Biggest Poker Cash Game Winners
- The Company is licensed and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority, hereinafter the “MGA”, by virtue of license number MGA/CRP/688/2019 (issued ), issued in the name of the reporting entity bwin (Holdings) Malta Limited, a company registered under the laws of Malta with company number C 59121, having its registered office situated at Penthouse Spinola Business Centre, Number 46.
- Generated on 24-Feb-2021. This ranking list does not include results from recurring events (regular daily, weekly or monthly events). All Time Money List (Inc. Recurring Events) Open Events Only. Exclude Buyins $50K. Open Events, Exclude Buyins $50K.
Poker is an exciting game. The adrenaline rush of pulling a big bluff, dragging in a huge pot, or winning a major title can be compared to a few things in things in this life. Over the years, we’ve witnessed numerous such moments and it’s hard to pick out the most important ones. Every big hand has its own magic.
When there are so many moments to choose from, making any sort of top list-type of an article is difficult. This article will focus on top 10 biggest poker wins. But, it won’t focus on the sheer cash amount. There are other things that make a poker win big even if the amount won doesn’t seem as significant in the overall scheme of things.
1. Chris Moneymaker Wins 2003 WSOP Main Event
Phil Ivey - $19,242,743. Not content with being an absolute beast in the live arena, Phil Ivey also.
Chris Moneymaker, the 2004 World Series of Poker champion, competes on the fourth day of the first round of the WSOP no-limit Texas Hold ’em main event at the Rio Hotel & Casino July 31, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
When an unknown accountant from Tennessee qualified for the 2003 WSOP Main Even via a satellite tournament on PokerStars, nobody could imagine how big of an effect this would have on the game of poker. The man with a catchy surname and not much else going for him in poker terms came to Las Vegas filled with dreams and hopes. His story wasn’t unlike one of the so many others coming to Sin City, looking for their share of luck.
However, Moneymaker stood out from the rest. He managed to outlast every single player in the Main Event, seizing the title and the $2.5 million prize to go with it. In an epic ending, he squared off against famous Sammy Farha and prevailed.
Thanks to television, Moneymaker’s story gave wings to hundreds of thousands around the globe. If a Tennessee accountant could do it, anyone could. In the years to come, the popularity of poker, online and offline, would keep growing, reaching unthinkable proportions. That 2003 Main Event changed the game of poker forever.
2. Antonio Esfandiari Takes Home Big One for One Drop
Back in 2012, a professional player Antonio ‘The Magician’ Esfandiari took home the biggest prize in tournament poker. Playing in the first $1,000,000 buy-in event, Esfandiari managed to be the last man standing in the 48-strong field consisting of top professionals and wealthy businessmen.
In the end, ‘The Magician’ took home a prize of $18.3 million, for a cool profit in excess of $17 million. To this day, this is the biggest single prize won in a poker tournament, and it is a record that won’t be easily surpassed.
3. Jamie Gold and a $12,000,000 Victory
rofessional poker player Jamie Gold competes in the Raising the Stakes for Cerebral Palsy Celebrity Poker Tournament at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino hosted by the One Step Closer Foundation to raise funds and awareness for people with cerebral palsy on June 19, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Following Moneymaker’s 2003 victory, fields in the annual WSOP Main Event kept growing. The 2006 Main Event saw the largest-ever WSOP ME field, gathering a total of 8,773 players and creating a massive prize pool of $82.5 million. Of this amount, $12,000,000 was reserved for the winner.
The man who took home that amount was Jamie Gold. Gold, who’s a TV producer and a talent agent, has been a regular fixture in poker tournaments over the years. However, he wasn’t a professional player. That didn’t stop him from outlasting the huge field to seize the prestigious title and the $12 million win.
Jamie’s victory will be remembered for a long time for reasons other than money, though. For the entire duration of the tournament, Gold kept talking, trying to extract information from his opponents. Without going into the merits of this strategy, one thing is certain. Watching Jamie Gold doing his thing at the tables was loads of fun.
