2026 WSOP Main Event: Day 8 Has Lucas Jumalon Leading Final Table

The last day of the 2026 WSOP Main Event marathon for most — and just another day at the office for one man.

The first table is set up badly for Deeb, with the active Ensan and the experienced reg Gagliano acting in position on him. But the biggest stack belongs to the lively Canadian Hammoud, who gets down to business on the very first hand.

Hammoud raises from the hijack. Deeb calls from the small blind with , Ensan – on the big blind has .

Flop (4,200,000):

All check.

Turn (4,200,000):

Ensan bets 900,000. It seems impossible for Hammoud to do anything but call — but for him, nothing is impossible: he raises to 2,500,000!

Deeb – folds, Ensan – calls.

River (9,200,000):

Ensan checks. Hammoud quickly checks back. Ensan stares at the board, or his opponent's cards, in bewilderment. Hammoud really did do something strange — but he chose an active line!

At another table, the fun also begins with the first hand. Jumalon opens with from the button.

Lauri Saaskilahti — who'd spent the previous day playing like a berserker who'd eaten one fly agaric too many — three-bets big to 4,200,000 from the big blind. Jumalon responds by putting the Finn all-in. Saaskilahti has to call 15 million, and does so quickly with . Aces on the flop and river, and Saaskilahti doubles up.

The opening action at the third table, however, completely overshadows everything else.

On the third hand, Brock Wilson raises to 1,200,000. Todd Brunson moves all-in for 7,800,000 from the button. Chip leader Malcolm Trayner moves all-in over the top from the big blind! Wilson calls.

The flop is dealt .

Turn – , and Brunson has 10 outs.

The river is the most beautiful card in the deck, the .

Todd Brunson triples up!!

Malcolm Trayner is losing his lead.

Brock Wilson is doing just fine. He made some money in this hand.

Dylan Smith moves all-in for about 12 big blinds from lowjack, and he has . Jumalon on the button makes a call with .

On the river, he makes a diamond flush and knocks Smith out.

And we're immediately whisked to the river at the main table, where Shaun Deeb is one step from elimination.

Rami Hammoud raises 1,200,000 with from the cutoff. Deeb in the BB 3-bets to 4,800,000 with and Hammoud calls.

On the flop , Shaun bets 2,400,000, Hammoud calls. The turn , Hammoud calls the second barrel, 6,800,000.

On the river , Deeb hits a set and checks. Hammoud moves all-in, and Shaun sinks into deep thought.

He's desperately hunting for bluffs and can't find any, so the fact that he doesn't just fold is rather alarming. Even the best players in the world have blackouts sometimes.

Finally, Deeb folds. He's down half his stack, but he's still fighting.

The hand won't let the players go for a good while.

"You realize you only win this pot 5% of the time," Deeb says. "I'd have bet any other river."

"Well, I'm not sure I would have folded," Hammoud defends himself.

"If you didn't fold hands like that, you wouldn't have made it to this stage. Either you were incredibly lucky — and you'll bust soon."

"I'm ready to bust any second! Even if I bust the next hand, I'll still consider my result a miracle!"

Jumalon raises to 1,900,000 from the small blind.

Will Givens, 20 minutes late to the tournament as usual, three-bets to 5,800,000 from the big blind. Jumalon doesn't want to be the one calling off, so he jams himself — 27,800,000!

After some deliberation, Givens calls and finds himself way ahead.

But not for long!

"He's not dead! He's not dead!" Jumalon's friends suddenly start chanting in unison, celebrating a great flop for him. Who knows what could happen over the last two streets.

But nothing does. Givens is left with four blinds. He shows no ill will and congratulates his opponent — a bit like the way Chino Rheem carried himself after Ivan Demidov ran him over in 2008.

Todd Brunson raises from the button. Malcolm Trayner calls in the big blind.

On the flop , Trayner plays a check-call.

Turn (6,700,000):

Trayner checks. Brunson bets 2,300,000. His opponent check-raises to 5,500,000. Brunson moves all-in for 17,100,000, and Trayner calls instantly.

The Aussie Millions champion catches one of his outs and eliminates Doyle's son in 20th place.

Givens's timing for his next all-in isn't ideal. Saaskilahti cold-four-bets, and Jumalon feigns a tough decision before jamming himself after just one timebank card.

The Finn burns a timebank carefully studying Jumalon's face — then folds.

Flop:

There is a chance, even a for Givens is good enough.

Turn .

River .

Givens eliminated in 19th place ($325,000).

