Lucas Jumalon could add another major tournament result only weeks after winning poker’s biggest title. The 22-year-old, who won the 2026 WSOP Main Event for $10 million, has the chip lead with 18 players remaining in the $1,700 WSOP Circuit Main Event at TCH Social in Austin, Texas. The winner will receive $433,670 and a WSOP Circuit ring.
The world champion is back in another Main Event race
Jumalon finished Sunday’s play with 11.2 million chips, equivalent to 186 big blinds when the final day begins. That is a substantial lead but not an overwhelming one. Ryan Brown sits second with 8.2 million, while Brant Jolly is third with 7 million. Eric Tang and Eric Chang complete the top five with 6.4 million and 6.3 million respectively.
The field began with 2,090 entries, making the final 18 a very small fraction of the original tournament. Play resumes at 2 p.m. Central Time on Monday. Every remaining player has already guaranteed at least $15,530, while reaching the final table will secure a minimum payout of $40,100.
A second Main Event title would be an unusual follow-up
The obvious storyline is the possibility of Jumalon winning another Main Event so soon after the WSOP. The events are very different in scale and prestige, but both carry the Main Event label and both require surviving large fields over multiple days. Winning the Austin tournament would give Jumalon his first WSOP Circuit ring and a second WSOP-branded Main Event title in less than two months.
That does not make the outcome inevitable. Eighteen players remain, and the chip stacks are deep enough for the final day to develop slowly. Even John Holley, who starts as the shortest stack with 1.3 million, still has 21 big blinds. There are no players entering with only a handful of blinds and no room to manoeuvre.
Deep stacks can reduce the immediate advantage of a chip leader because there is less pressure on the shorter players to gamble right away. Jumalon has room to apply pressure, but Brown, Jolly, Tang and Chang also have enough chips to challenge him. The final day is therefore likely to be more about sustained decision-making than simply waiting for short stacks to disappear.
WSOP Circuit TCH Social top five
| Rank | Player | Stack |
| 1 | Lucas Jumalon | 11.2M |
| 2 | Ryan Brown | 8.2M |
| 3 | Brant Jolly | 7.0M |
| 4 | Eric Tang | 6.4M |
| 5 | Eric Chang | 6.3M |
Jumalon already showed he can convert a final-table lead
The strongest argument in Jumalon’s favour is not just his current stack but what he did at the WSOP Main Event. He entered that final table with the chip lead and never surrendered it. He eventually defeated Lauri Saaskilahti heads-up to win the world championship.
That experience matters because leading a major final table creates a different set of decisions from simply trying to survive. A big stack can attack medium stacks that are under payout pressure, but careless aggression can also turn a comfortable lead into a marginal position. Jumalon has already demonstrated that he can preserve and use a lead across the final stages of a high-pressure tournament.
The previous win does not guarantee the same result in Austin. The opponents are different, the stack distribution is different and the tournament structure is different. What it does provide is evidence that Jumalon is comfortable in the exact type of situation he faces now: entering the late stages as the player everybody else is chasing.
The closest challengers begin with playable stacks
Ryan Brown’s 8.2 million is close enough that one large pot could reverse the top two positions. Brant Jolly’s 7 million also represents a stack capable of applying pressure rather than simply waiting for better spots. Eric Tang and Eric Chang are only slightly further back, giving the top of the leaderboard a relatively compact group of players behind Jumalon.
That distribution should make the opening levels important. If Jumalon can increase the gap without taking unnecessary risks, his leverage improves. If one of the other leading stacks wins an early confrontation, the final day could quickly become much more balanced.
The lower end of the field also has enough chips to matter. Holley’s 21 big blinds are short relative to Jumalon but are not an emergency stack. Players in that range can still find double-ups, reshove over opens and survive several orbits. That means there may not be a rapid sequence of eliminations when play resumes.
The payout pressure rises sharply at the final table
All 18 players have locked up at least $15,530. The next major milestone is the nine-handed final table, where the minimum payout rises to $40,100. That jump can affect decisions for medium and shorter stacks because the value of simply reaching the final table becomes significant.
