WSOP Top 10 Tuesday - from the World's Greatest Unknown WSOP Historian
Welcome to the World Series of Poker Top Ten Tuesday thread. Having spent the last ten+ years researching and analyzing
In the spirit of my Top 10 Numbered Players, here are indexes 10 through 1 in the Hendon Mob database with their WSOP highlights:
Hendon Mob Countdown
- 10. Mickey Appleman: last on this list but the best WSOP results with 4 bracelets, 25 final tables, 50 cashes, and over a million dollars in winnings.
- 9. An Tran: 1 bracelet, 23 final tables (including then-record 6 in 1992), 47 cashes, and just under a million in winnings. 5th place in 1996 Main Event ($128,700).
- 8. Amarillo Slim Preston: 4 bracelets including 1972 Main Event.
- 7. Louai Alturaihi: no WSOP cashes.
- 6. Paul Alterman: 2 Millionaire Maker cashes for a total of $8,070.
- 5. Ben Akiva: 1 cash for $2,489.
- 4. Ross Boatman: Hendon Mob founder has 3 final tables and 21 cashes, including 4th in two 2009 Pot-Limit Omaha events ($66,936 and $113,805)
- 3. Ram Vaswani: Hendon Mob founder has 1 bracelet (2007 $1,500 Limit Hold 'Em Shootout), 9 final tables, 18 cashes and just over a million dollars in winnings.
- 2. Barny Boatman: Hendon Mob founder has 2 bracelets (2013 $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'Em and 2015 WSOPE €550 Pot-Limit Omaha), 13 final tables, and 82 cashes for $1.9 million. He is the only player here who cashed in 2025 (59th for $3,325 in 8-Game Mix 6-Max).
- 1. Joe Beevers: Hendon Mob founder has 1 final table (7th in 2007 WSOPE €5,000 H.O.R.S.E.) and 20 cashes.
Honorable Mention: Jac Arama is #11 and Billy Argyros is #12.
After the four founders, these are in alphabetical order by last name, so you can assume they used "Amarillo Slim" as Preston's full name and reversed Tran's name to Chinese last-first order (he was born in Vietnam).
Steve Zolotow at 250 seems to be the highest number in the original alphabetical batch.
If you've been reading this thread for than a few weeks, you know that I can be a bit obsessive-compulsive. When I first wrote a poker Mad Gabs blog post a decade ago (coincidentally a decade after the Mad Gab board game was originally released), I included just 15 intentional malaprops. But over the course of a couple weeks, I created nearly 300 across a dozen categories.
In honor of tomorrow being April Fools' Day, can you figure out some of my favorites mondegreens or will they fool you?
Note: "Spoilers" in the top section are just hints. The Spoilers in the bottom section are the actual answers.
Best WSOP-Related Mondegreens
- 10. Tuck Rind Her Spoiler
solid, consistent player
- 9. Care Owe Spook A Bow Curt Else Spoiler
classic published in 1984
- 8. Fife Garter Raw Spoiler
old school poker variant
- 7. Ted Manse Sand Spoiler
historical event
- 6. Bug Heap Ears On Spoiler
old-time legend
- 5. Cuss Scene Arroyo Hal Spoiler
baccarat became Hold 'Em in remake
- 4. Be Late Tuck Artsy Oared Held Spoiler
advice
- 3. Hoe Sake Ants Sake Hoe Spoiler
baseball outfielder
- 2. Sin Defile Hole Lead Spoiler
queen from Queens
- 1. Pa Taco Mid Head Spoiler
no turning back
Mondegreen Answers
- 10. Tuck Rind Her Spoiler
The Grinder. Michael Mizrachi (because he used to grind out his poker profits)
- 9. Care Owe Spook A Bow Curt Else Spoiler
Caro's Book of Poker Tells. The original bible on reading poker players' tells features photos of tells in action.