"I'm dangerous... I'm happy... I'm in the flow... And I'll be back," he tells Jeff Platt in a farewell interview.

What an incredibly busy first hour! But now there are two tables left, and it's time for a redraw break.

Hammoud puts the pressure on Gagliano. His 3-betting range is likely capped, but Gagliano decides not to risk it and folds.

Savas floats Deeb's c-bet with Q-high and, after checks on the turn, bluffs the river.

Shaun clearly can't put his opponent on a hand, but that doesn't stop him from calling with nothing.

"Sean's a phenomenal player," the morning commentators marvel.

On the next hand he's dealt two aces, but no one gives him any action.

French pro Romain Lewis finally gets involved. His stack isn't the deepest, and holding , he min-raises to 1,200,000 from middle position. Greg Mueller 3-bets to 3,400,000 from the cutoff with .

Maybe Lewis is seeing this tall guy for the first time, or thinks he's just some former hockey player.

Because if you know you're up against a pro with 30 years of experience, WSOP bracelets, and a huge online bankroll, finding a fold with nines for 19 big blinds seems unlikely.

New level, 400k/800k/800k.

Hammoud checks the flop and check-raises the turn.

The former world champion started the day very calmly, steering clear of big pots, but when you're playing Hammoud, the pots somehow accelerate on their own.

Ensan calls.

Hammoud bets 8.5 million and Ensan immediately calls.

The last Englishman in the tournament, Clack, falls victim to a brutal cooler.

He gets it all in after Ensan bets the turn and is absolutely gutted. He has outs to win and to chop, but none of them come.

Deeb raises to 1,600,000, Hammoud calls on the button, Mueller thinks for a long time and calls in the small blind, and Savas completes from the big blind.

Flop – .

After two checks, Deeb continuation bets 1,600,000.

Deeb checks. Hammoud starts leaning on him, betting 3,000,000. Deeb calls.

River (16,400,000):

A good card for Sean — there are fewer sets in the range now, and he does better against aces. He checks.

Hammoud shuffles his chips, glancing at his opponent now and then, burns one card and bets an unconvincing 5,000,000.

It's only a third of Deeb's stack, and Sean calls fairly quickly.

France loses one of its representatives. He'd seized his second chance to catch up to Mueller and prepared reinforcements, but his opponents had strengthened even more.

$410,475 for 17th place.

Trayner plays a 4-bet pot with Karakaya.

Having spent three time banks on the river, the Turkish-German player makes a good fold.

Ensan is about to show Q9o, but for some reason thinks Gagliano has seen his cards. Despite his neighbor's vehement denials, Ensan mucks.

Gagliano himself declines to open K3s from late position, probably because he's short.

Hammoud makes a brutal triple raise from the small blind.

Mueller calls.

Flop (5,600,000):

Check – check.

Turn (5,600,000):

Greg Mueller is getting some serious support from the poker gods! Check, check.

River – . Common street.

Check – check.

The showdown of this boring hand causes a lot of excitement at the table!

There are 16 players in the game. Stacks:

• Trayner – 71.9 million
• Ensan – 57.1 million
• Jumalon – 56.7 million
• Evagorou – 54.9 million
• Hammoud – 45.4 million
• Galiana – 44 million
• Deeb – 33.7 million
• Mueller – 30.1 million
• Karakaya – 29 million
• Saaskilahti – 24.7 million
• Boos – 23.7 million
• Savas – 22.7 million
• Shaevel – 21.5 million
• Gagliano – 15.4 million
• Han Feng – 14.5 million
• Wilson – 10.9 million

Savas and Wilson get it all in. Savas raises from the button with 98s — 1,600,000 — and calls Wilson's all-in for 10,100,000 with KJo.

The weaker hand wins, and Brock Wilson is eliminated in 16th place ($410,475).

Galliano pushes less than 20bb from the small blind with over Deeb's min-raise from the cutoff. Shaun calls with .

Tens win, and Shaun is left with 18 blinds.

Galiana 5-bet shoves.

"Nice hand, bro," Hammoud says and throws out his cards. One of the queens turns over.

Galiana tells that he has , but it seems no one believes this bluff.

Lunch break.

Blinds 500k/1m/1m... A million in the big blind! The number is somehow impressive. Nick Schulman and Ali Nejad are finally in the studio.

Savas immediately grabs the bull by the horns, and you can tell from Hammoud's face that after eating he doesn't want any unnecessary trouble.

The Canadian folds.

Shaun Deeb started the hand with 16 big blinds. He moved all-in on the flop...

