Five of the Biggest WSOP Winners

Established in 1970 by Las Vegas casino owner Benny Binion, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) was the first tournament that offered contestants a chance to take part in a series of games. The event included: five-card stud, deuce to seven low-ball draw, razz, seven-card stud, and Texas hold ’em, and welcomed players to compete for the top prize of becoming the ‘World Champion of Poker.’

The 1970 winner was Johnny Moss, a professional gambler who went on to win two additional times. However, since its origin the tournament has received worldwide recognition.

As of 2017 the WSOP has grown to 74 events and received 7,221 entrants, which is the third largest turnout in WSOP history. But why has it become so popular?

The Big Jackpot

WSOP grew steadily over the first three decades and still closely resembled the original event. Although it is now attended by a bigger mixture of people, the tournament was mostly followed by poker fans initially with a small cash prize for the winner.

It wasn’t until online poker had been around for a few years that the game’s popularity gained momentum and truly began to expand. The first sites started going live in the 1990s and in 2003 the debut of the World Poker Tour was launched.

Poker had never received much TV coverage before and the WSOP final quickly became one of the most watched poker games in history. Amateur Chris Moneymaker, shocked viewers when he won the first prize of $2.5 million and resulted in the number of entries tripling to 2,576 the following year.

When Greg Raymer, another amateur won $5 million in 2004, TV coverage grew and so did the amount of entries. 2005 saw 5,619 people participate in the tournament and after Joe Hachem took home $7.5 million, the jackpot caught the media’s attention and people began travelling across the world to take part in the event.

The Biggest Winners

With the tournament gaining worldwide recognition the event began receiving more entries causing the jackpot to rise. Some of the biggest winners in WSOP history have won over $12,000,000 and here’s how.

5. In 2006, Jamie Gold entered WSOP after his neighbour Chris Ferguson, who won the 2000 event, endorsed his poker style. Inspired by this encouragement he stuck to his own style throughout the tournament, which enabled him to win the entire event.

Jamie, said: “I’m playing against the other players, while they’re trying to play their cards. I sit down at every table with the same strategy – I want to find out how they’re playing and I want to figure out how to beat them.”

Jamie’s tactic was to pressure all of the players and force them to risk their entire stack time after time. If they re-raised him, he either knew they were holding a good hand and folded, or he sniffed out a bluff and forced them all in. This strategy worked perfectly and enabled him to win $12,194,746.

4. The same year Jamie Gold won WSOP, Elton Tsang was entering his very first poker tournament. However, he learned quickly and a decade later he went onto to win the WSOP himself.

Elton, said: “I was feeling good, feeling comfortable and getting cards. My bluffs were working, I was getting a good read on the table. It was just going my way.”

Throughout the day, Elton had his supporters sitting behind him and among them was tournament veteran Mustapha Kanit who also acted as Elton’s coach.

Elton, added: “He gave me a lot of good advice. I don’t play tournaments that much. I used to. I kind of know some strategy, but someone to talk to in between hands helps.”

3. Phil Hellmuth, is a professional poker player who has won a record breaking fifteen WSOP bracelets. However, it doesn’t seem like he is going to give up the game any time soon.

Phil, explained: “”It means everything to me, because my life is poker, number one. Number two, I’m trying to spread positivity to the world. I want to be remembered in two ways: one, for having 24 bracelets, and two, for starting the positivity movement and having a lot of influence on people’s lives. Every day, people tweet me and say: ‘I’ve read your book, and it changed my life.’ That’s what I want. The spotlight that I have becomes a responsibility.”

2. Another major player is Jonathan Duhamel who has won three WSOP events, but is best known for his performance at the final in 2010 when he became the first Canadian player to win the main event.

He also made history by donating $100,000 of this winnings to Montreal Canadians Children’s Foundation, which is the largest individual donation ever made.

Jonathan has earned $14,572,356 playing poker and this is due to his skill across all the different game types. Although, he has had many victories playing No Limit Hold’em, he still finds success when playing other versions too and has studied hard to become a master.

Jonathan, says: “I did some simulations to make sure to fully understand the dynamic of each player’s position at the table, and then travelled to a few places to play in some live tournaments.

I also played a lot of tournaments and SNGs on PokerStars to be sure to be familiar with short stack poker instead of deep cash games. I knew that my focus on the day of the event would be the most important part, so I made sure to be well rested and mentally ready for the challenge.”

1. Daniel Negreanu, also known as Kid Poker, is another Canadian professional poker player who has won six WSOP bracelets and is recognised as the best poker player of the decade. In 2013 he went on to win the first-ever WSOP Asia Pacific Main Event and a whopping $16,254,691.

Daniel, said: “One of the things I realised about poker is that I’ve always been the most successful when I am enjoying what I’m doing, not taking myself too seriously, not overthinking things. Just play, man! And that’s what I did from the get go in this tournament. I didn’t worry about what the fundamentals are or what people would say. I just did what I do. I played my way. And in the end it paid off.”

In 2014 Daniel was added to the Poker Hall of Fame and as of 2018, had won a total of $39,500,000 making him the second biggest poker winner in history.

How to Take Part

Do you fancy your chances at the next WSOP tournament? Why not practise your skills at https://poker.paddypower.com/tournaments/ now. You can choose from a wide selection of events with different games so you can test yourself. Some tournaments have guaranteed prizes and offer different buy-ins to suit your budget.