Largest Poker Winnings

  1. Highest Winnings Poker Player
  2. Largest Poker Winnings Jackpot
  3. Largest Poker Winnings Poker
  4. Online Poker Winnings Taxes

Esfandiari’s biggest ever win came in 2012, when he won the “Big One for One Drop” tournament at the WSOP. This saw him win a massive $18,346,673 – at the time, the largest ever live poker prize. Best known for his Big One for One Drop win during the 2014 WSOP, Daniel Colman is a man with lots of winnings. Nabbing the second-largest payout in poker tournament history pushed Colman into the.

The tournaments mentioned in this article are some of the biggest poker tournaments around the world. Thousands of people take part and try to win them. All these poker tournaments pay big and offer a great player experience.

Total life earnings: $42,053,305. Latest cash: $14,890 on 13-Dec-2020. Click here to see the details of Daniel Negreanu's 355 cashes.

Keep in mind that the buy-in amount for these tournaments is a bit on the higher end. But all these tournaments pay a huge amount to the winners that account to more than $1M. And just for the sheer challenge of winning these tournaments makes them so special. It takes a player to be a master of the game and have a great game knowledge to win in these tournaments. And if you manage to win, you’ll be treated as the best player in the world. And this is a great title to have.

What makes these tournaments so big and Special?

So, you must be wondering what makes these poker tournaments so special. Well, there are four main factors that make these tournaments stand apart from the rest. They are as follows:

  1. The total number of people taking part: Literally thousands to tens of thousands of people take part in these tournaments. It feels special to play with so many people. The atmosphere built in these tournaments is the best part of all. To be a part of something so big which has great value is one’s in a lifetime experience.
  2. The tournament locations: All of these poker tournaments takes place in really big casinos which are really well-known and world-famous. To go and visit them is a dream for many people out there. Also, the locality of these tournaments are really awesome and cool places to visit for anyone.
  3. Tournaments Winnings: The winnings from these tournaments are all in Millions. This alone tells that these are not the common typical poker tournaments that happens every year. Winning in these tournaments makes you a world-famous poker player. Also, if you win in some of these poker tournaments, you’re considered as the world champion of poker. This is really a big deal in the poker industry. So, go a win in these biggest poker tournaments and make a name for your self.
  4. Challenge: It takes one to be extremely skillful to win in these biggest poker tournaments. There’s no luck as such because you compete with tens of thousands of people. And to win the title you need to be on top of the game for the entire tournament. Not just for couple of hours. And only a few players can do this. And the players that do this win most of the time.

These factors make this list one of the biggest poker tournaments in the world.

Biggest Poker Tournaments around the World

Without any further discussion let’s take a look at the top 5 most Biggest Poker Tournaments that pay big.

1. World Series Of Poker ( WSOP)

WSOP is one of the biggest poker tournaments and happens all over the world. Around tens and thousands of players compete hoping to win the tournament.

The first WSOP was played in 1970 when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker players to the Horseshoe Casino for a single tournament, with a set start and stop time, and a winner determined by a secret ballot of the seven players. From then on the WSOP was played each year with the increasing number of contestants year by year.

WSOPbecame one of the most prestigious poker tournament a player can win. The winner is crowned as the Poker champion of the World.

Format

WSOP Las Vegas is the most popular and is conducted every year in Las Vegas in the month of June-July. Each players competing has to pay the $10,000 buy-in to get into the tournament. More than 8000 players competed in 2019 WSOP held in July.

The prize pool of 2019 WSOP Las Vegas was $80,548,600 and the Winner took $10 million in cash. The winner additional gets a bracelet to take away to his home. This bracelet signifies that the player is the world champion and the best in the world.

WSOP happens in other parts of the world too. The Variants of WSOP are as follows:

  1. WSOP Las Vegas
  2. WSOP Online Poker
  3. WSOP U.S Circuit
  4. WSOP Europe Circuit
  5. WSOP International Circuit

Each one of these tournaments offers a huge cash prize for the winners along with a bracelet to take home. The player with the most bracelets is PhilHellmuth and has won 15 times. There’s no question that WSOP is the world’s biggest poker tournaments ever.