- 8. Fife Garter Raw Spoiler
Five Card Draw. In Five Card Draw, players are dealt five cards and can replace from one to five of them once (some home game rules limit the draw to three cards, four with an Ace).
- 7. Ted Manse Sand Spoiler
Dead Man's Hand. Ace-Eight. The actual hand Wild Bill Hickock had when Jack McCall shot him was two pairs, Aces over Eights.
- 6. Bug Heap Ears On Spoiler
Puggy Pearson. The Kentucky native won the 1973 WSOP Main Event and three other WSOP bracelets.
- 5. Cuss Scene Arroyo Hal Spoiler
Casino Royale. The 2006 James Bond remake replaced baccarat with No Limit Texas Hold 'Em.
- 4. Be Late Tuck Artsy Oared Held Spoiler
Play the Cards You're Dealt. One of the Rounders movie's taglines was, "In The Game of Life... Play the Cards You're Dealt".
- 3. Hoe Sake Ants Sake Hoe Spoiler
Jose Canseco. The MLB outfielder played in the 2007 and 2008 WSOP Main Events.
- 2. Sin Defile Hole Lead Spoiler
Cyndy Violette. The former blackjack and poker dealer won the 2004 WSOP 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split event for $135,900.
- 1. Pa Taco Mid Head Spoiler
Pot Committed. A player is pot committed when his remaining stack is very small compared to the pot, so a bet should be called with almost any cards.
#2 is a stretch
Spoiler
and also a very beautiful, friendly, great player
I must be missing something regarding what a 10-1 index on Hendon Mob is
They're *all* a stretch, but that's how the game was designed. I just followed their inferred substitution rules, and the game is even laxer than I was.
The players were initially numbered from 1 to N, undoubtedly their index in an actual database. Putting the URL prefix "https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?n=" before their number takes you to that player's page.
Martin Kabrhel recently won his first WSOP Circuit ring in seven years to inspire this list.
Which players have at least N bracelets and N rings? [Ties broken by bracelet count.]
Players With the Highest Minimum Bracelets and Circuit Rings
- 9. Ivan Deyra (3): 3 bracelets & 4 rings
- 9. Joe McKeehen (3): 3 bracelets & 4 rings
- 9. Ryan Leng (3): 3 bracelets & 4 rings
- 5. Daniel Chan (3): 3 bracelets & 5 rings
- 5. Frankie O'Dell (3): 3 bracelets & 5 rings
- 5. Ryan Eriquezzo (3): 3 bracelets & 5 rings
- 5. Shankar Pillai (3): 3 bracelets & 5 rings
- 4. Phillip Hui (4): 4 bracelets & 5 rings -- Wife Loni is only woman with multiple bracelets and rings (2 and 5)
- 3. Ari Engel (4): 4 bracelets & 19 rings -- Second most bracelets + rings (see below)
- 2. Men Nguyen (4): 7 bracelets & 4 rings -- Held record of 4 for eighteen years
- 1. Martin Kabrhel (5): 5 bracelets & 6 rings -- Set record of 5 with bracelet on September 30, 2025 just 3 months after tying it
Honorable Mention: Alex Foxen, Dylan Linde, Jesse Yaginuma, and Tony Dunst all have three bracelets and three rings. Nguyen was also the first player to 3 and 3 (November 16, 2005).
Bonus List: Most Bracelets Plus Rings
- 9. John Holley: 12 = 0 + 12
- 9. Michael Setera: 12 = 0 + 12
- 8. Roland Israelashvili: 12 = 1 + 11
- 7. Soheb Porbandarwala: 13 = 1 + 12
- 6. Valentin Vornicu: 14 = 0 + 14
- 5. Joshua Reichard: 16 = 0 + 16
- 4. Phil Hellmuth: 17 = 17 + 0
- 3. Daniel Lowery: 20 = 0 + 20
- 2. Ari Engel: 23 = 4 + 19
- 1. Maurice Hawkins: 24 = 0 + 24
Hawkins took first place by himself with an even two dozen yesterday (but this list isn't that interesting as it's dominated by ring-winners).
