The 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event is officially down to its final nine players, and they are gearing up to battle it out for a life-changing $10 million first-place prize. This thing kicked off eight days ago with a massive 9,208 players, so making it this far is absolutely insane.
Neymar Jr. and The Reigning Champ Are Out!
We saw some wild headlines earlier when international soccer superstar Neymar Jr., fresh off Brazil's elimination from the 2026 World Cup, jumped into the tournament. But let's be real, he didn't make the final table. No surprise there, right? Even more shocking, the reigning WSOP champion, Michael Mizrachi, got knocked out on day five. He finished 241st, which is still good enough for a cool $50,000 payout, but that means we are guaranteed a brand new champ this year. None of these final nine players have ever won the Main Event before, so history is about to be made!The Final Nine and Their Monster Chip Counts
So, who are these legends? We've got Lucas Jumalon, Rami Hammoud, Jamie Shaevel, Greg Mueller, Michael Gagliano, Mario Boos, Lauri Saaskilahti, Han Feng, and Evagoras Evagorou. Leading the pack, and I mean *leading* it, is 22-year-old Lucas Jumalon with a staggering 194 million chips! That's a huge stack heading into the final table. On the other end, Evagoras Evagorou holds the lowest chip count at 22.5 million. Every single one of these final competitors is guaranteed at least a $1 million payout, per ESPN. Imagine waking up to that kind of money! Right now, there's a several-week break before the real fireworks begin. The final nine will return to Paris Las Vegas, with the final table action set to run from August 3 to August 5 on various ESPN channels. You know I'll be glued to my screen, ready to see who takes down that $10 million and becomes the new king of poker!This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.