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Biggest Poker Winnings of All Time: Top 12, Biggest Poker Prize Pools Of All-Time in Canada

Biggest Poker Prize Pools Of All-Time in Canada

Peter Eastgate comes in at a sixth place. He was the WSOP Main Event winner at 22 years-of-age. Eastgate, from Denmark, took home a little more than $9.1 million after winning in 2008. He later auctioned off his WSOP Gold Bracelet for $147,000 and donated the money to UNICEF. The third-largest WSOP pot went to Elton Tsang. The Chinese professional won $12.2 million at the 2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza. Tsang was born in Canada but is currently living in Hong Kong. He is using his winnings to buy a property and other investments.

Biggest Poker Winnings of All Time – Top 12

Home » Biggest Poker Winnings of All Time – Top 12

Have you ever had the dream that you were playing in the World Series of Poker? If so, and you turned out to be the winner, how much money did you win? It’s really hard to believe what the champions take home. Let’s take a look at some of the top 12 winners of all time.

The biggest winner was Antonio Esfandiari. The Iranian champion took home $18,346.673. Esfandiari has been nicknamed ‘The Magician.’ He gained his nickname as he was formerly a professional magician. He was widely known because he performed some very unique tricks with his poker chips. The magician won the WSOP in 2012.

The second-largest winner was Daniel Colman, 23. In June 2014 he went home with $15.3 million The champ is famous as an online Poker player. His interesting story is that he thought about leaving Poker for good. After this decision, he applied for college. The American discovered he messed up his applications and decided to give gambling one more shot.

The third-largest WSOP pot went to Elton Tsang. The Chinese professional won $12.2 million at the 2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza. Tsang was born in Canada but is currently living in Hong Kong. He is using his winnings to buy a property and other investments.

The fourth-largest winner goes to Jamie Gold from the United States. He is the president of the production of Buzznation, an entertainment company. He was the winner of the WSOP in 2006. He was almost banned several times after he continued to show some of his cards to other players as well as mumble strange things during his play.

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Number five of the all-time highest Poker winners goes to Martin Jacobsen. The Sweden citizen, who presently lives in London, took home the grand prize of $10,000,000 in 2014 after winning the WSOP Main Event. His victory was somewhat attributed to his gutsy bets and unmatchable timing.

Number Seven on the all-time list of Poker player winners is Jonathan Duhamel. The Canadian played brilliantly. He was pretty much the leader throughout the event. His winning amount was more than $8.8 million. He generously donated $100,000 to the Canadian Children’s Foundation.

Pius Heinz, from Germany, was the eighth highest Poker winner taking home more than $8.7 million. He won the WSOP Main Event in 2011. Also, just 22, he was part of a Poker event that was the most-watched in history with people in more than 135 countries watching the action.

Winner Number Nine comes from the United States. His name is Joe Cada. He was the 2009 WSOP Main Even taking home more than $8.5 million. Cada, 21, had already been awarded a one million dollar contract by PokerStars.

The Eight Biggest Poker Tournament Wins in History

WILL THE RECORD-BREAKING £1,050,000 TRITON EVENT TOP THEM ALL?

Antonio Esfandiari hugging a stack of $18 million dollars after his Big One for One Drop win in 2012. (Photo: PokerPhotoArchive/Joe Giron)

With the £1,050,000-entry Triton Million: a Helping Hand for Charity Event about to kick off and available for free on PokerGO, 50 players will be firing out the biggest entry fee in poker history for what could be the biggest single prize in poker ever. But if they are to grab that eight-figure prize for winning the event, who will they potentially be overtaking on that most exclusive of leaderboards?

Here are the top seven biggest tournament prize-winners in history before play begins at the London Hilton on Park Lane between August 1st – 3rd, 2019.

6. Hossein Ensan ($10,000,000)

WSOP 2019 Main Event winner Hossein Ensan – instantly one of the biggest winners in poker history

The most recent World Champion jumps straight into the top eight, tied as he is with two other players for sixth place. Triumphing over Italian Dario Sammartino after a dominant heads-up and final table performance, the German is still on cloud nine after such a phenomenal achievement. Could he be a surprise late entry into the Triton Million? Rule nothing out in poker.

6. Justin Bonomo ($10,000,000)

Justin Bonomo after winning the Big One for One Drop in 2018.

Top of the all-time money list, he dominated 2018 so much that in some history books, the years have been renamed to read simply 2018, Year of Bonomo. Bonomo beat the german phenom Fedor Holz heads-up to take the title, with players such as Dan Smith and Byron Kaverman also outlasted on what was a super-tough final table.

6. Martin Jacobson ($10,000,000)

Martin Jacobson at the 2019 World Series of Poker

Swedish superstar Martin Jacobson won the 2014 WSOP Main Event, one of the biggest in recent memory, with 6,683 taking part and a memorable November Nine played out multiple times by Jacobson between qualifying for the final and taking part in it during 12 weeks of intense study by the European player.