On the flip side, here are the players who have reached heads up the most times without earning a bracelet.
- ...
- 4. 18 players tied, 0% (0-for-3): ... Tony Lin
...
I might have already missed one for Ren Lin when I made this post (official WSOP records are spotty at best). Then he added two more before the year was out.
And he just collected silver medal #7 in the WSOP Europe €20,800 No-Limit Hold'em Eight Max, falling to Christopher Nguyen heads up!
Pretty sure 0-7 is a record to start a career.
Hendon says he has 16 tournament wins, but luck has not been on his side in WSOP events.
[*]2. Men Nguyen (4): 7 bracelets & 4 rings -- Held record of 4 for eighteen years
Nguyen was also the first player to 3 and 3 (November 16, 2005)
This reminds me of those sports records/achievements nobody was aware of until someone does something spectacular and it’s “has anyone ever…yeah, Wilt Chamberlain”.
My favorite was in 2000 when Tiger won the Canadian Open in September after earlier that summer winning the US & British Opens—the three oldest continuously running golf tournaments.
It was lauded as The Triple Crown and Tiger got a special trophy and IIRC cash bonus. It took a day or two for people (at least on ESPN) to remember Lee Trevino did it back in 1971 and was in fact SI Sportsman OTY that year, over Joe Frazier! (Bizarrely, he did not lead the money list that season)
Trevino, an alltime great hustler & ballbreaker, played it perfectly; pretending to be SHOCKED at all the attention, claiming he hadn’t been following it, graciously accepted his own trophy, etc. 😃
There is an error on Doyle’s wiki page. It says he won the 1977 $1000 Seven Card Stud Split (over Sklansky) but it was the $10, 000 event, as Doyle wrote in SS, and the 1977 WSOP wiki page backs that.
This reminds me of those sports records/achievements nobody was aware of until someone does something spectacular and it's "has anyone ever.yeah, Wilt Chamberlain".
Spot on. I have the workings of a Top 10 "Records Nobody Knew About at the Time". Will probably publish it the next time something gets added to the list.
Not really on the same level, but PokerNews recently posted that Corel Theuma was the first WSOP bracelet winner from Malta. The article has now been corrected after I pointed out that he's not even the second (Armando D’avanzo won the 2021 Online $400 Colossus) but the third (a still unidentified player using the handle "Look@This" won the 2025 $1,500 GGMasters HR Freezeout NLH, a fact I had read in... a PokerNews article).
My favorite was in 2000 when Tiger won the Canadian Open in September after earlier that summer winning the US & British Opens-the three oldest continuously running golf tournaments.It was lauded as The Triple Crown and Tiger got a special trophy and IIRC cash bonus. It took a day or two for people (at least on ESPN) to remember Lee Trevino did it back in 1971 and was in fact S
Tiger Woods will be the answer to more than a few of these in the future no matter how much he insists on tarnishing his legacy :-(.
There is an error on Doyle's wiki page. It says he won the 1977 $1000 Seven Card Stud Split (over Sklansky) but it was the $10, 000 event, as Doyle wrote in SS, and the 1977 WSOP wiki page backs that.
Good catch.
He also won
(75% of $70,000) not $62,500.
Best 1970 World Series of Poker Trivia
- 10. Celebrity Sighting: Singer and actor Chill Wills earned the "Spirit of Western Hospitality" award as co-host of the event.
- 9. Ample Awards: At the wrap-up banquet in the Horseshoe Club dining room, a total of 14 awards were presented.
- 8. Baccarat Booted at Binion's: Because the Horseshoe didn't have a poker room yet, baccarat tables were cleared out to make room for three poker tables. Thirty or so players took part in at least part of the six-day event.
- 7. Dandolas Debunked: The WSOP wasn't a successor to the historically overblown Johnny Moss-Nick Dandolas marathon almost two decades earlier (an idea popularized by Al Alvarez and his "Biggest Game in Town") [see next item].
