Biggest Poker Loss Of All Time

  

Tom Dwan has long been considered one of the most aggressive and fearless poker players in the world, and his mind-boggling swings are proof. The poker pro took to Twitter on Tuesday to say that. Harry Kakavas, who made his fortune selling real estate on Australia's Gold Coast, is considered one of the biggest high rollers in the world. In five and a half hours, he lost $164 million, after betting $300,000 per hand. Four Way All In Poker Hand - Triple Bust-Out Bonanza at EPT Prague PokerStars - Duration: 5:51. PokerStars 3,029,441 views. When the online poker game became legal, Andrew started nailing the game. He is one of the greatest online poker players at present having a Net Worth of $10 million. Daniel Negreanu. The 42-year-old Canadian professional poker player is known for making it big in the Europe, Las Vegas and Asia Pacific WSOP bracelets.

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20 year old former poker pro loses $90,000 and is now a degenerate gambling addict. First off I apologize for the length, this is my first time telling anyone about any of. 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. Jun 27, 2016  Type “Greatest poker player of all time” into Google and the name Phil Ivey comes out as the highest-ranking answer. Further down the first search page is the Wikipedia entry for Stu Ungar, alongside Top 10 lists of players, often ranked with subjectivity rather than science.

While the “World Series of Poker” officially dates back to 1970 at Binions Horseshoe Casino, there wasn't an official freezeout Main Event until the following year, a winner-take-all format from 1971-1977. In 1971, a group of six pros competed for $5,000 each, and in 1972, the buy-in was raised to $10,000. Half the buy-in was covered by Benny Binion that year, but only eight played. At that time, certain players didn't want the stigma that the champion title brought with it.

In 1973, the third Main Event took place during the fourth WSOP, and it drew 13 players. Each player put up $10,000, which has continued as the buy-in every year since. With inflation considered, the $10K buy-in in 1973 would be worth about $58,000 today, and Walter “Puggy” Pearson shipped the entire $130,000 prize pool, equivalent to about $754,000 today.

Biggest Poker Loss Of All Time 2017

In an interview with historian Mary Ellen Glass that year, Binion said, “We got awful good coverage on it this year,' referring to the WSOP's increased publicity. 'This year we had thirteen [players in the Main Event].. I look to have better than twenty next year. It's even liable to get up to be fifty. Might get up to be more than that; it will eventually.'

'It's even liable to get up to be fifty. Might get up to be more than that; it will eventually.'

Binion’s read was spot-on: it would eventually draw many, many more than fifty, but who could have imagined the scope of the series and the Main Event today, where the winner is expected to earn somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 million due to the massive fields the event draws?

A look at the growth of the Main Event over the decades of rich history will reveal the top ten who collected the largest Main Event first-place prizes ever. Starting from 1978, payout structures began to change, with more places being paid out and the winner getting a smaller yet sizable chunk of the prize pool, an ever-changing percentage. As predicted by Binion, the number of Main Event entries did exceed 50. It did so in 1979 when 54 players participated and Hal Fowler won.

The field gradually increased over the next decade, maxing out at 178 players in 1989 when Phil Hellmuth, Jr. won it for $755,000. In the 1990s, the entries continued to increase, with the first-place prize being reaching $1,000,000 for the first time in 1991, and staying at that amount from 1991-1999.

The biggest gains in Main Event entries and prize pool took place in the 2000s, when it went from 512 entries and a $1.5 million first place in 2000 (won by Chris Ferguson) to 6,494 in 2009 when Joe Cada won $8,547,042. For an in-depth look at the history of the World Series of Poker Main Event by decade, refer to the following PokerNews articles:

The Birth of the Modern WSOP Era

The last year with three-digit entries would be 2003, when 839 players participated in one of the most important Main Events in history. ESPN amped up their coverage that year to present seven one-hour weekly episodes, and it was won by downhome Tennessee boy and recreational player Chris Moneymaker — and what timing it was.

Regular people at home could turn the channel to ESPN and watch a bunch of characters playing big pots with millions of dollars on the line, hole cards up, only to see the satellite-winner accountant play his way, hand by hand, to a $2.5 million payday. And if you were to miss it, there were re-runs.

Moneymaker’s abundantly televised victory over top pros Sam Farha and Dan Harrington (second and third, respectively) contributed to the rampant spread of the popularity of Texas hold’em, often known as the “Moneymaker Effect,” and changed the Main Event - and the game - forever.

The following year, the number of entries more than tripled and the first-place prize exactly doubled, to the satisfaction of Greg “Fossilman” Raymer. But that was only the beginning. It more than doubled in entries the following year when Joe Hachem shipped for $7.5 million, which was also the first year that the event moved to the Rio following the 2004 acquisition of the WSOP by Harrah’s Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment).