For the chip leaders, payout pressure can create opportunities. A player who does not want to risk elimination before the final-table jump may fold more often in marginal situations. At the same time, the leaders have to avoid giving away chips by assuming everyone else is playing only to survive. Experienced players can use that expectation against them.
Jumalon’s recent WSOP run means he has direct experience with very large payout jumps, but every tournament creates its own dynamics. The Circuit Main Event prize is far smaller than the $10 million he won in August, yet the competitive pressure is still real because a ring, another title and more than $400,000 are at stake.
Austin gives Jumalon a chance to shape the story after his world title
A world championship can define a player’s public reputation immediately. For Jumalon, another deep Main Event run so soon afterwards gives him a chance to show that the WSOP result is not the only tournament in which he can compete at the top of a large field. Even reaching this stage already extends the story beyond a single summer victory.
The source notes that Jumalon recently appeared in his first livestreamed cash game at The Lodge Card Club. He was stacked on the second hand but recovered enough to finish with only a small loss. That result is less important than the fact that he is already moving between different poker formats and public settings after becoming world champion.
Tournament poker remains highly variable, so one result does not prove a long-term pattern. But another Main Event title would be difficult to dismiss as mere timing. It would place a WSOP Circuit ring beside his world championship and show that he converted another late-stage chip lead within weeks of the first.
What to watch when the final 18 return
The opening levels should reveal whether Jumalon intends to use his 186-big-blind stack aggressively or take a lower-variance approach while the field reduces. Brown’s stack is the most immediate threat, but the presence of several other six- and seven-million stacks means the tournament cannot be reduced to a simple two-player race.
Another key point is how quickly the field approaches the final-table bubble. With no extremely short stacks, eliminations may take time. If that happens, blind increases will gradually reduce everyone’s effective depth, and the large numerical lead at the start of the day may become more strategically valuable.
Texas Card House will livestream the final-day action on YouTube, so Jumalon’s attempt to win another Main Event will unfold publicly. He begins in the best position, but 17 players still stand between him and the ring. The final day will show whether the 2026 world champion can turn another chip lead into another title.
The size of the field adds context to Jumalon’s run
The size of the Austin field also adds weight to the run. Reaching the final 18 from 2,090 entries requires surviving far more than a single strong table. Jumalon now faces a different problem from the early stages: every remaining opponent has already navigated most of the field and has enough chips to make a run of their own.
Chip counts are also only a snapshot. Jumalon’s 11.2 million is the largest stack when play resumes, but the effective value of that lead will change as blinds rise and pots develop. A single confrontation against Brown or Jolly could alter the leaderboard quickly, while avoiding major collisions could allow the leader to pressure shorter stacks over time.
The Circuit ring matters in a different way from the WSOP bracelet and world championship. It would not rival the prestige of his summer win, but it would add another title to the same season and demonstrate success in a separate field, venue and structure. That is why the final day has attracted attention beyond the size of the first prize alone.
The chip lead is only the starting point
Jumalon starts the final day with the numerical advantage, but the remaining stacks are deep enough that the title is still open. His recent WSOP victory makes the situation more notable because he has already shown an ability to convert a late chip lead, yet the Austin field presents a new set of opponents and decisions. The final result will depend on how the stacks develop once play resumes.
Jumalon starts the final day with the numerical advantage, but the remaining stacks are deep enough that the title is still open. His recent WSOP victory makes the situation more notable because he has already shown an ability to convert a late chip lead, yet the Austin field presents a new set of opponents and decisions. The final result will depend on how the stacks develop once play resumes.
Jumalon starts the final day with the numerical advantage, but the remaining stacks are deep enough that the title is still open. His recent WSOP victory makes the situation more notable because he has already shown an ability to convert a late chip lead, yet the Austin field presents a new set of opponents and decisions. The final result will depend on how the stacks develop once play resumes.