Which Player Lost Half Their WSOP Main Event Winnings to Tax?

WSOP poker table with championship bracelet, poker chips, cash and a tax card representing taxes on Main Event winnings.

Last week’s conclusion of the WSOP Main Event saw a massive $30,250,000 won at the 2026 WSOP Main Event final table as American Lucas Jumalon won his first bracelet in becoming world champion for $10 million in Las Vegas. But how much of Jumalon’s winnings did the 22-year-old get to keep after Uncle Sam or the IRS and state taxes took their bite?

The World Series of Poker’s flagship Main Event saw a total of 9,208 entries in 2026, making a massive prizepool that awarded over $30m in prizes at the final table. But with the taxman taking a huge chunk of $12,273,963, over 40% of the money won went into the pockets of the tax authorities. The amount paid back by each player varied considerably.

Who ended up on the wrong side of tax variance?

WSOP 2026 $10,000 Main Event World Championship Final Table Payouts:
Place	Player	Country	Prize	After Tax
1^st	Lucas Jumalon	United States	$10,000,000	$6,009,174
2^nd	Lauri Saaskilahti	Finland	$6,000,000	$3,227,000
3^rd	Greg Mueller	Canada	$3,750,000	$2,628,000
4^th	Michael Gagliano	United States	$2,750,000	$1,419,317
5^th	Han Feng	United States	$2,250,000	$1,360,247
6^th	Rami Hammoud	Canada	$1,750,000	$1,228,000
7^th	Jamie Shaevel	United States	$1,500,000	$744,500
8^th	Mario Boos	France	$1,250,000	$706,299
9^th	Evagoras Evagorou	Cyprus	$1,000,000	$653,500

How Much Tax did Lucas Jumalon Pay?

The 2026 WSOP Main Event winner was the 22-year-old Lucas Jumalon, but while the headlines all mentioned him winning the $10 million top prize, he didn’t take nearly as much as that amount home. After 11 days of live poker, the Spokane, Washington player paid no income tax thanks to him living in The Evergreen State. He did pay IRS federal income tax and self-employment tax, however, meaning he had to pay $3,990,826 (39.91%) of his winnings to the taxman.

Finnish player Lauri Saaskilahti might wish he stayed in Finland rather than moving to Spain, as being a Spanish resident cost him. The man who came so close to becoming the first Finnish world champion in history paid the Spanish Agencia Tributaria $2,773,000 of his $6m score for finishing as runner-up.

Canadian pro Greg Mueller, who hails from White Rock in the British Columbia region of Canada won $3,750,000 in third place but how much did the former hockey pro have to pay back? Well, Canadian tax laws don’t apply, but Mueller owed 30% of his winnings ($1,122,000) to The Quebec Tax Agency Revenu. Overall, Mueller paid the least tax in percentage terms of all the final table players.

North Americans Drop Plenty to Uncle Sam

Behind the top three players, the most experienced player at the felt, Michael Gagliano, won $2,750,000 in fourth, but ‘Gags’ didn’t cash out nearly that amount. Dropping 48.39% of that amount to the IRS and New Jersey’s state tax, Gagliano only won 51.61% of the total, taking home $1,419,317.

In fifth place, the charismatic Han Feng took home a much better percentage of his winnings than Gagliano above him in the leaderboard. Taking home $1,360,247, Houston resident Feng’s take-home score equated to 61.5% of his final table winnings after his pocket aces were beaten by Finnish player Lauri Saaskilahti’s pocket nines in the bad beat of the final table.

The Canadian player Rami Hammoud, an analytics manager from Montreal, had what many might have called a disappointing final table. Coming into play second in chips, he only ended up finishing in sixth place, winning a score of $1,750,000. Paying just 30% of his winnings, the amateur banked $522,000 after paying his taxes.

Shaevel Shaves Off 50%

Coming seventh was the only non-tournament specialist at the final table. The cash game pro Jamie Shaevel lost an incredible 50.37% of his winnings to the tax authorities, paying back $755,000 of his $1.5m winnings.

Two more players paid very different amounts to their respective tax authorities. The French player Mario Boos cashed for $1,250,000, but didn’t take nearly as much home. His winnings were garnished down to a score of $706,299 by French tax authorities, losing 48% of his winnings.

The Cypriot player Evagoras Evagorou won $1,000,000 in ninth place as the first player who was busted from the final table despite becoming the first player from his country to reach the WSOP Main Event final table. After being taxed for $346,500 (34.65%), Evagorou won a massive $653,500, still the best score of his professional poker career.

(48%) and Evagoras Evagorou from Cyprus (35%) paid very different amounts in international taxes on their winnings, meaning Boos actually took home less than $53,000 more than his Cypriot rival despite finishing a place above him worth $250,000 before tax.

Paul Seaton, an esteemed figure in the poker community with over ten years of experience, has provided live coverage from renowned poker tournaments like the World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour, and World Poker Tour. His involvement goes beyond observation; he has served as the Editor of BLUFF Europe Magazine and Head of Media for partypoker.