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One hand of poker, in the right context, can change your life. No one knows that better than Lucas Jumalon. The 22-year-old four-bet all-in preflop on day 8 of the 2026 World Series of Poker main event. His A♥10♠ trailed Will Givens’ A♦Q♥, and Jumalon, whose stack was at risk, needed help from the runout to avoid going out in 20th place.
The board immediately delivered beyond Jumalon’s wildest dreams. The 10♥10♣4♠ flop almost immediately locked up the hand for the former underdog, and Jumalon officially secured the staggering 56 million chip pot with a blank on the turn. Jumalon was one of the big stacks after that. The Spokane, Washington resident put those newfound chips to work, tripling his stack from there. By the end of day 8, Jumalon held a massive lead, bagging up over 35 percent of the total chips in play.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Jumalon told WSOP’s Jeff Platt in the immediate aftermath of making the final table. “It’s an insane moment. Insane tournament. I got very lucky today versus Will. Just to be here is incredible… I have the greatest people in my corner, and with them, I really can’t lose.”
The deluge of support is one of the defining elements of Jumalon’s experience thus far.
Bonds In Poker
When asked about the pivotal hand that set him on course to chase poker’s most coveted prize and a $10 million payday, Jumalon immediately centered his friend and fellow 22-year-old pro, Hayden Hetland.
Known as ‘Big Red’ for his fiery hair and beard, Hetland was a prominent part of a raucous rail supporting Jumalon’s run to the final table.
As Jumalon tried to contextualize the feeling of winning with ace-ten, it brought him back to another moment, one in which Jumalon was the supportive friend as Hetland finished second in a big WSOP Circuit event in Texas.
“Honestly, Big Red’s over there,” Jumalon told Card Player. “We did this a couple months ago in Austin. He rivered a ten in a huge six-figure pot, and it was almost the same reaction. It was just kind of meant to be.”
Return Of The Young Champion?
It’s been nine years since a poker player in their twenties won the WSOP main event. Scott Blumstein was 25 years old when he won the 2017 WSOP main event title. Before that, there was an eight-year stretch from 2008 through 2015, in which every champion was in their twenties. That span included 2009 WSOP main event champion Joe Cada, the youngest ever main event champion at 21 years old, winning the title about a week shy of his 22nd birthday.
If Jumalon were to win, ending the drought of champions in their twenties, he would be the second-youngest WSOP main event champion of all time. He’d join Peter Eastgate (2008) and Pius Heinz (2011) as 22-year-old WSOP main event winners. 2013 champ Ryan Riess and 2010 WSOP main event winner Jonathan Duhamel both struck at the age of 23, while Joe McKeehen (2015), Greg Merson (2012), and Phil Hellmuth (1989) won their WSOP main event titles at 24 years old.
Hellmuth held the mantle of youngest WSOP main event champion for almost two decades, before being unseated in consecutive years by Eastgate and then Cada.
Lucas Jumalon At A Glance
Age: 22
Hometown: Spokane, Washington
Profession: Poker Player
WSOP Bracelets: 0
Prior Overall Tournament Earnings: $145,193
Prior WSOP Tournament Earnings: $57,917
Current Rank At The Final Table: 1/9
Current Chip Stack: 194,000,000 (129 big blinds)
Lucas Jumalon’s Main Event Run, By The Numbers
| Day | Chip Count | End Of Day Rank | Remaining Field Size | Field Percentile |
| Day 1B | 7,400 | 758 | 759 | Top 99.9% |
| Day 2B | 146,000 | 631 | 1,260 | Top 50.1% |
| Day 3 | 467,000 | 449 | 1,389 | Top 32.3% |
| Day 4 | 2,065,000 | 39 | 533 | Top 7.3% |
| Day 5 | 4,435,000 | 38 | 174 | Top 21.8% |
| Day 6 | 15,875,000 | 10 | 62 | Top 16.1% |
| Day 7 | 40,800,000 | 3 | 21 | Top 14.3% |
| Day 8 | 194,000,000 | 1 | 9 | Top 11.1% |
How Jumalon’s Tournament Played Out
A total of 1,038 players entered on day 1B, playing the WSOP main event on July 4. Of that group, 759 made it to the end of the night. And of those 759 players, Jumalon’s 7,400 chips put him in 758th, the second-shortest stack of anyone who survived that session.
Day 2ABC was far kinder. Despite entering his second day of play with less than 10 big blinds, Jumalon spun it up in a major way, multiplying his stack almost 20 times over, to 146,000 by the close of the session. It got even better on day 3, which Jumalon ended with 467,000, and the Washingtonian made a massive run on day 4 to climb towards the top of the chip counts.
Jumalon popped up in the WSOP live updates for the first time on day 5 of the main event. His tournament life was on the line in a tough spot, as his A♠J♠ needed to come from behind against Ibrahim Naim’s A♦K♣. The 7♣6♦5♣ offered a faint hope of a chop, but the J♥ drastically changed Jumalon’s fortunes. That pot put him over 4 million heading into day 6.
