Poker Top Money Winners
Over the years this tournament has created some of the biggest poker tournament winners of all time. Of the 15 biggest poker wins in history, 12 have come from the Main Event. Numbers 4 and 5. So, without further ado, here are the 5 biggest wins in poker history based on first place prize money. 2014 WSOP Main Event. These poker pros didn’t play for money in the beginning. It’s the pleasure of the game that made them play, and it’s the constant playing that developed their skill and made them big winners. Oct 16, 2018 Jason Frakk.
The 2020 European Poker Tour Online $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em super high roller event attracted a total of 81 entrants. In the end, the lion’s share of the $2,000,000 in guaranteed prize money was ultimately awarded to Eelis ‘EEE27’ Pärssinen. The poker pro from Finland outlasted a stacked final table to walk away with the title and the top prize of $539,819.
9276 players in the WPT All Time Money List. I In recent years, the prize pool for the WSOP Main Event has become so large that the winner instantly becomes one of the top money winners in tournament poker. Jamie Gold (2006) is number eight on that list, Joe Hachem (2005) is number ten, and Peter Eastgate (2008) is number eleven. The Main Event continues in Day 4 of the World Series of Poker and 1,286 players have made the money starting at $15,000. More than 8,500 entries started the championship event and the final table.
The top nine finishers made the money in this high-stakes tournament, with the money bubble bursting at the end of the first day of action to guarantee the final nine players at least $62,353. Sam ‘Str8$$$Homey’ Greenwood was the player eliminated on the bubble, with his pocket fours outrun by the A-3 suited of David Laka to put an end to the action for the day.
Andrei ‘ragAAAila19’ Boghean of Romania bagged up the chip lead, with Christian “WATnlos” Rudolph and Pärssinen sitting on the next-largest stacks. High stakes cash game and tournament player Artur “mararthur1” Martirosian was the first to be sent to the virtual rail on day 2. He made top pair on a ten-high flop with K-10 suited, only to run into the pocket jacks of Boghean. The larger pair held through the river and Martirosian was eliminated in ninth place ($62,353).
Satellite qualifier Jamie “jamienixon90” Nixon won his way into this event via a $75 Spin & Go. His run came to an end when he shoved J-8 offsuit from the small blind and two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Joao “Naza114” Vieira called with A-9 from the big blind. Nixon flopped a pair to take the lead, but Vieira turned a straight which remained best by the river. Nixon cashed for $71,387 as the eighth-place finisher.
Juan “Malaka$tyle” Pardo hit the rail in 7th place when his K-8 shove from the big blind failed to draw a fold from recent EPT Online preliminary event winner David “MonkeyBausss” Laka, who had limped and then made the call with A-10 suited. Laka improved to a full house by the end to send Pardo home with $95,310.
Benjamin “bencb789” Rolle had doubled through start-of-day chip leader Andrei “ragAAAila19” Boghean to take the top spot, making a full house against a flush to win the crucial pot. Rolle then extended his advantage by busting Vieira. Rolle defended his big blind with 32 facing a min-raise from Vieira from under the gun with AQ. The flop came down 833 to give Rolle trip threes. He checked and Vieira checked behind. The 9 turn saw Rolle bet 660,000 into a pot of 630,000 and Vieira called with his nut flush draw and overcards to the board. The 5 on the end prompted Rolle to move all-in, having Vieira covered. The Portuguese bracelet winner went into the tank for several minutes before making the hero call with ace high, only to be shown the trips of Rolle. Vieira was awarded $127,249 as the sixth-place finisher.
Pärssinen moved into second place on the leaderboard by knocking out Andrei “ragAAAila19” Boghean in fifth place ($169,893), shoving with A-K and receiving a call from K-10 which failed to improve. Pärssinen closed the gap on Rolle only to have the German expand the lead again by busting David “MonkeyBausss” Laka in fourth place ($222,826). All the chips went into the middle preflop with Laka holding A6 to Rolle’s K10. Rolle flopped a pair of tens to take the lead and never looked back. Laka cashed for $222,826 as the fourth-place finisher.
Recent EPT Online $10,300 high roller third-place finisher Christian ‘WATnlos’ Rudolph found a double-up through Rolle with pocket threes against A-10 to even things out a bit. The two clashed again just moments later, with all of Rudolph’s chips going in with pocket eights and Rolle calling with pocket fives. The larger pair held up throughout the board and Rolle was left on fumes. He busted in third place shortly afterward, earning $302,837.
Pärssinen took a lead into heads-up play, and he was able to convert that advantage into the title in short order. In the final hand Rudolph raised to 400,000 from the button with K10 and Pärssinen three-bet to 1,440,000 with JJ. Rudolph and the 1064 rolled off the virtual deck on the flop. Pärssinen bet 1,120,000 and Rudolph raised to 2,880,000. Pärssinen shoved all-in and Rudolph called for his tournament life. His top pair was second best to Pärssinen’s overpaid, and the 8 and 2 brought no relief. With that, Pärssinen locked up the pot and the title. Rudolph cashed in for $404,324 with his second top-three finish in the span of a few days.
Here is a look at the payouts awarded to the top nine finishers:
| Place | Name | Earnings |
| 1 | Eelis “EEE27” Pärssinen | $539,819 |
| 2 | Christian “WATnlos” Rudolph | $404,324 |
| 3 | Benjamin “bencb789” Rolle | $302,837 |
| 4 | David “MonkeyBausss” Laka | $222,826 |
| 5 | Andrei “ragAAAila19” Boghean | $169,893 |
| 6 | Joao “Naza114” Vieira | $127,249 |
| 7 | Juan “Malaka$tyle” Pardo | $95,310 |
| 8 | Jamie “jamienixon90” Nixon | $71,387 |
| 9 | Artur “mararthur1” Martirosian | $62,353 |
Poker Top Money Winners Per
Pärssinen photo credit: René Velli from OlyBet Kings of Tallinn 2018.
