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$600 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2026 Jamul Poker Open
$600 Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
2026 Jamul Poker Open
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
Buy-in
$600
Prize Pool
$170,040
Total Entries
327
Level
29
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
100,000
Entries
1
Players Left
1
Players Left 1 / 327
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Level 29
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
A dominating performance! A runaway train! Leading wire to wire! However you want to word it, Matthew Gawel was unstoppable on Day 2 of the $600 Main Event at the 2026 Jamul Poker Open on his way to claiming the title and $36,015. Gawel pushed his way through a field of 327 entries just outside the San Diego area in Southern California to claim his first trophy and a career-high score.
Gawel entered the final table with a sizeable chip lead that he never relinquished once. In fact, it seemed to only grow as the day went on, culminating in a quick heads-up match with Michael Hindi that lasted only three hands.
"It was a really nice time to sun run," Gawel admitted after his victory. "I gotta thank ace-queen for showing up so many times! I made some good folds, and I felt good."
It was fitting that ace-queen was the winning hand for Gawel, who was continuously showing down the premium hand on multiple occasions today. Hindi shoved over 25 big blinds into him and Gawel had an easy call to put the tournament on the line. A clean board for the superior hand left Gawel with his arms in the air as he celebrated the victory.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Gawel | United States | $36,015 |
| 2 | Michael Hindi | United States | $24,010 |
| 3 | Prakhar Jain | United States | $17,574 |
| 4 | Joseph Furmanek | United States | $13,037 |
| 5 | Michael Lee | United States | $9,803 |
| 6 | Aiden Behr | United States | $7,473 |
| 7 | Zhehao Jin | United States | $5,776 |
| 8 | Di Wu | China | $4,528 |
| 9 | Surya Ramjali | United States | $3,601 |
Day 2 Action
The stage was set inside the poker room of the Jamul Casino Resort on Day 2 with the very first tournament livestream on Jamul Poker Live's YouTube channel. It seemed to go off without a hitch and the local players were enthusiastic to get a taste of the bright lights.
There were 39 players who returned to the felt after the four starting flights. Despite the blinds being rolled back, it didn't take long for players to hit up the payout desk for a min-cash. It was a massive hand in the opening levels that saw Gawel crack the aces of Rip Fritzer and take over the chip lead. That started the momentum wave for Gawel that just never ended.
Leslie Autenreith was the last woman standing on the day, eventually bowing out in 25th place. The start-of-day chip leader, Alexei Racila, spent some time on the feature table but his run was also cut short after a rollercoaster of a day. A flurry of eliminations with just 15 players remaining left both tables playing five-handed. Brandon Lee was one of the short stacks and was eliminated on the final table bubble.
"Not when we got here (final table)", Gawel started when asked if he had a plan coming into the final table. "There were still some people who could do damage. But once we got down to fewer players, then I tried to bump up the aggression."
That was when the poker gods took over and left no doubt that Gawel was meant to win this event. A massive cooler versus Surya Ramjali vaulted Gawel further into the lead and then he went on to crack Aiden Behr's pocket aces shortly after. Joseph Furmanek was the one player who tried to put up a fight against the chip leader, but Gawel's aggression countered that approach and Furmanek was ousted in fourth place.
The final three players battled it out for a while and Gawel took a couple of minor shots, but he always bounced back right away to keep distancing himself from his opponents. Prakhar Jain folded his way down to just five big blinds and eventually picked up pocket aces. However, Hindi's rags in the small blind managed to make two pair, eliminating Jain in third place.
Gawel took a healthy lead into heads-up play and it was merely over before it even started. An ill-timed shove from Hindi ran into the hand of the day for Gawel and a clean runout led to victory. The next stop for Gawel is the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas after winning an earlier satellite. He hopes that this momentum continues on and can use some of this confidence to make another deep run.
That wraps up the PokerNews coverage at the 2026 Jamul Poker Open, but stay tuned for many more events coming your way, including a full schedule of WSOP action coming your way shortly.
Level 29
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
From wire to wire, Matthew Gawel dominated Day 2 and especially the final table to claim the title in the $600 Main Event at the 2026 Jamul Poker Open. Gawel started the final table with a healthy chip lead and never looked back as he wrapped things up rather efficiently to claim his largest career score of $36,015.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Gawel | United States | $36,015 |
| 2 | Michael Hindi | United States | $24,010 |
| 3 | Prakhar Jain | United States | $17,574 |
| 4 | Joseph Furmanek | United States | $13,037 |
| 5 | Michael Lee | United States | $9,803 |
| 6 | Aiden Behr | United States | $7,473 |
| 7 | Zhehao Jin | United States | $5,776 |
| 8 | Di Wu | China | $4,528 |
| 9 | Surya Ramjali | United States | $3,601 |
A full recap of the day along with the winner's reaction will be posted shortly.
Level 29
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
It was just the third hand of heads-up action and Michael Hindi announced all in for 2,535,000 on the button. Matthew Gawel snap-called from the big blind and the tournament was on the line.
Michael Hindi: K♥6♣
Matthew Gawel: A♥Q♠
The flop came 10♦4♠2♠ and Gawel's ace-high was still in the lead. The 3♦ on the turn gave Hindi the better straight draw but the 9♠ on the river was no help. Hindi was abruptly eliminated and Gawel raised his arms in celebration.
Level 29
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
Matthew Gawel folded his button and Michael Hindi announced all in from the small blind. Prakhar Jain only had a few big blinds left and called off his last 510,000 from the big blind.
Prakhar Jain: A♠A♣
Michael Hindi: 9♣4♠
The two hands couldn't be any more polar opposites and the flop of Q♥6♠4♣ left Jain still in the lead. However, the 9♦ on the turn gave Hindi two pair and the 7♣ on the river was not enough for Jain to stay alive with his pocket aces.
Level 29
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
Matthew Gawel limped in from the small blind with A♣4♦ and Michael Hindi checked his option with K♦6♦. The flop came 9♠9♥3♣ and Gawel check-called a bet of 125,000 from Hindi.
The turn was the A♠ and both players checked to the 10♦ on the river. Gawel led out with a bet of 300,000 and Hindi let his hand go.
On the next orbit, Gawel limped in again and Hindi checked from the big blind. The flop fell 6♠3♥2♣ and both players checked to the 4♦ on the turn.
Gawel checked again and Hindi threw in a bet of 125,000. Gawel called with his straight and the 7♣ completed the board. Gawel led out with a bet of 400,000 this time and Hindi folded again.
Level: 29
Blinds: 50,000/100,000
Ante: 100,000
Level 28
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Prakhar Jain limped in from the small blind with 9♥8♣ and Matthew Gawel raised it up to 255,000 with 10♠10♣. Jain called and they saw a flop of 6♥3♦2♦.
Jain checked to Gawel who continued with a bet of 135,000 and that was good enough to rake in the pot.
Level 28
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
The clock was temporarily paused as the players wanted to run the ICM numbers for a possible three-way chop. Once the tournament director returned with the numbers, there was debate about who would get the trophy and eventually no deal was agreed upon.
Level 28
: Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Matthew Gawel limped in from the small blind with 6♥5♥ and Michael Hindi raised to 200,000 in the big blind with Q♦8♦. Gawel called and the dealer fanned the flop of J♥9♠5♣. Hindi continued with a bet of 160,000 and Gawel called after flopping a pair.
The J♦ paired the board on the turn and Gawel checked again. Hindi tossed in another bet of 260,000 and Gawel stuck around for the J♠ on the river. Gawel checked for the third time and Hindi shut it down by checking it back.
