By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · July 31, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen
Three days remain until the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event resumes in Las Vegas. The nine players who navigated a record 9,208-entry field, one of the four largest in tournament history, sit in Paris Las Vegas Ballroom seats on Monday evening, August 3, and play across three nights on ESPN for the largest first-place prize in poker: US$10,000,000 and the game's most decorated bracelet. Each of the nine finalists has already locked at least US$1,000,000; the remaining pay ladder distributes another approximately US$30,000,000 across the seats.
For Ontario audiences, this final table is the most consequential Canadian representation at a modern-era Main Event. Two Canadians are alive: Rami Hammoud, the 36-year-old Montreal native whose 79-million-chip stack is the second largest at the table; and Greg Mueller, the 55-year-old Vancouver resident and three-time WSOP bracelet holder whose 48.5-million-chip stack sits fourth. In poker terms, both are alive; in cash terms, both have Canada in position for a payout north of US$3.75 million if either reaches the top three.
The Return Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Age | Chips | Big Blinds | Career earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Lucas Jumalon | United States | 22 | 194,000,000 | 129 | ~US$60K |
| 7 | Rami Hammoud | Canada | 36 | 79,000,000 | 53 | US$1,512,438 |
| 5 | Jamie Shaevel | United States | 39 | 56,000,000 | 37 | US$486,000 |
| 4 | Greg Mueller | Canada | 55 | 48,500,000 | 32 | US$4,500,000 |
| 2 | Michael Gagliano | United States | 41 | 46,500,000 | 31 | US$2,300,000 |
| 3 | Mario Boos | France | 32 | 44,000,000 | 29 | US$450,000 |
| 1 | Lauri Saaskilahti | Finland | 39 | 37,500,000 | 25 | US$310,000 |
| 6 | Han Feng | United States | 27 | 25,000,000 | 17 | US$1,900,000 |
| 8 | Evagoras Evagorou | Cyprus | 48 | 22,500,000 | 15 | US$340,000 |
Chip counts and career earnings per WSOP.com, PokerNews, ESPN and Hendon Mob. Career earnings figures rounded and pre-Main Event.
Rami Hammoud: The Montreal Analyst Who Went Down to His Last $1,000
Rami Hammoud's ascent to a Main Event final table is the story that Poker.org's Greg Kalinowsky called "the perfect recipe" in a July 28 profile. Mr. Hammoud, a 36-year-old mathematics-trained analyst who lives in Montreal, arrived in Las Vegas on June 18 with US$20,000 in bankroll, ran cold across preliminary events and by early July was down to his last US$1,000. He entered the Main Event with what he later described as an approach of complete detachment: "I did not care."
Three weeks and 9,208 opponents later, Mr. Hammoud sits second in chips at the final table with US$1,000,000 guaranteed and a possible US$10 million on the line. His career earnings before this cash were US$512,438 across a decade of Playground Poker regularity in Kahnawake and Deerfoot Inn and Casino in Calgary. His previous largest live cash was US$126,386 for winning the 2023 Playground March Million in Montreal. On Advanced Poker Training's card-play-driven read, Mr. Hammoud is a solid, patient player whose stack size gives him what analysts term "medium-second-stack leverage," strong enough to pressure smaller stacks while not obliged to challenge Mr. Jumalon on 60-blind pots.
Ontario audiences will recognize the Montreal-Playground pathway as parallel to Toronto's GGPoker Ontario ladder: a Canadian regular who built to the moment through disciplined mid-stakes tournament grinding rather than through a viral online-poker breakout. Mr. Hammoud has not confirmed sponsorship arrangements; he told Poker.org he is "grateful just to be here" and is not looking beyond the next hand.
Greg Mueller: The Vancouver Veteran Who Almost Quit
Greg Mueller's return to a Main Event final table at 55 is a genuinely improbable second act. Mr. Mueller, the Swiss-born, Vancouver-resident, three-time WSOP bracelet holder (2009 World Championship Limit Hold'em, 2009 Limit Hold'em Shootout, 2019 US$10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship) and former Deutsche Eishockey Liga defenceman, told ESPN and Hands.Poker in the past week that he had "nearly quit tournament poker altogether" prior to the 2026 series. Months of choosing golf and family time over the Bellagio card room had left him, in his phrase, unsure whether he wanted to be in the tournament circuit at all.
A single pivotal conversation with a longtime poker friend, per Hands.Poker's Alan Vardanyan's July 27 report, "reignited his competitive fire just in time." Mr. Mueller entered the Main Event without expectations, played what he described in interviews as "old-school patient poker," and emerged as the most decorated career pro at the final table. His US$4.5 million in career earnings, three bracelets and fifteen WSOP final tables make him what ESPN's Christopher Amenity calls "the known pro" of this year's August Nine, the role filled in previous years by Joe Serock, Toby Lewis and last year's champion, Michael Mizrachi.
Analytics community's favourite pick to actually win the tournament is Mr. Mueller, and that has less to do with his current chip stack and more to do with what happens on 30-blind stacks in short-handed play. Steve Blay's 1,000,000-simulation model at Advanced Poker Training, published July 29 and reported by PokerNews's Kaycee Rodda, calls Mr. Mueller its official prediction for the 2026 world champion. Blay correctly predicted Qui Nguyen's 2016 championship in advance and now says: "Greg Mueller for the win, baby."
