Once the biggest poker game in the world, the buy-in at the Starworld Casino once topped $1 million. But the Poker King outfit who ran the game has now moved on to the Venetian, taking the heavy hitters with them. Starworld still runs poker games, but it's more local and low-key.
For the last eight 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 30 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$23.5 million).[3]
All of the 30 richest tournaments to date were played in No Limit Hold'em.
- Sep 01, 2018 €200/€400/€800 PLO - HUGE €350,000 Pot - The BIG GAME - Duration: 25:05. VIP-Grinders.com 19,320 views.
- Elton Tsang Ka Wai (born 1980) is a Chinese Canadian poker player currently residing in Hong Kong. Considered as one of the five best Asian poker players, Tsang has achieved icon status in the international poker scene with his involvement in several historic achievements including: 1) his role in founding and organising the first ever live poker tournament in Macau, China, 2) his winning the.
| Event | Prize Pool (US$) | Winner | 1st Prize | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 WSOP Main Event | $82,512,162 | Jamie Gold | $12,000,000 | [4][5] |
| 2019 WSOP Main Event | $80,548,600 | Hossein Ensan | $10,000,000 | [6] |
| 2018 WSOP Main Event | $74,015,600 | John Cynn | $8,800,000 | [7] |
| 2010 WSOP Main Event | $68,799,059 | Jonathan Duhamel | $8,944,310 | [8] |
| 2017 WSOP Main Event | $67,877,400 | Scott Blumstein | $8,150,000 | [9] |
| 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series - Triton Million | $65,660,000 (£54,000,000) | Aaron Zang | $23,100,000 (£19,000,000) | [10] |
| 2011 WSOP Main Event | $64,531,000 | Pius Heinz | $8,711,956 | [11] |
| 2008 WSOP Main Event | $64,333,600 | Peter Eastgate | $9,152,416 | [12] |
| 2016 WSOP Main Event | $63,327,800 | Qui Nguyen | $8,005,310 | [13] |
| 2014 WSOP Main Event | $62,820,200 | Martin Jacobson | $10,000,000 | [14] |
| 2012 WSOP Main Event | $62,021,200 | Greg Merson | $8,527,982 | [15] |
| 2009 WSOP Main Event | $61,043,600 | Joe Cada | $8,547,042 | [16] |
| 2015 WSOP Main Event | $60,348,000 | Joe McKeehen | $7,680,021 | [17] |
| 2007 WSOP Main Event | $59,784,954 | Jerry Yang | $8,250,000 | [18] |
| 2013 WSOP Main Event | $59,708,800 | Ryan Riess | $8,359,531 | [19] |
| 2005 WSOP Main Event | $52,818,610 | Joe Hachem | $7,500,000 | [20] |
| 2012 WSOP Event 55 – The Big One for One Drop | $42,666,672 | Antonio Esfandiari | $18,346,673 | [21] |
| 2014 WSOP Event 57 – The Big One for One Drop | $37,333,338 | Dan Colman | $15,306,668 | [22] |
| 2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza | $27,437,564 | Elton Tsang | $12,248,912 | [23] |
| 2019 PokerStars NL Hold'em Players Championship | $26,455,500 | Ramon Colillas | $5,100,000 | [24] |
| 2018 WSOP Event 78 – The Big One for One Drop | $24,840,000 | Justin Bonomo | $10,000,000 | [25] |
| 2004 WSOP Main Event | $24,224,400 | Greg Raymer | $5,000,000 | [26] |
| 2012 Macau High Stakes Challenge Super High Roller | $23,511,128 | Stanley Choi | $6,465,560 | [27] |
| Super High Roller Bowl 2015 | $21,500,000 | Brian Rast | $7,525,000 | [28] |
| 2016 WSOP Event 67 – High Roller for One Drop | $19,316,565 | Fedor Holz | $4,981,775 | [29] |
| 2013 WSOP Event 47 – One Drop High Roller | $17,891,148 | Anthony Gregg | $4,830,619 | [30] |
| Super High Roller Bowl 2017 | $16,800,000 | Christoph Vogelsang | $6,000,000 | [31] |
| 2007 WPT Championship | $15,495,750 | Carlos Mortensen | $3,970,415 | [32] |
| 2013 GuangDong Ltd Asia Millions Main Event | $15,376,897 | Niklas Heinecker | $4,456,885 | [33] |
| 2011 Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure | $15,132,000 | Galen Hall | $2,300,000 | [34] |
Notes[edit]
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^Dalla, Nolan (June 30, 2012). 'The Biggest One—World's Most Spectacular Poker Extravaganza Starts Sunday'. World Series of Poker. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
- ^Peters, Donnie (August 31, 2012). 'Stanley Choi Wins Macau High Stakes Challenge for US$6,465,746'. PokerNews.com. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
- ^'2006 WSOP Main Event payouts'. WSOP. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=541550