- 6. Inheritance/Inspiration: The 1970 World Series of Poker was effectively inherited from Vic Vickrey and Tom Moore and their 1969 Texas Gambler's Reunion in Reno, Nevada. Benny Binion confirms this in "Lester Ben 'Benny' Binion: Some Recolle..., his 1973 interview with Mary Glass.
- 5. Myth Made: Legend has it that the final vote was deadlocked when each player voted for himself, and Jack Binion solved the problem by asking them to select the second best player. Johnny Moss won this vote for "World's Champion Poker Player" to go with his "Deuce-to-Seven Lowball Champion" and "Best All-Around Hold 'Em Player" awards.
- 4. First Format: Like Vickrey's event, various cash games were played: Five-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud, Ace-to-Five Lowball, Deuce-to-Seven Lowball, Razz, and Texas Hold 'Em.
- 3. Follow-Up Format: After the event, L.A. Times reporter Ted Thackrey complained that it was boring to watch, and Amarillo Slim Preston helped him convince the Binions to make it a series of tournaments the next year, giving birth to the World Series of Poker as we know it.
- 2. Bracelet Bonanza: Eight players would go on to win multiple bracelets: Doyle Brunson (10), Johnny Moss (9, including 1970 as a bracelet), Amarillo Slim Preston (4), Bill Boyd (4), Puggy Pearson (4), Jimmy Casella (3), Jack Straus (2), and Sailor Roberts (2). Joe Bernstein also won one, so the group collected a total of 39 bracelets.
- 1. Multiple Main Event Champs: Six players would go on to win a total of eight Main Events, including the first seven: Johnny Moss (1971 & 1974), Amarillo Slim Preston (1972), Puggy Pearson (1973), Doyle Brunson (1976 & 1977), Sailor Roberts (1975), and Jack Straus (1982).
Slim also confirmed the 1969 Reno inspiration in his book.
Doyle vehemently insisted on twitter that Moss-Greek happened exactly per Alvarez. His source was Moss. To be fair, he knew Moss decades before Alvarez did.
You’ve mentioned John Juanda isn’t the only Juanda with a bracelet?
Similar to Trevino, Tiger inspired people to dig into Jack’s career and discover/remember amazing accomplishments.
And forty years from now, Tom Brady will chuckle softly over all the hullabaloo about some quarterback’s fourth Super Bowl win.
With the conclusion of this year's WSOP Europe after moving from the fall to the spring, it's already time for another post about the festival. Here are some of the best factoids.
WSOP Europe Highlights
- 10. Despite debuting in 2007, the 2026 edition of WSOP Europe was only the 17th, not the 20th, as the festival has been skipped three times:
- 2014: WSOP Asia-Pacific debuted with the plan of having it alternate years with WSOP Europe
- 2016: WSOP Asia-Pacific was cancelled, but WSOP Europe didn't take its place
- 2020: The COVID-19 pandemic shelved the festival
- 9. WSOP Europe has had six homes in four countries:
- 2007-10: Casino at the Empire in London, England
- 2011-12: Le Croisette Casino Barriere in Cannes, France
- 2013: Casino Barriere in Enghien-les-Bains, France
- 2015: Spielbank Berlin in Berlin, Germany
- 2017-25: King's Casino in Rozvadov, Czechia
- 2026+: Hilton Prague in Prague, Czechia.
There were only three events in 2007, but that steadily ramped up to its current slate of 15 by 2019. All together, 173 tournaments have been held, awarding 13,579 prizes worth $282,885,082. - 8. WSOP Europe was added to the WSOP Player of the Year standings in 2026. The race will now run for almost nine months from Czechia to Bermuda (still dubbed "Paradise Island" even though Nassau is on neighboring New Providence Island, sort of like the New York Giants and New York Jets, who play in East Rutherford, New Jersey).
