WSOP 2026 Digest: The Final Week of the World Series of Poker
The last week of the World Series in Las Vegas: the Main Event's final table nine, Hellmuth's drama, Kostritsyn's win, and the wrapping-up of the bracket in Las Vegas.
The Main Event final table is set
In Las Vegas, the nine finalists of the 2026 WSOP Main Event have officially been determined. The chip leader by a colossal margin is 22-year-old American Lucas Jumalon, who amassed 129 BB over the eighth day of play. Canadian Rami Hammoud comes into the final table second with 53 BB. Third place is held by American Jamie Shaevel with a stack of 37 BB.
Among the finalists, two stand out: American Michael Gagliano, winner of four WSOP bracelets (31 BB), and Canadian Greg Mueller with three bracelets (32 BB). Also at the final table are Frenchman Mario Boos (29 BB), Finn Lauri Saaskilahti (25 BB), American Han Feng (17 BB) and Cypriot Evagoras Evagorou (15 BB).
All nine participants have guaranteed themselves at least $1 million in prize money. The winner will receive $10 million, the runner-up $6 million and third place $3.75 million.
Phil Hellmuth's pain
Phil Hellmuth was one lucky card away from rewriting his own record and claiming an 18th gold bracelet. In Event #99, the $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em, he made it to heads-up against Darren Rabinowitz. Despite the crowd's fervent support and a fortunate double-up on the turn, Hellmuth came up short in the decisive hand.
Rabinowitz forced Hellmuth all-in with A♥️2♠️on a 2♣️8♠️9♣️4♦️turn. The river brought the 7♥️, which gave Darren second pair and a second WSOP bracelet. A dejected Hellmuth collected $464,286, admitting in an interview that the setback caused him physical pain. Even so, Phil isn't giving up, reminding fans that his overarching goal since 1993 has been 24 gold bracelets.
Wins for Kostritsyn, Peters and Dwan
Alexander Kostritsyn returned to the poker tables, winning the first bracelet of his career and recording his first live tournament cash in 8 long years. The Russian came out on top in the $25,000 High Roller H.O.R.S.E., which combines limit hold'em, Omaha hi-lo, razz, stud and stud hi-lo. On the tournament's final day, Kostritsyn knocked out Alex Foxen and Julien Sitbon, and also took the bulk of Naoya Kihara's stack.
Heads-up against Eslami, Kostritsyn built a comfortable lead fairly quickly and then gradually kept chipping away at his opponent's stack. In the decisive stud hand, the Russian made two pair against the American player's one pair. Eslami had to settle for $578,718 for second place, while Kostritsyn added $872,052 to his first bracelet — the second-largest score of his career.
No less spectacular was Briton Jamie Dwan's victory in the $50,000 High Roller. Beating a strong final table that included Daniel Negreanu and Bryn Kenney, Dwan took home more than $2.27 million. He dedicated his first bracelet to his seriously ill mother.
American David Peters added a fifth bracelet to his collection and took exactly $1 million in the $10,000 Six-Max Championship. The win could not have come at a better time: in the spring Peters found himself at the centre of a scandal over an unpaid $50,000 debt, and he will now be able to settle all of his financial obligations to his backers in full.
New names and the series' final flourish
This week was a golden time for amateurs and newcomers.
Single mother Yanting Jiang gave herself the best possible birthday present by winning $1.15 million in the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship. On her way to the trophy she personally knocked out Maurice Hawkins, the holder of 25 WSOP Circuit rings. The Gladiators of Poker event, with a field of more than 11 thousand entrants, was won by mechanical engineer Johnny Oshana. He plans to invest the $250,000 he earned into his own investment company.
The full stop on this summer's packed tournament schedule was placed by Shi Wong. He won the series' closing hundredth event — the $1,000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold'em — collecting $216,286. Notably, in that same tournament third place went to Dzmitry Urbanovich, who weeks earlier had already become a 2026 WSOP mixed games champion.
Results of all WSOP events from the past week
Winner | Event | Prize |
Jamie Dwan | $50 000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed | $2 276 691 |
Sergio Benso | $1500 Pick your PLO | $196 431 |
Johnny Oshana | $300 Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold'em | $250 000 |
Yanting Jiang | $3000 Mid-Stakes Championship No-Limit Hold'em | $1 159 182 |
Sterling Lopez | $3000 TORSE | $247 842 |
Ori Hasson | $1500 The Closer No-Limit Hold’em | $582 800 |
David Peters | $10 000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship | $1 001 391 |
Garrett Dwyer | $500 Summer Saver No-Limit Hold'em | $210 000 |
Joshua Wan | $3000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha | $407 137 |
Alexander Kostritsyn | $25 000 High Roller H.O.R.S.E | $872 052 |
Nishant Sharma | $800 Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em | $196 659 |
Darren Rabinowitz | $5000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em | $695 256 |
Shi Wong | $1000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold'em | $216,286 |
What's next?
The bracket of 100 bracelet events has been fully played out, and the only question that remains open is the name of the world champion. The traditional three-week break before the Main Event will end on 3 August. That's when the final table of nine will return to the Horseshoe halls to battle for the main trophy and $10 000 000.
