The first of three days of motion on the 2026 World Series of Poker major occasion remaining desk is within the books. Lucas Jumalon began day 9 of this event with a major chip lead, and in the end grew his stack by the top of the evening on Monday. The 22-year-old bagged up 212,000,000 to stay the favourite to stroll away with the championship bracelet and the first-place prize of $10,000,000.
But the largest transfer of the day, and the story to keep watch over heading into Tuesday evening’s WSOP major occasion remaining desk motion, belongs to Han Feng. The 27-year-old poker participant primarily based out of Houston went from the second-shortest stack to begin the ultimate desk to a transparent second place place by the top of the session. He’ll take 106,500,000 into evening two of this three-day marathon.
“If there was a distribution of outcomes that I could choose, that’s most favorable for me, and choose my destiny, this would be top two for sure,” Feng advised Card Player. “Top one would be somehow I dwarfed Jumalon in chips, but that’s very, very hard to do with how much chips he has. But to cross the nine-figure chip mark, it’s pretty amazing.”
Feng had the poker day of his life in a fancy dress straight out of manga. His One Piece-inspired outfit, channeling the pink-feathered, open-chested jacket and pants of Donquixote Doflamingo, price him $200. With the $500,000 Feng made for outlasting two gamers on day 9 of this event, and the potential of much more to return, it appears to have been funding.
Veterans Hanging On
After Jumalon and Feng, Finland’s Lauri Saaskilahti sits comfortably in third place with 84,500,000. The 39-year-old spent a lot of Monday’s motion in second place, and Saaskilahti was one of many few gamers to even briefly halt Jumalon’s overwhelming, constant stress all through the day. Canadian Rami Hammoud sits in fourth place in a single day with 45,500,000, adopted carefully by four-time WSOP bracelet winner Michael Gagliano.
Gagliano was dangerously short-stacked late into the evening, however picked up a number of pots simply earlier than motion ended for the evening to bounce again. Jamie Shaevel is in sixth place, with 33,000,000, whereas three-time bracelet winner Greg Mueller rounds out the ultimate seven with 29,500,000.
Mueller, like Gagliano, had some excessive factors over the course of the primary day of 2026 WSOP major occasion remaining desk motion. But a late dip places him in a deadly place heading into Tuesday afternoon’s session.
Final Table Time
The remaining 9 took their seats at round 5:30 PM native time contained in the Horseshoe Las Vegas. Bruce Buffer, the well-known voice of combined martial arts and a poker event common, kicked off the proceedings together with his signature catchphrase.
IT’S TIIIIIME! 🎤🔥@brucebuffer simply delivered a “Shuffle up and deal!” for the AGES.
The ambiance contained in the WSOP Main Event Final Table is totally ELECTRIC. pic.twitter.com/cmwvNzwrYK
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) August 4, 2026
Jumalon, who was already the highest stack with over a 3rd of the chips in play to begin, received a hefty pot within the first orbit with pocket eights to change into the primary participant to surpass 200 million. After taking down that pot, he chipped as much as 214,000,000, or simply shy of three,567 instances the preliminary beginning stack of 60,000 for this championship occasion.
Mueller surged up the leaderboard due to a giant preflop win. He opened with Okay♠Okay♦ after which four-bet over Hammoud’s three-bet with A♥Q♥. Hammoud bought out of the best way, however not earlier than relinquishing a large chunk of his stack.
Putting A Big Stack Into Play
Jumalon slid again beneath the 200 million mark after he fired a few barrels with air, solely to have Gagliano hold round with the nut flush draw. Neither participant improved on the top and Jumalon opted to not proceed bluffing with six excessive. He appeared to remorse taking his foot off the fuel when Gagliano confirmed down ace excessive to pull the pot and transfer into second chip place.
The two shortest gamers to begin the day, Evagoras Evagorou and Feng, have been each floor right down to single-digit huge blind stacks throughout the early motion. Evagorou discovered one double with flopped high pair and a straight draw staving off ace excessive for Jumalon, who turned backside pair however was unable to enhance any additional.