The $10 million top prize, awarded on the 45th edition of the WSOP Main Event, saw an all-European final trio battle to a victory when Jacobson toppled Norwegian player Felix Stephensen and Dutchman Jorryt van Hoof, the former who still earned over $5.15 million for his efforts.

5. Sam Trickett ($10,112,001)

It wasn’t the biggest prize won in 2012, but it remains the fourth-biggest of all-time in poker. English high stakes cash player Sam Trickett missed out on the top prize (more on that higher up the list) when he took part in the first-ever edition of the Big One for One Drop in the year of the London Olympics, 2012.

Trickett, who famously won a huge hand when he rivered quad threes to bust Brian Rast’s made flush, would go on to finish runner-up on a final table that also saw Phil Hellmuth make profit on his million-dollar investment, winning $2.6m, while others such as Guy Laliberté and Bobby Baldwin both cashed too.

4. Jamie Gold ($12,000,000)

Jamie Gold pictured (right) at the 2019 WSOP felt, 13 years after he scooped the biggest-ever Main Event winner’s prize in 2006.

When Jamie Gold took down the 2006 WSOP Main Event, he didn’t just create history. Essentially, he bookended a crazy three year of poker development. Hailed as the Moneymaker Effect, Chris Moneymaker’s win in 2003 saw the field for the Main Event grow and grow and grow for four years straight until Gold won it by eliminating seven of his eight opponents at the final table. With Moneymaker’s success coming in a comparatively modest field by today’s standards (839), Gold won with over ten times as many players, 8,773 in total.

The following year, Jerry Yang won it with approximately 2,400 fewer runners, and although 2019’s Main Event ran it close, 2006 has never been eclipsed for the number of players willing to put down a stack of high society and shoot for the title of World Champion.

3. Elton Tsang ($12,248,912)

At the 2016 Big One for One Drop in Monte Carlo, there was a cool €1,000,000 on the line for 26 players, the winner of which ended up being Elton Tsang, who walked away with $12,248,912 (€11,111,111) for beating a stacked field. Six players cashed, including Tsang’s heads-up opponent Anatoly Gurtovy as well as Rick Salomon, James Bord, Cary Katz and Andrew Pantling.

While not as big as it’s predecessor in 2012, there was still a humungous amount of the line, and over $6 million difference between Tsang’s winner’s prize and Gurtovy’s prize of $5,983,597 for finishing as runner-up. Tsang, who hadn’t cashed in the three years prior to the result in 2016 has not cashed ever since in a live tournament. Maybe he’s waiting for the next million-entry event in London this week.

2. Daniel Colman ($15,306,668)

Coming in a fairly close second on our list is the man who would not speak, Dan Colman. Enjoying a phenomenal year in 2014, Colman conquered The Big One for One Drop, winning $15.3 million in the process and defeating Daniel ‘Kid Poker’ Negreanu heads-up. While ‘DNegs’ would win a chunky $8.2m, Colman’s score of over $15 million is the second-highest ever. Colman didn’t want to speak very much about it at all, however, he later joined Remko Rinkema on Heads Up with Remko to relive that moment and how this win changed his life.

1. Antonio Esfandiari ($18,346,673)

Antonio Esfandiari at the 2019 WSOP, seven years on from the victory which is destined to define his poker career.

Taking down Sam Trickett heads-up in the 2012 Big One for One Drop, Antonio ‘The Magician’ Esfandiari won the biggest prize in poker history, landing over $18.3 million with his crowning achievement. With 48 entries and a massive prize pool of $42.67 million prize pool, it was The Magician’s greatest ever trick as he beat a galaxy of stars to carve his name into the poker annals of history.

Who could go past Antonio’s total in the Triton Million? With a top prize potentially being anywhere between £15-20 million, we could yet see a new record-breaker blow all these other winners out of the water.

Looking to be entertained and learn along the way about your favorite players? Subscribe right now to PokerGO to watch the Poker Central Podcast and make sure that you never miss another minute of action such as Poker After Dark, the Super High Roller Bowl and much more.

The Top 5 Biggest Poker Wins

Over the years, poker had a lot of winners and stunning poker hands played in various tournaments which have been life-changing for people and gathered a huge list of champions.

Players walked away with millions in their pockets, and the best part is that you can enter online MTTs to win prizes like these.

You have a wide option of available games and can use sites like Casinos.co.za to find the most rewarding poker rooms, but you still have to put a lot of effort into being one of the best in the game.

