Lucas Jumalon has three weeks to sit with a single question: can he turn his WSOP Main Event chip lead into $10,000,000?
In that time, he’ll do more interviews than he’s ever done in his life, discover he’s become one of the most-googled names in poker, and get profiled on ESPN — all before the final table resumes on August 3rd.
So who is the player sitting in pole position to become poker’s next world champion? We followed the “Ju Ju Juuuumaaaaloooo” chants from the packed rail at Paris Las Vegas to find out…
‘This Kid’s a Stud’
Jumalon is just 22 years old and hails from Spokane, Washington. If he goes on to become world champion, he will become the second-youngest WSOP Main Event winner in history behind Joe “The Kid” Cada, who was 21 when he claimed poker’s biggest title in 2009.
According to The Hendon Mob, Jumalon had just over $180,000 in live tournament earnings before this year’s Main Event, where he has already locked up at least $1,000,000. His biggest previous score came at the 2025 WSOP, when he won a $400 PokerNews Daily Deepstacks event for $22,945.
But the money never tells the full story in poker. Every player at the final table has supporters who will be there regardless of the result, and Jumalon’s rail is filled with friends who have watched his journey long before the bright lights of the main stage arrived.
“This guy puts his heart and soul into poker. He deserves every single second of this.”
Zach Osborne met Jumalon at Grand Canyon University, where the chip leader graduated with a degree in business administration and data analytics, and remembers seeing his poker talent develop in their home games.
“This kid’s a stud, man. I just remember him ripping the 25-cent, 50-cent games at our home games. He’s taking all our money, just not mine,” Osborne said with a laugh.
While Osborne first knew Jumalon as the best player in their friendly games, it is his character away from the table that stands out most.
“This guy is just a stand-up guy. He’s just awesome… such a good friend,” he said. “This guy puts his heart and soul into poker. He deserves every single second of this.”
As Jumalon walked over to chat with his packed rail after a hand, Osborne pointed to the scene unfolding around him and explained why his friend thrives with the support behind him.
“Look at him right there, just inspiration trying to talk to everybody. He knows that we’re all here to support him and we love him, and he feeds off that energy in an amazing way.”
“He’s always been so cool, calm and collected. Knows what to do in every spot.”
Jonah Aiden, another friend supporting Jumalon in Las Vegas, has known him since they were teenagers in Spokane. The pair met in driver’s education, share the same birthday, and reconnected at Lilac Lanes Bowling & Casino after turning 18.
Aiden believes Jumalon’s composure has always been one of his biggest strengths, something that has translated perfectly to poker’s biggest stage.
“He’s always been so cool, calm and collected. Knows what to do in every spot, has amazing intuition, as you saw with that queen-high hero call,” Aiden said. “Just a phenomenal guy all around. He cares about others way more than himself.”
How Jumalon Bagged the Chip Lead
Jumalon entered Day 8 of the Main Event third among the remaining 21 players, holding 40,800,000 chips, which was good for 68 big blinds.
After a steady start, the American shifted gears when he won a monster pot against reigning Aussie Millions Main Event champion Malcolm Trayner, turning a set of jacks into a full house to crack pocket queens.
As reported by PokerNews’ Connor Richards, Jumalon raised to 2,000,000 on the button before Trayner three-bet to 9,000,000 from the big blind. Jumalon called.
Trayner continued for 4,000,000 on the 4♣A♦J♦ flop and Jumalon called. After Trayner checked the 8♠ turn, Jumalon fired 8,500,000 and was called.
The river brought the 4♥, and Trayner checked again. Jumalon then put out a massive 35,000,000 bet, which Trayner eventually called. Jumalon’s rail erupted as he turned over J♥J♣ for a full house, leaving Trayner’s Q♦Q♥ beaten and sending a pot worth more than 50,000,000 chips his way.
From there, Jumalon continued to apply pressure, picking up a series of pots against the rest of the table as his stack continued to climb. By the dinner break, he had surged into the chip lead with 155,000,000 chips and by the time he eliminated Trayner in 10th to set the final nine, he bagged on a gigantic 194,000,000.
Lucas Jumalon’s FT chip stack is the 2nd largest by % (35.08%) and margin (20.79% more than Rami Hammoud) in the 9-player FT era (2001-present); Hossein Ensan (2019) had 49.09%, 21.55% more than Garry Gates.
Eliot Thomas
Editor, Poker & Casino