4. Victoria Corren Mitchell Becomes the First Two-Time Female EPT Winner
The European Poker Tour (EPT) is one of the biggest, best-known poker tournament series aside from the WSOP. Although it is being discontinued as such, EPT will certainly be remembered for years to come. It created many great champions, produced hundreds of nerve-wracking moments, and gave us a lot of entertainment.
In the sea of champions, Victoria Corren Mitchell stands out as the only female player to win two EPT titles. First, in 2006 Victoria became the first-ever female EPT winner by triumphing in London. Then, in 2014, she repeated her success by going all the way in San Remo. These two wins combined brought her in excess of $1.5 million and, more importantly, added her name to the pages of poker history.
5. Martin Jacobson and an Even $10,000,000 Win
After Gold’s victory in 2006, WSOP Main Event never really saw such a huge field of players descend on Las Vegas. Prize pools were still quite significant, but they didn’t reach that magic $10 million mark. That’s why WSOP organizers decided to up the ante by offering $10,000,000 for the 2014 Main Event winner.
That amount eventually went to the Swede Martin Jacobson who outlasted the field of 6,683 players and took home the huge amount. One peculiarity about this year was that tournament organizers had to water-down the prize pool somewhat to meet the first place guarantee. Thus, runner-up Felix Stephenson won “only” $5.1 million for his second place finish.
6. $15,000,000 for Dan Colman
The WSOP 2014 saw another huge winner. That year was the second time the $1,000,000 buy-in Big One for One Drop was staged, once again attracting some of the game’s best to the tables. The field was slightly smaller, as 42 players showed up to play this time around, but it was still a prize pool of $37,000,000 to be distributed only among the few of the highest finishers.
The top prize of $15.3 million went to Daniel Colman, a player who built his reputation primarily at a virtual (online felt). Finishing runner-up that year was one of the best-known faces in poker, Daniel ‘KidPoker’ Negreanu, who banked just shy of $8.3 million.
7. Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey & Largest Pot in Televised History
Poker Pro Phil Ivey plays poker at Ante Up for Africa 2010 on July 3, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
We all love seeing high stakes televised cash games. Many believe that’s poker at its best, with high-pressure moments, huge bluffs, and missteps that can cost players high six figures. Over the years, we’ve seen a number of big pots take place, but one of them remains remembered as the largest one in televised history.
The hand was played between two of the game’s greats, Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan. Both well-known high stakes professionals, Ivey is certainly better known to the poker fandom. However, this particular pot didn’t go quite as planned.
The pot in question took place on Season 4 of the Million Dollar Cash Game show. The action was three-handed, but Patrik Antonius decided to sit this one out. Ivey and Dwan kept at it, and after they both had made straights on the turn, all the money went in, creating a $1.1 million pot. Dwan held the absolute nuts and Ivey was drawing dead with his smaller straight, making Dwan the man who took down the biggest pot in poker televised history.
8. Johnny Lodden aka ‘bad_ip’ High Stakes Adventure
We can’t discuss biggest poker wins without at least mentioning online poker, as this is a very big and significant segment of the game. Back in a day when online poker was still rather young, Johnny ‘bad_ip’ Lodden wracked havoc on the Prima network. He’s been known to play in the highest games available, and for a while, he was considered the biggest winner to hit the felt on the network. Although no one knows exact numbers, Lodden’s wins were measured in millions.
However, it all came to a crashing end for Johnny as he admittedly lost his entire bankroll on Prima. According to Lodden, the amount was in a vicinity of $10,000,000. Norwegian pro thus went from being one of the most feared online players around to being broke in a span of a couple of years. Lodden did manage to rebuild his bankroll later on thanks to a stake from a friend.
9. Largest Online Poker Pot ($1.3 million+)
High stakes action has been going strong at online tables for over a decade now, and many big pots have exchanged hands. There is no doubt that significant amounts of money went back and forth between the players on lesser-known rooms, away from prying eyes of curious railbirds.