- ^[1]
- ^wsop.com
- ^http://www.wsop.com/tournaments/payouts.asp?grid=1352&tid=15673
- ^https://triton-series.com/triton-super-high-roller-series-london-2019/
- ^'PIUS HEINZ WINS 2011 WSOP MAIN EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP'. WSOP. 8 November 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^'Level 4 concludes: officially the largest main event in the last five years'. WSOP. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^Poker News Daily
- ^pokernews.com
- ^'2009 WSOP main event prize pool'. WSOP. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
- ^'Event #68: No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT'. 2015 World Series op Poker Chip Counts. World Series of Poker. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^'2013 44th Annual World Series of Poker, Event #62: No-Limit Hold'em Main Event'. WSOP.com. Retrieved July 20, 2013. Click on the 'Prizepool' tab for the first prize.
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^Dalla, Nolan (July 3, 2012). 'Antonio Esfandiari Pulls Off Amazing Trick by Winning One Drop'. WSOP.com. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^[2]
- ^[3]
- ^[4]
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^[5]
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^Hendon Mob
- ^pokerstarsblog.com
| Elton Tsang | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Hong Kong God of Gamblers |
| Residence | Hong Kong |
| Born | Elton Tsang Ka Wai 1980 (age 39–40) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Money finish(es) | 1 |
| European Poker Tour | |
| Money finish(es) | 1 |
Elton Tsang Ka Wai (born 1980) is a poker player currently residing in Hong Kong.[1] Considered as one of the five best Asian poker players,[2] Tsang has achieved icon status in the international poker scene with his involvement in several historic achievements including: 1) his role in founding and organising the first ever live poker tournament in Macau, China,[3] 2) his winning the 3rd highest prize in poker tournament history (€11,111,111),[4] 3) his part in the biggest pot in TV poker history (€2,090,000),[5] and 4) he is considered one of the biggest winning poker players in cash game history with an estimated over $120,000,000 in winnings.[6] Away from poker, Tsang focuses on charity and is a successful businessman investing and running his various business ventures in technology, finance, travel, trading, property, and Internet companies.[7]
- 1Poker
Poker[edit]
Early Years[edit]
Born and raised in Vancouver, and with a bachelor's degree from University of British Columbia, Canada, Tsang first started playing poker online on partypoker in 2001 in $2/$4 Limit Hold'em games. It was upon returning to Hong Kong after graduating university that he realised poker was still very much non-existent in the neighbouring city-state of Macau, where gaming was legal. With the vision that poker would be instantly popular in Macau, Tsang had the idea of hosting the first ever live poker tournament in Macau. After some research, he discovered that his relative was the owner of the Grand Waldo Casino in Macau. Tsang scheduled a meeting, gave a successful pitch, and went on to become the tournament's founding organiser in partnership with famed tournament director Matt Savage and PokerStars as sponsors. This is how the APPT Macau (Asia Pacific Poker Tour) was started.[3] But having signed just a one-year deal with PokerStars and the casino, Tsang was left out the second year and the tournament continued to become what it is today. This was Tsang's first entrepreneurial move having invested about a million HKD (US$130K) of his own savings.[8]