- 7. The WSOP Europe Main Event has been won by players by 11 different countries. The U.S. has won five, while Spain and the U.K. have two each.
- 6. Maria Ho is the only woman besides Annette Obrestad to reach the WSOP Europe Main Event final table, finishing 6th in 2017 for $202,875.
- 5. Daniel Negreanu is the only player to reach back-to-back WSOP Europe Main Event final tables (5th in 2008 for $395,024 & 2nd in 2009 for $817,035). Four other players have reached multiple final tables: Jason Mercier (4th in 2009 for $440,620 & 8th in 2012 for $110,467), Daniel Steinberg (6th in 2010 for $241,477 & 9th in 2013 for $80,423), Timothy Adams (9th in both 2012 for $86,796 & 2022 for $111,010), and Max Neugebauer (won in 2023 for $1,590,000 & 6th in 2025 for $228,150). Honorable Mention to Kevin MacPhee (won in 2015 for $1,001,577 & final table bubble boy in 2017 for $86,957).
- 4. November Niners on their break before the final table did very well in the WSOP Europe Main Event.
In 2008, Ivan Demidov reached the WSOP Main Event final table, finished 3rd in the WSOP Europe Main Event ($608,995) during the November Nine break, and returned to Las Vegas to finish 2nd ($5,809,595).
In 2009, Antoine Saout finished 7th in London ($188,318) and 3rd in Las Vegas ($3,479,670), while James Akenhead finished 9th in both events ($109,687 & $1,263,602). Jeff Shulman, who finished 5th in Las Vegas ($1,953,452), was unable to join them, but his father, Barry Shulman won the WSOP Europe Main Event for $1,321,534! - 3. Vivian Saliba is the only woman besides Annette Obrestad to win an open WSOP Europe bracelet. The Brazilian took down the 229-player €2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha for $101,454 in 2024 after finishing 6th in the event in 2022 for $14,812. She also finished 7th for $39,875 in the 2021 Mini Main Event, is the only woman with multiple WSOP Europe final tables, and also leads in cashes with 14.
The Ladies Championship has strangely been a bracelet event just twice. Jackie Glazier won the 2013 event over a field of 65 players for $29,534, while Anca Eggenberger won this year's over a field of 197 for $46,425. - 2. In 2007, Annette Obrestad: won the inaugural WSOPE Main Event, setting a still-unbroken record for youngest player to win a bracelet, the day before her 19th birthday. The Norwegian prodigy also set a female record for biggest prize (a million pounds, or about $2,013,733) that lasted 13 years.
- 1. Martin Kabrhel is the WSOP Europe career leader in bracelets (4, two more than anyone else), final tables (12, one more than Shaun Deeb), and cashes (43, tied with Roland Israelashvili), while trailing only Dominik Nitsche in earnings ($5,142,955, short by a few hundred thousand). The 2017 €1,100 Super Turbo Bounty, 2018 €100,000 King's Super High Roller, 2024 €50,000 High Roller, and 2025 €10,000 PLO Mystery Bounty make up 4 of his 5 career bracelets.
Twenty-four years ago today, Ross and Barny Boatman became the first brothers to reach the final table of a WSOP bracelet event together. But they weren't the first siblings to achieve the feat.
Here are the top siblings in WSOP history (primarily sorted by total bracelets):
Super Siblings
- 10. Kopp: Katie (1) won the 2022 $500 Casino Employee tournament, and William (1) took down the 2023 $1,500 PLO Hi/Lo to become the second sister/brother duo with bracelets. William also owns three rings, while another (likely erroneously identified as William by the WSOP).
- 9. Hinkle: Grant (1) and Blair (1) became the first siblings to win bracelets in the same year in 2008 when Grant won the $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'Em and Blair the $2,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em. They were also the first siblings with both bracelets and rings (Blair has 5 from 2010 to 2018, while Grant got his only ring in 2017)
- 8. Greenwood: Max (1) won the 2008 $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em and Sam (1) the 2015 $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em, while Sam's twin Luc (0) has reached two final tables among his 33 cashes.