If you ever wondered what are the biggest prizes players ever got, take a look at the top 5 MTT wins in ascending order:

5. Sam Trickett won $10,112,001 in 2012 Big One for One Drop

Sam Trickett is an English professional poker player who sits snuggly the fifth position with a single event win of $10,112,001. Sam placed second before the popular Antonio Esfandiari in the maiden edition of The Big One for One Drop $1,000,000 buy-in tournament by WSOP back in 2012.

Even though this does not pass as the biggest 2012 poker prize, it remains on the fifth position of the biggest poker wins of all time.

In 2005, Sam Trickett decided to become a professional poker player when his football career came to a halt after he suffered a knee injury. Some people would refer to the incident as a blessing in disguise because today, Sam Trickett is ranked as the 12th highest poker earner of all-time with over $20,000,000 in tournament wins.

As a result of his famous poker win in 2012, he was also praised as the all-time most successful player in Great Britain.

4. Jamie Gold Won $12,000,000 in the Legendary 2006 WSOP Main EventВ

Jamie GoldвЂ˜s great win of $12,000,000 in the WSOP Main Event of 2006 heralded as one of the largest field and pool size in the history of the tournament was one for the history books as far as poker is concerned.

The tournament was held in the center of the poker boom that was initiated by the MoneymakerвЂ™s win of 2003.

When the WSOP main event of 2006 WSOP came around, entries rose from as little as 839 to a total of 8,773 in three years, boasting the largest prize pool to have been recorded in Poker history with a mouthwatering $82.5 million.

This success was what earned Jamie Gold overnight world stardom, from a simple non-professional player to the worldвЂ™s fourth-biggest poker winner yet.В And while his hand selection was far from ideal, these days, you can quickly learn what to play by getting a poker cheat sheet .

3. Elton Tsang Won $12,248,912 in the 2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop ExtravaganzaВ

Elton Tsang was able to defeat a total of 25 other players when he took part in the в‚¬1,000,000 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza of 2016, winning the 3rd largest single payout in the history of poker with $12,248,912.

Considered one of the most skilled Asian poker players ever to exist, Elton Tsang is now a professional poker player who is based in Hong Kong.

Elton is a successful businessman by day, and by night he is a world-renowned poker player.

It wasnвЂ™t until Elton Tsang founded MacauвЂ™s very first live poker tournament that he became more established in the poker scene.

In his most popular game yet, which was against Gurtovoy in Monte-Carlo, Tsang showcased his high-roller disposition with one of the most aggressive playing styles as he repeatedly increased the bet and put more pressure on his competitor.

2. Daniel Colman Won $15,306,668 in 2014 during The Big One for One Drop

Majorly an online poker player, Colman stepped into the limelight and gained international recognition in the live poker tournament world when he won in The Big One for One Drop in 2014, going home with a staggering $15,306,668.

This professional poker player played online using the nickname вЂњmrGR33N13вЂќ where he was able to earn a reputation as the first online poker player to get to the hyper-turbo tournaments in not more than nine months and won a total of $1,000,000.

It was in 2014 that DanielвЂ™s participation in live poker tournaments and he had been considered one of the best poker players on the scene since his victory.

During ColmanвЂ™s game with Negreanu, he was noticed to have displayed excellent game sensibility, was able to read the table well, and lead it with pure aggression.

1. Antonio Esfandiari holds the record for All-Time Biggest Win in the 2012 WSOP

Antonio Esfandiari stays standing at the 1st place for the biggest single payout in the history of poker with a massive $18,346,67 when he emerged winner at 2012 Big One for One Drop.

For the professional magician who is now respected as a professional high-roller poker player, this grand achievement of remains his greatest magic trick yet and also has earned him the title of вЂ˜The MagicianвЂ™ across the entire poker industry.

Top 12 Biggest Poker Winnings Of All Time

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 : 3 rd 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 : 29 th 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 : 29 th 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 : 29 th 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 : 14 th July 2014
Event : 2014 WSOP Main Event

Swedish professional Poker player Martin Jacobsen won the 5 th 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 : 3 rd 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 : 9 th 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 : 9 th 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 7 th 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 : 9 th 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 : 9 th 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 : 9 th 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 5 th largest stack going into the final round of the tournament.

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 : 17 th July 2007
Event : 38 th WSOP Main Event 2007

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.

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.

The 10 Richest Poker Tournaments & Their Winners

Hold’em is one of the most exhilarating card games there is today. There’s a whole industry around it, fueled by the intricacies of the game, and mastery one needs to reign supreme on the table. To exemplify the interest the game generates, we’ll just point out that the 30 richest poker tournaments, those with the largest prize pools, are all played in No Limit Hold’em.

The Main Event of the World Series of Poker has been the richest tournament of the year in 9 of the top 10 instances. The trend is broken by the 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series. But let’s see who won what and imagine for a moment what we all could do with this money.