And out he goes! 15th place, $410,475.

"Oh, wow! I was hoping to root for him tonight..." Schulman says sadly.

Yes, Nick! So were we...

"No big deal. I'll jump into HORSE now, and Closer registration is still open. I've already missed a ton of tournaments, I need to catch up! It was just another tournament. Nothing special."

Hijack vs. cutoff, loose positions. Daniel Savas opens with . Saaskilahti 3-bet up to 6,000,000 with and Savas quickly responded with an all-in of 35,200,000.

"Too fast," says the Finn. "Ace-king? Can you really play that with tens? I call."

Pot — 72.9 million!

Saaskilahti doubles up, leaving Savas with under five blinds. On the next hand, he says he likes his cards and shoves 960 into five players.

He's a real gamer, and it shows. Savas had never before cashed a tournament with a buy-in over $1,000; he qualified for the World Series Main Event through a $565 satellite.

The Finn calls with A9o and takes Daniel's last chips.

Jumalon opens from the button with . Trayner 3-bets from the big blind with . Jumalon calls.

On the flop, Trainer makes a continuation bet, and then, starting with the turn, he goes on the defensive.

On the river, Jumalon bets 35,000,000! Trayner thinks for a long time, but can't find a check. He calls — and Jumalon scoops a huge pot!

Limped pot on the blinds. Galiana with on the small blind checks the flop . Hammoud bets a million with , and gets called.

Turn – , both check.

River – . Galiana bets 2,500,000, but Hammoud raises to 15,000,000 and Galiana quickly folds.

"You're outmaneuvering me with my chips!" the Spaniard protests.

"Wow, so this is what it feels like!" Hammoud laughs. He's on cloud nine.

Ensan, who everyone had forgotten about because other heroes had appeared, raises to 2,000,000 from first position. Hammoud calls with on the button. Greg Mueller with goes all-in for 19,100,000 from the small blind. Ensan folds, and Hammoud calls with a "Good luck, buddy."

"We've got jacks, they've got nines!" the former hockey player shouts to his friends. The dealer gives his opponent no extra outs, and Mueller doubles up to 43 big blinds.

Ensan, who had played brilliantly throughout the Main Event, fell apart rather disappointingly on Day 8. To be fair, he was dealt terribly.

Saaskilahti raises to 2,000,000 from the button, and Ensan — losing his usual sapper's caution — jams to 26,400,000 from the small blind with . The lack of escape routes is taking its toll on Michael Gagliano, who is lurking in the BB with . Call from him, fold from Finn.

And that's it! Scott Seiver's top-ranked Main Event player (Ali Nejad shared this assessment) leaves the tournament in 13th place. His prize is $510,000.

"I'm very happy with my result. 13th place out of 9,000 is excellent. But someone else should win this time. And I'll be very happy for that person."

The blinds are raised to 600k/1.2m/1.2m.

Two 6-max tables are in play. The seating is bizarre — all the short stacks at one table, all the big stacks at the other. The young chip leaders are swept up in the moment, laughing goofily, ordering beers for their fans and energy drinks for themselves. Their moods swing with their stacks. The atmosphere is one of not-so-gentle madness.

A cooler setup. The Finn calls.

Turn – .

Jumalon bets 3,200,000, Saaskilahti calls.

River – .

Jumalon bets another 16,000,000. Shame it's not Omaha. Saaskilahti calls and loses about a third of his stack on the hand.

At the short-handed table, Trayner is slowly managing to break through — he's already up to 50 million. Shaevel is card-dead, sitting on 15 million. Han Feng has the same trouble; he's clearly well prepared and playing well, but there's only so far you can go without playable hands!

At the big-stack table, the one who can afford to play more hands than anyone is out front — Jumalon's stack tops 135 million.

Gagliano has around 80 million, while Galiana and, alas, Greg Mueller are gradually drying up.

Gagliano outplays Galiana preflop.

Galiana folds immediately.

Saaskilahti attacks his opponent's blocking bet on the river:

Hammoud thinks for a long time — it looks like he's cooking up a huge bluff — but he gradually cools off and eventually gives it up.

Han Feng limps from the small blind. Trayner isolates with 92o.

There's a little flash on the flop:

Feng, after thinking, goes all-in and gets an instant fold.

At the end of a long bluff, Evagorou reaches for his last resort — all-in.

"That's a pretty good hand to call with — no nine, eight, or six," Schulman says.

Shaevel draws as if Zeebo's theorem doesn't apply to him. But he can't draw forever, so he calls.

