And in front of one of the best rails in World Series of Poker history that was fueled by three days of partying, Lucas Jumalon became the second-youngest poker Main Event champion at 22-years-old.
The recent Grand Canyon University college graduate from Washington State won $10 million and the most prestigious bracelet of the year by being the last player standing out of the 9,208 that showed up in Las Vegas to attempt poker immortality.
“Euphoria, I think that’s the best word for it. It’s just kind of crazy. I never get too high, too low. The high of the emotions feels weird for sure. I don’t know if I could have dreamt it ending like this,” he said.
How could he? Not even in the most optimistic poker player’s dreams could they imagine heading to the final table with an enormous chip lead and never giving it up.
When staff bagged the chips of the final nine players on July 17, his 194,000,000 (129 big blinds) more than doubled the amount the nearest competitor, Rami Hammoud’s 79,000,000 (53).
Behind them were Jamie Shaevel’s 56,000,000 (37 bigs), Greg Mueller’s 48,500,000 (32 bigs), Michael Gagliano’s 46,500,000 (31 bigs), Mario Boos’ 44,000,000 (29 bigs), Lauri Saaskilahti’s 37,500,000 (26 bigs), Hang Fen’s 25,000,000 (17 bigs), and Evagoras Evagorou’s 22,500,000 (15 bigs).
Each of these men were guaranteed at least $1 million, but they were in contention for a whole lot more:
| Place | Prize |
| 1 | $10,000,000 |
| 2 | $6,000,000 |
| 3 | $3,750,000 |
| 4 | $2,750,000 |
| 5 | $2,250,000 |
| 6 | $1,750,000 |
| 7 | $1,500,000 |
| 8 | $1,250,000 |
| 9 | $1,000,000 |
Evagorou and Boos exit
The first player to peal off their microphone and exit the final table was Evagorou, the first player from Cyprus to make it this far in the Main Event. An optician, he worked during the three-week break.
All his chips went in with pocket jacks and was called by Shaevel, who held AQ. A queen on the flop ended the 48-year-old’s magical run.
“I came to win. Throughout this tournament, I played like very, very good poker. I feel a little bit disappointed now because I couldn’t win this hand, but it was an amazing journey,”
It took several more hours before the next knock-out. Boos raised his short-stack all in with pocket eights only to have Saaskilahti call him out of the big blind with K9.
A nine of the flop ended the Frenchman’s run.
“I’m grateful. It was a nice time; the tournament was great,” said Boos. “This break was a good idea again. I’m happy.”
Feng was the true star of Monday. He not only showed up wearing a pink feather boa and a white suit without a a shirt, showing off his gym-rat bod, he spun his stack up from 17 to 43 bigs blinds.
He nearly became the second person out the door, but he got lucky when he held A4 against Boos’ AQ. The four was good for a double-up, which he soon parlayed into another double after concealing pocket kings against a Jumalon raise.
He surged above he 100 million chip mark on the very last hand of the night with pocket queens. This time he raised 5 million, but watched as Saaskilahti defended his blind with J8 off.
With a seven-high flop, Feng continued betting only to see Saaskilahti pop it to triple the amount. Feng re-popped it to 30 million and that was enough to make the Finn fold.
And the chip counts were reshuffled going into Tuesday.
| Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
| Lucas Jumalon | 212,000,000 | 85 |
| Han Feng | 106,500,000 | 43 |
| Lauri Saaskilahti | 84,500,000 | 34 |
| Rami Hammoud | 45,500,000 | 18 |
| Michael Gagliano | 42,000,000 | 17 |
| Jamie Shaevel | 33,000,000 | 13 |
| Greg Mueller | 29,500,000 | 12 |
Mueller moves up
There’s no doubt that the sentimental fan favorite of the final nine was three-time bracelet winner Greg Mueller, who has been a mainstay at the WSOP for decades.
The 55-year-old who was born in Switzerland, but makes his home in Vancouver, Canada, is one of the nice guys of poker.
With only 12 blinds coming into Tuesday’s action, he needed help from the poker Gods to stay alive and ladder-up — and he got it soon after NBA superstar Draymond Greene took the microphone and said “shuffle up and deal.”
Mueller sent the last of his chips into the pot holing KJ, only to find himself way behind Saaskilahti’s suited AK. A jack on the flop sent his hair into a froth, and he was on his way to a long day.
Shaevel out next
That left Shaevel at the bottom of the totem pole with the short stack with around five big blinds. With a stack that size, K6 suited looks pretty good and that’s the hand that ended the improbable run for the 39-year-old semi-pro from California.
When he’s not playing cash games, he helps run his family’s outdoor lighting business.
Unfortunately for Shaevel, he ran into Jumalon’s KT, and with no help on the board, he headed for the door.
“It’s been unforgettable, and it’s been something that I’ve never experienced anything remotely close to in my life and probably never will again,” said Shaevel. “I hope I’m wrong on that, but it’s just been incredible.”
Hammoud out sixth
Canada’s Hammoud faced off with Meuller in a classic race situation with Meuller down to 13 big blinds again, but his AK couldn’t catch up. This put him at the bottom of the chip counts.
He raised three-quarter of his stack with QJ off-suit, and Jumalon looked him up with A5 suited. The flop came all spades, and holding a jack of spade, Hammoud put his last 4 million into. the pot and was called.
With two bricks, he had to say his good-byes. Mueller’s rail gave him an incredible send-off by breaking out into “Oh, Canada,” which put tears into Hammoud’s eyes.
“Obviously now, it’s sad, right? So, but it’s important to go through that sadness. It’s important to live that sadness. At some point there will be a time to look back on this, and I’ll be proud of it. For now, let me be sad about it, you know; that’s why I have my rail. They’re going to lift me up. I’ll just remember that I made $1.75 million,” said Hammoud.
