Negreanu Backs Lucas Jumalon to Be More Than a One-Time Main Event Champ

Speaking on episode #1,007 of the Pokerclubgames Podcast with hosts Chad Holloway and Mike Holtz, the Poker Hall of Famer had nothing but praise for Lucas Jumalon, the 22-year-old who won the 2026 WSOP Main Event roughly two and a half months ago. (Negreanu has stayed busy at the tables too. He recently fell just short of the final at the Poker Masters.)

A breakout nobody saw coming

Jumalon, from Spokane, won the Main Event at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, taking home the $10,000,000 first prize and the championship bracelet. The field of 9,208 entrants built an $85,634,400 prize pool, the fourth-largest Main Event in WSOP history. He beat Finland’s Lauri Saaskilahti heads-up to become the second-youngest champion ever, behind only Joe Cada, who won at 21 in 2009.

The path there was anything but smooth. Jumalon ended Day 1B with just 7,400 chips, around 12 big blinds. But he took the chip lead with 13 players left and never gave it up. That made him the first player to lead the final table wire-to-wire since Koray Aldemir in 2021. Deep in the tournament, every pay jump mattered, and Jumalon’s discipline under that pressure is a textbook example of the ICM decisions that decide Main Events.

Along the way he also became the first player from Washington state to win the Main Event and the fourth straight American champion. He had graduated from Grand Canyon University with a business administration degree just that May.

His résumé before the summer was thin. Per The Hendon Mob, he had just over $180,000 in lifetime live earnings, with his biggest prior score a $22,945 cash in a $400 Daily Deepstacks event in 2025.

Negreanu on the person

History is full of Main Event winners who cashed out and faded away, or never landed another big result. Negreanu doesn’t see Jumalon going that route, and his praise started with character rather than cards.

He said Jumalon first reached out to him over DM and came across as mature beyond his years and respectful of the older generation of pros. The two later met in person when Negreanu appeared on Nick Schulman’s new SiriusXM poker show, and Negreanu described the young champ as a “breath of fresh air” who treats people and the game with real respect.

Negreanu on the player

On the poker side, Negreanu said Jumalon played great, and what impressed him most was that the champ clearly knows theory but wasn’t bound by it, choosing instead to adjust to each opponent. He called Jumalon very self-aware, someone who understood how others perceived him and turned that into an edge.

That’s a skill any player can work on. Studying opponent ranges builds the theory base, while drills like the Hand Reading Simulator train the player-by-player adjustments Negreanu described.

Then came the prediction: “This guy really seems like one who wants the role, and he wants to do big things. And I think he’ll be around for quite a while.”

That ambition matches what Jumalon said himself on the night he won, when he shared his goal of becoming poker’s next Chris Moneymaker and inspiring a new generation of players.

What he’s done since

Jumalon hasn’t disappeared. His WSOP player profile shows six WSOP Circuit cashes since the Main Event. At Texas Card House in September, he finished 59th of 2,270 in the $600 Mini Main, 12th in the $3,250 Big Tex High Roller for $8,090, and 14th of 2,090 in the $1,700 Main Event for $22,430. In October at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino, he took 8th in a $600 Mystery Bounty, 94th of 850 in the $2,300 Main Event, and 22nd in a $500 Freezeout. He has also played on the livestream at The Lodge Card Club in Austin, Texas.

Elsewhere on the podcast

Negreanu also talked about his upcoming fatherhood and the WSOP Player of the Year race, which is going down to the wire. Just 29 points separate the top three, with Shaun Deeb narrowly ahead of Naoya Kihara and Alex Foxen heading into WSOP Paradise, running December 1 to 18, 2026.

Follow every major result on our poker news page, and check our tournament schedules for upcoming series.

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