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Another week is in the books, and it was a big one, as a new WSOP Main Event champion was crowned, and a new player was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
The wait finally came to an end last week, as the remaining nine WSOP Main Event players came back to play out the final table. Lucas Jumalon, who came into the final table as an overwhelming chip leader, was able to maintain the chip lead and go all the way, becoming a Main Event champion at just 22 years of age.
In the meantime, the Poker Hall of Famers cast their ballots, and it was decided that only Jason Koon would be added to the HOF this year, to the disappointment of a few other worthy candidates.
In other news, GGPoker announced the full schedule for its upcoming WSOP Online festival, while live tournament players went back to the action in a variety of lower-stakes and less prestigious poker festivals around the world.
Let’s take a closer look at a few of the key stories and why they matter for poker as a whole.
The 2026 WSOP Is a Wrap
Another edition of the World Series of Poker is in the books, with the young Lucas Jumalon winning the final bracelet of the summer and making poker history in the process.
Jumalon won the $10,000,000 first-place prize after defeating Finland’s Lauri Saaskhilati in the final match-up that reminded us of the Poker Boom years and the kinds of street poker battles that made poker the global phenomenon it is.
The match came down to an epic hand in which Saaskhilati decided to make a massive hero call with a pair of Jacks on a four-flush board, which ended up being the wrong decision and practically gave Jumalon the win right there.
Wow. Over 6,000,000 impressions on this hand. 🤯
Today we’re sitting down with Lucas Jumalon to break down exactly what was going through his mind during this life changing moment, along with the biggest hands from his historic $10,000,000 WSOP Main Event victory.
What do you… https://t.co/oraOLgSCtF
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) August 7, 2026
While many criticized the Finn’s play, a number of poker pros came to his defense on social media. Ultimately, the call that decided it all was a feel play that doesn’t really need too much explaining. Lauri thought he was something that simply wasn’t there, and he’ll have to contend with a $6,000,000 second-place prize.
Of course, the final day of the WSOP was a particularly joyful one for the taxmen across the world, as they collected over $12,000,000 of the $30,250,000 in prize money, with one final tablist even paying more than 50% of his total winnings in taxes.
Be as it may, the final nine all went home much richer than they were when they came to Las Vegas this year, both in terms of money and experience, while for everyone else, there’s always next year to chase the WSOP dream.
Jason Koon Enters the HOF, But the System Needs More Revising
In the final week of the 2026 WSOP, we also got our next poker Hall of Famer in Jason Koon, a worthy addition to the game’s most elite club.
And while there is no denying that Koon deserved his place in the HOF, there were a few other players who probably felt they should have gotten in as well, namely Shaun Deeb and Scott Seiver.
Deeb’s incredible performances in tournaments over the years, which won him two WSOP POY titles, and Seiver’s mix of success at both cash game and tournament tables, should have been enough to get them both into the HOF.
I want to start this off by saying how obviously deserving Jason is of the hall of fame, and am deeply touched by the words people have reached out to me last night, specifically Jason himself and Schulman and Negreanu, which has really helped temper my emotions so far. Having…
— Scott Seiver (@scott_seiver) August 4, 2026
Thanks to the new voting system, it was possible for all three, and perhaps even more, to be inducted, but it seems that the system is still somewhat broken.
As Seiver himself broke down in an X post, many of the current HOF members don’t really follow poker anymore, and there’s a chance they don’t really know who the best players in the world actually are.
The voting system could probably do with some more revising, but it’s unlikely to ever be perfect, which means the likes of Deeb and Seiver will simply have to be patient and wait it out until things align to ensure they earn their rightful places among the poker elite.
WSOP Is Going Online
With the Las Vegas leg of the 2026 WSOP in the books, attention turns to the upcoming WSOP festivals. The first of those was announced this week in the form of WSOP Online, coming to GGPoker on August 16.
The online poker festival will run until September 29, award a total of 33 WSOP bracelets, and pay out hundreds of millions in prizes, including $25 million in the Main Event alone.
As always, online players will get to try their hand at different poker formats and games in the WSOP Online festival, with dozens of affordable events, a few high rollers, and hundreds of non-bracelet tournaments on the schedule.
WSOP Online schedule is live. Full schedule here 👇https://t.co/AQP5wNFoDy
— GGPoker (@GGPoker) August 6, 2026
This year’s WSOP Online schedule is similar to last year’s, with a few tweaks to the buy-ins and structures, and a few new events added for variety.
Players will also get to benefit from a few unique promotions such as Continental Flipouts, where $3 million will be given away to players from bracelet winners’ regions.
The player will get another full week of rest before WSOP Online kicks off, when the real ones will be back to the grind in their respective countries. For those still chasing the WSOP POY title, the action will resume in December, when WSOP Paradise starts in the Bahamas.