10. 2014 WSOP Main Event

The total pool prize of the tournament reached $62,820,200. Martin Jacobson, the Swedish professional poker player, bagged the guaranteed $10,000,000 first-place prize.

But how big this actually is? Today, he could put down a deposit for 100,000 Cybertrucks or pay in cash for 142 of the tri-motor version when the truck goes on sale in 2021.

9. 2016 WSOP Main Event

In 2016, the Main Event had a prize pool of $63,327,800. The Vietnamese-American poker player Qui Nguyen bagged an $8,005,310 first prize. Most of his poker winnings exceeding $8.050 million in 2017 are from that win! He even wrote a book about it – an autobiography following his life from Vietnam to the pinnacle at the 2016 WSOP.

Nguyen’s hefty prize could buy the whopping 229,050 paperback copies of his book! A digital copy is preferred? No worries! If you had this money and wanted to read his story and the hand-by-hand analysis of the game on your Kindle, you would’ve been able to afford 267,378 digital copies!

8. 2008 WSOP Main Event

The total pool prize of the Main Event in 2008 reached $64,333,600. Danish poker player Peter Eastgate became the youngest Main Event winner back then, scoring $9,152,416 at the age of 22. He quit poker for a while after that tremendous success.

In 2010, Eastgate put his Main Event bracelet up for auction. It sold for $147,500, and Eastgate donated the money to UNICEF. His first-place prize could’ve bought that bracelet 62 times!

7. 2011 WSOP Main Event

In 2011, the Main Event garnered a prize pool totaling $64,531,000. The first German player to win the Main Event bracelet – Pius Heinz, took off with $8,711,956. Not much? Given he didn’t have much live poker experience at the time, being an online regular, and virtually finding live poker boring, that’s something.

Heinz registered for day 1-A of the main event, hoping to ‘get out of there and go home as soon as possible’ if eliminated. With his prize, he could’ve taken off in the Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63 motor yacht. Not one, but in 2 and a half of those!

6. 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series – Triton Million

The only non-WSOP event in the top ten is the Triton Super High Roller Series. In the 2019 tournament, the pool prize reached $65,660,000, and the first prize was won by Aaron Zang, totaling the staggering $23,100,000!

Zang is the first Chinese player to have won the Triton Series, overcoming a nerve-wracking game against his final opponent Bryn Kenney. The unknown financier from Shanghai caused a sensation! How much is his prize worth? At Bitcoin’s current prices, Zang could afford to buy 2,509.73 Bitcoins, and who knows, as a financier, he’d know if it’s worth it!

Top-10-Richest-Poker-Tournaments-and-Winners

5. 2017 WSOP Main Event

In 2017, the tournament achieved $67,877,400 for the pool prize. The winner, Scott Blumstein, took home $8,150,000, which to 2019, still comprise a larger part of his tournament winnings, currently exceeding $8,500,000.

Scott Blumstein became the producer of the For Love or Money? A Poker Documentary, following two professional poker players as they attempt to win the WSOP bracelet. The movie can be bought for $9.99, which means Blumstein’s prize money can buy the movie 815,815.816 times on Amazon Prime Video!

4. 2010 WSOP Main Event

The fourth richest poker tournament is the 2010 WSOP Main Even, totaling a $68,799,059 prize pool. The Main Event bracelet was conquered by Jonathan Duhamel – the first Canadian player to achieve that, and he won $8,944,310.

But it’s not all roses and butterflies in the champ’s life. In 2011, he was beaten and robbed in his own home, losing not only a Rolex watch and a hefty sum in cash, but also his bracelet. While the bracelet is irreplaceable, Duhamel could easily afford more than 300 Day-Date Rolex watches if he’d decided to spend his 2010 WSOP prize money on this.

3. 2018 WSOP Main Event

The pool prize in 2018 reached $74,015,600, and the winner, John Cynn, walked away with $8,800,000 after making a crucial decision at the end of the 10-hour game. If he were to celebrate extravagantly, he could’ve done it bathing in 7,928 liters of champagne. Armand de Brignac Brut Gold champagne!

2. 2019 WSOP Main Event

Last year’s Main Event garnered a total of $80,548,600 as a pool prize. Iranian-German professional poker player Hossein Ensan walked away with $10,000,000 in prize money. He became the second oldest person to have won the Main Event.

Hossein definitely came a long way from his taxi business in 2002. Today, instead of starting with three cars, he probably could afford more than 200 cars, model Mercedes-Benz Vito, to establish a taxi empire.

1. 2006 WSOP Main Event

The tournament, to date, that registered the largest prize pool was the WSOP Main Event of 2006. Jamie Gold walked away with $12,000,000. There have been some controversies around him after the final game, with six million dollars getting put under a restraining order and frozen.

Gold also left an impression with his ‘table talk’ and with eating blueberries at the final table. He did seem to love his ‘brain food’. With those $12,000,000 and at today’s average global price per kilo, he could afford 1,325,967 kilograms of blueberries! That brain would never go hungry again!

