World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a very old event played every year since 1970. The first-ever winner of WSOP Main Even was Johnny Moss, a professional poker player in 1970. Again he won the game two times in 1971 and 1974. Year after year, the craze of Poker is increasing, and so far, more than 40 players have won the first prize with a huge amount and other rewards.
In the history of poker tournaments, several unbelievable things happened during the events. And here, we are sharing the top winning pokers who have earned millions of dollars by holding the first position. Also, we have shared some amazing facts about poker winners from the beginning to date.
List of 5 Biggest Poker Wins in History With Prize Money
1) 2006 WSOP Main Event
2006 WSOP Main Event still holds a record in the poker history by distributing a total prize pool of $82,512,162. The 37th annual World Series of Poker Main Event in 2006 started on June 25 and ended on August 10, 2006, in Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.
A total of 8773 entrants participated in WSOP Main Event 2006, and the winner was Jamie Gold from Malibu, California. He ranked first and received the cash winning prize of $12,000,000 and a WSOP champion bracelet. His 2006 WSOP Main Event winning victory is a history in the poker tournament due to the sixth-largest single payout.
Jamie M. Gold was born on August 25, 1969, in America. He is a professional poker player, television producer, and talent agent residing in Malibu. Right now, Jamie Gold is carrying on his presidentship responsibility at the Buzznation, a production company for the entertainment.
2) 2019 WSOP Main Event
The 50th annual WSOP Main Event was organized in partnership with Joker123 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. It began on May 28, 2019, and ended on July 16, 2019, when a total of 8,569 players were at the center part of the game. With a total prize pool of $80.5 million, WSOP Main Events 2019 was the second biggest poker win in history, followed by WSOP 2006.
The 2019 WSOP winner was Hossein Ensan from Muenster, Germany. He honorably received the crown of the world poker championship in WSOP Main Event 2019 with the first prize money of $10,000,000. At the same event, Garry Gates and Zhen Cai holds the second and third rank, respectively.
Hossein Ensan was born in 1964 in Iran but moved to Germany at the age of 25. He became a professional poker player after struggling a lot in life. Hossein completed his civil engineering at the University of Munster and started his career by doing jobs like a painter, driver, waiter, etc. Then he bought a few taxis to manage his bread and butter and managed to make a career in Poker at the age of 39.
3) 2018 WSOP Main Event
World Series of Poker Main Event 2018 took place at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, where the tournament began on May 29 and ended on July 17, 2018. The WSOP 2018 is the third-largest Poker wins in history, with 7,874 entrants and a prize pool of $74 million. The 49th WSOP Main Event makes a record for distributing the highest number of bracelets, i.e. 78, to the winners.
The poker event 2018 chose the first winner John Cynn from Indianapolis, Indiana, and honored him with a cash prize of $8,800,000 and a world championship bracelet. Followed by John, the second and third prize winner was Tony Miles with $5,000,000 and Michael Dyer with $3,750,000, respectively.
Thirty-eight-year-old John Cynn is a very young professional poker from Northbrook, Illinois. John graduated in finance & supply chain management from Indiana University, Bloomington. John wasn’t a professional poker since the beginning; he started to work as an IT consultant in a company based in California. In 2010, the first time he earned cash in a poker tournament, followed by 2012. John Cynn earned more than $9 million by playing a total live tournament in his career till 2018.
4) 2010 WSOP Main Event
It was the 41st annual WSOP Main Event in 2010, where the top 7,319 players got the chance to showcase their skills in Poker. The poker event started on May 28 and ended on July 17, 2010, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the fourth biggest poker win in history, distributed a total prize pool of $68,799,059, 57 championship bracelets, and a $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship.
The 2010 WSOP crowned the world championship poker tournament to Jonathan Duhamel, Boucherville, Quebec, Canada. He was the first prize winner in WSOP 2010 with a cash prize of $8,944,310. At the same time, John Racener held the second position with prize money of $5,545,955, and Joseph Cheong became the third finalist with a winning prize of $4,130,049.
Jonathan Duhamel has been practicing playing poker since high school. However, he enrolled to finish his business administration & finance graduation at the University of Quebec, Montreal but discontinued studying in the middle of the course. Jonathan is the first Canadian Poker who has won 3 WSOP bracelets, 8 Final tables, and 26 Money finishes to date.
5) 2017 WSOP Main Event
In 2017, the 48th WSOP Main Event was organized at the same place in Las Vegas that ran from May 30 to July 17, 2017. The famous 7,221 poker players were at the heart of this WSOP 2017 event. In the event, 1,084 total finalists win a prize pool of $67,877,400.
The fifth biggest Poker wins in history is to the name of the first winner, Scott Blumstein, Brigantine, New Jersey, who earned $8,150,000 as prize money. Followed by Scott, Dan Ott with $4,700,000, and Benjamin Pollak with $3,500,000 was the second and third winner, respectively.
Scott Blumstein is a very young American poker player born in 1992 in Morristown, New Jersey. Before becoming a professional poker, Scott finishes his accounting degree at Temple University, Pennsylvania. Scott exceeded a winning amount of $8,500,000 till 2019 in his career.
Wrap Up
We have seen the highlights of the biggest Poker wins in the 50 years of tournament history.
The upcoming World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event will start from May 31 through July 19, 2022. For the last 17 years, the WSOP Main Events have been organized at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, but the 2022 WSOP is scheduled to host at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino in Nevada. With a capacity of 600 poker tables, these new venues are spread in 150,000 square feet. Let’s see if the 53rd WSOP 2022 will break the record of the prize pool, Poker wins, and so on.