Tsang continued to play small stakes online, and had a short but successful run in the live tournament circuit before focusing mainly on cash games and playing full-time. Starting off at the HKD$25/$50 ($3/$6) games in Hong Kong, Tsang begun to build his bankroll and moved up to higher stakes. Tsang later moved to Macau hoping to capitalise on the growing popularity of live cash games, and the influx of wealthy Asian businessmen whom were new to the game. His games started at HKD$50/$100, then moved to HKD$100/$200 where he struggled the most to maintain. At that time his goal was to play in the HK$1000/$2000 private game. He spent the next a couple years moving up and down the stakes while improving his skill. One of his defining moments in poker came during this time when he was able to finally out-play his then-nemesis, a US pro called Vietnamese John (John Hoang), in a tournament where Tsang came first after beating Vietnamese John heads-up. This was an important win and a significant boost to Tsang's confidence having been crushed and sent back down to lower stakes by Vietnamese John many times before.[8]
The Big Game[edit]
Between 2010 and 2012, Tsang continued to live in Macau, playing poker constantly, and living the fun and exciting life of a professional poker player. He made a lot of great poker friends there and he attributes them for helping him improve his game. Tsang was now playing at HK$300/$600 stakes steadily and some HK$1000/$2000 games. When Macau introduced Omaha, Tsang was ready having learned it online previously. He played in the HK$1000/$2000 Omaha games where he grew his bankroll considerably. Armed with a healthy bankroll, Tsang moved up the stakes onto HKD$10,000/$20,000 (US$1.25K/$2.5K) & HKD$20,000/$40,000 (US$2.5K/$5K) No Limit Hold'em games where all the big pros played. 'It was a juicy game', as Tsang calls it.[8]
Tsang was now playing in The Big Game alongside the world's biggest names in professional poker which included Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, John Juanda, Tom Dwan, and Johnny Chan. Tsang struggled to maintain at this game at first, having to drop down the stakes to play Pot Limit Omaha which he frequently used to build his bankroll back up. Eventually Tsang was able to overcome his loss, survive, and kept going up steadily after that.
Tsang went on to become a regular in the world of super high stakes poker cash games, winning and losing pots in excess of one hundred million Hong Kong dollars (US$12.7M). Tsang shares the story of his most memorable game: “One of the games where I still remember until now. It was a game that would have broke me or made me. I was in Macau playing three-handed with Tom Dwan and the Chairman. That game, we were playing HKD Ten Million dollar buy-in (USD$1.2m) HK$50,000/HK$100,000 (USD$6/$12k) No-Limit. After playing 24-hours, I had lost HKD$60 million (USD$7.6m). That was my stop-limit. I was ready to quit. But then I ended up giving it one more bullet. I bought in for another HKD$20m (USD$2.5m) and had I lost it I would have had to move down in stakes and start all over. I was fortunate enough to win all my money back, and HKD$60m on top of that. It was the most important game of my life. I think that was in about 2014 or 2015.”[8]
Big One for One Drop 2016[edit]
In October 2016, Tsang was invited by Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil, to participate in the €1,000,000 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza, an exclusive poker tournament. He defeated 25 other players to win the tournament and received a €11,111,111 ($12,248,912) payout for first, the third largest single payout in poker history.[9][10][11] Tsang was coached by professional poker player, Mustapha Kanit.[12][13]
Tsang's entry and eventually win in the Big One for One Drop tournament came at the right time. By then he had already established himself in the private world of super high stakes cash games, but still remained largely unknown to the general public. He was very comfortable financially but was finding himself being banned more and more from private games due to his success in those games. “The One Drop was good timing. All the time before that I wanted to stay low profile. Before that tournament happened, people in the poker world already know me. It doesn’t matter anymore. I am already getting the feeling people didn’t want me to play anyway. So it was good timing to win it. When I first started playing poker I wanted to win a bracelet, I wanted the first place; I wanted to be the champion. All the big players already knew about me, and how good I am, so I can’t hide that anymore', Tsang says. “It’s good because it’s a weird mix. The One Drop event made me recognised by the public, and most importantly my family. They can brag about this to their friends. This event made my family realise the accomplishment I have made. When I tell them about playing cash games, they don’t know what’s going on. Being on the news is different. It was in the newspapers in Hong Kong, so I was happy that my family got to recognise ten years of hard work.”[13]
