The biggest poker wins of all time

Poker was first introduced in the 18th century as a recreational activity but soon evolved to be a competitive casino game worldwide. Over the years, these competitive poker tournaments have allowed players to master the game and win big. As a result, many punters had career-defining moments in various poker tournaments. 

The popularity of these successful gamblers has inspired numerous players, especially high rollers to take even bigger risks and increase their chances of taking home the pot. This made the game even more sought after in both online and brick-and-mortar casinos.

Are you feeling inspired? Find out all about these successful gamblers and their biggest poker wins of all time here at Livecasino.io:

Antonio Esfandiari - $18 Million

Photo source: Wikipedia

Pro player Antonio Esfandiari has competed in and won 13 of the world's most prestigious poker tournaments. Throughout his career, he made some of the most memorable wins that catapulted his career as a gambler. As a result of his prior experience as a professional magician, he has the ability to control poker chips and cards by utilising only the tips of his fingers. This is why the name "The Magician" was given to him by several players throughout his career.

Esfandiari defeated a field of 48 competitors in the summer of 2012 to win the $1 million buy-ins at The Big One for One Drop event. Among the competitors were well-known poker professionals and wealthy businesspeople. Overall, Esfandiari was awarded a prize pool that broke the previous record and totalled $18 Million.

Today, Esfandiari is the face of the Victory Poker Pros, which also features popular players such as Jonathan Little and Paul Wasicka. Aside from his innate talent, Esfandiari's personality is a key part of why he's so successful. 

Jamie Gold - $12 Million

Photo source: Casino.org

Jamie Gold decided to devote more time and energy to nurturing his passion for poker after he collaborated with Johnny Chan and Chris Moneymaker on a television show. Gold owes his first victory in his first known tournament, which took place in 2005 and was worth $54 thousand by following Chan's instruction. 

Afterwards, he became a triumphant winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event, which features one of the biggest prize pools that have ever been won which made him an instant celebrity.

Jamie Gold was well known for his speech play and unconventional tactics such as flashing his rivals with his cards while delivering his bluff. Even after 15 years, Gold maintains his status as one of the most iconic Main Event winners in the history of the World Series of Poker. After retiring from poker, he now spends his time working as the president of Buzznation. 

Daniel Colman - $15 Million

Colman was inspired to start playing poker as a teenager when he witnessed Chris Moneymaker's incredible victory at the World Series of Poker. At the age of 17, Colman began competing in the heads-up sit-n-go tournaments offered by Full Tilt Poker. He quickly got the attention of Olivier Busquet, widely regarded as one of the best poker players in the world.

In 2013, Colman set a record for himself by becoming the first poker player in the history of the game to win $1 million in hyper-turbo tournaments in a single calendar year. 

This is a record that still stands today. After a year, he competed in the World Series of Poker (WSOP), won $10,000 during the Heads-Up event, and ended in third place. 

After several tournaments, Colman went on to earn the most cash and the most valuable bracelet of his whole career by coming in first place in the tournament known as The Big One for One Drop. He was awarded the staggering sum of $15 million prize money and went away victorious. 

Sam Trickett - $10 Million

Photo source: CardsChat

Sam Trickett is a legendary figure in European poker history. He may not be known by many, but he’s one of the players in poker that holds one of the biggest wins. Following his runner-up finish at the World Poker Tour in Venice, he was able to build a reputation for himself through his steady and rational approach to the game.

The turning point in Trickett's career came in August 2008, when he won the Main Event at the Luton leg of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour. Due to his win, he received a prize worth $215 thousand. He took advantage of his success in live poker and virtual games and travelled the world so that he could compete in the most famous poker events. 

Even though Sam hasn't been able to take home any bracelets from the World Series of Poker (WSOP), his career has nonetheless resulted in several great cash winnings. 

During the 41st WSOP, he was successful in winning six different rewards. One of which is when he finished in second place in a tournament with a buy-in of $1 million. As a consequence of this, he amassed a grand jackpot of $10 million making him one of the best British poker players in history. 

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Elton Tsang - 11.65 Million

It is not a secret that Elton Tsang is a well-known figure in the world of poker because he has amassed more than $12 million in winnings from live poker events throughout his professional career. 

Throughout his career, Tsang competed in close to 17 different live events of varying styles. As a direct consequence of this, he is currently the second-best poker player in China and the 56th-best poker player of all time in the world. Tsang's largest victory came in the form of a cash award for 11.65 million dollars, which he won at a poker event.