Han gets hanged
As well as the first day on the final went for Feng, the second day went as terrible.
First he got both legs cut out from under him holding pocket tens against Jumalon’s pocket sevens, which turned into sevens full. That left him near the bottom in chips.
And then one of the worst beats in Main Event final table history eliminated Feng.
Holding pocket aces, he raised pre-flop, only to watch in delight as Saaskilahti re-popped it almost ten-times his raise. The large amount sent Meuller into the tank, and for good reason: He held pocket jacks.
After what must have seemed like an eternity for Feng, Meuller made the correct decision and sent his jacks into the muck. Feng, of course, snap-called for his life.
The flop came T83 — all diamonds. One of Feng’s aces was a diamond, giving Saaskilahti one out for his set, or a thin chance at a runner-runner straight. Feng was an 87% favorite to win the hand right there.
But the jack of hearts on the turn lowered his odds to around 75%, and the queen that wasn’t a diamond on the river buried Feng’s fate in fifth-place.
That’s poker, baby.
Feng showed the world how to take a bad beat in the interview with Jeff Platt after.
“It’s fine man, it happens. It’s all good,” he said, shrugging. A $2.2 million payday is a powerful salve.
Gagliano goes next
With four WSOP bracelets, Gagliano was the most decorated of the final nine players. One of those bracelets came with his largest cash of nearly $500,000 — until this week.
His experience surely helped him turn 17 blinds into a fourth-place finish in the Main Event and a lovely payday of $2.75 million.
And his elimination hand came with a dose of bad luck. Short, he sent all his chips into the middle with KQ suited and was looked up by Mueller and his KJ.
His hand got even better when a king hit the flop, but the jack on the turn was enough to end his tournament.
The 41-year-old from New Jersey showed grace and humility, and said his nearly 20 years of playing WSOP events helped him ladder-up.
“I think having the years of experience and stuff… obviously, there’s a lot of emotion in a final table like this,” said Gagliano. “Being able to be a bit more level-headed and stay in the game. You guys saw me. I was grinding, like, not a lot of chips for a very long time, and that’s a situation where I certainly would have been much more stressed and frustrated when I was younger. I was able to just fold and see what happens, and that’s been my approach this whole time.”
Meuller’s time
The same goes for Meuller, who — with a lot of luck — laddered-up into his biggest payday.
But his final hand was more of a whimper than a roar. Holding T4, he ran into Saaskilahti’s pocket kings, which were played as sneaky as it gets. Saaskilahti limped them in the small blind, while Meuller called only to see him hit a four on a AA4 flop.
The flop went check-check, and with a jack on the turn, Saaskilahti threw out a small bet which was called. Saaskilahti then attacked when a three hit on the river, which put Mueller in the grinder yet again.
Then Meuller called and that was it.
“It was the single most amazing poker experience I’ve ever experienced,” Mueller said to Platt. “And like I said, I’ve had a lot of good moments. This is amazing, and with all these guys, I mean, look at this rail. You said it, maybe the best rail in WSOP history.
It means that the poker really means nothing. It’s about life, like you just having friends and family and support that love you. That’s what life’s all about.”
The final two players would have to wait another 24 hours before playing to the winner.
Jumalon held 109 big blinds, to Saaskilahti’s 75.
Quick and easy
Right after 2025 WSOP Main Event champion Micheal Mizrachi made the ceremonial announcement to begin play, that chip count changed in a big way. A set of eights by Jumalon pushed his stack to around 2 to 1 favorite.
It would hit 4 to 1 before the Finn made a pretty big comeback.
Holding AT against Jumalon’s A9, he built the pot pre flop, and continued when an ace hit immediately hit. But Jumalon fired back which put Saaskilahti all-in. He called.
The nine on the turn sent Jumalon’s rail into a frenzy, but there was a problem. It also put four diamonds on the board, and Saaskilahti held one in his hand.
The game was on. And then it wasn’t.
Saaskilahti used courage, aggression and fantastic reads to make it this far. The very next hand, these things failed him.
In an upraised pot, Saaskilahti held J3 against Jumalon’s Q5. The flop of AK4 promoted Jumalon to throw out a small bet, which Saaskilahti called. The turn gave Saaskilahti a pair of jacks, but it also gave Jumalon four cards to the flush.
Jumalon put in 40,000,000 million bet. Saaskilahti took his time before making the call.
The fourth spade fell on the river, and Jumalon pounced again with a 180,000,000 bet. Saaskilahti tanked and thought he smelled something funny.
“To hero, or not to hero. What do you think, Lucas? Do you have it?” he said.
After several minutes, he talked himself into calling and then watched as the dealer shoved the 480,000,000 pot to his opponent.
A few hands later, all the chips ended up in the middle with Jumalon holding K6 against Saaskilahti’s A7.
A run-out of J8664 is what did it, and the crowd went absolutely ape.
Jumalon’s best Hendon Mob recorded cash before winning the $10 million was for $22,945 he won last year.
Final Table Results for the 2026 WSOP Main Event
| Place | Player | Payout | Country |
| 1 | Lucas Jumalon | $10,000,000 | United States |
| 2 | Lauri Saaskilahti | $6,000,000 | Finland |
| 3 | Greg Mueller | $3,750,000 | Canada |
| 4 | Michael Gagliano | $2,750,000 | United States |
| 5 | Han Feng | $2,250,000 | United States |
| 6 | Rami Hammoud | $1,750,000 | Canada |
| 7 | Jamie Shaevel | $1,500,000 | United States |
| 8 | Mario Boos | $1,250,000 | France |
| 9 | Evagoras Evagorou | $1,000,000 | Cyprus |