Evagorou is left with under ten blinds.

Mueller moves all-in from the small blind for 27.1 million with AQs.

"Count it," Jumalon asks. "First card — and I'm folding anyway. Second — and now I've got a suited ace!"

After some thought, he folds A2s.

"Good fold," Greg says, showing his cards to his opponent.

The commentators are baffled as to why he did that. They can't come up with an answer.

The big stacks flatly refuse to double-barrel-bluff the river when they're behind, so some of the shorter stacks have started abandoning their eternal slowplay of the nuts — their hopes now pinned solely on so-called "cooler value." Raise all-in on the turn and pray for a hand.

But the hands still aren't coming.

The level is gradually winding down, but no one goes out.

Evagorou is all-in.

Flop: , the Cypriot becomes the favorite.

Turn – – a big favorite!

River – . Doubled up.

Another attempt to knock out the player.

But the Frenchman survives, and the stands cheer as if he had reached the final table.

Meanwhile, Trayner's stack drops below 20bb.

From the cutoff, Michael Gagliano raises to 2,500,000. Galiana on the button three-bets to 14,000,000, committing half his stack. After the blinds fold, Gagliano moves all-in.

A classic cooler.

Gagliano knocks out Galiana.

Spain's Antonio Galiana finishes 12th ($510,000). The big-stack leaderboard is now shorter than the short stacks' own table.

Trayner takes a pot with a 3-bet, folding out the best hand in the process.

Karakaya open-shoves from the small blind, and Evagorou has a calling hand. The Cypriot optometrist risks elimination, but the call is correct in both theory and practice.

Greg Mueller suddenly raises to 6,000,000 — five blinds — with two tens. Jumalon, holding AQo, thinks for a moment and folds. One less all-in! The others fold too.

Greg Mueller is nearly all-in. Michael Gagliano puts him all the way in.

A classic.

Gagliano sits in the same pose, eyes down, fingering his chips. Greg Mueller behaves completely differently, chanting his own name along with the fans.

The board shows . Müller doubles up.

Inspired, he settles back in — and picks up two aces.

Gagliano defends the big blind with a call — carefully!

Flop (6,800,000):

Mueller bets 2 million. Opponent calls.

Thorn (10,800,000):

Hoping for a cooler, Greg bets 6 million, and Gagliano quickly folds.

Stacks at the break:

• Jumalon – 155 million
• Hammoud – 67 million
• Mueller – 62.5 million
• Gagliano – 51.5 million
• Saaskilahti – 49.5 million
• Han Feng – 47 million
• Trayner – 33.5 million
• Shaevel – 29 million
• Boos – 27.5 million
• Evagorou – 19 million
• Karakaya – 11 million

The new blinds are 1m/1.5m/1.5m. What a jump — from 2.5 million to 4 million per orbit!

Shaevel shows up with kings — no takers. The next hand brings jacks! Another raise. Karakaya, in the small blind, three-bets to 11,000,000, leaving 1 million behind. He has ATo, and Shaevel puts him all-in.

All the aces are already folded. There's a real chance of being left with ten-high.

A ten hits the flop.

No more help comes.

Tolga Karakaya is eliminated in 11th place, winning $750,000. He hugs everyone at the table, pats them on the back, and wishes them luck.

The unofficial final table looks like this:

• Saaskilahti – 45.5 million
• Gagliano – 59 million
• Boos – 23.5 million
• Mueller – 52.5 million
• Shaevel – 44 million
• Han Feng – 51 million
• Hammoud – 67 million
• Trayner – 29.5 million
• Evagorou – 19.5 million
• Jumalon – 161.5 million

Four from the United States, two from Canada, and one each from Finland, France, Australia, and Cyprus.

On the very first hand, the blinds go to war. Trayner shoves Q8o, Evagorou calls with K7s. 60 to 40.

The Cypriot doubles up, leaving his opponent with just seven blinds.

Postflop, the deeper stacks win all the pots — no surprises there. We're waiting on the cooler.

"It's closer than we think," says Schulman, "but now there'll be an all-in and a call."

Boos is nervous, wrapped in a French flag, but the flop is simply excellent — .

Turn – , France rejoices.

River is not a ten.

Jumalon attacks the big blind of the shortest stack, Trayner, with . Trayner defends with .

On the flop , both players go all-in.

A nine comes on the turn.

And that's it! Jumalon is just shy of 200 million.

Chips at the official final table:

The WSOP Main Event will conclude in the first days of August.