List of largest poker tournaments in history (by prize pool)

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For the last several years, the largest tournament in the world has been the World Series of Poker Main Event. With the exception of 1992, the US$10,000 buy-in tournament increased in prize pool year-over-year from its start in 1970 until 2007 (the latter a result of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which reduced the number of players winning their seats via online play).

The first tournament to reach a million dollar prize pool was the 1983 WSOP Main Event. The WSOP Main Event of 2004 had the first prize pool of above $10,000,000.

The largest non Hold'em Tournament has been the 2008 WSOP $50K HORSE with a prize pool of $7,104,000 and the first prize of $1,989,120 going to Scotty Nguyen.[1]

Below are the largest poker tournaments with respect to the prize pool in United States dollars and not number of entrants. This list includes live and online poker.

Currently, 14 of the 15 largest prize pools in history have been WSOP Main Events. The second largest prize pool outside of the Main Event is the 2012 WSOP event known as The Big One for One Drop, held from July 1–3. It featured a buy-in of US$1 million, the largest in poker history. Of the buy-in, $111,111 was a charitable donation to the One Drop Foundation, and the WSOP took no rake. All 48 seats available for that event were filled, resulting in a prize pool of $42,666,672, with over 5 million dollars donated.[2] The second largest pool for any event outside of the WSOP was the 2012 Macau High Stakes Challenge, with a HK$2 million (US$260,000) buy-in plus a rebuy option. The event drew a field of 73, of which 21 made a rebuy, resulting in a prize pool of HK$182,360,000 (slightly over US$23.5 million).[3]

All of the 57 richest tournaments to date were played in No Limit Hold'em with more than $15,000,000 prize pool.

