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Day 1 of the 2026 WSOP Main Event final table proved to be a long and demanding session, ending with seven players still alive for the $10 million top prize. Twenty-two-year-old Lucas Jumalon, who arrived with a commanding chip lead and little live tournament experience, said he felt no nerves heading into the day and finished the session in the same position he started.
Jumalon’s biggest scare came against Michael Gagliano, who called down a big pot with ace-high after Jumalon failed to fire a third barrel while holding only six-high. The hand slowed Jumalon’s aggression for a couple of hours, though he ultimately closed the day roughly where he began, at 212,000,000 chips and 85 big blinds.
Evagoras Evagorou, the shortest stack entering the final table and the first Cypriot to reach this stage, was eliminated in ninth place for $1,000,000 after his pocket jacks lost a race to Jamie Shaevel’s ace-queen.
Han Feng survived an early scare, doubling up with Ax4x against Mario Boos’s AxQx when a four hit the turn. Feng, known for a flashy pink-feather-boa outfit, later won a large pot with pocket queens against Lauri Saaskilahti to finish second in chips with 106,500,000.
Mario Boos departed in eighth place after his pocket eights were outflopped by Saaskilahti’s king-nine. Veteran pro Greg “FBT” Mueller played cautiously for much of the day, ending as the short stack with 29,500,000, while Rami Hammoud revealed he prepared using cardboard cut-outs of opponents to simulate the pressure of the final table.
Play resumes Tuesday at 5 p.m. PT, with four players returning under 20 big blinds as the remaining seven battle toward the champion’s bracelet.
