If you’re a cash game grinder, Jamie Shaevel is your guy at the 2026 WSOP Main Event final table.
The Los Angeles poker player will return to action on Aug. 3 with the third-largest stack among the nine remaining players. He’s guaranteed at least $1,000,000, but would certainly love to spin up his 37-big blind stack to win the $10,000,000 first-place prize, and of course the most coveted bracelet in poker.
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Shaevel Proving a Main Event Crusher
Shaevel admits he hardly ever plays tournaments, but when he does, he usually makes it count. The potential World Champion has cashed eight times in the WSOP Main Event, his best previous result being 100th place in 2011. He’s far exceeded that this year, and the California native will take 56,000,000 into the final table.
The Main Event, with its deep structure, perfectly suits his experience in cash games, even if tournaments are a vastly different game.
“I’m numb. I’m completely numb. I’m sure it will hit me at some point. I just keep feeling like I’m going to wake up from a dream. It hasn’t set in at all,” he told PokerNews after reaching the final table on July 13.
“It’s night and day. Obviously, two very different games, different formats. This is really the only tournament I generally usually play. It’s similar to cash games in the early stages, and the slow structure is more similar to cash games. That plays to what I am more familiar with. But it’s completely different, obviously,” he said.
Cash Game Pro Cashes WSOP Main Event for Eighth Time and Makes Final Table
Shaevel’s Main Event Stack
Shaevel was one of the smaller stacks during the closing moments of Day 8, but a double-up off Evagoras Evagorou with a full house gave him new life. He then took out Tolga Karakaya in 11th place after picking up two jacks against Karakaya’s ace-ten.
Shaevel, like seven of his opponents, is looking way up at Lucas Jumalon, a 22-year-old with a massive chip lead. Jumalon, who hails from Spokane, Washington, ended Day 8 with 194,000,000 chips, good for 129 big blinds. Rami Hammoud, one of two Canadians at the final table, is his closest competitor with 79,000,000 (53 big blinds).
Despite the huge chip disadvantage, Shaevel is far from out of contention. A double-up, another big pot, and then a second double-up, and all of a sudden he’d be ahead of Jumalon and everyone else.
Shaevel will enter play third in chips, a bit ahead of Greg “FBT” Mueller, an old-school poker pro and the most experienced player at the final table. Evagorou is the shortest stack with 22,500,000, but Han Feng isn’t much ahead of him with 25,000,000.
Here’s a look at how Shaevel progressed to the final table.
| Day | Chip Count | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2abc | 144,000 | 644/1,260 |
| 3 | 311,000 | 705/1,389 |
| 4 | 955,000 | 247/533 |
| 5 | 1,900,000 | 119/174 |
| 6 | 15,525,000 | 12/62 |
| 7 | 17,100,000 | 15/21 |
| 8 | 56,000,000 | 3/9 |
2026 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lauri Saaskilahti | Finland | 37,500,000 | 25 |
| 2 | Michael Gagliano | United States | 46,500,000 | 31 |
| 3 | Mario Boos | France | 44,000,000 | 29 |
| 4 | Greg Mueller | Canada | 48,500,000 | 32 |
| 5 | Jamie Shaevel | United States | 56,000,000 | 37 |
| 6 | Han Feng | United States | 25,000,000 | 17 |
| 7 | Rami Hammoud | Canada | 79,000,000 | 53 |
| 8 | Evagoras Evagorou | Cyprus | 22,500,000 | 15 |
| 9 | Lucas Jumalon | United States | 194,000,000 | 129 |
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 | ||
| 2 | $6,000,000 | ||
| 3 | $3,750,000 | ||
| 4 | $2,750,000 | ||
| 5 | $2,250,000 | ||
| 6 | $1,750,000 | ||
| 7 | $1,500,000 | ||
| 8 | $1,250,000 | ||
| 9 | $1,000,000 |