It only got better on day 6. Jumalon eclipsed 18 million when he eliminated Bahar Musa in 75th place, courtesy of A♥Q♥ beating A♠7♣. Jumalon put 15,875,000 in the bag to end day 6 among the top 10.
Jumalon’s day 7 got off to a rough start, as he dropped a 15.4 million chip pot to Rami Hammoud, running into Hammoud’s turned seven-high straight. He’d soon get most of those chips back, eliminating Ricardo Cermeno in 55th place with pocket kings against pocket queens.
Good Luck Swells Into A Big Lead
Jumalon got his revenge on Hammoud, doubling up through his adversary with pocket aces against pocket nines. His stack swung up and down as the day went on, but he once again peaked late on day 7. Jumalon claimed a pot worth over 24 million chips when he turned a Broadway straight against Zhao Liu. Jumalon then eliminated Liu, previously one of the chip leaders, when his A♠K♠ flopped trip aces.
With 40,800,000, Jumalon sat in third place among the final 21 players heading into day 8. Jumalon’s stack dipped early, but he recovered a significant chunk when he eliminated Dylan Smith in 21st place. Smith was ahead until the river, when Jumalon’s K♦Q♦ turned into a king-high diamond flush.
Hammoud and Malcolm Trayner had already eclipsed 50 million when Jumalon took his shot with a four-bet shove in a battle of the blinds with Givens.
Dream Spot for Givens
Will Givens was all in with the dominating hand for a 56,000,000-chip pot on Day 8 of the $10,000 Main Event against Lucas Jumalon (@LukeJu22).
However, would the poker gods cooperate?
The WSOP Main Event stream is LIVE now on @espn Digital and YouTube… pic.twitter.com/dHEjSioj84
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 14, 2026
Jumalon later took the rest of Givens’ stack when his pocket aces held off a straight draw. Then he flopped a set of jacks, and won the biggest pot of the 2026 WSOP main event thus far, against Trayner’s pocket queens. Jumalon suddenly had 125 million, and sat head and shoulders above everyone else.
His stack continued to trend up, over 140 million, and then 170 million. Jumalon did the dirty work to clinch the final table, eliminating Trayner in 10th place. His K♣Q♦ didn’t touch the board, but the 8♠8♥4♥9♠9♣ runout gave Trayner hope, and then counterfeited his flopped pair with J♣4♣.
The Pursuit Of $10 Million
| Place | Payout |
| 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 |
It was only a few months ago that Jumalon graduated from Grand Canyon University In Phoenix, Arizona, with a degree in business administration and a minor in business analytics. Around that time, Jumalon was also contemplating his future in poker.
“All the personal stuff figured itself out,” Jumalon told GCU News’ Jason Gonzalez. “The poker figured itself out. It’s not lost on me that I couldn’t have done it by myself. These wins have jogged my memory of all those nights playing at GCU. I was just truly thankful and blessed.”
Lucas’ father, Butch, who also played this year’s WSOP main event, insisted on Lucas securing his degree while chasing his poker dreams. Lucas’ priorities shook themselves out during this run to the WSOP main event final table. Several of Jumalon’s GCU classmates, who played home games with him in the dorms, were on his rail, and more will be there come Aug. 3. That’s in addition to a large contingent of poker players and family members who will be there to cheer Jumalon on.
The demand for a spot on Jumalon’s rail is such that Jumalon put out a plea on social media hoping to secure even more access bracelets than he was initially allotted.
Anything Can Happen
Jumalon also built a rapport with his remaining competitors through their battles for incredible stakes over eight days of poker.
“The moment’s so special,” Jumalon said. “Like, with everybody who I got to the final three, four tables with, I built some special bonds along the way. I’m truly thankful to be one of the last nine standing. I hope that we have a reunion at some point, because all these guys are awesome.”
As for how he rates his chances to turn the chip lead into a $10 million victory, Jumalon was blunt.
“We’re just gonna go play cards,” said Jumalon. “At the end of the day, whatever happens, happens. I’ve seen chip leads turn to dust. I’ve seen dust to chip leads. That’s it. Doesn’t matter. Anything can happen.”
Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chip Count |
| 1 | Lucas Jumalon | 194,000,000 |
| 2 | Rami Hammoud | 79,000,000 |
| 3 | Jamie Shaevel | 56,000,000 |
| 4 | Greg Mueller | 48,500,000 |
| 5 | Michael Gagliano | 46,500,000 |
| 6 | Mario Boos | 44,000,000 |
| 7 | Lauri Saaskilahti | 37,500,000 |
| 8 | Han Feng | 25,000,000 |
| 9 | Evagoras Evagorou | 22,500,000 |
The first night of final-table action airs on Aug. 3 starting at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2. On Aug. 4, coverage moves over to ESPN, kicking off at 9 p.m. ET on the mothership. The finale of the 2026 WSOP main event airs starting at 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 5 on ESPN.
Additional photo credits: WSOP / Alicia Skillman, Monique Marestein