Poker has produced some truly mind-blowing prizes over the years. We're talking sums of money so massive, they're almost impossible to comprehend for the average person. Tens of millions of dollars awarded to the winners of the most elite tournaments in the game.
This blog will count down the 22 biggest poker tournament wins ever recorded. You'll learn about players like Antonio Esfandiari, who banked over $18 million in a single event - the largest-ever poker cash prize at the time. You'll see modern legends like Bryn Kenney, who turned a sick deal into over $20 million at the Triton Million tournament.
Get ready to have your mind blown by the incredible numbers on this list of poker's biggest one-time scores. Let's start with my biggest poker win ever.
Wow, just wow. Bryn Kenney really took the poker world for a ride with this biggest win of all time. At the 2019 Triton Million event, he somehow walked away with a staggering $20,563,324 score despite finishing second!
How's that possible? Well, with his mammoth chip lead heads-up versus Aaron Zang, Kenney brokered one of the sickest deals in poker history. The two agreed to split the massive £54 million prize pool, but with Kenney holding the chip lead, he negotiated the bigger $20.5 million portion. My feeble poker brain can barely comprehend that insane number!
Let's just get this out of the way - I'm jealous as hell of Antonio Esfandiari's massive $18.3 million score. It's the biggest single poker tournament prize ever awarded and makes my life savings look like pocket change.
In 2012, at the Big One for One Drop $1 million buy-in WSOP event, The Magician pulled off his greatest trick yet. He navigated through a field of 47 other millionaire gamblers to make the heads-up against Sam Trickett. Esfandiari's million-dollar investment paid off over 18x when he finally vanquished Trickett to claim the unprecedented $18,346,673 top prize, which is what I wouldn't give for that kind of ROI!
I don't feel too bad for Aaron Zang though. While he did have to settle for the $16,775,820 "consolation prize," that's still an earth-shattering amount for one tournament!
In that epochal 2019 Triton Million event with its £1.05 million buy-ins, Zang actually came from behind chip deficits multiple times versus Kenney. On the final hand, his modest pocket 8's spiked two on the flop to make trips and drag that incomprehensible $16.7 million payday. I'd run appallingly bad for the rest of my life to book just one score like that!
The year was 2014, and 24-year-old online poker wizard Daniel Colman was about to become $15,306,668 richer. He won the Big One for One Drop $1 million buy-in at the WSOP, conquering yet another elite field.
In the final hand, Colman's KQ offsuit out-ran Daniel Negreanu's A4 when a harmless ten spiked on the river, making Colman's straight to reel in the jaw-dropping $15.3 million score. Negreanu had to "settle" for the $8.2 million consolation prize. Yeah, real rough beat for those two!
Elton Tsang is a beast on the international poker scene, but his $12,248,912 payday at the 2016 Monte Carlo One Drop Extravaganza ($1 million buy-in) really put him on the map.
The Hong Kong resident defeated Anatoly Gurtovoy heads-up to bank over $12 million in this exclusive 28-entry field event. That's an incredible $6 million spread between first and second place prize. I don't know about you, but I'll take the $6 million haircut to score $12 million any day!
If you think tournaments can't produce life-changing money anymore, Jamie Gold's $12,000,000 score from the 2006 WSOP Main Event proves otherwise. This event still holds the record for the largest live poker tournament ever, with 8,773 entrants.
An admittedly recreational player, Gold somehow ran better than everyone en route to eliminating 7 of his final 8 opponents. On the iconic final hand, his Q9 outkicked Paul Wasicka's pocket tens as Gold dragged the $12 million melons. Definitely one of the most unlikely and memorable Main Event wins ever.
Now we've Swedish pro Martin Jacobson, who understandably looks pretty pleased with his $10,000,000 windfall after winning the 2014 WSOP Main Event. This tournament had 6,683 entries and a $62.8 million prize pool.
Jacobson had to sweat it out for months between making the November Nine and the final table in July. All that practice clearly paid off as he masterfully worked his way to heads-up versus Felix Stephensen. On the final hand, Martin's turned tensmashed Stephensen's open-ender to secure the $10 million first place prize.
