Lucas Jumalon’s WSOP Academy Talent Search Starts in Nottingham Nov. 13
The reigning Main Event champion will award Circuit Main Event seats before selecting one player for the 2027 WSOP Main Event.
- Lucas Jumalon’s first WSOP Academy talent-search stop is at Dusk to Dawn Casino in Nottingham on Nov. 13.
- Each Academy-user meet-up game will send one player into that stop’s WSOP Circuit Main Event.
- Jumalon will select one protégé from the tour’s winners to play the 2027 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas under his mentorship.
- The tour will be filmed for the official WSOP YouTube channel, with the first episode expected by the end of November.
Lucas Jumalon will begin a worldwide WSOP Circuit talent search in Nottingham on Nov. 13 after becoming global ambassador for the new WSOP Academy app. The reigning World Series of Poker Main Event champion will host an Academy-user meet-up game at Dusk to Dawn Casino, the first stop on a season-long tour.
The WSOP announced the appointment on Oct. 27. Jumalon will visit Circuit events around the world, where each exclusive meet-up game will award one participant a complimentary entry to that stop’s WSOP Circuit Main Event.
At the end of the tour, Jumalon will choose one standout player from the meet-up winners. That protégé will receive an invitation to play the $10,000 2027 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas under his mentorship.
As we covered in August, the 22-year-old Jumalon won the 2026 WSOP Main Event for $10 million. He said he had gone from being a kid who dreamed of winning the World Series of Poker Main Event to having the chance to help somebody else pursue the same goal.
The academy app is designed to teach poker and bring new players into the game. Its iPhone version is free to download with in-app purchases and includes lessons, quizzes, summaries, leaderboards, hand-play tables and a Poker IQ Quiz.
The WSOP has told Academy users to await details on how to enter the Nottingham meet-up. Its Circuit portfolio has roughly 50 events each year across five continents.
A WSOP production team will follow Jumalon on and away from the tables, with travelogue-style episodes set for the official WSOP YouTube channel. Spade Poker reported that the selection criteria for the final protégé have not yet been disclosed and that the first episode is expected by the end of November.