- 7. Le: Tommy (2) won the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max Championship in both 2017 and 2021; Allan (1) won the 2016 $1,500 Mixed PLO; and Nam (0) has 7 cashes for $17,843. Tuan Le is their cousin.
- 6. Lederer/Duke: Howard Lederer (2) won the 2000 $5,000 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo and 2001 $5,000 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw, then Annie Duke (1) won the 2004 $2,000 Omaha Hi/Lo Split to become the first brother/sister pair with bracelets. They were the first siblings to final table the same WSOP event in the 1995 $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold 'Em, where Duke knocked her brother out in 9th before finishing 6th. They became the only siblings to do it twice when Howard finished 6th and Annie 7th in the 1998 $5,000 Seven-Card Stud.
- 5. Brenes: Humberto (2) won the 1993 $2,500 Limit Hold 'Em, and $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha and Alex (2) won the 1999 $3,500 No-Limit Hold 'Em and 2001 $3,000 Limit Hold 'Em, while Eric (0) has four cashes.
- 4. Zamani: Benjamin (2) won the 2015 $1,500 NLHE and 2017 $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo, while Martin (2) won the 2021 Online $888 PLO Crazy Eights and $5,300 NLHE Freezeout. They became the second sibling pair with both bracelets and rings in 2020 (Benjamin won 1 in 2018 and Martin 3 from 2020 to 2024).
- 3. Dzivielevski: Yuri (5) and Vitor (1) have six bracelets between them, half of which came in 2023 when Yuri captured the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. 8-Max and $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha and Vitor the $600 Online DeepStack Championship No-Limit Hold 'Em.
- 2. Pearson: Puggy (4 including the 1973 Main Event) and J.C. (1) became the first siblings with bracelets when J.C. won the 1994 $2,500 Limit Omaha 8 or Better. They were also the first to cash in the same event when J.C. finished 4th for $13,680 and Puggy 13th for $2,280 in the 1988 $1,000 Limit Omaha.
- 1. Mizrachi: Michael (8, including the 2025 Main Event) and Robert (5) alone account for 13 bracelets, while Eric has 2 final tables among his 44 cashes, and Daniel has another 21 cashes. Robert and Michael became the second siblings with bracelets in same year in 2008. They also have the highest sibling finishes in the same event (Michael won the 2010 $50,000 Players Championship Michael as Robert finished 5th. All four brothers cashed in the 2010 Main Event, with Michael 5th for $2,332,992, Robert 116th for $57,102, Daniel 345th for $36,463, and Eric 718th for $19,263.
Honorable Mention:
- Dutch Boyd (3) won three bracelets between 2006 and 2014, while his brother Bobby (0) has three cashes, including the 2004 Main Event. Together, they created the now-defunct PokerSpot.com in 2000.
- Bryn Kenney (2) won the 2014 $1,500 Ten-Game Mix 6-Max and 2024 $2,100 Bounty NLH Championship, while his brother Tyler (0) has a final table among his 10 cashes.
- Frank Funaro (2) won the 2022 $1,000 Championship No-Limit Hold 'Em and 2024 $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty Freezeout No-Limit Hold 'Em, while his brother Nicholas (0) has reached 3 final tables and has won two Circuit rings.
- Thomas "Thunder" Keller (1) won the 2004 $5,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em while his twin brother Shawn "Lightning" (0) has two final tables among his 10 cashes.
- Barny Boatman (2) won the 2013 $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'Em and 2015 $628 Pot-Limit Omaha, while Ross (0) has three final tables among his 21 cashes. They became the first brothers to reach a final table together in the 2002 $1,500 PLO Rebuy (Ross 7th for $12,040 and Barny 9th for $7,700).
- Jared Bleznick (1) won the 2024 $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Holdem, while his brother Chad (0) cashed for $35,000 in the 2025 Main Event (447th place).
