Ferris grad Lucas Jumalon remains on top moving to second day of World Series of Poker Main Event, as two players are eliminated
LAS VEGAS − Dressed in a black T-shirt depicting Tony Montana from “Scarface,” Lucas Jumalon entered the final table of the World Series of Poker main event with guns blazing. After being called to find his seat, the 22-year-old Ferris High School graduate jogged past Bruce Buffer, the voice of the octagon, with finger guns aimed at the crowd from Spokane.
A sea of red shirts and hats in support of Canadian ex-hockey player Greg Mueller contrasted the army of Spokanites dressed in dark shades. Jumalon, who entered the day with a hefty 115 million chip lead over second place, took his time to high-five those who came to support him and rubbed the bald head of his father, Butch, for good luck before taking a seat.
The words on the back of his shirt read “The world is yours,” which is a fitting message for the young man who had the second-shortest stack of chips when there were still 759 players vying for the $10 million grand prize on July 4.
Since then, Jumalon mounted a fiery comeback and entered the final table Monday night ready to take care of “unfinished business,” with 35% of the total chips on the table.
After six hours of grueling and intense play, the night finally came to an end with seven players left. Jumalon ended with 212 million chips. His closest competition moving forward is San Antonio’s Han Feng, who made quite a statement with his pink feather boa, white jacket and no shirt look. The flashy Feng skyrocketed from dead last in chip count to second place. But, he was still 100 million chips short of Spokane’s homegrown guy.
“You always have those dreams and aspirations,” Jumalon said before the competition began. “It’s like winning the lottery. I knew I could do it, but like my buddy was telling me, ‘even if you’re a good poker player, this happens once in every 600 lifetimes.’ ”
Jumalon is one of four Americans a part of the final table. The Americans are joined by two Canadians, a Frenchman, a Finn and a man from Cyprus. The goal on Monday night for Jumalon was to whittle nine players down to just six.
Around 7:40 p.m. on Monday, Jumalon had 161.5 million chips when the Cypriot, Evagoras Evagorou, became the first player knocked out. Jamie Shaevel of Santa Monica, California, won with a pair of aces that beat Evagorou’s pair of jacks.
Over the course of the next hour, Jumalon became more hesitant to play hands he wasn’t sure of. Even with that strategy, by 9 p.m., Jumalon had 27.5 million chips less than he did when he started the night and there were still two people left to eliminate. But by 9:25 p.m., “Lady Luck” looked favorably on Lucas as he won a couple big pots and his chip count ballooned to a lofty 218.5 million.
The Frenchman, Marios Boos, became the next person eliminated after his pocket eights were smashed by the king-nine belonging to the man from Finland, Lauri Saaskilahti. Even though he finished in eighth place, Boos still walked away with $1,250,000.
After the night ended, an exhausted and hungry Jumalon trudged towards the exit of the Horseshoe Las Vegas hotel and casino with a meal, a good night’s rest and the suffering caused by the wildfires in his hometown on his mind.
“I’m so sorry about what’s happening,” he said. “It’s really devastating. I hope stuff gets better, and you know, hopefully I can just be a little bit of light in something that’s not going so well.”
Decked out with the 509
Alan Willis is a card dealer at Lilac Lanes in Spokane and a friend of Jumalon’s. Since 18 year olds can gamble at Lilac Lanes, Willis first met Jumalon when he was about 20 or so.
“A lot of people just throw out chips or whatever,” Willis said. “‘I got a hand, blah blah blah, let’s see who has the best at the end.’ Where he’s got a strategy. He’s (Jumalon’s) building a story when he plays.”
Not only is Willis a card player and a dealer, he’s also a screen printer. He started a brand called 509 Poker for all the poker players in the vicinity of the Lilac City. While 509 Poker started out small, Eastern Washington’s area code was everywhere at poker’s World Series.
Willis, who moved to Spokane from Tucson, Arizona, about 17 years ago, said he fell in love with the beautiful city, the mountains, the trails and the recreational opportunities in Spokane. He wanted to create a brand that made people gravitate towards each other and find community no matter who they are, whether they’re adamant poker players or have absolutely zero clue what a full house is. People from Spokane have a right to be proud of where they’re from, he said, especially in times like this.
With three massive wildfires this week tearing through thousands of acres and destroying around 700 homes in Spokane county, Willis believes the city could use something good to root for in the midst of all this bad news.