Martin Jacobson - $10 Million

Photo source: PokerGO News

Martin Jacobson is a well-known poker player who hails from Sweden. After working as a chef in Europe for a while, he started playing poker online at internet cafes, where he eventually won a place in the 2008 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Jacobson earned his first cash in a live tournament in 2008 after finishing third in the European Poker Tour event that was held in Hungary. During the seventh season of the same event, he made it to three final tables, finishing in second place twice. 

During a tournament of No-Limit Hold'em, Jacobson finished in ninth place. He took part in the High Roller for One Drop event during the 2013 World Series of Poker with a buy-in of $111 thousand. As the best finisher from a country other than the United States, he was awarded more than $800 thousand in prize money for coming in sixth place.

His biggest win took place at the 2014 WSOP Main Event where Jacobson was one of the players who advanced to the final table. 

When it came time for the final table, he had the eighth-largest chip stack among all of the competitors and win $10 million in prize money and a bracelet, becoming him the world's richest poker player. 

Justin Bonomo - $10 Million

In 2005, when he was 19 years old, Justin Bonomo launched his career as a professional poker player. When he made his first notable live poker outing at the EPT Deauville, he was able to win a significant amount of money and came fourth in place which was the beginning of his journey in poker.

Just one year into his career as an online gambler, Justin was able to notch his first substantial victory. Under the screen name ZeeJustin, he funded his PartyPoker account with t$200 hundred. He was successful in converting that initial deposit into a profit of more than $10 thousand in a relatively short period.

He later went on to join different competitions, one of which is the 2018 WSOP which included the $1 million Big One for One Drop tournament, and he was the eventual champion, defeating fellow pro-Fedor Holz in the final round. This is his greatest cash prize to date amounting to $10 million and his third World Series of Poker bracelet.

Hossein Ensan - $10 Million

Photo source: The Guardian

After moving to Germany at the age of 25, Ensan attended the University of Munster to study civil engineering. Unable to pay his costs prevented him from finishing his education and earning a college credential. He got his start as a cab driver, waiter, and painter, among other jobs. He shifted to the poker industry at the age of 39 since he always wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a professional player. 

Ensan later went on to join numerous competitions worldwide and even joined the WSOP tournaments. One of his major accomplishments was competing in the 50th World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas and beating Italy’s Dario Sammartino and Canada’s Alex Livingston for a grand prize of $10 million.

Peter Eastgate - $9.1 Million

Photo source: NY Daily News

Peter Eastgate was born in Odense, Denmark in 1985, and he spent the majority of his childhood and adolescence living there. He picked up the skill of playing poker throughout high school and in later years, he received his education at Aarhus University. 

Eastgate eventually accepted the reality that he could not be successful in both his academic pursuits and poker at the same time. As a result, he decided that it would be best for him to drop out of college and pursue a poker career. 

By the time Eastgate turned his attention to playing poker full-time, he was able to make a name for himself as a skilled competitor in online tournaments. He would usually visit PokerStars and Ladbrokes, and become a master of the shorthanded and heads-up high-limit cash games that take place at the $200/$400 per level. 

He shocked the poker world by becoming the youngest ever winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2008. At the age of 22, he triumphed over 6,844 other competitors to take first place in the tournament and go away with the $9.1 million first prize.

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Jonathan Duhamel - $8.94 Million

Photo source: Wikipedia

Jonathan Duhamel spent his childhood in Quebec City and when he first started high school, it did not take long for his family to figure out that he was an exceptional poker player. Because he was so enthused about it, in the end, Duhamel decided to take a break from school to concentrate on his profession as a poker player. 

In 2008, he competed in the European Poker Tour's No-Limit Hold'em main event and finished in tenth place, earning him roughly $50 thousand in prize money.

Since then, he has been travelling the world to compete in a broad variety of different events. Despite this, the majority of Duhamel's money has been obtained from participation in no limit hold'em tournaments.

When it comes to the game of poker, Duhamel is most known for his victory in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker in 2010, which earned him an astounding $8.94 million in prize money. He also holds two additional bracelets at the 2015 WSOP in Europe, when he won the €25 thousand High Roller No-Limit Hold'em event for the $111 thousand High Roller for One Drop event.

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