Eric Chang Wins Record WSOP Circuit Austin Main Event for $433K

• Eric Chang won the WSOP Circuit Texas Card House Austin main event for $433,670, his second career Circuit ring.
• The $1,700 buy-in drew 2,090 entries and a $3,166,350 prize pool, the largest field ever for a Circuit main event at that price.
• 2026 Main Event champion Lucas Jumalon led the final day with 18 players left but busted in 14th for $19,030.
• Chang beat Anil Jivani heads-up after twice dropping to one big blind during the run.

A Record Turnout for the WSOP Circuit in Texas

This was only the second WSOP Circuit main event ever held at Texas Card House Austin, and the room delivered. Across three starting flights, 2,090 entries built a prize pool of $3,166,350, easily clearing the $2 million guarantee. Texas has quickly become fertile ground for big fields, as the state’s headline tournaments keep proving.

The jump is what stands out. Card Player reports the inaugural Austin stop in May drew 1,709 entries, with local pro Thomas Brabham winning $368,545. Four months later the turnout climbed more than 22 percent, and 315 players reached the money.

Jumalon’s Comeback Bid Falls Short in 14th

Six weeks after his $10 million score at the 2026 WSOP Main Event, Lucas Jumalon returned to the felt in Austin and picked up right where he left off. The 22-year-old from Spokane, Washington entered the third and final day as chip leader with 18 players remaining.

Then the magic ran out. On his last hand, Jumalon led into a board where his flopped pair of sixes ran straight into Taylor Fortini’s turned flush, and he hit the rail in 14th for $19,030. Long-time tournament grinder Aaron Massey (11th, $31,530) and 13-time Circuit ring winner John Holley (15th, $19,030) also fell short of the final table.

Chang Battles Back From the Brink

Chang started Day 2 on Sunday as one of the shortest stacks in the room. He climbed back into contention and reached the final 18, having already knocked out a string of notables along the way, including Kitty Kuo, Jon Turner, and Andrew Moreno.

At the final table he sat a distant fifth while Fortini, Ryan Brown, and Eric Tang shared a virtual three-way tie for the lead. The swing that changed everything came six-handed, when Chang flopped an ace-high flush draw against Tang, turned an ace, and rivered a diamond flush to double up.

From there he kept finding chips. He doubled again with queen-nine, flopping two pair and turning a full house against Brown’s ace-king, then eliminated Tang in fifth. Heads-up, Jivani led 46 million to 35 million, but Chang pulled ahead and got the last chips in with ace-nine, holding on a queen-high runout against Jivani’s ace-five.

Chang told PokerOrg’s Mike Patrick that he never lost belief once he found a double. “I was down to a big blind twice in this tournament,” he said. “And we somehow sun-runned our way here. I said from Day 2 that if I doubled, I’m going to win this tournament, and I really felt it. So, it’s a dream come true.”

Final Table Results

Why Chang’s Win Matters

The money tells one story, and the context tells another. This payday is worth more than eight times Chang’s previous best live cash, and it came against the deepest $1,700 Circuit main event field ever assembled. For a Columbia University graduate now holding his second WSOP Circuit ring, that is a genuine step up, the kind of breakout that has defined a busy year on the Circuit.

It also says something about where the game is drawing crowds. Texas keeps posting numbers that rival long-established stops, and Jumalon’s cameo proves the sport’s newest world champion is happy to grind a regional main event alongside everyone else. If you want to see where that story goes next, keep an eye on WSOP coverage, because the fields only seem to be getting bigger.