2. World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP)

This is one of the biggest poker tournaments conducted online and is played by players all over the world. The tournament is sponsored by Poker Stars. It is played on the PokerStars site in the month of September every year.

WCOOP was started in the year 2002 and is the online equivalent to the World Series Of Poker. The WCOOP offers a variety of Poker games with Texas Hold’em being the famous one. There are different buy-ins for different variants and different prize pool.

The games featured are Limit, Pot-Limit and No-Limit Texas Hold’em, Seven Card Studand Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, Razz, Pot Limit OmahaHigh and Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, 5 card draw, 2-7 triple draw, and H.O.R.S.E.

In the year 2018 WCOOP, 186 different events were conducted by Poker Stars. The main event of 2018 WCOOP consisted of 2,044 players and the winner won $1,352,967.97. The prize pool of the Main event was $10,220,000.00. The buy-in for the main event was $5,200 No-Limit Texas Hold’em Poker.

This tells us that the WCOOP is one of the biggest poker tournaments that is conducted online by PokerStars.

3. Triton Super High Roller Series ( Triton Poker)

Triton Pokerconducts one of the biggest poker tournaments in different parts of the world. Just like PokerStars, Triton Poker conducts different poker tournaments with different buy-in amounts and pool prizes.

This year Trition Million poker tournament was conducted with the prize pool of $65,660,000. The winner received $23,100,000. Also, the buy-in amount is $25,000. It is the 6th largest poker tournament in terms of the prize pool and number 1 Poker tournament with the highest amount given to a winner.

You can already tell that this tournament is super expensive and is mostly played by the businessman and professional poker players. This is not for everyone.

But, none the less, it is one of the biggest poker tournaments that attract a lot of viewers who watch the best play against each other to win the tournament.

4. Big One for One Drop

The Big One for One Dropis a $1,000,000 buy-in No-Limit Texas hold ’em tournament hosted at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was started in the year 2012 and became the highest buy-in poker tournament in history as well as the largest single payout offered. The buy-in amount itself is more than enough to make it one of the biggest poker tournaments of the world.

The event is known for its charitable contributions as much as $111,111 of each player’s buy-in is donated to the One Drop Foundation, an international non-profit organization created by Cirque du Soleil founderGuy Laliberté, which focuses on water initiatives.

This is one of those unique tournaments that are not for everyone as the buy-in to play the tournament is 1 million dollars. But the cause of the tournament is really good and the tournament has already collected $16M for the charity foundation One Drop in just four years. So, if you have a lots of money and want to spend something in doing good, then this is the best poker tournament to be a part in.

The event usually happens in the month of June or July as a 3-4 days event. The prize pool for the tournament is more than $40M and the winner usually takes home more than $10M.

So, if you have got the money then you can go and compete and play in one of the biggest poker tournaments ever conducted for a charity cause.

5. World Poker Tour Championships (WPT)

The World Poker Tour(WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. The World Poker Tour was started in the year 2002 and has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the final table of each tournament. It is hands down one of the biggest poker tournaments ever.

The WPT Main Tour focuses on the buy-in range of $3,500-$25,000, and winners of official WPT Main Tour events are awarded a membership to the WPT Champions Club. The WPT Champions Cup is the trophy awarded to all winners of WPT Main Tour events, and champions have his or her name engraved on the Cup.

The winners get whopping prize money greater than $1M. This tournament is popular all over the world and millions watch the action by sitting at home and watching on TV.

In 2008, they even started the WPT ladies where there were tournaments conducted only for women. Their buy-in is usually $300 to $1500 and the winner gets more than $500,000 as of the prize money.

Without any doubt, this is one of the biggest poker tournaments that happens once a year and attracts a lot of viewers.


These were some of the world’s biggest poker tournaments and the prize money is massive. It is the dream of all poker players to play and win in one of these tournaments. Don’t forget to Check out the best cards to play poker at home. Also, check out the Best Card Shufflers you can use to shuffle the cards.