You just knew Justin Bonomo would make a appearance on this list somewhere. The man had one of the most ridiculous years in poker history in 2018, punctuated by his triumph in the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop event.
In a stacked final table that also included the likes of Fedor Holz and Dan Smith, Bonomo showcased his world-class no-limit hold'em skills. After outlasting everyone, he collected an even $10,000,000 prize, solidifying 2018 as the "Year of Bonomo". Not a bad way to pad those results, eh?
The 2022 WSOP Main Event had the second biggest field in its history with 8,663 entries. And emerging victorious from that modern day Normandy beach was young Norwegian Espen Jorstad, banking a cool $10,000,000 payday.
Jorstad had come agonizingly close in 2021, finishing 6th in the WSOP Online Main for $1.2 million. But he was determined not to let this seven-figure opportunity slip away in 2022. The man was simply unstoppable at the final table, calmly accumulating chips en route to his $10 million crowning achievement. Not too shabby for a 34-year-old!
We simply can't discuss massive WSOP Main Event wins without mentioning 2019 champion Hossein Ensan. The German poker pro outlasted a field of 8,569 entries to capture his historic $10,000,000 victory.
What made Ensan's run so impressive was his sheer dominance at the final table. He viciously accumulated chips in bully fashion before finally putting eternal runner-up Dario Sammartino to the sword heads-up. Some wondered if the $10 million dream was still possible post-Moneymaker boom, but Ensan emphatically proved it very much is.
The Canadian Jonathan Duhamel was a high-stakes cash game player before rocketing to global fame in the 2010 WSOP Main Event. After battling through 7,319 entries over a two-month period, Duhamel defeated John Racener heads-up to drag an astronomical $8,944,310 top prize.
On the iconic final hand, Duhamel's A-J outran Racener's K-J when the life-changing money went in pre-flop. The subsequent board sealed the deal and suddenly, the Canadian had banked the third largest WSOP Main purse ever awarded at the time. Not a bad career-defining score, eh?
When you win the WSOP Main Event at just 21 years old, you're pretty much guaranteed to make this list of biggest scores. That's exactly what Joe Cada did in 2009, incredibly taking down the $8,547,042 first prize after outlasting 6,494 entries.
Cada had to get through a stacked final table featuring the likes of Phil Ivey, Kevin Schaffel, and his heads-up opponent, Darvin Moon. On the iconic final hand, his Q-9 outran Moon's Q-5 when a nine spiked on the flop. Just like that, the Michigan amateur had over $8.5 million locked up to become the youngest Main Event champion ever at the time. Not bad for a kid who couldn't even legally take a shot to celebrate at the Vegas bars!
Up next is another huge WSOP Main Event score, this time courtesy of Greg Merson in 2012. Merson outlasted a field of 6,598 entries and fellow amateur Jesse Sylvia heads up to capture the $8,531,853 top prize.
On the iconic final hand, Merson's K-5 incredibly spiked a king on the flop to outrun Sylvia's Q-9. Little did he know that one hand would earn him perpetual poker fame and fortune! Merson said that just a year prior, he was nearly broke and was considering quitting the game before running purely to win the Main Event. Now, that's what you call a reversal of fortunes!
Let's look at another celebrated WSOP Main Event champion in Ryan Riess, who took home $8,361,570 after conquering the 6,352-entry field in 2013.
Riess displayed tons of poise by navigating his way past a stacked final table, including amateur Jay Farber in the long-awaited heads-up battle. On the final hand, his A-5 spiked a magical five on the flop to make him a multi-millionaire. For the Michigan pro, it was the ultimate dream accomplished on poker's biggest stage.
Okay, it's time for a bit of a comedown after those last two mind-melting numbers. But still, $8,288,001 is an amount that mere mortal poker players can only dream of winning in one fell swoop.
Negreanu, one of the most popular and successful pros ever, collected this massive sum as the runner-up to Daniel Colman in the 2014 Big One for One Drop $1 million buy-in event. On the final hand, the PokerGO ambassador got outraced when his A-4 couldn't parse Colman's K-Q after a ten rolled off on the river. Hey, at least he could drown his sorrows in a Scrooge McDuck-esque money pit after that score!