Biggest Poker Loss Of All Time Game

In 2006, the field blossomed to its all-time peak of 8,773 – more than ten times the number of entries in the field that Moneymaker bested only three years prior. That was Jamie Gold’s year, and the $12 million first-place prize he won still remains the largest in WSOP Main Event history. For a look at the top ten WSOP Main Event winners, according to prize money won, see the table below.

Top Ten WSOP Main Event Winners

RankPlayerCountryYearEntriesPrize Money
1Jamie GoldUnited States20068,773$12,000,000
2Martin JacobsonSweden20146,683$10,000,000
3Peter EastgateUnited States20086,844$9,152,416
4Jonathan DuhamelCanada20107,319$8,944,138
5Pius HeinzGermany20116,865$8,715,638
6Joe CadaUnited States20096,494$8,574,649
7Greg MersonUnited States20126,598$8,531,853
8Ryan RiessUnited States20136,352$8,359,531
9Jerry YangUnited States20076,358$8,250,000
10Scott BlumsteinUnited States20177,221$8,158,206

Continuing on with the big winners in recent WSOP history, Jerry Yang won $8.25 million for his 2007 win, which stands as the ninth biggest Main Event win ever. A spike in entries the next year saw Peter Eastgate awarded the third-largest first-place prize of $9,152,416. Cada's $8,574,649 win in 2009 marks the sixth-largest ever, and from 2009 to 2010, there was another large increase in field by 825 runners.

Jonathan Duhamel got the victory in 2010 for a bit under $9 million for the fourth-largest Main Event win, and the next three years saw a gradual decline in entries and first-place prizes. Pius Heinz won the fifth-biggest first-place prize in 2011, followed by Greg Merson in 2012 (seventh biggest win at $8,531,853) and Ryan RiessThe Beast” in 2013 (eighth largest win for $8,359,531).

A slight increase in entries in 2014 saw a large spike in the top prize due to a first-place guarantee established by WSOP. Sweden’s Martin Jacobson reaped the maximum benefits of the to $10,000,000 guarantee when he was crowned champion. Jacobson's massive win was the second and last eight-figure Main Event winner payout, and it puts him second on the top ten Main Event winners list.

The next two years slipped down to under $8 million for first and just over $8 million for first, won by Joe McKeehen and Qui Nguyen, respectively. Last year’s champion Scott Blumstein won $8.15 million for outlasting a field of 7,221, which was also the highest number of entries in seven years. Blumstein's win squeaks into the top ten as the tenth largest first-place prize in Main Event history.

In just a couple days’ time, it will be apparent if last year’s numbers will be trumped, and what the coveted top prize money will be for the thousands of remaining players to chase. For a preview of the 2018 WSOP Main Event and a complete list of previous winners, check out this PokerNews article.

This World Series of Poker Main Event history and top ten Main Event winners list is brought to our PokerNews readers by GlobalPoker, a social gaming site where players in the U.S. and Canada can play poker online for real cash prizes.

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    World Series of PokerWSOP HistoryBiggest WSOP Main Event winnersChris FergusonChris MoneymakerGreg MersonGreg RaymerJamie GoldJerry YangJoe CadaJoe HachemJoe McKeehenJonathan DuhamelMartin JacobsonPeter EastgatePhil HellmuthPius HeinzSam
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06:51
02 Oct
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If I lost $100 per week at poker it wouldn’t really affect my life. If I lost $1000 then I’d have some explaining to do and… if I had it to lose! – I spewed $10,000 I’d be in serious trouble with my girl, my bank manager and countless others! For some players, however, even that $10k is simply pocket change – enough to pay for a weekend away somewhere or even fuel for their private jet!

With Daniel Negreanu recently explaining how losing $1million would be “like, whatever” and David Williams laughing about his $5k to almost a $million and then back to -$250k all in the space of one ‘degen’ weekend at the tables, I thought we should take a look at the top 5 of poker’s biggest losers – and then laugh or cry depending on your take! Online wolf games like wolf quest.

Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom

Let’s start with the smallest of our losses, a paltry $4.2 million give or take a few dollars! The loser? None other than Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom, the Swedish online sensation who had ruled the nosebleed stakes in the late noughties, crushing the likes of Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan for $4million .

As Phil Galfond describes it:

'Isildur went on to challenge himself in ways that we still have never seen in online poker. Seared in my memory is the image of him nine-tabling $500/1000 against Dwan, Ivey, and Antonius all at the same time.”

All well and good, but when Blom finally crashed it was horrible to watch and sparked huge controversy in the poker world. In December of 2009 he played a match against Brian Hastings and had almost his entire bankroll wiped out in the space of five hours on Full Tilt poker, a $4.2million downswing which was unthinkable for the all-conquering Swede.