Popular FAQ’s

Who is the richest poker player in the world?

Sam Farha is the richest poker player in the world. He is worth over $100M in networth.

Who is the best poker player of all time?

It is literally impossible to tell who is the best poker player of all time. Because there are a lot of poker players who deservers the GOAT in poker. But, if you look at the earnings made by playing poker then Bryn Kenney makes to the top of the list with over $50M in live earnings.

Who won the One Drop poker tournament?

Justin Bonomo won the One Drop Poker Tournament in 2018.

Who has won the WSOP Poker Tournaments the most?

Phil Hellmuth has won the most bracelets with 15 followed by Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Ivey with ten bracelets each.

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I am the owner of the site rohithebbar.com. I love playing poker and other card games.

Poker

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Poker has evolved into one of the most popular card games of all time. While it was earlier primarily played for recreational purposes amongst friends, it is now a full-blooded competitive sport and has also emerged as the biggest form of gambling all over the world.

The World Series Of Poker has taken the ‘sport’ to the next level, with a main event held every year, along with several smaller tournaments, promising millions of dollars to potential winners. The WSOP has created many instant millionaires and has inspired thousands of players from around the world to take up Poker professionally.

Texas Hold ’em is undoubtedly the most popular Poker variant, and majority of the biggest winners in history have become rich while playing that.

  • Did you know that the total prize pool for the 2012 WSOP Event crossed the $ 80 million mark ?
  • Can you believe that Antonio Esfandiari pocketed more than $18 million by winning just one Poker event ?
  • Ever wondered who are the biggest winners in Poker history ?
  • Do you want to be inspired by stories of professionals overcoming all odds to win mega sums of money ?

Well fret not, as we have compiled a definitive list of the top 10 biggest single event Poker winners to inspire you.

1. Antonio Esfandiari – 18.3 Million

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0RPJ8Gi3Jg

Nationality : Iran
Winning Amount : 18,346,673
Total Prize Pool : $42.6 million
Date : 3rd July 2012
Event : 2012 WSOP Event #55 – The Big One For One Drop

Aptly nicknamed ‘The Magician’ , Antonio Esfandiari is one of the most well known Poker players in the world, and for a valid reason. Antonio managed to win the largest ever cash prize for one Poker tournament when he pocketed a staggering $18.3 million at the 2012 WSOP The Big One For One Drop event, which was held to benefit the One Drop Foundation. Not only that, Antonio is actually a former professional magician, widely known for his unusual tricks with poker chips.

The event had a huge total prize pool of $42.6 million, and even the runner up received a cool $10.1 million, not the worst way to lose is it ? The event saw more than 48 millionaires try their luck, including 28 professional Poker players and some of the very best in the business participated as well.

2. Daniel Colman – $15.3 Million

Nationality : USA
Winning Amount : $15,306,668
Total Prize Pool : $37.3 Million
Date : 29th June 2014
Event : 2014 WSOP Event #57 – The Big One For One Drop

23 year old Dan Colman overcame 41 other professional Poker players to take home a staggering winning prize of $15.3 million, in June 2014. This was the second largest sum of money ever won by a single player in a Poker tournament. He also became popular on social media for showing absolutely no signs of joy after winning the massive amount.

Famous as an online Poker professional, Colman trusted his guts and brought his skill set to the actual tables at the 2014 WSOP – The Big One For One Drop event, a charity organization, which eventually managed to raise $4.6 million to provide clean water in developing countries. The total prize pool of this event was #37.3 Million.

It was fate that led Colman to that day, as back in 2012 he had actually contemplated leaving Poker for good and applying for college. However he messed up his applications and eventually decided to give Poker another shot.

3. Elton Tsang – $12.2 Million

Nationality : China
Winning Amount : $12,248,912
Total Prize Pool : $27.4 Million
Date : 29th October 2016
Event : 2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza

Chinese professional Poker player Elton Tsang made the world sit up and notice when he bagged the third largest cash prize in a single Poker tournament, and the largest cash prize awarded in a Poker tournament held outside the USA, when he won a mammoth $12.2 million at the 2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza.

