From nine players on Part A of the Main Event Final Table, seven players returned to the Horseshoe.
By the end of the night, only two were left chasing the $10,000,000 top prize and the bracelet.
Lucas Jumalon again held the lead he has never surrendered at this final table. He takes 328M (109 big blinds) into heads-up play against Finland's Lauri Saaskilahti, who bagged 225M (75 big blinds) after a session where nearly everything went his way.
Draymond Green handled the shuffle up and deal. From there the eliminations came quickly, along with a run of doubles and coolers that reshaped the counts several times over.
Mueller Doubles to Stay Alive
Greg Mueller came into the day as the short stack with 12 big blinds and didn’t have much time to waste doubling up.
Shortly into the stream, he shoved 27,500,000 with and looked disgusted when Saaskilahti called and revealed .
“I need a jack!” he told his rail of about 30 pink shirt-wearing supporters.
The came on the flop, and the rail went wild, but he was quick to try and calm them down.
The turn was a and the river was a safe , letting Mueller double up.
Mueller held, and his red-shirted rail, the loudest in the building, erupted. One of them was so overwhelmed with emotion that his shirt came off. He was back to 59.5M.
Nick Schulman later pointed out, “It’s not easy for the other six dealing with that dude with his shirt off.”
Jamie Shaevel Eliminated in 7th Place ($1,500,000)
The first bust-out of the night belonged to Los Angeles cash game pro Jamie Shaevel. His stack had dwindled down to 14M, a little under 5BB.
With he raised to 10M, leaving 4M behind.
It was Jumalon who picked up the kind of hand to get involved.
Lucas called the 10M, and the two went to a rainbow flop.
Jumalon check it over to Shaevel, who put in the rest of his chips.
The turn cancelled Shaevels backdoor flush draw.
Another on the river sent him from the Main Event with $1,500,000 for 7th place.
Wearing a #8 Kobe Bryant jersey given out at the memorial game after Bryant's death, Shaevel called the run “beyond a dream come true” and pointed to the number of people who had reached out while he played.
Mueller Doubles Again Through Hammoud
Mueller debated whether to open or shove with 39M and 9♠9♦, but ended up going big.
He was called by Rami Hammoud's . If he loses, Rami will have a decimated stack with absolutely no playability. If he wins, he’ll have over 100M.
The flop was clean, and the turn was equally good for Mueller.
The board bricked out, and Mueller doubled to third in chips while Hammoud was left with roughly six big blinds.
We are not sure if this man’s shirt comes off only at all-ins, or if it remains off at all times.
“Every rail should have that guy, or his equivalent,” the commentators recommended.
Rami Hammoud Eliminated in 6th Place ($1,750,000)
The short stack didn't last long for Hammound.
Looking down at , he raised to 12.5M (leaving 4M back) and was looked up by Jumalon with .
Just like with Shaevel, Lucas called the almost-all-in and the
The flop was all spades, . When Rami started reaching for chips, Lucas jokingly said, “Uh oh, you flopped a flush,” showing a real air of comfort at such a massive final table. The comment didn’t seem malicious.
Rami was all-in, and Lucas tossed in the chip to call.
“We have outs boys,” Hammond told his rail, and he was right, with 53% equity.
“Whatever happens doesn’t matter,” CoinPoker ambassador Patrick Leonard remarked to Lucas.
The turn and river ended it, sending the Canadian out in sixth.
Canada’s dream of having a WSOP Main Event winner will have to ride on Greg Mueller’s shoulders.
But Hammound walked from the table like a champion, spirits not even a little bit dampened. Of course, he had won $1,750,000, and that helps.
His rail sang the Canadian national anthem, making the exit quite a picturesque moment.
The knockout pushed Jumalon past 300M.
Han Feng Eliminated in 5th Place ($2,250,000)
Feng, one of the most accomplished players still in the event, went out brutally.
He raised under the gun, Saaskilahti three-bet to 50M from the button with , and Feng called all in for 25M with .
Greg Mueller folded in between, after wincing and thinking for quite a while.
“One time, one time!” Feng pleaded with the poker gods. “This is my first one time of the tournament.”
The flop was great for him, and only gave Saaskilahti one clean out with his nine.
You already know that Feng leaves the tournament in this hand, so can you guess what’s coming?
That’s right. Hope for Saaskilahti is coming.
The makes him open-ended, so any , , or the lone will end it all for Feng.
“Oh my god, he found it,” winced Schulman in the booth. “So brutal.”
The river completed it. Saaskilahti made his straight to crack the aces.
Feng took the exit in stride, saying it happens and that he was already booked for EPT Barcelona.
Michael Gagliano Eliminated in 4th Place ($2,750,000)
Four-time bracelet winner Michael Gagliano spent most of the day nursing a short stack and eventually found a spot K♠Q♠. His 9.5M chips went in.
Jumalon three-bet all in from the big blind with to isolate and Mueller folded his pocket four.
How do you feel?” Jumalon casually asked his at-risk opponent.
“Same as I felt on Day 6? We’ll see what happens,” Gagliano replied.
The flop kept Gagliano ahead, for now.
“Ace turn?” Lucas proposed.
Gagliano nodded and agreed. “That’s fair.”
But the turn flipped it and left Gagliano with just 7%.
And the river did not bring the desired card.
The confirmed the knockout, and Gagliano left in 4th place with $2,750,000.
“I don’t know what to say,” Nick Schulman said. “This guy is a legend. Michael Gagliano can add 4th place in the Main to his illustrious career, to say the least. What a run.”
Gagliano said he wouldn't have changed a single decision at the final table and was happy with how he played.
Greg Mueller Eliminated in 3rd Place ($3,750,000)
Mueller's run ended on the second hand of three-handed play.
Saaskilahti limped the small blind with and Mueller checked back in the big blind with .
The flop brought an ideal trap for Finland’s Main Event hopeful. Both checked.
Mueller called a 3M turn bet on the .
After the river, Saaskilahti asked for 50M, but the dealer misheard 15M, perhaps due to his accent. After he repeated the number, Mueller had a decision for the rest of his chips.
“It looks so bluffy, that’s what he’s going for,” Schulman revealed for the non-experienced viewers.
“Call,” Mueller said, after lots of thought.
‘I have you,” Saaskilahti told him. “I have Kings”
Mueller left in 3rd place with $3,750,000.
Schulman was very congratulatory of the Canadian pro.
“A lot of you guys don’t realize how big of a legend he really is. Much of it happens off camera, away from stuff like this.”
The former hockey pro and three-time bracelet winner left to another round of chants from his rail, saying he couldn't describe what the support meant to him.
Heads-Up for Part C of the Main Event
That left two. Jumalon has led this final table from start to finish and carries a comfortable edge into heads-up play with 59% of the chips, though his heads-up game is the open question. When asked about that, he said only that everyone would have to stay tuned.
Saaskilahti, meanwhile, is one win away from becoming Finland's first Main Event champion. He pointed to the aces he cracked against Feng as the key hand of his day, the moment a rough start turned into a run to the final two.
When we checked Polymarket before the final table, Lucas Jumalon at 36% chance of winning. Lauri Saaskilahti only had 5%, and look at him now!
Heads-up play takes place on August 5 at the Horseshoe, cards in the air at 6 p.m. local time.
On the line: $10,000,000 and the bracelet for the winner, $6,000,000 for the runner-up.
