The World's Biggest Poker Wins

Whilst most of us play Poker online - at somewhere like Paddy Power Poker, for example - just for the fun of the game, winning a bit of cash is always an added bonus. However, sadly, the online tournament's cash prizes will never amount to some of the world's biggest live action Poker wins - which we are going to take a look at now. Read on to find out more!

1. Bryn Kenney - $20.5 million

Bryn Kenney scooped a massive $20.5 million payday last year in the Triton Million - A Helping Hand for Charity, which was hosted by the Hilton Hotel in London. The tournament's buy-in was a huge £1,050,000 - which is the biggest in the history of Poker - and, to match the massive buy-in, Kenney's $20.5m victory is also the biggest ever win in history. However, he didn't technically win the event! But we will get to that later.

2. Antonio Esfandiari - $18.35 million

In 2012, former Magician Antonio Esfandiari won a whopping $18.35 million in the World Series of Poker Big One for One Drop - it is still to this day the second largest single amount win in Poker history. The tournament had a record buy-in of $1 million per person, and with 48 entries, there was a whopping $42 million up for grabs in the tournaments biggest ever prize pool. Esfandiari beat British pro Sam Trickett in a head-to-head battle, which lasted 16 hands, and walked away with $18.35m, $8m more than Trickett. You can watch the winning moment below.

3. Aaron Zang - $16.8 million

Ok, so after leaving the story of Kenney's record-breaking win on a cliff-hanger earlier, it's time to pick up where we left off. Little known financer Aaron Zang was Kenney's final opponent, the Chinese player saw off some of the biggest names in Poker to reach the final two of the tournament. However, Zang's stack was massively outweighed by Kenney's, so the Shanghai native struck a deal with his opponent, which seem him win $16.8m and take home the lucrative trophy.

"I wanted the trophy but it's the biggest win that anybody's ever had, number one on the all-time money list, what can I complain about?" Kenney said. "It's incredible."

4. Dan Colman - $15.3 million

Back to the WSOP Big One for One Drop now, and after a sabbatical in 2013, the tournament returned in 2014. With its whopping buy-in of $1m still in place and back at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It was the reserved Dan Colman who went home millions of dollars richer this time. After taking down Daniel Negreanu in the heads-up, there was no trademark picture with a massive stack of cash, and zero interviews with the media. Despite having not won a tournament since 2017, Colman still boasts career winnings of almost $29m, and is 11th in the all-time money list.

5. Elton Tsang - $12.2 million

Following on from their two very successful tournaments in 2012 and 2014, the WSOP decided to move the Big One for One Drop to Monte Carlo for the 2015 edition. The buy-in stood at 1m euros, and out of the field full of regulars, it was Hong Kong-based Elton Tsang who walked away over $12m richer. The Canadian born player beat Anatoly Gurtovy in the heads-up, but still the Russian pocketed almost $6m in second.