Born in Canada, Tsang is currently based in Hong Kong, and has been using his newly acquired wealth to accumulate property and other investments. He defeated 25 other players on his way to winning the big tournament, which had a total prize pool of $27 million, with each player buying in with $1million each.

4. Jamie Gold – $12 Million

Nationality : USA
Winning Amount : $12,000,000
Total Prize Pool : $82.5 Million
Date : 29th July 2006
Event : 2006 WSOP Main Event #39

The current president of production of the entertainment company Buzznation, Jamie Gold gained worldwide stardom for his brilliant win at the 2006 WSOP Main Event.

Gold was only one out of a staggering 8773 different players who had purchased the buy in for the event, with the buy-in fixed at $10,000. This led to the largest ever prize pool in Poker history with a staggering total pool of $82.5 million. The prize money was distributed among the top 873 players (top 10%), with the highest amount being $12 million and the lowest amount being $14,597.

Jamie was notorious for his table antics which included showing his opponents some of his cards, and even mumbling strange things while playing, which had almost got him banned several times.

5. Martin Jacobsen – $10 Million

Nationality : Sweden
Winning Amount : $10,000,000
Total Prize Pool : $62.8 Million
Date : 14th July 2014
Event : 2014 WSOP Main Event

Swedish professional Poker player Martin Jacobsen won the 5th largest single event prize money when he bagged a cool $10 million after winning the 2014 WSOP main event. Born in Sweden but currently residing in London, Jacobsen attained instant stardom following his win.

His win was all the more remarkable because on the second day of the tournament, he actually was placed below the third shortest stack of chips, and managed to make a remarkable turnaround to finish second in the table on the second day. By the third day, he was well in the lead and ended up winning the grand prize. He was widely praised for his gutsy bet-sizing and his impeccable timing, 2 key reasons for his huge victory.

6. Peter Eastgate – $ 9.1 Million

Nationality : Denmark
Winning Amount : $9,152,416
Total Prize Pool : $64.3 Million
Date : 3rd July 2008
Event : 2008 WSOP Main Event

Peter Eastgate, at that time, became the youngest ever player to win a World Series Of Poker Main Event, aged just 22 when he won $9.1 Million in July 2008. With a buy-in of $10,000 , Peter managed to beat scores of other fancied competitors on his way to winning the big one.

The final table lasted two days, with 274 hands taking place over a playing time of more than 15 hours, and at the end of the grueling session, Eastgate finally managed to defeat the experienced Ivan Demidov to win the title.

Having initially qualified for the main event through Ladbrokes’ website, his travel to Vegas for the event was also sponsored by the betting firm, and he was registered as part of Team Ladbrokes.

Eastgate also decided to eventually auction off his WSOP Gold Bracelet, with the amount of $147,000 being donated to UNICEF.

7. Jonathan Duhamel – $8.9 Million

Nationality : Canada
Winning Amount : $8,944,310
Total Prize Pool : $68.7 Million
Date : 9th November 2010
Event : 2010 WSOP Main Event

In the second largest Poker event ever held, more than 7300 different players registered for a shot at a mega winning prize, each with a $10,000 buy in which took the total prize pool of the event to an unbelievable $68.7 Million, the second highest of all time.

After 4 long months of intense poker sessions, a champion was finally crowned in November 2010, as Jonathan Duhamel emerged as the winner of the 2010 WSOP Main Event and won a staggering amount of $8.9 Million.

Duhamel played brilliantly and was pretty much in the lead throughout the event, never looking like slowing down. With his win he became the first Canadian ever to win a WSOP Gold Bracelet, and also donated $100,000 to the Canadian Children’s Foundation, which was the largest single donation the charity organization ever received.

8. Pius Heinz – $8.7 Million

Nationality : Germany
Winning Amount : $ 8,711,956
Total Prize Pool : $64.5 Million
Date : 9th November 2011
Event : 2011 WSOP Main Event

Pius Heinz became the first ever player from Germany to win Poker’s biggest prize when he won the 2011 WSOP Main Event, at the age of just 22. The Cologne born player took home a mammoth $8.7 million after overcoming 6865 different players in this mega event.

