Had Michael Gagliano’s mom got her way, he might be preparing for the upcoming school year rather than the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event.
“I didn’t really have a lot of direction coming out of college, and my mom was a teacher and always wanted to push me towards being a teacher,” Gagliano said. “That was the track I was going down till I found something that was more interesting to me.”
Gagliano became a professional poker player in 2009 and has more than $8 million in combined live and online tournament earnings. The Rockaway, New Jersey, resident will add to that total when the final table of the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship resumes Monday at Horseshoe Las Vegas after a three-week break.
The Main Event begins at 5 p.m. and will be shown on a one-hour delay on ESPN2 beginning at 6 p.m. Lucas Jumalon holds a commanding chip lead, while Gagliano sits fifth in chips with nine players still battling for the $10 million first prize. All the remaining players are guaranteed $1 million.
“This is obviously what every poker player dreams of. The World Series Main (Event) is the biggest, most prestigious tournament you can play and do well in,” Gagliano said. “We’ll see what I can do. I watched this tournament for so many years growing up on ESPN and stuff, so it’s pretty cool to have the opportunity to actually partake in it.”
Gagliano, 41, worked in an elementary school as a staff assistant after he graduated from Rutgers with a degree in geology. But he found early success in poker, especially online, and left a career in education behind.
Gagliano has four career WSOP bracelets, which are awarded for tournament victories, with his first coming in 2016. Three of his victories were in WSOP online events, including a first-place finish in the 2025 WSOP Online Fall Bracelet Series.
Since 2010, Gagliano also has been a successful poker coach. He worked with 2015 Main Event champion Joe McKeehen, although Gagliano is quick to point out that they studied together well before that victory.
“I’d like to think I helped him. I’m friends with Joe to this day,” Gagliano said.
Despite all his success in poker, Gagliano had a poor record in the Main Event with two cashes prior to this deep run. His best finish was last year when he went out in 148th place.
Gagliano won a key hand with 15 players remaining on Day 8 when he doubled-up against nine-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb. Gagliano would have been out of the tournament if his pocket 10s didn’t hold up.
He had one of the biggest chip stacks with 11 players left but lost a big pot with ace-king against Greg Mueller’s pocket queens.
“My stack is still fine, but he’s very much in play now, whereas obviously he would have been out and I would have had a lot more chips,” Gagliano said. “It would have just changed the tournament a bit, but that’s poker. Sometimes these things happen. You’ve got to just keep moving forward and see what the next hand brings.”
Gagliano was thankful for the break in the Main Event and used the time off to relax after the grueling summer schedule. He noted he wouldn’t spend much time studying the tendencies of his opponents at the final table.
“I’m just going to see where the cards fall, play my best and go from there,” Gagliano said. “It’s going to be hard to be too disappointed. Obviously I’ll be a little disappointed if I get ninth, but again, that’s poker. It might happen. Anyone at this table can very easily get ninth or first still. It’s wide open at this point.
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.
