Lucas Jumalon’s stunning victory at the final table of the 2026 WSOP Main Event shocked the poker world. The 22-year-old from Spokane, Washington was the second youngest World Championship winner of all time, only older than the 2009 champion Joe Cada in the pantheon of poker greats. A source of much debate has been whether the 22-year could – or even should – take the mantle of world champion and use it as a springboard to further success or whether he’ll take a step back after his monumental success in Las Vegas this summer.

To see if we can find out what Jumalon’s path might be, we’ve looked at the most recent ten winners of poker’s biggest title and how their careers have developed or not since their signature wins.

A Trio of American Winners

Between 2016 and 2018, three U.S. winners all celebrated becoming world champion, but their earnings since lifting the Main Event bracelet have been mixed to say the least. In 2016, Qui Nguyen took down the Main Event for a top prize of $8,005,310. Since his epic victory, Nguyen has only cashed for a paltry $172,000, an average of just $17,200 a year.

Scott Blumstein’s stunning win in 2017 saw the American win even more, taking home $8,150,000. Since then, he has won over half a million dollars, but this still only amounts to an annual take-home of $58,400, roughly $6,000 less per annum than the average American wage of $64,505 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In 2018, John Cynn captured the title everyone dreams of winning, taking home $8.8m. Since his victory, he has average $86,250 per year in the eight years since he lifted the diamond-encrusted Main Event bracelet. All three of these United States players won a lower amount per year than any of the players who followed them since.

Foreign Winners Set a High Standard

When the German player Hossein Ensan took down the World Champion in 2019, he broke the run of American winners and won the first eight-figure top score since Jamie Gold in 2006. Winning $10 million, Ensan’s win acted as a springboard to vast success in the seven years that have followed, with his earnings of $3.14 million since his Main Event win an example to anyone. He even made it to Day 9 of this year’s World Championship and was the last former champion to fall.

In 2020, the COVID era was defined by a hastily arranged ‘Hybrid’ WSOP Main Event, where Damian Salas won the international online event, meeting – and beating – Joseph Hebert in the live final in Las Vegas, which had to be delayed until very early in 2021 by virus regulations.

A delayed 2021 live WSOP Main Event saw 6,650 entries topped by another German, as Koray Aldemir won the top prize of $8 million. Since then, Aldemir has won a spectacular $3.38 million, averaging a devilish $666,160 per year since, now reaching $23 million in lifetime earnings.

One year on, the most successful player of the last ten years by our metric won the Main Event. Espen Jørstad conquered 8,662 opponents by taking down the 2022 World Championship for $10 million. Since that day four years ago, Jørstad has won another $8.36 million, averaging over $2 million a year and making him the most successful player for yearly average earnings on our list.

Mizrachi Among Modern Stateside Legends

In the past three years, three more American winners have won massive top prizes… but which one of them have won more since their victory? In 2023, Daniel Weinman won the biggest-ever Main Event top prize of $12.1 million. Since then, the Atlanta, Georgia man has virtually retired from the game, concentrating on his business interests, casually racking up $402,000 in poker winnings on the side, an average of $134,000 a year.

Jonathan Tamayo’s win in the 2024 Main Event came in the biggest ever World Championship in terms of attendance. With a 10,112 field, Tamayo’s win was worth $10 million and changed the rules for having laptops on the rail, an improvement for all concerned. Tamayo himself has only earned $490,000 in the game since his 2024 win, an average of $245,000 a year.

Michael Mizrachi’s title win in 2025 was unique in many ways. ‘Grinder’ (above) took down the World Championship for $10m million and in doing so, prompted an emergency induction into the Poker Hall of Fame on the back of him winning both the Poker Players Championship and the Main Event, something never done by anyone else in poker history.

Having now earned a massive $30.7m in his career, Mizrachi sits in 38^th place on the All-Time Money List, and the Poker Hall of Famer has earned $1,782,000 since his epic win, putting him in second place in terms of yearly earnings.

Can Lucas Jumalon emulate his heroes and earn huge money since winning the Main Event or will he disappear from the game more like a Qui Nguyen or Daniel Weinman? It feels like the former is most likely… but only time will tell.

Here are all the winners from the past 10 years and what they did since their Main Event wins.

WSOP Main Event Winners by Year
Year	Player	Country	Entries	Top Prize	Post-Win Earnings	Post-Win Average
2016	Qui Nguyen	U.S.A.	6,737	$8,005,310	$172,000	$17,200
2017	Scott Blumstein	U.S.A.	7,221	$8,150,000	$525,600	$58,400
2018	John Cynn	U.S.A.	7,874	$8,800,000	$690,000	$86,250
2019	Hossein Ensan	Germany	8,569	$10,000,000	$3,142,600	$448,940
2020	Damian Salas	Argentina	1,379	$2,550,969	$575,000	$95,830
2021	Koray Aldemir	Germany	6,650	$8,000,000	$3,330,800	$666,160
2022	Espen Jørstad	Norway	8,663	$10,000,000	$8,360,000	$2,090,000
2023	Daniel Weinman	U.S.A.	10,043	$12,100,000	$402,000	$134,000
2024	Jonathan Tamayo	U.S.A.	10,112	$10,000,000	$490,000	$245,000
2025	Michael Mizrachi	U.S.A.	9,735	$10,000,000	$1,782,000	$1,782,000