Top 5 Biggest Poker Tournaments that Pay Big

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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)

World Series Of Poker

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.

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

Format

WSOP Bracelet

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:

WSOP Las Vegas

WSOP Online Poker

WSOP U.S Circuit

WSOP Europe Circuit

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 Phil Hellmuth 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)

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 Stud and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, Razz, Pot Limit Omaha High 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 Poker

Triton Poker conducts 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

Big One For One Drop

The Big One for One Drop is 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 founder Guy Laliberté , which focuses on water initiatives.

Players in One Drop

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)

World Poker Tour Logo

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.

Looking Back at the History of the PokerStars Sunday Million

The PokerStars Sunday Million celebrates its 13th anniversary on April 14 and is doing so with a $10 million guaranteed anniversary special edition that has a massive $1 million reserved for the eventual champion.

Looking Back at the History of the PokerStars Sunday Million 101

Check out this cool Sunday Million infographic

The First-Ever Sunday Million

You have to go all the way back to March 5, 2006 to find the inaugural Sunday Million. A field of 5,893 players exchanged $215 for the chance to become the first-ever PokerStars Sunday Million champion. That player was “aaaaaaaa” who got their hands on the $173,843 top prize and a place in online poker’s history books.

There have been a grand total of 613 more Sunday Millions since “aaaaaaaa” triumphed in that first-ever tournament. More than 4.8 million players have played in the Sunday Million during that time with the collective prize pools weighing in at over $750 million.

Special editions of the Sunday Million have always proven popular and have broken plenty of records. The Sunday Million 4th Anniversary tournament boasted of a $4 million guarantee, in February 2010. Any fears of not hitting the ambitious guarantee were soon dispelled as 36,169 players bought in to create a monster-sized $7,233,800 prize pool. The aptly named “RichieRichZH” won this particular event and the first seven-figure prize awarded in the Sunday Million, a cool $1,141,510.

The Biggest-Ever Sunday Million

The Sunday Million that took place on Dec. 18, 2011 and broke the record for the largest online poker tournament ever was part of PokerStars's 10th Anniversary celebrations. A field of 62,116 players built a $12,432,200 prize pool, a sum that would hold the record for the best part of seven years. Canada’s Kyle “First-Eagle” Weir was the victor on that occasion, walking away with $1,146,574 after a six-way deal; this is still the biggest prize awarded in the Sunday Million.

With such large fields, usually several thousand but sometimes in the tens of thousands, you would think it would be all but impossible to win the Sunday Million more than once. You’d think wrong.

Danish pro Jesper “KipsterDK” Hougaard had already become the first poker player to win both a World Series of Poker bracelet in Las Vegas and at the WSOP Europe. Then, in May 2009, Hougaard did the unthinkable and became the first two-time Sunday Million champion. Amazingly, 15 other players have emerged victorious in the Sunday Million twice, with one star having won it an unbelievable three times.

Once, Twice, Three Times a Champion

Russia’s Artem “veeea” Vezhenkov took down the Sunday Million in November 2015 after outlasting 5,295 players to secure a $83,675 prize. Less than two years later, in July 2017, Vezhenkov was the last player standing from a field of 5,554 entrants to scoop $166,530. Fast forward to October 2018 and Vezhenkov became the first and only (to date) three-time Sunday Million champion when he triumphed over 5,235 opponents to bank another $141,494. Vezhankov even has a third-place finish in the Sunday Million so was close to being a four-time champion!

This Sunday, April 14, PokerStars is celebrating the 13th anniversary of this fantastic tournament by guaranteeing at least $10 million will be won and reserving $1 million for the tournament’s champion. Although the buy-in for the Sunday Million has dropped recently from $215 to $109, this special edition event sees the return to a $215 buy-in as a nod to the history of the Sunday Million.

Several thousand poker players from all corners of the planet are expected to descend on PokerStars for the $10 million guaranteed event, many of them former Sunday Million champions. Perhaps Vezhenkov can pull a fourth victory out of the hat, or maybe it will be your name adorning the PokerNews pages on April 15 having been crowned the latest Sunday Million conqueror. Who will join Sunday Million's long and illustrious history this Sunday?

_{The Stars Group is a majority shareholder in iBus Media}

Ahead of Sunday's $10 million GTD event, we look at some of the biggest Sunday Million tournaments ever.

Most players will never win the Sunday Million in their lifetime, this player has won it three times!

The 10 Best Poker Players of All Time (Earnings-Wise)

There is a lot of money to be made playing poker. Many of the game’s best players have climbed the ladder and made millions on the live and virtual felt in the world of poker tournaments.

Let’s take a look at the top ten best poker players of all time, based on tournament earnings.

