Image courtesy of the World Series of Poker (Alicia Skillman)
After nearly eight weeks of action, the 2026 World Series of Poker is in the books. Out of 100 events on the summer schedule, 99 have been completed. The one that still remains is the biggest of them all – the Main Event.
This year, primarily for TV production reasons, the Main Event played down to the final table of nine, and then the play was put on hold until August 3. So, while the series is technically over, we won’t know the name of the new Main Event champion for a few more weeks.
Shaun Deeb, who actually nearly missed on that final table, wraps up the summer as the number one on the Player of the Year leaderboard. He’ll be heading to the WSOP Paradise in December with a slight lead and a great determination to seize the title.
The final numbers for the 2026 WSOP are in as well, showing that live poker continues to flourish despite all the obstacles.
2026 WSOP Week 8 Bracelet Winners
| Event | Winner | Prize Money | Total Entries |
| #88 — $300 Gladiators of Poker | Johnny Oshana | $250,000 | 11,185 |
| #89 — $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold’em | Yanting Jiang | $1,159,182 | 3,668 |
| #90 — $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em | Jamie Dwan | $2,276,691 | 202 |
| #91 — $1,500 Pick Your PLO | Sergio Benso | $196,431 | 857 |
| #92 — $3,000 T.O.R.S.E. | Sterling Lopez | $247,842 | 457 |
| #93 — $1,500 The Closer No-Limit Hold’em | Ori Hasson | $582,800 | 3,724 |
| #94 — 10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship | David Peters | $1,001,391 | 558 |
| #95 — $500 Summer Saver No-Limit Hold’em | Garrett Dwire | $210,000 | 4,622 |
| #96 — $3,000 6-Handed Pot -Limit Omaha | Joshua Wang | $407,137 | 892 |
| #97 — $25,000 High Roller H.O.R.S.E. | Alexander Kostritsyn | $872,052 | 148 |
| #98 — $800 Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em | Nishant Sharma | $196,659 | 2,036 |
| #99 — $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em | Darren Rabinowitz | $695,256 | 884 |
| #100 — $1,000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold’em | She Wong | $216,286 | 1,699 |
The Big Stage Is Set
After eight grueling days of play, the final table of the 2026 WSOP Main Event was set a few days ago. We now have the names of the nine players who’ll be coming back in August to battle it out for the biggest title in all of poker, as well as the $10,000,000 first place prize.
All nine are guaranteed to walk away with at least $1,000,000 for their efforts.
2026 Main Event Payouts
| Position | Prize |
| 1st | $10,000,000 |
| 2nd | $6,000,000 |
| 3rd | $3,750,000 |
| 4th | $2,750,000 |
| 5th | $2,250,000 |
| 6th | $1,750,000 |
| 7th | $1,500,000 |
| 8th | $1,250,000 |
| 9th | $1,000,000 |
With the tournament down to just three tables, it looked like we could have a pretty stacked finale, with the likes of Shaun Deeb, Todd Brunson, Brock Wilson, and the 2019 winner Hossein Ensan still in the mix.
However, it wasn’t in the cards for any of them. One by one, they were sent to the rail, and the final table was formed when Malcolm Trayner, this year’s Aussie Millions winner, lost the last of his chips to 22-year-old Lucas Jumalon, the man who finished the day as a significant chip leader over the rest of the field.
With the stack of 194,000,000 chips, he has more ammo than the three players trailing him combined. With his total live earnings standing at $180,000 before the Main Event run, Lucas has already locked up his best career score by far, and he is in a great spot to go all the way.
There aren’t any “big” names left in the mix, but Greg Mueller and Michael Gagliano each have three WSOP bracelets to their names, so they are familiar with the final table pressure.
The action will resume on August 3, and the final table will play out over the course of three days. Live coverage will be available on the WSOP YouTube channel, ESPN, and several other TV channels and streaming platforms, including Eurosport and HBO Max.
2026 WSOP Main Event Final Table
| Player | Country | Stack | Big Blinds |
| Lucas Jumalon | United States | 194,000,000 | 129 |
| Rami Hammoud | Canada | 79,000,000 | 53 |
| Jamie Shaevel | United States | 56,000,000 | 37 |
| Greg Mueller | Canada | 48,500,000 | 32 |
| Michael Gagliano | United States | 46,500,000 | 31 |
| Mario Boos | France | 44,000,000 | 29 |
| Lauri Saaskilahti | Finland | 37,500,000 | 25 |
| Han Feng | United States | 25,000,000 | 17 |
| Evagoras Evagorou | Cyprus | 22,500,000 | 15 |
Shaun Deeb Secures the Player of the Year Lead
There is no denying that Shaun Deeb was one of the hardest-working players this summer. Even though poker gods weren’t particularly kind to him, Deeb kept the grind going, entering as many events as humanly possible and not letting variance get him down.
Those efforts almost resulted in Deeb making the Main Event final table. Unfortunately, cards didn’t fall his way when it mattered the most, and he ended up busting in 15th place. It was still an amazing run that brought him over $410,000 and some very valuable Player of the Year points.
Shaun ended up sharing his results with the rest of the world, showing that, all said and done, he managed to squeeze out a profit of around $90,000, primarily to silence those voices that were shouting that a player not making a profit should not be considered for the POY title.
Deeb wrapped up the Las Vegas series with 3,410 Player of the Year points, only slightly ahead of Naoya Kihara (3,338) and Alex Foxen (3,381). This means that the 2026 WSOP Paradise series in December will determine the winner, and all three have a real shot at it.
Of course, any of the other players in the top ten could still do it, but they have some serious catching up to do.
It Was Another Great Summer of Poker
Once the World Series wraps up, it is always fun to look at the numbers and see how many players there were, how much money was won, and other interesting stats – and figure out how they compare to previous editions.
This year, the WSOP featured 100 bracelet events, just like in 2025. Across these 100 tournaments, we saw a total of 251,899 entries, which is actually a new record for the series. This turnout resulted in a prize money just shy of $470 million.
The total prize pool was somewhat lower than the previous year, but significantly higher than in any festival before 2025.
The Main Event itself attracted 9,208 players, making it the fourth-largest in WSOP history. So, while no records were broken, there is certainly nothing to complain about. It was another massive tournament that will have paid a total of $85.6 million in prizes once it is all said and done.
The $1,000 Mystery Million event saw the largest field of the series, attracting 22,811 entries and becoming the biggest-ever $1,000 event in recorded poker history.
All in all, the 2026 World Series of Poker did not disappoint in any way. There was also free coverage available throughout the series, and although there were certain complaints (as there always will be), the staff did a great job bringing the electric Las Vegas atmosphere to the masses.
It’s Not Curtains Just Yet
All that remains now is the small matter of finding the new Main Event champion. As mentioned, the final table will play out on August 3, 4, and 5, so we’ll have to exercise some patience.
This gap does give us some time to learn more about the nine players who will be coming back to battle it out for the biggest title in all of poker.
The 2026 World Series of Poker is all but over, but with the Main Event final table looming, there is still plenty to look forward to if you are a fan of the game. As for the players, they’ll certainly find something to keep them busy, as the action never stops!