However, one pot officially stands out among the biggest poker wins in online history. It was played between two high stakes regulars, Patrik Antonius and Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom. The two squared off at a heads up pot limit Omaha table and, sitting with more than $600,000 in front of them (each), they managed to put it all in the middle. The end result? A pot worth $1,356,946!
10. Largest Online Tournament Win ($2,278,097)
Rounding up this list of top 10 biggest poker wins in history, we must mention the biggest ever online tournament win. That honor went to Tyson ‘POTTERPOKER’ Marks. He triumphed in the 2010 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event, taking home just shy of $2.3 million.
Marks had to battle his way through the field of nearly 2,500 players. It was an uphill battle but the one well worth the effort as he came out of it a couple of million richer!
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read more +It's no surprise that poker is one of the most famous table games across the world. Played in gambling halls, online or at land based casinos, poker enthusiasts know each game is definitively different from the last. Players with a passion for high stakes and even higher prize pools are drawn to these poker tournaments like a moth to the flame, and if the heat gets too hot and they cannot make it into any of these tournaments, then like the rest of the world they wait and watch the outcome of some of the most extraordinary poker players across the world take part in these renowned poker tournaments.
The WSOP (World Series of Poker) Tournament
The biggest and most renowned poker tournament, the one that every pro poker player is aware of and the tournament with the biggest prize pot is the World Series of Poker. Being the most popular poker tournament, obtaining a seat at the table is nearly an impossible task. That is unless you have $10 000 in change to buy a seat or if you are one of the lucky players to have won a seat through a satellite tournament.
Satellite tournaments are set uparound the world allowing players to compete for the ultimate prize; a seat at the WSOP tournament. Most satellite tournaments are online and the sites that hold the competitions offer players a chance to work their way up a 'tier system' the lowest tier being the cheapest and the highest being the most expensive.
Youtube Poker Cash Games
Winners of WSOP gain millions of dollars in the ultimate cash prize and also stand to win a bracelet which is the ultimate prize. The event is held annually at Las Vegas in Nevada and Texas Hold'em is the game of choice.
The World Poker Tour (WPT)
The televised event is one of the biggest in the world due to the high stakes and additional prizes. Buy in ranges from $4 000-$25 000 and winners are awarded with World Poker Tour status membership, they have the privilege of having their names engraved on the trophy cup and of course they walk away with millions in cash prizes.
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
Possibly the most alluring title of them all, the PokerStars tournament is an annual event held in the Bahamas with a buy in amount of $10 000. Throughout the years there have been some changes with PokerStars taking over the tournament and settling on the $10k buy in. The event is internationally televised and the main prize pool amount reaches up to an impressive $20 million.
The Big One for One Drop - Invitational Tournament
Cash Poker Games Videos
One of the most exclusive tournaments would readily be noted by professional players as the Big One. The tournament takes the biggest buy in to date going as high as $1 million for a seat. Hosted at the WSOP venue, players play for a no limit Texas Hold'em pot prize players stand to win over $10 000,000 in cash. Known for the insane adrenaline, The Big One for One Drop is by invitation only and thereafter the buy in must be paid to secure the players seat. Impressively 3.5% of the prize pool is donated to the One Drop Foundation, an initiative focused on water saving.
Super High Roller Bowl
As the name suggests, Super High Roller Bowl has been exclusively designed for high stakes players. The annual event is held in Las Vegas and began with a $500 000 buy in. The buy in cost has been lowered to $300 000 and the stakes are played for in a no limit game of Texas Hold'em. In 2018 the total prize pool weighed in at a staggering amount of $14, 400, 000 and the winner in first place walked away with $5 million in cash.
There are of course more famous poker tournaments that have every poker enthusiast wishing they had enough cold hard cash to throw in the direction of these tournaments. Luckily online casinos cater for smaller poker players and create tournament events of their own where players can compete in various poker games such as Seven Card Stud, Five Card Draw, Omaha Poker and many more.