Determining the “richest” poker player is not easy, as it’s practically impossible to access someone’s bank account — or check under the mattress, where some might keep their winnings. Therefore, this Top 10 list is based on prize money won in live tournaments. Why live tournaments? It’s simple: these events offer the biggest payouts, and a single tournament victory can surpass the annual earnings of even the world’s top cash game players.
1. Bryn Kenny – $56,400,000
Bryn Kenney skyrocketed to the top of the list of most profitable poker players in 2019. Just a year earlier, the 33-year-old American wasn’t even in the top 10 of the All-Time Money List. In 2019, he won over $30 million, securing the number one spot in the 2020 All-Time Money ranking. Remarkably, Kenney earned roughly two-thirds of this sum—$20,563,000—in a single event: the Triton Million for £1,050,000, the most expensive poker tournament in history. Kenney finished second in the event, but thanks to a favorable deal during heads-up play, he secured the largest single payout ever in a poker tournament.
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2. Justin Bonomo – $49,100,000
Justin Bonomo experienced a similar meteoric rise. In 2018, he had a phenomenal year, winning over $25 million and topping the All-Time Money List. Unlike Kenney, however, Bonomo’s biggest single win accounted for less than half of his annual earnings. His largest prize came from winning The Big One for One Drop at the 2018 WSOP, netting him $10,000,000.
3. Daniel Negreanu – $42,050,000
Former PokerStars Pro Team member and current GGPoker ambassador, Daniel Negreanu has built a long and successful career, winning numerous tournaments and securing his place among the richest tournament players. He maintained a leading position on the All-Time Money List for several years until the summer of 2018.
A significant portion of his earnings came from the One Drop tournament, where Negreanu finished second and took home $8,288,001—the largest single prize of his career.
The most profitable period of his career was between 2013 and 2015, during which he earned nearly $16 million. His statistics for that period:
- Events played: 171
- Cash finishes: 37
- Cashout percentage: 21.6%
- Average buy-in: $30,880
- Total buy-ins: $5,908,934
- Total payouts: $15,969,992
- Profit: $10,061,058
- Hourly rate: $6,426
In more recent years, Negreanu has remained competitive, earning $4.5 million in 2018 and $2.2 million in 2019.
4. Eric Seidel – $37,700,000
Eric Seidel is one of the most remarkable examples of a consistently successful tournament player. Since 1988, he has repeatedly delivered outstanding results, often winning six-figure prizes at the most prestigious events. Unlike Daniel Negreanu, Seidel has never relied on a single multi-million-dollar win, which makes his long-term success even more impressive.
His largest single prize came in 2011, when he earned $2.47 million for first place in the $250,000 Super High Roller at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship. Overall, Seidel has achieved five seven-figure wins, including three exceeding $2 million, highlighting his enduring excellence in high-stakes poker tournaments.
5. Dan Smith – $36,740,000
Dan Smith is known for his consistent performance and high tournament earnings. The most successful years of his career, however, have been the last four, which brought him nearly $27 million in prize money.
A standout achievement came in 2019, when Smith earned $10.7 million, primarily due to his third-place finish at the Triton Million, which alone brought him $8.7 million. This result propelled him from 10th to 5th place on the ranking of the richest tournament poker players in 2020, solidifying his reputation as one of the game’s top professionals.
6. Stephen Chidwick – $34,070,000
Stephen Chidwick became the first British player to top the Global Poker Index (GPI) rankings in 2018. By 2020, he was widely recognized as England’s top tournament player and among the world’s most successful poker professionals. Since 2013, Chidwick has earned at least $1 million annually in live events.
His breakthrough came in 2018, with $10.2 million in winnings, followed by an even bigger year in 2019, when he earned $13,146,000. A major portion of that — $5.3 million — came from a fourth-place finish at the Triton Million, while another $1.6 million was won as WSOP PLO High Roller champion for a $25,000 buy-in.
Chidwick’s trophy case is impressive: a WSOP bracelet, nine PokerStars titles (across EPT, PokerStars Championship, PCA, and Aussie Millions), four US Poker Open cups, Australian Poker Open and British Poker Open victories, and numerous other prestigious tournament wins.
7. David Peters – $33,700,000
David Peters is known for competing in the highest-stakes poker tournaments worldwide. If a big buy-in event with a massive prize pool is held, Peters is almost certainly in the field — and consistently performing at an elite level.
2018 was a landmark year for him, with over $10 million in winnings, placing him among the top earners in tournament poker. He followed this with another $4 million in 2019, cementing his position as one of the most profitable and consistent players in high-stakes live poker. Peters is renowned not only for his winnings but for the sheer number of final tables he reaches, a testament to his skill and adaptability in the most competitive events.
8. Fedor Holz – $32,500,000
The German professional is only 25 years old, but he has already managed to climb so high. He can safely be called the ‘scourge of high rollers,’ as the number of his victories in the most expensive events is simply mind-boggling. Since 2016, he has won $16,000,000 in tournaments, and the icing on the cake was his triumph in the $111,111 One Drop, which brought him not only five million dollars, but also the first WSOP gold bracelet of his career. Fedor Holz became something of a phenomenon, showing an incredible breakthrough in 2016, but after that, the guy noticeably slowed down. While in 2017 and 2018 he still earned over $6,000,000 in tournament winnings per year, in 2019 Holts has not made a single entry. Following Fedor, Justin Bonomo became the record holder for the amount of winnings per year in 2018, and then both players were surpassed by Bryn Kenney in 2019.
9. Jason Koon – $31,100,000
American professional and PartyPoker ambassador Jason Koon excels both online and in live tournaments. He began seeing multi-million-dollar profits in live events relatively recently. His first seven-figure win came in 2013, when he earned $1.4 million. The following years were modest, but by 2016, Koon began gaining momentum:
- 2016: $2.9 million
- 2017: $4.3 million
- 2018: $12,500,000
- 2019: $7.8 million
Koon has eight seven-figure cashes, including three notable victories and final-table finishes in the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series, cementing his reputation as one of the world’s top high-stakes tournament players.
10. Steve O'Dwyer – $30,470,000
Irish-American poker professional Steve O'Dwyer is a well-known high roller with millions in career earnings. Although he has been playing poker for over a decade, he became a regular at major high-stakes tournaments only since 2015. O'Dwyer boasts six seven-figure cashes and two additional wins just shy of $1 million, highlighting his consistency and skill in the most competitive events.
Around the top 10
Dan Coleman opens the second ten of the ranking of the most profitable players, with winnings of $28,900,000. He holds such a high position despite the fact that he has not won any prizes since 2017. This guy gained worldwide popularity in 2014 when he started winning almost every high roller tournament. The peak of his career was an incredible victory in One Drop, which brought him $15,300,000. However, what was memorable at that moment was not the huge prize for first place, but Coleman's behaviour, as he refused to give interviews to journalists and looked as if a tragedy had occurred in his life.
In 12th place is Phil Ivey ($28,600,000). Many call Phil the greatest player in poker history, and it's hard to disagree, as he has proven his ability in all areas of the game throughout his career – online poker, live play and tournament competitions. His trophy collection includes ten WSOP gold bracelets, and in early 2010, Ivey was named ‘Player of the Decade’ by the authoritative publication Bluff Magazine.
In 13th place is Antonio Esfadiyari ($27,800,000), who for a long time held the record for the biggest win in live poker ($18,350,000 for winning the first ever One Drop 2012), until his record was broken by Bryn Kenney in 2019.