Annie also eliminated Howard from TOC the year she won it, and unless they’re Streep & DeNiro, it wasn’t a happy car ride home. Annie is a week older than me.
Annie also eliminated Howard from TOC the year she won it, and unless they're Streep & DeNiro, it wasn't a happy car ride home. Annie is a week older than me.
I think they both had their own LV residences then, although I suppose they could've car pooled. No allegations of collusion at least.
Cinco de Mayo celebrates Mexico's victory over France at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Although Mexican children get the day off from school, it is not a national holiday. In fact, thanks in part to , we celebrate Cinco de Mayo more in the U.S. than they do in Mexico!
In honor of this fact, here are the best players with known connections to both Mexico and the U.S. Most are or were listed under Mexico by Hendon and the U.S. by the WSOP or vice versa {aptly had 5 one way and 5 the other until I added #2, who is U.S. everywhere}.
Mexican-Americans and American-Mexicans
- 10. Alex Greenblatt: 11 cashes for $130,771.
- 9. Jose Zurita: 6 cashes for $199,220.
- 8. Max Ovseyevitz: 9 cashes for $211,224, including 76th in 2012 Main Event ($88,070).
- 7. Craig Mason: 33 cashes for $238,684.
- 6. David Cossio-Ruiz: Finished 3rd in the 2005 $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold 'Em ($79,490) and has 30 cashes for $363,733. Cossio was born in Mexico and lives in Oswego, New York.
- 5. Juan Carlos Alvarado: 14 cashes, including 3 final tables, for $689,804. Alvarado was born and lives in Mexico but also grew up in Texas. He is #1 by far on Hendon's Mexico All Time Money List.
- 4. Victoriano Perches: Won 2006 $1,500 Limit Hold 'Em Shootout ($157,338) for Mexico's first bracelet (born in Mexico but lives in Las Vegas) and has won $174,221.
- 3. Jared Strauss: Won 2022 $7,777 Lucky 7s High Roller ($181,769) and finished 4th in the 2019 $500 WSOP.com Online No-Limit Hold'em Turbo Deepstack ($45,960) and has won $352,887.
- 2. Jesse Alto: 5 Main Event final tables, including 3rd place in 1984 for $132,000, plus three other unpaid Top 6 finishes. Alto was born in Mexico to Lebanese parents, raised in Israel, and lived in Houston, Texas.
- 1. Luis Velador: Won 2008 $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'Em & 2010 $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold 'Em/Omaha and has won $2,064,096; 2014 Main Event final table bubble boy ($565,193). Velador was born in Mexico (Puerto Vallarta area) and lives in California.
Honorable Mention: 8-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb moved to Mexico after Black Friday to play online poker. Scores of other players joined him in the "Poker Frat of Playa del Carmen". Deeb stayed there at least through the 2012 SCOOP in which he won four events.
I’ve read tales about those who moved to Mexico. Seems none regretted it.
Spoiler
To continue the celebration of Mother's Day from a couple days ago, here are the top events where multiple women placed in the top nine ("final table"). {I'll make it an inclusive holiday, since for the most part, I don't know which of these women have children ;-)}
Best Multiple Female Top 9 Tournaments
- 10. 2017 $1,000 Tag Team: Three women reached the final table (each partnered with a male), Esther Taylor-Brady (6th for $12,215 with D.J. MacKinnon), Samantha Cohen (7th for $9,072 with Ryan Laplante), & Lanie Foster (8th for $6,840 with Austin Buchanan).
- 9. 2003 $1,500 Limit Hold 'Em Shootout: Two women finished in the top 3, Annie Duke (2nd for $60,000) & Dee Luong (3rd for $30,000).
- 8. 2002 $5,000 Limit Hold 'Em: Two women finished in the top 3, Jennifer Harman (1st for $212,440) & Mimi Tran (3rd for $47,700).