Jumalon continued to fall from his early excessive water mark when his preflop elevating battle with Saaskilahti ended the Finnish participant five-betting A♣Okay♠. Jumalon had four-bet with A♥5♣ and opted to bail on the escalating recreation of rooster. Not lengthy after that, Mueller received a three-bet pot to take one other chew out of Jumalon’s stack. With that, Mueller and Saaskilahti entered a digital tie for second on the leaderboard.
Optician From Cyprus Sees His Way Out In Ninth Place
Evagoras Evagorou
Back on the opposite finish of the spectrum, Evagorou was quickly all-in and in danger a second time. The 48-year-old optician from Nicosia, Cyprus bought the final of his chips in with J♠J♥ racing towards the A♥Q♦ of Shaevel. The board got here down A♣9♠7♦5♠4♣ and Shaevel spiked a pair of aces to attain the primary knockout of the evening.
“I came to win. Throughout this tournament, I played like very, very good poker. I feel a little bit disappointed now because I couldn’t win this hand, but it was an amazing journey,” mentioned Evagorou to a media scrum gathered after he was despatched to the rail.
Evagorou earned $1,000,000 because the ninth-place finisher, which was 22 instances bigger than his earlier finest rating of $45,490.
“I just continued my life as I do, went back home and was working normally. I just prepared a little bit, like psychologically,” he mentioned when requested in regards to the three-week layoff from when the ultimate desk was set again on July thirteenth. “I’m happy with my game. I think I played great.”
Shaevel Slides, Saaskilahti Surges
Shaevel fared much less properly on his subsequent huge preflop flip. This time round, he was the participant with the massive pocket pair going through two overcards. His 10♦10♣ was the preflop favourite towards the A♥Q♠ of Hammoud, who was at risk of ending eighth after beginning the day because the second-largest stack. The flop got here down A♣7♦3♣, although, to present Hammoud a giant lead within the conflict.
The 8♥ flip and 4♦ river modified nothing and Hammoud steamed again up the standings whereas Shaevel fell beneath 15 huge blinds.
Saaskilahti turned the second participant to hit the 100-million mark when he pulled off a giant bluff with queen excessive. He opened Q♠8♠ from the hijack for a 4 million min-raise. Mueller referred to as from the small blind with Okay♠J♦ and flopped high pair on Okay♣6♣4♠. He checked and Saaskilahti fired one other 3 million unimproved. Mueller referred to as and the 5♦ rolled off on the flip. Another verify from Mueller prompted an 11-million barrel from Saaskilahti.
A fast name by Mueller, after which a darkish verify, preceded the board-pairing 6♥. Saaskilahti went huge, wagering 35 million together with his air. Mueller thought it over earlier than ultimately electing to fold one of the best hand.
Feng Finds Four, Then Doubles Again With Sneaky Kings
Feng was practically out the door in eighth place, however his A♠4♠ got here from behind towards the dominating A♣Q♣ of Mario Boos, due to a Okay♠Okay♥2♦4♦10♥ runout.
“Do you know what’s crazy? I felt really good about it before the flop even came,” Feng mentioned. “I know I’m like 30%, but I felt really good about it. What’s crazy is my friend Jerry, with all the tattoos on the rail, he has a video. He called, ‘four diamonds on the turn’ before it came. He has video proof. So sometimes, it’s destiny. I also feel like I have a little bit of plot armor with this outfit.”
As eight-handed play stretched on, Jumalon started to seek out a number of the momentum he’d misplaced throughout the center of the session. He received a large pot worth betting Okay♣10♦ on J♥J♦2♣Okay♥6♣ and getting seemed up by the A♣9♣ of Saaskilahti.
Jumalon stretched his lead again out, setting a brand new high-water mark for the day earlier than hitting a velocity bump. He opened to six.5 million from UTG+1 with Okay♣J♥ and Feng simply flatted Okay♠Okay♦ from the massive blind.