Event Prize pool (US$) Winner 1st prize Ref.
2023 WSOP Main Event $93,399,900 United States Daniel Weinman $12,100,000 [4]
2006 WSOP Main Event $82,512,162 United States Jamie Gold $12,000,000 [5]
2022 WSOP Main Event $80,782,475 Norway Espen Jørstad $10,000,000 [6]
2019 WSOP Main Event $80,548,600 Germany Hossein Ensan $10,000,000 [7]
2018 WSOP Main Event $74,015,600 United States John Cynn $8,800,000 [8]
2010 WSOP Main Event $68,799,059 Canada Jonathan Duhamel $8,944,310 [9]
2017 WSOP Main Event $67,877,400 United States Scott Blumstein $8,150,000 [10]
2019 Triton Super High Roller Series - Triton Million $65,660,000
(£54,000,000) 		China Aaron Zang $16,775,820*
(£13,779,491) 		[11]
2019 Triton Super High Roller Series - Triton Million $65,660,000
(£54,000,000) 		United States Bryn Kenney* $20,563,324*
(£16,775,820)
(2nd place) 		[11]
2011 WSOP Main Event $64,531,000 Germany Pius Heinz $8,711,956 [12]
2008 WSOP Main Event $64,333,600 Denmark Peter Eastgate $9,152,416 [13]
2016 WSOP Main Event $63,327,800 Vietnam Qui Nguyen $8,005,310 [14]
2014 WSOP Main Event $62,820,200 Sweden Martin Jacobson $10,000,000 [15]
2012 WSOP Main Event $62,021,200 United States Greg Merson $8,527,982 [16]
2021 WSOP Main Event $62,011,250 Germany Koray Aldemir $8,000,000 [17]
2009 WSOP Main Event $61,043,600 United States Joe Cada $8,547,042 [18]
2015 WSOP Main Event $60,348,000 United States Joe McKeehen $7,680,021 [19]
2007 WSOP Main Event $59,784,954 Laos Jerry Yang $8,250,000 [20]
2013 WSOP Main Event $59,708,800 United States Ryan Riess $8,359,531 [21]
2005 WSOP Main Event $52,818,610 Australia Joe Hachem $7,500,000 [22]
2012 WSOP Event 55 – The Big One for One Drop $42,666,672 United States Antonio Esfandiari $18,346,673 [23]
2023 WPT Championship $40,000,000 Canada Eliot Hudon $5,282,954 [24]
2014 WSOP Event 57 – The Big One for One Drop $37,333,338 United States Dan Colman $15,306,668 [25]
2023 Triton Poker Series London $29,500,000 United States Bryn Kenney $6,860,000 [26]
2022 WPT Championship $29,008,000 Canada Eliot Hudon $4,136,000 [27]
2023 WSOP Online co-hosted by GGPoker $28,609,250 Belgium Bert Stevens $2,783,433 [28]
2020 WSOP Online co-hosted by GGPoker $27,559,500 Bulgaria Stoyan Madanzhiev $3,904,686 [29]
2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza $27,437,564 Canada Elton Tsang $12,248,912 [30]
2019 PSPC PokerStars Players Championship $26,455,500 Spain Ramon Colillas $5,100,000 [31]
2023 PSPC PokerStars Players Championship $24,843,000 Belarus Aliaksandr Shylko $3,121,839 [32]
2018 WSOP Event 78 – The Big One for One Drop $24,840,000 United States Justin Bonomo $10,000,000 [33]
2004 WSOP Main Event $24,224,400 United States Greg Raymer $5,000,000 [34]
2022 WSOP Online co-hosted by GGPoker (International) $23,674,000 Sweden Simon Mattsson $2,793,575 [35]
2012 Macau High Stakes Challenge Super High Roller $23,511,128 China Stanley Choi $6,465,560 [36]
2022 Triton Poker Series Cyprus $23,000,000 United States Sam Grafton $5,500,000 [37]
2024 Triton Poker Series Jeju $21,600,000 Czech Republic Roman Hrabec $4,330,000 [38]
2015 Super High Roller Bowl I $21,500,000 United States Brian Rast $7,525,000 [39]
2018 partypoker Millions Online $21,385,000 Netherlands Manuel Ruivo $2,329,944 [40]
2024 Triton Poker Series Montenegro $21,375,000 Belarus Mikalai Vaskaboinikau $4,737,000 [41]
2019 Triton Poker Series London $21,168,355
(£17,507,500) 		United States John Patgorski $5,821,826
(£4,815,000) 		[42]
2019 partypoker Millions Online $21,090,000 France Benjamin Chalot $2,259,113 [43]
2021 WSOP Online co-hosted by GGPoker (International) $20,000,000 Russia Aleksei Vandyshev $2,543,073 [44]
2016 WSOP Event 67 – High Roller for One Drop $19,316,565 Germany Fedor Holz $4,981,775 [45]
2023 Triton Poker Series London $18,875,000 Canada Timothy Adams $4,185,000 [46]
2020 PokerStars Sunday Million 14th Anniversary Online $18,603,200 Brazil Alex Brito $1,192,802 [47]
2018 Super High Roller Bowl China $18,550,297
(HK$ 145,500,000) 		United States Justin Bonomo $4,823,077
(HK$37,830,000) 		[48]
2013 WSOP Event 47 – One Drop High Roller $17,891,148 United States Anthony Gregg $4,830,619 [49]
2024 Triton Poker Series Jeju $17,550,000 Hong Kong Elton Tsang $4,210,000 [50]
2023 Triton Poker Series Cyprus $17,200,000 Azerbaijan Ramin Hajiyev $4,122,554 [51]
2023 Triton Poker Series Monte Carlo $16,875,000 Austria Matthias Eibinger $3,461,261 [52]
2017 Super High Roller Bowl III $16,800,000 Germany Christoph Vogelsang $6,000,000 [53]
2023 Triton Poker Series London $16,200,000 New Zealand David Yan $3,052,002 [54]
2007 WPT Championship $15,495,750 Ecuador Carlos Mortensen $3,970,415 [55]
2013 GuangDong Asia Millions Main Event $15,376,897
(HK$ 119,375,000) 		Germany Niklas Heinecker $4,456,885
(HK$34,600,000) 		[56]
2011 Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure $15,132,000 United States Galen Hall $2,300,000 [57]
2016 Super High Roller Bowl II $15,000,000 Germany Rainer Kempe $5,000,000 [58]
* Due to a prize splitting deal Aaron Zang received £13,779,491 ($16,775,820) for 1st, original payout for 1st was £19,000,000 ($23,100,000). Bryn Kenney received a larger cash prize of £16,775,820 ($20,563,324) for 2nd place.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "39th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2008 - $ 50,000 H.O.R.S.E.: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  2. ^ Dalla, Nolan (June 30, 2012). "The Biggest One—World's Most Spectacular Poker Extravaganza Starts Sunday". World Series of Poker. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  3. ^ Peters, Donnie (August 31, 2012). "Stanley Choi Wins Macau High Stakes Challenge for US$6,465,746". PokerNews.com. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  4. ^ "54th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2023, $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em - WSOP Main Event (Bracelet Event 76): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  5. ^ "37th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2006 - $ 10,000 No Limit Texas Hold'em - World Championship Event: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  6. ^ "53rd World Series of Poker - WSOP 2022 - $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em - WSOP Main Event (Event #70): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  7. ^ "50th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2019, No Limit Hold'em - WSOP Main Event: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  8. ^ "49th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2018, No Limit Hold'em - Main Event Championship (Event #65): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  9. ^ "41st World Series of Poker - WSOP 2010 - $ 10,000 World Championship - No Limit Hold'em: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  10. ^ "48th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2017 - $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event Championship (Event #73): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  11. ^ a b "Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London - £ 1,050,000 No Limit Hold'em - Triton Million for Charity (Event #2): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  12. ^ "42nd World Series of Poker - WSOP 2011 - $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em - WSOP Main Event: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  13. ^ "39th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2008 - $ 10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  14. ^ "47th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2016 - $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event Championship (Event #68): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  15. ^ "45th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2014 - $ 