The Full Prediction Landscape
| Player | Chips | Sim: win % | Polymarket: win % | Sim: avg $ won | ICM $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucas Jumalon | 194M | 40.4% | 34% | US$6,306,953 | US$6,188,930 |
| Rami Hammoud | 79M | 13.2% | 14-16% | US$3,862,553 | US$4,054,198 |
| Jamie Shaevel | 56M | 11.3% | 10% | US$3,300,000 (approx.) | US$3,400,000 |
| Greg Mueller | 48.5M | 10.9% | 9-10% | US$3,050,000 (approx.) | US$3,150,000 |
| Michael Gagliano | 46.5M | 7.0% | 11-13% | US$2,600,000 (approx.) | US$3,000,000 |
| Mario Boos | 44M | 6.5% | 8% | US$2,500,000 (approx.) | US$2,900,000 |
| Lauri Saaskilahti | 37.5M | 5.2% | 5% | US$2,200,000 (approx.) | US$2,600,000 |
| Han Feng | 25M | 3.0% | 7% | US$1,700,000 (approx.) | US$1,900,000 |
| Evagoras Evagorou | 22.5M | 2.5% | 5% | US$1,600,000 (approx.) | US$1,800,000 |
Simulation figures from Steve Blay's 1,000,000-run model at Advanced Poker Training, published July 29, reported by PokerNews. Polymarket figures from July 25 to 30 (contract prices shift). ICM $ is Independent Chip Model expected-value dollar equivalent of current chip stack. Averages rounded for brevity.
Two data points deserve emphasis. First, Mr. Hammoud's model average dollar won runs approximately 4.73% below his ICM value, per Blay's simulation. That gap suggests the model sees Mr. Hammoud as slightly overvalued by pure chip-count math and marginally underrewarded by likely play patterns. Second, Mr. Mueller's model win probability of 10.9% is only fractionally higher than his ICM chip share, but his career tournament experience and the model's short-handed-play assumptions push the simulation to name him the projected champion.
The Payout Ladder
| Finish | Payout |
|---|---|
| 1st | US$10,000,000 |
| 2nd | US$6,000,000 |
| 3rd | US$3,750,000 |
| 4th | US$2,750,000 |
| 5th | US$2,250,000 |
| 6th | US$1,750,000 |
| 7th | US$1,500,000 |
| 8th | US$1,250,000 |
| 9th | US$1,000,000 |
Ontario perspective on the payout ladder: a Hammoud championship at US$10 million would be the largest single live-tournament cash by a Canadian passport holder in poker history, above Daniel Negreanu's 2019 US$8.35 million Super High Roller Bowl win. A Mueller championship at US$10 million would eclipse his own career earnings by a factor of two. A Canadian third-place finish at US$3.75 million alone would be the largest live cash for any Ontario- or Quebec-resident Canadian in over a decade.
Broadcast Schedule
ESPN carries the taped final table across three consecutive nights. Ontario audiences can watch on TSN's ESPN2 subscription tier or via the ESPN+ streaming service. Times below are Eastern.
- Monday, August 3: 9:00 p.m. to Midnight ET on ESPN2 (Day 1, from nine players down to a target seven or six)
- Tuesday, August 4: 9:00 p.m. to Midnight ET on ESPN (Day 2, from six or five down to three)
- Wednesday, August 5: 10:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. ET on ESPN (Day 3, heads-up and championship)
PokerGO Plus subscribers receive the hole-card feed on a 30-minute delay. Play begins at approximately 5:00 p.m. Pacific each day, with ESPN cutting the live broadcast on a delay.
Ontario Player Angle
Ontario's regulated online poker market operates under iGaming Ontario, the province's stand-alone Crown agency. The six regulated peer-to-peer rooms (GGPoker Ontario, PokerStars Ontario, 888poker Ontario, BetMGM Poker Ontario, PartyPoker Ontario and Bwin Ontario) continue their standard Sunday-major schedules on August 3, and none has publicly announced special-promotion tie-ins to the Main Event final table. Players must be 19 and physically located in Ontario to register.
For Canadian bracelet-tally purposes, this final table adds meaningful weight regardless of the finishing positions. Canadian passport holders finished the 2026 preliminary WSOP with four bracelets: Kristen Foxen (US$25,000 High Roller and US$1,000 Super Turbo Bounty), Christopher Alcindor (US$1,500 Big O) and Daniel Negreanu (US$100,000 PLO High Roller, his eighth). A Main Event top-two finish for Mr. Hammoud or Mr. Mueller adds a fifth and, in the case of a championship, the largest.
Companion Coverage
Coverage on this site continues daily through the broadcast. Companion pieces already published include our final-9 setup, our Greg Mueller biographical feature, our Victor Li Event #99 cash write-up and our Stan Cho resignation coverage. Live-during-broadcast reporting appears on the OntarioPoker homepage during ESPN airtime and daily recap articles the mornings after.