The Scandal[edit]
In the same year, an anonymous story emerged alleging that while playing in a private game hosted at Casino Barcelona, Leon Tsoukernik had lost over €3,000,000 dollars to Tsang. Tsoukernik paid €1,200,000, but refused to pay the remaining €2,000,000. When Tsang requested that the debt be paid in full Tsoukernik refused claiming the game was 'strange',[14] elaborating that '...some people take advantage of knowing me and target me when I play poker cash games. I have thus experienced a variety of practices in the game, which corrupt the sport of the game. For example, poker collusion, marked cards, and hired professionals. I have many stories to tell, but I prefer to fight it my own way with the support of the courts of justice and other poker entrepreneurs instead of fighting rumours and lies over the internet.'[15]
Tsang confirmed this allegation in a 2017 interview, further clarifying that the amount he was owed were much higher. He says he had won from Leon €1,190,000 in the first 3 sessions plus another €3,375,000 in the last session, and Leon had paid €1,200,000, so he was still owed €3,365,000.[15][16]
Biggest Poker Pot In History
Tsang's accusation of Leon echoes a similar case where Australian poker pro Matt Kirk sues Leon for refusing to repay a $2,000,000 debt.[17] In support of Tsang, several prominent poker players came to his defence including Tony G, Winfred Yu, Philipp Gruissem,[15] and the most vocal being Daniel Negreanu posting on Twitter saying 'Elton is an honorable guy and is not lying.'[18]
Tournament Results[edit]
| Date | Country | Event | Place | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14-Oct-2016 | Monaco | €888,889 + 111,111 No Limit Hold'em Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza The Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza, Monte Carlo | 1st | $12,248,912 |
| 13-Apr-2013 | Australia | A$50,000 No Limit Hold'em - High Roller Rebuy World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific (WSOP APAC), Melbourne | 5th | $162,212 |
| 08-Mar-2012 | South Korea | KRW 1,000,000 + 240,000 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event APPT - Seoul, Seoul | 14th | $8,023 |
| 22-Jan-2012 | Australia | A$10,000 + 600 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship, Melbourne | 21st | $46,326 |
| 12-Oct-2011 | Macau | HK$20,000 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event Macau Poker Cup - October Special, Macau | 22nd | $5,704 |
| 30-Mar-2011 | Philippines | $2,500 + 200 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event APT - Philippines, Manila | 2nd | $95,230 |
| 07-Nov-2010 | Macau | HK$32,500 + 2,500 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event Asian Poker Tour - Macau, Macau | 7th | $26,059 |
| 18-May-2010 | Macau | HK$40,000 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event APPT - Macau, Macau | 33rd | $8,203 |
| 23-Apr-2010 | Macau | HK$7,500 + 500 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event Asian Poker King Tournament, Macau | 1st | $71,307 |
| 20-Mar-2010 | Philippines | $2,500 + 200 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event APPT - Manila, Manila | 29th | $5,200 |
| 11-Nov-2009 | Philippines | ₱ 94,000 + 6,000 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event Filipino Poker Tour 11 / APPT - Philippines, Cebu | 31st | $3,720 |
| 13-Aug-2009 | Macau | HK$1,000 + 150 No Limit Hold'em 2009 Asian Poker Tour - Macau, Macau | 2nd | $2,580 |
| 10-Jul-2009 | Macau | HK$49,000 + 1,000 No Limit Hold'em - High Roller Event PokerStars Macau Poker Cup, Macau | 2nd | $19,351 |
| 15-Nov-2008 | Philippines | ₱ 40,000 No Limit Hold'em - Seven Handed Filipino Poker Tour 8 / APPT - Manila, Manila | 4th | $1,072 |
