Shaun Deeb Falls Short as WSOP Main Event Final Table is Set in Las Vegas
The battle to reach the final table of the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event was always going to be intense. In the end, it was one for the ages as 21 players fought to reach the final nine in Las Vegas inside the Paris Ballroom. When the chips settled into their towers on the WSOP felt, the American pro Lucas Jumalon held a huge lead in the race to win the $10 million top prize.
Brunson Bad Beat Out of the Race
When Day 8 began, the Australian player Malcolm Trayney was the man with all the chips. When play ended, it was with his elimination in 10th place as the Aussie Millions champion bookended the race to make the final table of the fourth-largest WSOP Main Event in history.
Coming into Day 8 with a moderate stack, Todd Brunson was hoping to follow in his famous father’s footsteps. Doyle Brunson won the 1976 and 1977 WSOP Main Events but his son fell short courtesy of a bad beat on Day 8. Out for $325,000 in 20th place, the Poker Hall of Famer Todd Brunson was all-in with pocket aces on a jack-high board by the turn with two clubs on board. Malcolm Trayner made a nut flush with ace-jack of clubs when the river rewarded him but punished Brunson in the cruellest fashion.
Will Givens left in 19th place, before Thomas Clack lost with ace-five to the ace-seven belonging to the 2019 world champion, the German Hossein Ensan. Frenchman Romain Lewis left when his pocket kings were beaten by Greg Mueller’s pocket aces, before PokerStake seller Brock Wilson busted in 16th place. The American, all class throughout, lost with king-jack when Daniel Savas’ nine-eight outdrew him, but he looked back on his Main Event experience with huge pride.
Soon, another big name fell, as the 2025 WSOP Player of the Year Shaun Deeb busted in 15th place. All-in with an open-ended straight draw on the flop, Deeb couldn’t hit against the top pair of queens for Canadian player Ravi Hammoud and collected $410,000 on his way to registering for two more events. As it stands, Deeb is down to the final 13 players in the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event #97 as he bids to win more gold and crucial POY points.
Trayner Hits the Buffers
After both Antonio Galiana (12th for $510,000) and Tolga Karakaya (11th for $750,000) left the party, the WSOP Main Event was on the final table bubble, with one of the most painful eliminations of the tournament to come. The player who lost their stack and missed out on the final day by one place was the overnight chip leader Malcolm Trayner. On a flop of 8-8-4, Trayner was all-in with jack-four but was called by Lucas Jumalon who had king-queen for two overs. Avoiding paint, Trayner was still eliminated when a nine fell on both the turn and the river, counterfeiting Trayner’s hand and sending the Aussie Millions winner and WSOP bracelet winner to the rail with $750,000.
Now guaranteed $1,000,000 for reaching the Main Event final table, the final nine celebrated in style, and will have some time off before they play down to a winner in the Paris Ballroom. Play resumes in the Main Event on August 3rd, as three days of action will bring us the latest world champion in Las Vegas.
Jumalon Leads By a Mile
“I’m certainly going to try my best to come out on top, but [I’ll] be happy for whoever wins.”
With just nine players remaining, the American player Lucas Jumalon holds a vast lead over the field. Piling up 194,000,000 chips – the equivalent of 129 big blinds – Jumalon has more than double anyone else’s stack and more than treble any player other than the man who is second in chips, Canadian Rai Hammoud (79,000,000).
Two multiple bracelet winners sit in the middle of the pack, with the three-time bracelet winner Greg Mueller (48,500,000) and the four-time event winner Michael Gagliano (46,500,000) not far behind. ‘Gags’ posted on social media site X: “Thank you so much to everyone for all the support over the last few days. I’ve had so many people reach out and wish me good luck. It’s truly heartwarming knowing there are so many people across the world rooting for me. I’ve tried my best to thank and respond to each and every person, apologies if I missed anyone. Should be a fun final table, I can’t wait!”
Discussing his fellow finalists, ‘Gags’ revealed what he thinks of his fellow players.
“I’ve played extensively with all of the other eight players at this final table over the last week. I’m certainly going to try my best to come out on top, but my goodness, will I be happy for whoever wins. It’s just a tremendous group of people who have been nothing but kind and supportive of one another through all the ups, downs, stress, and tension of this tournament. While there were many great players whom I would have loved to have here that fell short of the [final], I couldn’t be happier to share this experience with this group of nine.”
Lucas Jumalon will come back to the felt on August 3 a big favorite to win his first WSOP bracelet and the World Championship with it. But the history of the World Championship tells us that anything could happen in the final days of the Main Event.
The stage is set for poker history.
| WSOP 2026 Event #82: $10,000 NLHE Main Event Final Table Chipcounts: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
| 1st | Lucas Jumalon | United States | 194,000,000 |
| 2nd | Rami Hammoud | Canada | 79,000,000 |
| 3rd | Jamie Shaevel | United States | 56,000,000 |
| 4th | Greg Mueller | Canada | 48,500,000 |
| 5th | Michael Gagliano | United States | 46,500,000 |
| 6th | Mario Boos | France | 44,000,000 |
| 7th | Lauri Saaskilahti | Finland | 37,500,000 |
| 8th | Han Feng | United States | 25,000,000 |
| 9th | Evagoras Evagorou | Cyprus | 22,500,000 |