And then it hit the news – Townsend had collaborated with both Brian Hastings and Cole South, exchanging and discussing hand histories against Blom and new strategies to wipe the Swede out. Blom was devastated and didn’t play for several months after this. Hastings may have been over $4million richer but to this very day is looked upon with disgust by many poker fans and players for his unethical play.

Back to Galfond for a final word from when he eventually met Blom in person:

'My impression from talking to him was that he genuinely doesn’t care about the money. I know some people say they don’t care… but they care. I’m not sure Viktor does. He plays poker because he has fun playing and he enjoys the competition.”


Phil Ivey

There can’t be a single poker player on the planet who doesn’t know about Phil Ivey and his gambling excesses, although to be fair to the man these excesses have brought him a fortune estimated by some at $100million!

In recent years, however, his one-time legendary skills on the virtual felt – basically a licence to print money for Ivey – have failed him and in 2014 and 2015 he was the biggest online loser in the game.

Hundreds of sessions and hundreds of thousands of hands brought nothing but woe and misery to Ivey as he dropped $2,481,266 on PokerStars and $1,250,806 on Full Tilt in 2015, to add to his $2.3milliondownswing the previous year.

Now when you have $100million to your name and can still rake in money from the endorsements, live tournament winnings and big Macau cash games – not to mention the sport betting, baccarat and other loves of Ivey’s life – then a few million might not mean so much to you. But even so, it must have hurt Phil’s pride if not his wallet to be known as the year’s biggest loser!


Gus Hansen

Biggest Poker Loss Of All Time Now

Moving up the losing stakes a bit we find ourselves at the door of the Great Dane, Gus Hansen – a firm favorite of the fans and unfortunately a man who would become a firm favorite of the other high stakes kings!

His amazing run on Full Tilt prior to Black Friday in 2011 had seen Denmark’s long-time number two amass over $8million – but this turned into a horrible $20.7million loss over the next two and a half years. His online play never seemed to recover after the Black Friday shutdown, his re-appearance resulting in massive losses, while his live play was good but unspectacular during the same period.

The reason? Well according to the man himself:

'If you should rate my table selection it would be about the worst that has ever been seen. Also, my tilt factor is about the worst in the world and my stubbornness is about the worst. It's obvious that some of these factors have weighed in a led to bad my results.'

Never a good combination – even less so when you’re facing some of the all-time greats of the high stakes community. Gus is back on the comeback trail now, but the memory of this massive loss still haunts him. He stated honestly:

'One has to be honest and say that sometimes somebody catches up to you and sometimes somebody surpasses you.'


Guy Laliberte

When a ‘whale’ comes along, the sharks sharpen their teeth in anticipation! This is what happened to ‘poor’ Guy Laliberte, the Cirque du Soleil founder who managed to spew a phenomenal $28million on the online tables.

Of course the term whale is only relative – Guy being a decent poker player by most standards – but pitted against the world’s best he was shark-food. The billionaire appeared under a variety of names on Full Tilt back in 2008 and 2009 - including 'noatima’, ‘patatino’ and ‘LadyMarmalade’ - but word soon got out and he was ruthlessly targeted by the big boys.

In an interview he confessed to having been “bent over” but “provided the Vaseline himself,” adding that:

'I should have remembered that I am a dinosaur on the internet. The story of Full Tilt is clear. I have been totally ripped off. And by people I knew personally. They played with uncovered bank accounts and paid no money.”

Laliberte claims there would often be two or three “scam artists” playing against him at any one time, finding himself “squeezed out of pots” by the alleged collusion of his opponents. He said:

'I was an idiot. I was drawn like a school boy.”

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Andy Beal

Even Guy’s enormous poker losses are nothing compared to those of Andy Beal, the billionaire banker, businessman and mathematician. Beal not only lost $16million in his challenge match against ‘The Corporation’ but also allegedly lost up to $50million in private home games!

The famous and riveting book - ‘The Professor, The Banker and The Suicide King’ by Michael Craig - chronicles the first of the matches between Beal and the Corporation (a pool of the world’s best players including Jennifer Harman, Chip Reese, Doyle Brunson and Ted Forrest) which Beal emerged from over $13million ahead. However, in a later ‘rematch’ Phil Ivey “proceeded to embarrass Beal and emerged from the tables having won $16.6 million”.

Biggest poker loss of all time 2017

The other, even bigger, losses which Beal is alleged to have accrued were in games with Tobey Maguire and Beal’s fellow billionaire Alec Gores. Although undocumented, Maguire is known for his love of high stakes private games and was one of the prime movers behind Molly’s Game, which will soon begin filming as a Hollywood movie.

So, my $100 or thousand bucks pales into significance when we see just how much these players have spewed over the years, but I’m not sure it’ll work as a defense with my girlfriend next time I bust out my local cash game 2 or 3 buy-ins down however!