Lucas Djumalon retains the chip lead at the WSOP Main Event final table

22-year-old American Lucas Jumalon finished the first day of the WSOP Main Event final table with a chip-leading stack of 85 BB despite losing a big pot to Michael Gagliano. Over six hours of play, the field shrank from nine to seven players.

The key hand of the day was between Jumalon and one of the most decorated players at the table — Michael Gagliano. The chip leader opened with a raise holding six-high, continued the aggression on the flop, and made a big bet on the turn. However, on the river Jumalon gave up on a third barrel, and Gagliano took down the pot with ace-high. After the hand, Jumalon tightened his range for a few hours, but regained control by the end of the session.

"I could just sit back and fold. A big stack gives you room to maneuver, but that's not my strategy"

The first to leave the final table was Evagoras Evagorou — the first player from Cyprus in Main Event history. He got it in with pocket jacks against Jamie Shavel's AQ and busted in ninth place, collecting $1M. Eighth place went to Frenchman Mario Boos with a payout of $1,250,000.

Four of the seven remaining players will return to the table with short stacks of fewer than 20 big blinds.

Chip counts of the seven remaining players:

1️⃣ Lucas Jumalon — 85 BB
2️⃣ Han Feng — 43 BB
3️⃣ Lauri Saaskilahti — 34 BB
4️⃣ Rami Hamoud — 18 BB
5️⃣ Michael Gagliano — 17 BB
6️⃣ Jamie Shavel — 13 BB
7️⃣ Greg Mueller — 12 BB

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