Lucas Jumalon Wins 2026 WSOP Main Event for $10,000,000

Defending champion Michael Mizrachi passed the torch to Lucas Jumalon, the 2026 WSOP Main Event winner who went wire-to-wire at the final table.

“The Grinder,” last year’s winner, announced “shuffle up and deal” to kickstart the heads-up match between two players — Jumalon and Lauri Saaskilahti — one spot away from poker’s most coveted title.

Jumalon and Saaskilahti returned to action Wednesday evening as the lone remaining participants in the $10,000 Main Event, which started on July 2 with 9,208 players. Jumalon, a 22-year-old from Spokane, Washington attempting to become the second-youngest World Champion ever, entered the final table on Monday with a massive chip lead. That lead wasn’t in danger at any point through the first two days at the final table.

Saaskilahti, a Finnish player with only $138,000 in prior live tournament cashes, came into the finale looking to give Jumalon a run for his money, and he nearly did.

2026 WSOP Main Event Final Table Results

Players Come Out Aggressive

Neither player came out playing passive. Jumalon drew early blood a few hands into the match with a preflop raise, large-sized continuation bet, and a half-pot turn bet that took down the pot. The chip leader then took another meaningful pot with middle pair in a non-raised preflop hand.

Jumalon was the early aggressor, similar to what he’d shown the first two days at the final table. But Saaskilahti was far from passive, even in some instances where he held weak hands.

Things started to go downhill for Saaskilahti in a limped preflop pot when he flopped middle pair and continued betting big on the turn and river, only to get called down by Jumalon, who turned a bigger pair and extended his lead.

Jumalon began to pick on on his opponent, but then it all turned around in the matter of one hand. With the big blind at 4,000,000, Saaskilahti raised to 10,000,000 from the button with ace-ten, only to be forced to decide if he wanted to call off his entire stack of 131,000,000 when Jumalon, who was behind with ace-nine, jammed.

Saaskilahti tanked for a minute before deciding it was time to gamble, except he was gambling with the best hand. He felt good about the flop when both players paired the ace because he had the stronger kicker. But the nine on the turn brought Jumalon to within one card away from being crowned Main Event champion. And then a diamond on the river gave Saaskilahti the pot.

Just like that, one river card completely changed the trajectory of the tournament. Jumalon’s chip lead, for the first time at the final table, was threatened. But only briefly.

Closing it Out

Jumalon held a comfortable chip lead until that point. It became apparent that Saaskilahti was going to be a difficult opponent to push around. But that didn’t stop the eventual champion from playing aggressive.

The biggest hand at the final table occurred within a minutes after Saaskilahti nearly doubled into the chip lead. The board showed 4♣A♠K♠J♠6♠ and there was 100,000,000 in the pot. Jumalon, with the Q♠ in his hand, bet 180,000,000, leaving his opponent with just eight big blinds behind.

Saaskilahti, a 40-year-old who had already locked up a mid-seven-figure score, went into the tank with what would essentially be the Main Event title on the line. He had an inferior hand — J♦3♦ — and if he were to call, he’d drop to a 12-1 chip disadvantage.

After much thought, he finally decided that there was a strong possibility Jumalon was bluffing. He was wrong. The runner-up made the call, a call that will likely be questioned for weeks to come on social media, and saw his championship dreams dwindle.

Moments later, Saaskilahti had a shot to double-up. He was all in preflop with ace-seven and slightly ahead of king-six. But a six hit on the flop and a second one on the turn locked up the hand and the tournament for Jumalon, who secured the bracelet and the $10,000,000 prize.

Jumalon, the fourth consecutive American to win the Main Event, had the chip lead during every hand at the final table. The Pride of Spokane went on a final table run that was reminiscent of Joe McKeehen in 2015 with such a dominant performance.

Jumalon joins the likes of Mizrachi, Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, and Doyle Brunson among those who’ve won poker’s most prestigious tournament.

*Images courtesy of the WSOP.

Connor Richards is a Senior Editor U.S. for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for three Global Poker Awards for his writing.