The World Series of Poker is an annual series of poker tournaments, held in Las Vegas and famously, each winner of every event wins a WSOP bracelet and a monetary prize. Each tournament is concluded by the $10,000 entry ‘Main Event’, which attracts thousands of players and the winner is considered to be the World Champion of Poker and rewarded with a multi-million-dollar cash prize. The tournament was inaugurated in 1970 from humble beginnings, with seven players battling it out in a single tournament. These days there are 74 events, with most major variations of poker being played, although the majority of events are Texas Hold’em and its derivations. Here we will take a look at the stars who have earned the most money, solely from the World Series of Poker.
1.Antonio Esfandiari – $22,283,326
He may not have the highest number of WSOP bracelets, but Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari tops the leader-board for the highest earnings in WSOP history. The majority of his earnings in the World Series of Poker came from winning the Big One for One Drop No Limit Hold’em back in 2012 – where The Magician won $18,346,673; the largest single pay-out in the history of tournament poker. His first bracelet win came in 2004, winning the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em and a prize of $184,860. His third and most recent bracelet came in the World Series of Poker Europe, which was held in Cannes in 2012. Esfandiari also has a WSOP Circuit ring to his name, winning the Main Event at the Bicycle Casino, as part of the WSOP Circuit.
2. Dan Colman – $17,413,782
Primarily an online poker player, Dan Colman has only one WSOP bracelet to his name – winning the Big One for One Drop in 2014. But this win alone saw him receive his highest earnings in the circuit, a massive $15,306,668, which is the second largest pay-out in poker tournament history. Colman even beat world-famous (and hugely successful) Daniel Negreanu to take home the top prize. He has won cash prizes in nine events in WSOP and one event in the World Series of Poker Europe.
3. Daniel Negreanu – $17,149,667
With six bracelets and one ring, Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu is the third most successive WSOP player in terms of earnings. At the 2004 World Series of Poker, he was named Player of the Year, after winning the $2,000 Limit Hold’em and cashing in five other events. Of his six bracelets to date, he received his first in 1998, when he became the youngest WSOP bracelet winner in history (a record that his since been broken) and in 2013, won bracelets at both World Series of Poker Europe and World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific.
4. Jonathan Duhamel – $14,666,297
Another of the top five WSOP earners with only three bracelets to his name, but with impressive winnings nonetheless, Jonathan Duhamel is best known for the winning the Main Event at the 2010 World Series of Poker, where he also won the princely sum of $8,944,310. He has four cashings in both WSOP Europe and WSOP Asia-Pacific to add to his earnings.
5. Phil Hellmuth – $14,557,887
Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth may have won a record fifteen World Series of Poker bracelets and have been inducted in 2007’s WSOP’s Poker Hall of Fame, but he sits fifth in the rankings in terms of earnings from the World Series of Poker. His largest earnings in one event is far less than everyone else on the list, at $2,645,333. Hellmuth won his first bracelet in 1989 and had the most success in 1993, winning three events (the $1,500, $2,500 and $5,000 No Limit Hold’em) and became the second player in WSOP history to win three bracelets at one tournament.
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