Honorable mentions

First, a shout-out to numbers 11–20!

20. Brian Rast (US): $21.5 million

19. Phil Hellmuth, Jr. (US): $22.9 million

18. Scott Seiver (US): $23.8 million

17. Jake Schindler (US): $24.6 million

16. Mikita Bodziakouski (Belarus): $25.1 million

15. John Junada (Indonesia): $25.2 million

14. Isaac Haxton (US): $26.1 million

13. Phil Ivey (US): $26.3 million

12. Steve O’Dwyer (US): $27.4 million

11. Antonio Esfandiari (US): $28.1 million

Note: Want to upgrade your poker skills? Get free preflop charts and start playing like a pro before the flop. Download now!

And now, the top ten best poker players of all time (so far)

10. Daniel Colman (US): $29 million

Daniel Colman climbed to his spot on this list by besting Daniel Negreanu heads-up in the 2014 $1 million Big One for One Drop, pocketing the $15.3 million 1st prize—the second largest payout in poker history.

9. Jason Koon (US): $30 million

The Triton Poker ambassador Jason Koon has had himself quite a year in 2019, adding more than $6 million in tournament winnings to his already impressive resume.

A fixture on the Triton high roller tournament scene, Koon’s two biggest career cashes came in a pair of short deck events on the Triton circuit. Koon won both events, cashing for more than $6.4 million in just those two tournaments alone.

8. Stephen Chidwick (England): $31.1 million

Stephen Chidwick is considered, even among his peers on the high roller tournament scene, to be quite possibly the best tournament poker player in the world.

The Englishman has spent considerable time at the top of the Global Poker Index player rankings, and broke through for his first World Series of Poker bracelet this summer at the 2019 WSOP.

Chidwick owns more than $5 million in online earnings, in addition to his live totals.

7. Fedor Holz (Germany): $32.6 million

25-year-old Fedor Holz is, indeed, one of the best poker players in history. During 2016 and 2017 seasons Holz had one of the sickest runs ever, winning $21 million during this short span. Most recently, Holz finished in 2 nd place behind Justin Bonomo in the 2018 WSOP $1 million Big One for One Drop, taking home the hefty $6 million consolation prize.

Best poker players of all time Fedor Holz

6. David Peters (US): $33.1 million

Always a fixture on the high roller circuit, as well a threat to win any tournament, David Peters has kept a steady climb up the all-time money list throughout the last few years.

Peters first cash came in 2007, when he was playing at much more modest stakes than the five, six and seven-figure plus buy-ins he plays now. He’s added two more seven-figure cashes to the resume in 2019 and could very well find himself at the top of this list at some point.

5. Erik Seidel (US): $35.7 million

The “old man” on this list, 58-year-old Erik Seidel is one of the original players from New York City’s Mayfair Clu0b, which includes the likes of Stu Ungar, Dan Harrington, and Howard Lederer. Seidel is an eight-time WSOP bracelet winner who has made an impressive 35 final tables and whopping 92 cashes, including his 2 nd -place finish in the 1988 Main Event behind Johnny Chan.

Seidel won his largest cash payout of almost $2.5 million at the 2011 Aussie Millions Poker Championship $250,000 Super High Roller NLHE event. In 2010, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Best poker players of all time Erik Seidel

4. Dan Smith (US): $36.7 million

Dan Smith isn’t a vocal player, but he has been slowly and surely moving up the All-Time Money List. 2012 marked a turning point in Smith’s career, beginning with a victory in the Aussie Millions Poker Championship $100,000 NHLE event for a very respectable $1.04 million. Smith also did particularly well at the 2012 EPT-8 in Monte Carlo, where he won three NLHE events over a span of four days.

Most recently, Smith placed 3 rd in the 2018 WSOP Big One for One Drop for $4 million and scored his biggest career cash with a 3rd place finish for $8,765,628 at the Triton Million.

Take a look at Smith playing the 2016 WSOP $111,111 for One Drop. He ultimately finished in 2nd place, winning $3,078,974:

3. Daniel Negreanu (Canada): $41.8 million

Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu spent considerable time atop the all-time money list until the 2018 WSOP. But Negreanu’s career isn’t anything to scoff at. He has six WSOP bracelets, made 38 final tables, and has cashed 108 times, including as 11 th place finish at both the 2001 and 2015 WSOP Main Events. Negreanu was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2014.

Negreanu’s uncanny ability to read his opponents with incredible accuracy has undoubtedly contributed to his impressive success and well-deserved place among the best poker players of all time.