10,000 World Championship - No Limit Hold'em (Event #65): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  16. ^ "43rd World Series of Poker - WSOP 2012 - $ 10,000 World Championship - No Limit Hold'em (Event #61): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  17. ^ "52nd World Series of Poker - WSOP 2021 - $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em - WSOP Main Event (Event #67): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  18. ^ "40th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2009 - $ 10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  19. ^ "46th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2015 - $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Event #68): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  20. ^ "38th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2007 - $ 10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  21. ^ "44th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2013 - $ 10,000 World Championship - No Limit Hold'em (Event #62): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  22. ^ "36th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2005 - $ 10,000 No Limit Texas Hold'em - World Championship Event: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  23. ^ "43rd World Series of Poker - WSOP 2012 0 $ 1,000,000 The Big One for One Drop (Event #55): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  24. ^ "World Poker Tour - WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas - $ 9,800 + 600 No Limit Hold'em - WPT World Championship: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  25. ^ "45th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2014 - $ 1,000,000 No Limit Hold'em - The Big One for One Drop (Event #57): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  26. ^ "Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London - $ 250,000 + 12,500 No Limit Hold'em - Luxon Invitational (Event #9): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  27. ^ "World Poker Tour - WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas - $ 9,800 + 600 No Limit Hold'em - WPT World Championship: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  28. ^ Sofen, Jon; Grant, Calum (October 3, 2023). "Bert 'girafganger7' Stevens Wins Largest WSOP Online Main Event Ever for $2.7 Million". pokernews.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  29. ^ "World Series of Poker - WSOP Online 2020 at GGPoker - $ 5,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Event #77): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  30. ^ "The Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza - € 888,889 + 111,111 No Limit Hold'em Big One For One Drop: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  31. ^ "PokerStars Caribbean Adventure - PCA 2019 - $ 25,000 No Limit Hold'em - PSPC PokerStars Players Championship (Event #2): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  32. ^ "PokerStars Caribbean Adventure - PCA & PSPC 2023 - $ 24,500 + 500 No Limit Hold'em - PokerStars Players NL Hold'em Championship (PSPC) (Event #48): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  33. ^ "49th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2018 - $ 1,000,000 No Limit Hold'em - The Big One for One Drop (Event #78): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  34. ^ "35th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2004 - $ 10,000 World Championship Event: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  35. ^ "World Series of Poker - WSOP ONLINE 2022 at GGPoker (International) - $ 5,000 No Limit Hold'em - WSOP Online Main Event ONLINE (Online Bracelet Event #33): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  36. ^ "2012 Macau High Stakes Challenge Super High Roller - HK$ 2,000,000 No Limit Hold'em - Super High Roller: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  37. ^ "Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Cyprus - $ 200,000 No Limit Hold'em - Coin Rivet Invitational (Event #6): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  38. ^ "Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju 0 $ 100,000 + 6,000 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event (Event #11): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  39. ^ "Super High Roller Bowl I 2015 - $ 500,000 No Limit Hold'em - Super High Roller Bowl: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  40. ^ Glatzer, Jason (December 5, 2018). "Ruivo and De Goede Chop partypoker MILLIONS Online for $2.3 Million Each". pokernews.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  41. ^ "Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro - $ 125,000 + 7,500 No Limit Hold'em - Triton Main Event (Event #9): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  42. ^ "Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London - £ 250,000 No Limit Hold'em - Short Deck Ante Only "Les Ambassadeurs Private Event": Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  43. ^ Pitt, Matthew (December 11, 2019). "Benjamin "frenchsniperrr" Chalot Wins partypoker MILLIONS Online for $2.26M". pokernews.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  44. ^ "World Series of Poker - WSOP ONLINE 2021 at GGPoker (International) - $ 5,000 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event Online Championship ONLINE (Event #27): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  45. ^ "47th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2016 - $ 111,111 No Limit Hold'em High Roller for One Drop (single re-entry) (Event #67): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  46. ^ "Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London - $ 125,000 + 7,500 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event (Event #11): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  47. ^ Shillibier, Will (March 24, 2020). ""AAAArthur" Wins 14th Anniversary Sunday Million for $1.1m After Four-Way Deal". pokernews.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  48. ^ "Super High Roller Bowl China - HK$ 2,000,000 + 100,000 No Limit Hold'em - Super High Roller Bowl: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  49. ^ "44th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2013 - $ 111,111 No Limit Hold'em - One Drop High Roller (Event #47): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  50. ^ "Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju - $ 150,000 + 9,000 No Limit Hold'em - 8-Handed (Event #9): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  51. ^ "Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Cyprus - $ 200,000 + 10,000 No Limit Hold'em - Luxon Invitational Powered by Triton Poker Series (Event #9): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  52. ^ "Triton Super High Roller Series Monte Carlo - $ 125,000 + 7,500 No Limit Hold'em - Triton Main Event (Event #3): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  53. ^ "Super High Roller Bowl III 2017 - $ 300,000 No Limit Hold'em: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  54. ^ "Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London - $ 200,000 + 12,000 No Limit Hold'em - 8-Handed (Event #7): Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  55. ^ "Fifth Annual Five Star World Poker Classic - $ 25,000 + 500 WPT - No Limit Hold'em Championship: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  56. ^ "GuangDong Asia Millions - HK$ 1,000,000 No Limt Hold'em - Main Event: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  57. ^ "PokerStars Caribbean Adventure - PCA 2011 - $ 10,000 + 300 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
  58. ^ "Super High Roller Bowl II 2016 - $ 300,000 No Limit Hold'em: Hendon Mob Poker Database".
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