Players from over 85 different countries paid the $10,000 buy in fee for this event, taking the total tournament prize pool to $64.5 million.

The final table session lasted two days and Heinz was widely appreciated for his masterful strategies while playing. Among the final 9 players on the final table, Heinz ranked 7th in terms of chips, and still managed to turn it all around and make a remarkable comeback to win against all odds.

The 2011 WSOP Main Event was the most watched Poker event in history, with people in more than 135 countries tuning in to catch the action live.

9. Joe Cada – $ 8.54 Million

Nationality : USA
Winning Amount : $ 8,547,042
Total Prize Pool : $ 61 Million
Date : 9th November 2009
Event : 2009 WSOP Main Event

Joe Cada became the youngest ever WSOP Main Event winner when he won the 2009 event at the age of just 21, which is literally the age limit for gambling in the USA.

The youngster overcame 6494 other competitors on his way to winning $8.5 million, with the buy in for the tournament set at $10,000, taking the total prize money pool to $61 million. A total of 87 hands were played before Cada managed to defeat heavily fancied Darvin Moon, who still took home more than $5.1 million in winnings.

Even before his mammoth win on the final table, Cada had already been awarded a $1 million contract by PokerStars, a company which sponsored his accommodation as well as a percentage of his buy-ins.

Apart from Poker, Cada is also a professional indoor soccer player. Gambling runs in his family as his mother is a former blackjack dealer.

10. Greg Merson – $8.52 Million

Nationality : USA
Winning Amount : $ 8,527,982
Total Prize Pool : $62 Million
Date : 9th October 2012
Event : 2012 WSOP Main Event #61

American professional Greg Merson won an incredible $8.52 million when he overcame thousands of other players to capture the 2012 WSOP Bracelet.

With a final hand consisting of almost 400 hands, one of the most thrilling finales of recent times culminated in Merson’s victory, with runner up Jesse Sylvia also taking home a cool $5.29 million.

Formerly a drug addict, Merson’s story is inspiring as he overcame a lot of financial and psychological hurdles to reach where he is now. He was even ranked as 2012’s WSOP Player Of The Year, after adding the $10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold ’em to his title as well.

11. Ryan Riess – $8.3 Million

Nationality : USA
Winning Amount : $ 8,359,531
Total Prize Pool : $59.7 Million
Date : 9th 05th November 2013
Event : 2013 WSOP Main Event #62

The then 23 year old Ryan Reiss shocked the Poker World when he finally managed to beat the heavy favourite Jay Farber at the 2013 WSOP Main Event, to take home a stunning winning amount of $8.3 million. The runner up also took home a huge sum of $5.1 million.

The tournament, which begun back in July, saw a total 6352 Poker players trying their luck out. That number included many poker legends and favourites from around the globe. Reiss was considered as just another young rookie in the game. However, after the first 7 days he emerged as one of the November 9, with the 5th largest stack going into the final round of the tournament.

Largest Poker Winnings Jackpot

Reiss gained widespread respect for his gesture of immediately acknowledging the runner up Farber, despite the whole crowd chanting his name wildly.

12. Jerry Yang – $8.25 Million

Nationality : Laos
Winning Amount : $ 8,250,000
Total Prize Pool : $59.78 Million
Date : 17th July 2007
Event : 38th WSOP Main Event 2007

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Asian poker legend Jerry Yang enhanced his reputation as one of the best ever with a huge victory at the 2007 WSOP Main Event, when he outsmarted 6358 other entrants on his way to winning a mega prize of $8.25 Million. Already 40 years old during his win, Yang was one of the more experienced players on the card in Vegas.

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The buy-in for the tournament was set at $10,000, with more than 6000 entrants buying in, leading to a huge prize pool of $59.7 million. Yang donated 10% of his winnings to various charities and also revealed his plans of sending all 6 of his children to the best universities and set them up for life.