СThe world’s most popular card game is progressing in terms of viewership. Every year famous poker sites and organizations increase the prize money of their tournaments, working more and more for the online audience. The biggest money, on the other hand, is played offline. Learn about the five biggest winnings in poker history in this article.
5. Peter Eastgate, Denmark – $8 million
While still in school, the Odense native began to get interested in poker. Later on, the hobby turned into a way to earn money, which even caused Eastgate to leave university. Taking part in various poker tournaments, Peter became the most famous Dane in the industry. The player peaked in 2008.
Winning the Ladbrokes event brought Eastgate money to pay for his stay in England. In Britain, Eastgate took part in the WSOP Main Event with a prize pool of $8 million. After successfully making all the qualifying rounds, Peter faced Russia’s Ivan Demidov in the final. After winning, Eastgate moved to England to reduce his tax deductions and continued his success.
4. Martin Jacobson, Sweden – $10 million
Barcelona, and at 18 he saw a poker tournament for the first time. For the Swede, cooking instantly took second place. Over the next five years, he won more than three hundred thousand dollars, and his prize money peaked at ten million.
He got it by winning the WSOP Main Event offline in 2014 and also won a gold championship bracelet, the equivalent of the NBA championship ring.
3. Jamie Gold, USA – $12 million
Jamie Gold, a producer and agent for actors, has never been poor. As a young man, Jamie was interested in poker, but did not plan to develop professionally. Gradually, however, Gold progressed in terms of knowledge of the game, which led him to his first tournaments.
After beating a whopping 9,000 players, Gold won the WSOP Main Event in 2006. Winning and receiving a $12 million check was marred by scandal as rivals suspected Gold of collaborating with the WSOP and promotional partners forced him to split his winnings with them in court.
2. Daniel Coleman, USA – $15.3 million
2014 was the most successful year of Coleman’s professional poker career. Coming from an online poker background, Daniel was able to become the first such player to earn more than a million dollars. In 2014, the American first took the prize money of $1.1 million in the Super High Roller tournament and won the gold bracelet at the end of the next tournament.
At the WSOP Main Event, Coleman made it to the final, facing Daniel Negreanu. The three-day encounter between two of 2014’s top poker minds ended with the American winning $15.3 million in prize money.
1. Antonio Esfandiari, USA – $18.3 million
The first time the cards fell into the hands of an American was when working out magic tricks. Esfandiari from his youth wanted to be a magician and for some time performed under the pseudonym Magician. A native of Tehran who moved to the United States, it was not until he was 19 years old that he took part in a poker tournament. Gradually progressing, Antonio peaked in 2012.
He won 18.3 times that amount in a tournament with an entry threshold of one million dollars, which was the record amount in the history of poker events.