| 25-Oct-2008 | Macau | HK$10,000 No Limit Hold'em - Red Dragon Event Macau Poker Cup, Taipa | 4th | $4,581 |
| 01-Sep-2008 | Macau | HK$25,000 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event APPT - Macau, Taipa | 52nd | $4,858 |
| 05-Jan-2008 | Bahamas | $7,800 + 200 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure PCA - 2008, Paradise Island | 37th | $32,000 |
| 04-Nov-2006 | Philippines | $2,500 No Limit Hold'em PanAsia Poker Tour, Paranaque City | 4th | $7,650 |
Charity[edit]
Tsang is very keen on charity work. He donates to Mother's Choice, sponsors kids at local orphanage Po Leung Kok, subsidises Lord Grace Home for the Aged on a regular basis, has become the largest accumulative donor to the EGive charity, and continuously supports the Sheen Hok Charitable Foundation in Hong Kong. He credits Sheen Hok Charitable Foundation founder Alice Chiu as being an inspiration saying: 'my passion for charitable work originates from Alice Chiu... I was deeply touched by her efforts to help the needy in the society. Earlier, I visited children with amblyopia in Handan, China. The experience taught me to be grateful for all I have, and do my best to help those in need.'[19]
References[edit]
- ^Kirschen, Robert (16 October 2016). 'WSOP NEWS: ELTON TSANG WINS 2016 BIG ONE FOR ONE DROP'. WSOP.com. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
- ^'Five of the Best Asian Poker Players'. www.pokernews.com. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
- ^ abyro07. 'Who is Elton Tsang?'. Smart Spin. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
- ^'Elton Tsang Wins the Big One For One Drop Extravaganza for €11,111,111!'. www.pokernews.com. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
- ^Triton Poker (2018-05-17), Biggest pot in TV poker history? Million Euro Cash Game at Triton Poker Super High Roller Series, retrieved 2019-04-24
- ^Wesker (2018-06-02). 'Jason Koon – 'Elton Tsang may be the biggest winner as far as cash games go''. PokerGround.com. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
- ^'Elton Tsang and Mustapha Kanit Reflect on €11,111,111-One Drop Extravaganza Win'. www.pokernews.com. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
- ^ abcd'Winning and losing millions playing poker with Elton Tsang (part 1)'. CalvinAyre.com. 2017-08-14. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
- ^Fast, Erik (2016-10-16). 'Elton Tsang Wins €1 Million Big One Invitational For €11,111,111'. CardPlayer.com. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
- ^Wright, Nick (2016-10-16). 'Elton Tsang Wins the Big One For One Drop Extravaganza for €11,111,111!'. PokerNews. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
- ^'WSOP NEWS: ELTON TSANG WINS 2016 BIG ONE FOR ONE DROP'. www.wsop.com. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
- ^Op de Woerd, Frank (2016-10-19). 'Elton Tsang and Mustapha Kanit Reflect on €11,111,111-One Drop Extravaganza Win'. PokerNews. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
- ^ ab'Elton Tsang and Mustapha Kanit Reflect on €11,111,111-One Drop Extravaganza Win'. www.pokernews.com. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
- ^Burnett, Andrew (19 August 2016). 'The Three Million Euro Welcher?'. PokerTube. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
- ^ abcDavy, Lee (2017-08-15). 'Winning and losing millions playing poker with Elton Tsang (part 2)'. CalvinAyre.com. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
- ^Pete (19 August 2017). 'Elton Tsang: 'Leon Tsoukernik owes me €2,000,000''. HighstakesDB. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
- ^'Aussie High Stakes Player Matt Kirk Sues Leon Tsourkernik over $2,000,000 Debt'. HighstakesDB. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
- ^Negreanu, Daniel [@realkidpoker] (2017-11-13). 'Cliff notes on Elton Tsang situation: -Elton wins 4.6 mill over 3 sessions in Barcelona -Leon says he will pay 1.6 mill or nothing Elton is an honorable guy and is not lying. He went into detail on @PokercastAdam @tchanpoker podcast' (Tweet). Retrieved 2019-04-25 – via Twitter.
- ^Lai, Elly (January 2017). 'Finding an International Foothold'. Precious. 60: 90–93.