Professional players backed Saaskilahti's decision to make a hero call in the heads-up of the Main Event
The hand in which Lauri Saaskilahti made an unsuccessful hero-call against Lucas Jumalon became one of the most discussed topics of the heads-up at the 2026 World Series main event. Star players joined the discussion, and they don't consider the Finn's decision a gross mistake.
Patrick Leonard, who prepared Jumalon for the final table, broke down this hand from a theoretical standpoint:
"In this situation, there's no difference between any other hands without the ♠️. But if Saaskilahti had called against a ♠️, people wouldn't be so annoyed. And the funny thing is that Lucas's hands with a ♠️ that he can limp are mostly offsuit Qx2x-Qx6x.
Blocking those with Jx3x is actually better than, say, with a straight or two pair. Calling with this hand is probably better than with a huge number of other hands. It doesn't matter that Saaskilahti had third pair, because he had a bluffcatcher."
Seven-time WSOP champion Scott Seiver believes Saaskilahti would have won the tournament if not for the ♠️ on the river:
"If another spade hadn't come on the river, we probably would have had a different champion. And then people would call that call the best in main-event history. It's funny how poker can work, so let's all just remember this moment. Would Jumalon bluff on a blank river after calling on the turn? 10,000,000% yes."
Seiver was backed up by two-time bracelet winner Ben Lamb:
"That's poker. One hand became key today. My goal was to win. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to do it. The main event is just an amazing tournament, so it was an incredible adventure, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can't be too upset. Second place, six million dollars. Not too bad."
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Patrick Leonard, who prepared Jumalon for the final table, broke down this hand from a theoretical standpoint:
"In this situation, there's no difference between any other hands without the ♠️. But if Saaskilahti had called against a ♠️, people wouldn't be so annoyed. And the funny thing is that Lucas's hands with a ♠️ that he can limp are mostly offsuit Qx2x-Qx6x.
Blocking those with Jx3x is actually better than, say, with a straight or two pair. Calling with this hand is probably better than with a huge number of other hands. It doesn't matter that Saaskilahti had third pair, because he had a bluffcatcher."
Seven-time WSOP champion Scott Seiver believes Saaskilahti would have won the tournament if not for the ♠️ on the river:
"If another spade hadn't come on the river, we probably would have had a different champion. And then people would call that call the best in main-event history. It's funny how poker can work, so let's all just remember this moment. Would Jumalon bluff on a blank river after calling on the turn? 10,000,000% yes."
Seiver was backed up by two-time bracelet winner Ben Lamb:
"Sometimes players' guesses turn out to be wrong, or they get a bit lost in the moment. As Scott Seiver said: if the river had been a blank, and Saaskilahti called a huge bet with third pair, he'd be called a genius."Saaskilahti himself said he isn't too upset about the loss:
"That's poker. One hand became key today. My goal was to win. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to do it. The main event is just an amazing tournament, so it was an incredible adventure, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can't be too upset. Second place, six million dollars. Not too bad."
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