Best poker players of all time Daniel Negreanu

2. Justin Bonomo (US): $45 million

Justin Bonomo took over the top spot with his win in the 2018 WSOP $1 million Big One for One Drop. The $10 million prize swiftly propelled him to #1 on the All Time Money List. Now at #2, the 32-year-old Bonomo had a crazy run in 2018, amassing wins seemingly wherever he played. This three-time WSOP bracelet winner managed an impressive ten wins in various high-roller events across the world that year, including the May Aria Super High Roller Bowl $300,000 NLHE event where he won $5 million and the Macau Super High Roller Bowl $HK 3 million NLHE event where he pocketed another $4.8 million (HK $37.8 million). Bonomo certainly shows no signs of slowing down.

Best poker players of all time Justin Bonomo

1. Bryn Kenney (US): $55.5 million

Bryn Kenney’s incredible 2019 run has vaulted him to the top of this list, with his biggest career cash coming in August at the Triton Million. Kenney finished 3rd in that event for $20,563,324.

Kenney’s first live tournament cash was in 2007. Since then he has steadily added to his impressive winnings. Kenney won a WSOP bracelet in 2014 at the $1,500 10-Game Mix 6-Handed event, and, in total, he has made seven final WSOP tables and cashed 32 times, including a 28 th place in the 2010 Main Event. His largest single cash of nearly $2 million came back in April 2017, at the PokerStars Championship €100,000 NLHE Super High Roller 8-Max in Barcelona. Since then, Kenney has had many top-five finishes across the globe.

Here’s Kenny with a tremendous bluff at the 2015 PCA Main Event.

There you have it, the best poker players in history, to date!

Who is your favorite?

And who do you anticipate to make their way on to this list? Comment below!

Note: Want to upgrade your poker skills? Get free preflop charts and start playing like a pro before the flop. Download now!

The Largest Poker Sites with the Most Traffic

There are various things that determine the success of a particular online poker site. The variety of games, the player loyalty programs, speed of payouts, and the software quality are certainly some of the points that immediately come to mind.

However, more than anything else, the highest player traffic seems to be the number one thing that everyone’s concerned about, especially recreational players who hate sitting around and doing nothing while waiting for games to start.

Online poker sites with the most players always seem to do well.

Poker Site

USA PLAYERS

Player Count

The question is, if a poker site doesn’t have a good traffic, how can it ever hope to turn things around and come out on top? The fact is, traffic attracts more traffic, so those poker sites with low player numbers are in a challenging spot.

I’m going to provide some answers as to why player traffic plays such an important role with the most popular poker sites. I’m also keeping an up-to-date list of the largest online poker sites with the most players in general.

Why is high player traffic so important?

On the surface, it may seem that the sheer number of players on a popular online poker site isn’t that crucial. If other important aspects, such as software quality and speedy withdrawals, are covered, why does it matter if a poker site doesn’t have high player traffic?

One would think that a decent number of players is more than enough to make sure there are always games going on, especially on the lower stakes, where most casual players tend to base their action.

The problem is, the traffic situation with most poker sites tend to be rather extreme. Either they have great traffic, meaning there are always games going on, or they appear to be ghost towns, with only a few tables running on the lowest of stakes.

For American players, finding poker sites with a lot of players around the clock can be extremely hard.

Players from outside the USA have it better in this area but even then, there are only a few poker sites that seem to attract 90%+ of the entire player pool.

That’s why a player needs to be given quite a reason to even consider one of these low-traffic sites, considering they can simply play on a popular site with thousands of players, knowing they’ll find a game whenever they feel like playing.

The biggest poker sites host the largest tournaments

While there were many aspects that flooded online poker with hordes of new players during early and mid-2000’s, the prospect of winning a big tournament and changing one’s fortune overnight was probably the biggest motivation for many players.

Tournament poker was and still is what attracts casual players the most to give the game a chance.

Poker sites with the most traffic are, thus, in a great position. The biggest sites can offer best tournaments because they can afford to feature big guarantees, certain there will be enough interest to cover and exceed that guaranteed prize pool.

The Largest Poker Sites have the Biggest Tournaments

Smaller online poker rooms simply don’t have this luxury. While they’d love to offer events with big prize pools all the time, they simply can’t guarantee that enough of their lower traffic will play and cover the guarantee.

That means all those players looking for big life-changing tournament wins will move on to more popular poker sites.

Pros love poker sites with the most traffic, too

It isn’t just casual players who look for the biggest poker sites. In fact, the majority of professional poker players prefer taking their action to high-traffic sites where there is a decent number of players around the clock.

The reason is quite simple: more players means, in general, a larger pool of beatable players.

While there are definitely some pros who stick to smaller poker sites because of better rakeback and other perks such as sponsorship, many prefer to play in places where they have a chance to come across inexperienced players ready to gamble their money away.

Smaller poker sites with lower traffic tend to be infested by regular players, which means the potential skill edge is usually small. These players are usually at least average, so it becomes very hard to actually win at the tables and the entire experience turns into a rakeback chase.

