Contents
Justin Bonomo
Bryn Kenney
Daniel Negreanu
Stephen Chidwick
Erik Seidel
Every poker player dreams of traveling the world, visiting luxurious locations and winning huge sums of money in the biggest tournaments the game has to offer. It remains a dream for many, but for some tournament poker seems ridiculously easy, and they regularly inflate their bankroll with scores that mere mortals can only dream of.
The Hendon Mob Database tracks the results of most live poker tournaments, from $10 buy-ins to $250,000 Super High Roller events. Of course, the database doesn’t track entries, which means its all-time money list only shows cashouts and not profits, but it’s fair to assume that the following five tournament superstars of live poker are well in the green when it comes to their profit and loss accounts. .
Top five and cash prizes won are accurate as of February 18, 2023
Justin Bonomo – $60,222,954
Justin Bonomo hails from Fairfax, Virginia and is the world’s number one prize money winner for live poker tournaments. Bonomo raked in nearly $640,000 in two final table appearances in the Bahamas in January 2023, which saw his lifetime earnings reach an almost unbelievable level. $60,222,954; Bonomo is the only player to cross the $60 million mark.
Bonomo has nine seven-figure scores and, amazingly, 79 prizes worth between $100,000 and $928,200! THE three-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner is one of the few players who has an eight-figure price tag on his resume. Bonomo picked up $10,000,000 after winning the $1,000,000 buy-in The big one for a drop at the 2018 WSOP.
Bryn Kenney – $57,265,665
Bryn Kenney of Long Beach, New York, has $57,265,665 in live MTT earnings, placing him second in poker’s all-time earnings list. The controversial grinder has seven scores weighing in at over $1 million, with the first coming in January 2016. Being a regular at the world’s highest-paying events has seen Kenney take home 56 prizes of $100,000 or more, but a result stands out from the crowd.
Kenney was one of 54 participants in the £1,050,000 Triton Million for charity event held in London in August 2019. A staggering £54million prize pool was on the table, and Kenney grabbed the lion’s share of the pot. Although he finished second Aaron Shu Nu ZangKenney won £16,890,509 to Zang’s £13,779,491 because the pair reached a heads-up deal.
Daniel Negreanu – $50,297,798
Photo courtesy of WPT Flickr account
Six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu won $50,297,798 live poker tournaments, placing him third on the all-time winning list and first against all Canadians. Hailing from Toronto but now residing in Las Vegas, Negreanu is one of poker’s true superstars, one who has stood the test of time and a worthy inductee of the poker hall of fame.
Negreanu has recorded live winnings since 1997, but he is still one of the most feared players on the planet. Nine of Negreanu’s results are worth over $1 million, with another 66 in-the-money finishes bringing in six-figure sums!
Among Negreanu’s great results, his second place finish in the 2014 edition of the Big One for One Drop is his biggest prize. Negreanu walked away with $8,288,001 when he lost heads-up against Daniel Colmanthe latter receiving a payment of $15,306,668.
Stephen Chidwick- $44,674,070
Stephen Chidwick of Deal, Kent, UK is considered one of the best all-around poker players to ever play playing cards. Chidwick, who cut his teeth in the online poker world, is an equally dangerous game no-limit hold’em as it is Pot Limit Omaha2-7 Triple Draw, or any poker variation for that matter.
Chidwick is fourth in poker’s all-time money list and number one in England, thanks to the buildup $44,674,070 in tournament cash. For a long time, longer than Chidwick would have liked, he carried the unwelcome nickname of best poker player without a WSOP bracelet to his name. Chidwick got rid of the proverbial monkey in 2019 when he triumphed in the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Rollera win worth $1,618,417.
Surprisingly, it’s not Chidwick’s biggest cash. That honor goes to his fourth place in the aforementioned £1,050,000 Triton Million for Charity, which came with £4,410,000.
Erik Seidel – $42,469,394
The word legend is used without much thought in the poker community, but Erik Seidel is a player who deserves such a title. Seidel has winnings dating back to 1988, with his first recorded win being second place in the 1988 WSOP Main Event, where he lost to Johnny Chan; scenes from this tournament are shown in the Rounders poker movie.
Seidel more than made up for this bridesmaid finish by using no less than nine gold WSOP bracelets! The fact that Seidel’s first bracelet arrived in 1992 and his ninth at an online event in 2021 shows all the work Seidel has put into his game and the New York native’s natural talent. To date, Seidel has lifetime gains that are worth $42,469,394.
Do you like poker? Join the party!
If you’re ready to get in on the action, then click here to download partypoker and get started!
If you already have an account with us, click here to open partypoker and hit the tables!