The pot sat at 16,500,000 at that time, with Feng having simply 15,500,000 behind. He checked together with his overpair after the 10♠9♠2♣ flop and, after Jumalon wager 16.5 million, Feng shortly shoved for 17 million whole, and Jumalon referred to as. The 6♣ flip and 9♣ river noticed Feng double once more to seek out much more respiration room.
France’s Boos Bounced In Eighth Place
Jumalon regained any misplaced momentum from that pot when he flopped journeys queens with A-Q in a three-bet pot to finest the A-Okay suited of Gagliano. The preflop aggressor led out small, solely to fold to a click-back check-raise by Jumalon. Gagliano was left in a digital tie for the second-shortest stack, whereas Jumalon approached 230 million.
Several hours after Evagorou hit the rail in ninth, the second elimination of the session lastly got here to be. Boos dedicated his stack with 8♥8♦, elevating to 14 million from center place. It folded round to Saaskilahti, who raised all-in from the massive blind for a single blind extra with Okay♥9♣.
Boos referred to as, and draped himself within the flag of his dwelling nation of France. The 32-year-old poker professional was forward, however the A♠9♠2♦ flop gave his Finnish opponent a pair of nines and the lead.
The 10♣ on the flip modified nothing, leaving Boos in want of an eight on the river. The 10♠ appeared as a substitute, ending his run in eighth place ($1,250,000).
Mario Boos
“I’m grateful. It was a nice time; the tournament was great,” mentioned Boos. “This break was a good idea again. I’m happy.”
This was by far the biggest rating but for Boos, blowing away the $65,364 he earned for a final-table displaying in a €380 occasion on the Italian Poker Sport Rozvadov pageant final yr.
“It’s a great thing, the French poker community… we are all together all the time. Every time someone makes a good result, we are happy for them, and we stay together,” Boos advised Card Player when requested about turning into a fixture of the nation’s scene. “It’s a cool thing.”
One More For Feng
On what would in the end be the 108th, and remaining, hand of day 9 of the 2026 WSOP major occasion, Feng capped off his unimaginable spin-up with yet another pot at Saaskilahti’s expense.
Feng raised to five million from center place with pocket queens, and Saaskilahti defended with jack-eight offsuit. On a 7♠3♣2♣ flop, Saaskilahti checked, Feng wager 3.5 million, and Saaskilahti check-raised to fifteen million. After contemplating his choices, Feng raised it again, to 30 million, committing a good portion of his stack within the course of.
Saaskilahti contemplated his choices for a number of minutes. As ESPN commentators Nick Schulman and Ali Nejad contemplated whether or not or not Saaskilahti had the four-bet all-in bluff in thoughts, the Finnish participant in the end launched his hand, and play concluded for the evening.
Action resumes on Tuesday, Aug. 4, at roughly 4 p.m. native time in Las Vegas. The day 10 broadcast kicks off on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. There is 7:21 remaining in stage 41, with blinds of 1,000,000-2,500,000 and a 2,500,000 ante.
Chip Counts – End Of Day 9
| Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
| Lucas Jumalon | 212,000,000 | 85 |
| Han Feng | 106,500,000 | 43 |
| Lauri Saaskilahti | 84,500,000 | 34 |
| Rami Hammoud | 45,500,000 | 18 |
| Michael Gagliano | 42,000,000 | 17 |
| Jamie Shaevel | 33,000,000 | 13 |
| Greg Mueller | 29,500,000 | 12 |
Remaining Payouts and Final Table Results Thus Far:
| Place | Player | Payout |
| 1 | TBD | $10,000,000 |
| 2 | TBD | $6,000,000 |
| 3 | TBD | $3,750,000 |
| 4 | TBD | $2,750,000 |
| 5 | TBD | $2,250,000 |
| 6 | TBD | $1,750,000 |
| 7 | TBD | $1,500,000 |
| 8 | Mario Boos | $1,250,000 |
| 9 | Evagoras Evagorou | $1,000,000 |
Photo credit: WSOP / Miguel Cortes, Alicia Skillman