The largest non-USA poker sites by traffic

So, clearly, poker sites with the most traffic are preferred by casual players and professionals alike.

Whether you play from the US, Europe, or anywhere else in the world, it’s likely that you’d rather play on a popular site where you can always jump straight into action at cash games or join a tournament with a huge prize pool.

Plus, the largest sites often also have the biggest percentage of inexperienced players.

When it comes to player traffic on a global level, things have been somewhat stagnant for years now, at least in terms of who the absolute leader is. That said, there have been some changes near the top, with the IDNPoker network coming from virtually nowhere and seizing a large share of the overall player traffic.

These are the most popular non-USA online poker sites by player traffic:

PokerStars (8,800 weekly player average)

IDNPoker Network (4,800 weekly player average)

Winamax (1.600 weekly player average)

PokerStars.eu (1.600 weekly player average)

PartyPoker (1,450 weekly player average)

PokerStars still remains the number one site in terms of player traffic. While their numbers have dropped in recent years, in part due to some unfavorable changes for regular players, PokerStars is still in the lead as the biggest poker site by player count in the world.

IDNPoker is the surprise network that came from “nowhere” and took the online poker world by surprise. As thing stands now, this poker network only caters to Asian players, but the numbers speak for themselves. They’re still behind PokerStars for traffic, but far ahead of everyone else.

Players from Europe and the USA have shown a lot of interest in getting involved with IDNPoker and some have been successful, although there is currently no legal way to do it.

Partypoker has also had a traffic surge due to picking up where PokerStars have left off. Namely, Partypoker has changed its VIP program to cater more to regular players, making it similar to former PokerStars Supernova and Supernova Elite levels, which helped them gain popularity among professionals.

The Highest Poker Traffic for USA Players

Players from the USA are still in a limbo when it comes to their online poker options. Their choices are limited between offshore poker sites and regulated sites, which are limited to the few states that actually have online poker regulation in place.

The most popular offshore US-facing poker sites

The number of popular USA-facing poker sites has decreased by quite a margin in the years after Black Friday, to the point where American players are left with just a small number of options if they want to play online poker at a high-traffic site.

These are the poker sites with the most traffic for USA players:

Bovada Poker (1,100 weekly player average)

America’s Cardroom (700 weekly player average)

BetOnline Poker (400 weekly player average)

All 3 of those also host other poker sites on their network, such as Ignition Poker, Sportsbetting Poker, and Black Chip Poker, who all share player traffic at cash games and tournaments.

Bovada Poker and their PaiWangLuo network have been the USA traffic leaders for several years. They exited the US market for a short while, transferring their US-based poker player pool to Ignition Poker, but they’re now back in the mix.

America’s Cardroom remains one of the largest poker sites online, especially for tournaments, organizing some big events with large prize pools. This helped them attract a fair amount of traffic, but subsequent problems put a serious wedge in their plans.

Overall, American players have several popular options and these sites do have respectable player traffic, although it can’t really be compared to the player numbers of international sites.

The limited player traffic of regulated sites

Apart from international sites catering to the US market, there are several regulated sites that operate within their respective areas.

WSOP/888 (240 weekly player average)

PokerStars NJ (140 weekly player average)

Partypoker NJ (100 weekly player average)

Clearly, these regulated sites aren’t the biggest in terms of traffic because they only operate within a very limited market.

Partypoker and PokerStars are limited to New Jersey only, while WSOP/888 has managed to create a pool of players from three regulated states (Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey).

That still hasn’t been enough to create any serious player traffic when compared to international sites.

The future of the most popular poker sites

Online poker is past its prime in terms of popularity and this is the fact that everyone has been aware of for some time now. Even online poker sites with the most players have experienced a serious decline in traffic and this negative trend might continue going forward if nothing changes.

However, looking at the progress of Bovada Poker and the IDNPoker network, it’s clear that online poker isn’t dead yet. It just needs to expand to more markets and become popular in parts of the world where previously it hasn’t had much exposure.

Asia is a great example of this and if IDNPoker were to open to players from Europe and other areas, we could see a surge of players flocking to get their seat at the table.

Of course, US players joining the global pool once again could be a huge boost to the player traffic across the board.

I can’t definitively say if something along these lines is in the cards and if lawmakers would ever consider this idea, but bringing American players back in the mix would definitely be one of the best things to happen to online poker in the last 15 years.

Ivan first started playing poker in 2006 and played professionally from 2010-2013. He holds a BA in English language and literature. Since joining the Beat The Fish team in 2016, Ivan has made a significant impact, leading the news section and contributing numerous feature articles.

So, let's define, what was the most valuable conclusion of this review: Have you ever had the dream that you were playing in the World Series of Poker? Let's take a look at some of the top 12 winners of all time. at Biggest Poker Prize Pools Of All-Time in Canada