Earl Burton

We are less than a week from the resumption of the 2026 World Series of Poker $10,000 Championship Event – the “Main Event,” as it has become known.

We are less than a week from the resumption of the 2026 World Series of Poker $10,000 Championship Event – the “Main Event,” as it has become known. Nine men will return to Paris Las Vegas on August 3 to battle it out for the coveted World Championship of poker. Alas, some of these competitors have more of a chance than the others. In a three-part series, we are going to talk about these competitors, break down how they got to this ethereal plane, and what their chances are of winning the $10 million first-place prize.

Tonight…it begins. The 2026 World Series of Poker $10,000 Championship Event – the “Main Event,” as it has become known – will bring nine men back to Paris Las Vegas to battle it out for the coveted World Championship of poker. Alas, some of these competitors have more of a chance than the others. In a three-part series, we are going to talk about these competitors, break down how they got to this ethereal plane, and what their chances are of winning the $10 million first-place prize.

After a Monday night that seemed like it would last forever, it was a rather rapid Tuesday for the 2026 WSOP Main Event final table. It only took a couple of hours to go from the final seven players, blow past the final three players, and reach the final two survivors in the tournament. On Wednesday night, Lauri Saaskilahti will meet Lucas Jumalon in a heads-up clash for the 2026 WSOP Main Event championship.

In just over an hour on Wednesday night, poker history was made. Lucas Jumalon became the second-youngest man to win the World Series of Poker’s Main Event and the first man since Koray Aldemir to go wire-to-wire with the victory. With the win, Jumalon increased his career earnings massively, going from $180,880 in career earnings to $10,180,880.

With all the activity in the tournament poker world, you would be remiss if you forgot that the 2026 European Poker Tour season is underway. That will be rectified this week as the crème of the European poker world goes to one of its favorite locations, the Casino Barcelona in Spain. The EPT Barcelona will be held between August 16 and August 29, with a plethora of tournaments and entertainment for those who will be participating in the festival.

Flutter Entertainment, the owner of many of the industry’s top gaming products, will bring on new leadership soon. Current Chief Executive Officer Peter Jackson, who has been in his post since January 2018, is reportedly stepping down from his position, effective October 1. He is to be replaced by the current President of Flutter, Dan Taylor, although Jackson will be staying around to advise leadership until the end of the year.

Things have been quiet on the World Poker Tour of late. After a stop earlier in August in Florida, the WPT has packed up the circus and moved onto the Chamada Prestige Hotel & Spa in Cyprus for their next big event. The 2026 WPT Cyprus is underway as we speak, as it looks to top its excellent 2025 performance and increase the WPT’s visibility on the world stage.

It was quite the eventful weekend in Cyprus as the World Poker Tour came to town. The 2026 WPT Cyprus would fail to draw enough players to crack its $2 million guarantee but, as it always has, the WPT stepped up and ate the difference. Perhaps what was more impressive was that the Day 1A chip leader, Farbod Nazari, was able to ride that advantage all the way to the championship, booking a $368,900 win and a trip to the WPT World Championship this December.

After a lengthy hiatus, the European Poker Tour has returned to action at Casino Barcelona in Spain. The €5,000 buy-in event was quite popular with the players and, as of Wednesday, had played down to the final 28 players. Leading the way into the Day Five action on Thursday at the 2026 EPT Barcelona will be an online qualifier, Jose Criado, who will face the slings and arrows of two former EPT Barcelona champions,