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Do you believe in miracles? The unlikely journey behind Lucas Jumalon's World Series of Poker win
Aug. 7LAS VEGAS When Lucas Jumalon was born, he weighed just 1 pound, 14 ounces. His parents consider him to be their miracle child.The youngest of five brothers with the closest in age being 10 years older, Lucas was hospitalized for nearly three months immediately after coming into this world.When he finally was able to come home, his parents, Robin and Butch Jumalon, said he didn't make a peep."He came home and he hadn't made a sound the whole time," Butch said. "And so we were like, 'Oh crap! Will he ever find his voice?' And then he found his voice, and we didn't sleep for 31/2 years."The Jumalon family has worked for years through trials and tribulations. This past week, their efforts finally paid off.On Wednesday the young man who flirted with death as an infant secured $10 million by outlasting 9,207 other people in the World Series of Poker Main Event at the Horseshoe Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.Butch, a burly, bald-headed man with a kind demeanor, was overwhelmed with emotion Wednesday morning ahead of his son's matchup against Finland's Lauri Saaskilahti."This is over -the -moon stuff," Butch said, holding back tears.Before starting the Spokane plumbing company Bulldog Rooter, Butch was working two full-time jobs to provide for the family. Robin, on top of taking care of five boys, decided she wanted to help out more. At age 36, she went back to school to become a registered nurse."We're blue -collar," Butch said. "We're hardworking. We've taken our bumps and bruises, but we've gotten back up and taken life on. And I think that's the foundation that Luke gets to work from."During Lucas's early years, the family didn't have a lot of money to go out and do things. So, they turned to card games.The family spent long nights playing cribbage and board games of all sorts and, eventually, poker. Over time, the Jumalon's poker nights became more and more competitive.Starting when he was about 8 years old, Butch said Lucas began to win against full-grown men.Colton Jumalon, who is 14 years older than Lucas, said his little brother was a "walking almanac" from a young age.He also had a sharp wit. Butch, who was an all-state running back in high school in Oregon, said their family loves the Dallas Cowboys. One day, when Colton was poking fun at his much younger brother, Lucas came up with a simple quip."You're a Seahawk," he told him, which was just about the worst thing any Jumalon could be called. The family erupted in laughter.He loved numbers. Robin said her son started counting as soon as he could talk, and that carried into his high school years.Thomas Rye, who taught statistics at Ferris High School for 23 years, had Lucas in his class his senior year. One of his first memories of Lucas was the youngster's ability to think about math concepts differently from traditional students.Rye said Lucas got an A in his Advanced Placement Statistics class, which is a feat only about 10% of his students can achieve.When Lucas found a topic, such as the law of probabilities, particularly interesting, he dedicated himself to learning about it."That curiosity, that inquisitiveness," Rye said. "I would say of all the thousands of students I've had over the years, the ones that go on to do something unique always seem to have that characteristic."Lucas said he was about 14 or 15 when he really began to take poker seriously. He treated it like an NBA prospect would treat trying to make the league. But instead of long hours in the gym, he spent long hours at poker tables refining his skills."I got very into it and studied," Lucas said. "And then by the time I turned 18, I was ready to go and play with the big boys."Colton and Butch said it took a little time for some of the regulars at places like Lilac Lanes and the Black Pearl in Spokane Valley to warm up to Lucas. After all, no one likes to get "rolled" by someone 20 years younger, Colton said."When you're that age, confidence comes off as being cocky," Butch added.Eventually, the older guys came around. Many of them, like Nate Hoover, flew to Vegas to watch Lucas win the $10 million.Hoover said he can't take credit for Lucas' accomplishments. He didn't teach him. He didn't train him. But the Spokane poker community has been part of the environment where Lucas honed his game. His success is the community's success."That's why this feels different," Hoover said. "We're not just rooting for a name on a screen or a player we'll never meet. We're rooting for someone from our own backyard. Someone real. Someone connected, in one way or another, to the same community many of us are part of."Robin said her son's love of poker was never her favorite. A career in gambling isn't a sure thing, so she was adamant that he graduate from Grand Canyon University. Given that he traveled frequently for poker tournaments around the Pacific Northwest, she was concerned he might not."Sure enough, he did," Robin said. "He graduated with two degrees.""I don't know how he managed it," Butch said. "But he did."With a degree in business administration and data analytics and $10 million in the bank, the world appears to be Lucas' for the taking. But managing all that cash at such a young age can be challenging. Lucas said he plans to invest his money and not make any rash decisions. And Butch said he would be disappointed in his son if he blew it all on frivolous and unnecessary things.But at the end of the day, he said it's Lucas' money to do with as he pleases.Lucas has already been talking to someone who was once in the same spot.Joe Cada became the youngest winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event when he won in 2009 at 21. Today, the 38-year-old coaches high school soccer in Michigan.When Lucas reached out just before the final table began, Cada said the only advice he gave was to stay sharp and focused on the moment at hand. If he won the whole thing, Cada said he hoped Lucas would reach back out for advice on how to deal with the money and fame that came with winning poker's biggest title."You don't see that maturity that often from someone that young," Cada said. "He made me a fan just after talking to him and even hearing him reach out to other people and hearing stories involving Lucas of how kind and nice of a person he is."Carson Loman, a friend from Ferris, said Lucas is always there for his people. When Loman went through a rough breakup, he said Lucas was always asking how he could help. Now whenever Lucas goes through Utah where Loman works to recover passengers and crews of fallen planes he always asks to stay with Loman.When Trista Dammel, who met Lucas in their sophomore year of high school, was going through the "hardest time of her life" after starting a new job in Houston, Lucas stayed with her for a few days until she started to feel better. She called his dad, Butch, "a great human being" and said the reason Lucas has devoted so much time and energy toward becoming a world-class poker player is to make his dad proud.Trenton Matthews has been close with Lucas since they met on the football field in seventh grade. He called him a "stand-up guy" when asked to describe his friend."My dad died about three years ago," Matthews said. "And Lucas was one of the first people to freaking be there for me. He helped me out mentally, and just was always checking in and making sure I was fine before himself, every time, because that's just who Lucas is. He cares about his neighbors more than he cares about himself."When they heard that Lucas had made the final table, Matthews told his friends: "Dude, we got to go."After Lucas got a three of a kind to eliminate Saaskilahti on Wednesday and take home the WSOP Main Event crown , he leaned back into the crowd of people who came out to support him.When he went to pose next to the pile of cash, his mom and dad were front and center."I started at the dining room table just playing back and forth with him (Butch)," Lucas said. "It grew into him inviting his buddies over, and me playing in those games at a fairly young age because I gravitated towards it.""And," he said. "It was something to do with my dad."
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