Ah yes, the 2007 WSOP Main Event, aka "The Year The World Finally Learned How to Properly Pronounce 'Nguyen.'" After four-plus long months of grind, it was Jerry Yang emerging victorious to collect $8,250,000 after conquering a field of 6,358 players.
The iconic hands will forever be embedded in poker lore, like his pocket 8's against Steve Billirakis's A-J to send the poor man out in brutal 7th place fashion. But who could forget the crippling 63,335,000 chip bad beat Yang delivered to Tuan Le's flopped top set with his incredible straight flush redraw? Cold decks only, baby!
We can't have a list of massive Main Event scores without including 2016 champion Qui Nguyen and his $8,005,310 payday. This amateur player defeated a field of 6,737 entries en route to his life-changing victory.
On the iconic final hand, Nguyen's 9-9 spiked a ridiculous set on the flop to fade Gordon Vayo's A-Q and claim the championship. For the Vietnamese-born businessman, it was the ultimate dream realized after years of grinding away at local card rooms. Not bad for a guy who apparently pissed off his wife for spending too much time and money playing poker!
The 2005 WSOP Main Event featured another out-of-nowhere winner for the ages in Joe Hachem. Despite having a then-moderately-sized field of 5,619 runners, the massive $7,500,000 first prize is what lands Hachem on this list.
The Aussie chiropractor incredibly sucked out on Steve Dannenmann when his Q-J made two pair against Dannenmann's flopped top pair of Aces. You could say the cards truly did hold 'em that night, as Hachem became an overnight multi-millionaire. I'm sure that mindblowing riverboat heater helped ease the pain of all those sleepless nights treating patients' back aches!
For someone who has amassed over $28 million in live tournament earnings, it's no surprise to see Scott Seiver's name. His largest single cash was the $5,160,000 he banked for winning the 2017 WSOP $1,063,000 buy-in The Big One for One Drop.
Seiver defeated a field of 51 total entries over three days of play to join the elite "5 Million Dollar Winner" club. While the massive buy-in definitely crushed the prize pool, that's still an utterly absurd score for a tournament win. My lifetime winnings could only dream of sniffing that number!
You knew Phil Ivey had to make an appearance on this list. The poker legend booked this $3,582,753 score for taking down the $1,630,070 buy-in Big One for One Drop at the 2014 WSOP.
Ivey battled through 42 total entries over several days before defeating Hugo Lacerda heads-up. Just another insane score added to Ivey's ridiculous $37 million in career earnings. For mere mortals like myself, pulling in that kind of money for a single tournament is just absurd!
Speaking of the $1/2 game, let's go back to 2003 - the year widely regarded as sparking the "Moneymaker Effect" poker boom. While amateur winner Chris Moneymaker only banked $2,500,000 for his improbable Main Event triumph, his modest score helped shine a light on tournament poker.
After Moneymaker turned an $86 online satellite into $2.5 million, recreational players everywhere were inspired to chase their own rags-to-riches dreams on the fell. Suddenly poker went mainstream and tournament fields exploded in size, giving rise to the titans and massive prizes we're discussing today. Now let's talk about the last contender of my list of top 22 biggest poker winners ever.
I have to admit, I had no clue who Huck Seed was before looking into this. However, any unknown can become an instant legend by taking down the WSOP Main Event for $1,000,000, as the California amateur incredibly did in 1996.
With a microscopic 8,283 entry field (those were the days!), Huck navigated through the masses to make one of the most improbable and rewarding final tables in Main Event history. He got a heads-up versus Bruce Van Horn and finally unbelievably ground out the win and $1,000,000 top prize after over 5 hours of battle. An epic rags to ridiculous riches tale for the ages.
Making a few million from a single deep run is the kind of life-changing experience we all dream of as poker players. But the realities of the grind mean countless hours of putting in the hard work and dealing with variance along the way.
But hey, at least I've made semi-professional status busting out of my local $80 rebuy every Tuesday night, right? Gotta start somewhere on the path to poker greatness! I hope you enjoyed the top 22 biggest poker wins ever in history.