- 7. 2024 WSOP.com $500 Bounty No-Limit Hold 'Em: Two women finished in the top 3, Cherish Andrews (2nd for $15,116) & J.J. Liu (3rd for $9,211). But the original winner, Kevin Ruscitti, didn't get his prize or bracelet due to allegations of real-time assistance, so in my book they finished first and second.
- 6. 2023 Online $3,200 No-Limit Hold 'Em High Roller Championship: Women took first and second place, Denise Pratt (1st for $104,690) & Kristen Foxen (2nd for $68,400).
- 5. 2018 $1,000 Tag Team: Seven women were part of four teams that finished in the top 9, Nikita Luther (1st for half of $175,805 with Giuseppe Pantaleo); Joelle Parenteau (3rd for one third of $76,797 with Manig Loeser & Peter Weinand); Joanne Milburn & Megan Milburn (4th for one third of $55,016 each with Alexander Rocha; and Haixia Zhang, Kelly Minkin, & Loni Harwood (9th for one third of $12,700 each).
- 4. 2012 $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo: Three women made the final nine, Xuan Liu (6th for $29,985), Bonnie Rossi (8th for $16,684), & Marsha Waggoner (9th for $12,822).
- 3. 2021 WSOP.com $500 Big 500 No-Limit Hold 'Em: Three women made the final nine, Karina Jett (4th for $28,041), Melissa Hawkins (7th for $11,187), & Stephanie Baker (9th for $6,482).
- 2. 2005 $2,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo: Three women made the final nine, Jen Harman (3rd for $53,903), Bonnie Rossi (6th for $25,155), & Leticia Tanhueco (9th for $9,240).
- 1. 1996 $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold 'Em: Three women finished in the top six, Barbara Enright (1st for $180,000), Lucy Rokach (3rd for $45,000), and Jen Harman (6th for $15,750).
All totaled, 41 open tournaments have seen multiple women reach the final nine, from the 1991 $5,000 Seven-Card Stud (Mim Penney 2nd for $88,750 & Esther Rossi 8th for $10,650) to the 2025 WSOP.com $400 Colossus (Kathy Liebert 3rd for $77,457 & Kaitlin Paramour 8th for $16,848). The feat has been pulled off at least once every year since 2017.
Originally, bounties were a fixed but small prize awarded to anyone who knocked another player out of an event. The bounty format debuted in 2012 in a non-bracelet event, the $560 Bracelet Bounty No-Limit Hold 'Em, which awarded $500 for each bracelet winner knocked out.
The first WSOP bracelet tournament with bounties took place three years later, the 2015 $1,500 Bounty No-Limit Hold 'Em, with every knockout worth $500. The number of events grew gradually until the 2020 pandemic saw an online explosion of nine bounty tournaments. The next year saw 13 (eight online and five live), including the debut of the $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty event, where each inductee was worth the year they were inducted in dollars.
The first Mystery Bounty event was scheduled to debut with a $250,000 top bounty in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the event.
For unknown reasons, the event did not appear in 2021 either but instead debuted in 2022 as the $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty No-Limit Hold 'Em featuring a seven-figure top bounty. [Note: in the meantime the Wynn Poker Room ran the first Mystery Bounty tournament in October 2021.]
That leads us to the following list of the biggest WSOP mystery bounty winners (ties broken by prize won):
Biggest Bounty Winners
- 10. Jeremy Lavi Dan, $509,600 = $500,000 bounty + $9,600 prize (56th place in 2023 Paradise Island $1,650 Mystery Millions).
- 9. Roberto Romanello, $511,450 = $500,000 bounty + $11,450 prize (77th place in 2024 $1,000 Mystery Millions).
- 8. Scott Ball, $1,001,064 = $1,000,000 bounty + $1,064 prize (713th place in 2022 GGPoker $210 Million Dollar Mystery Bounty).
- 7. Valentyn Shabelnyk, $1,003,070 = $1,000,000 bounty + $3,070 prize (528th place in 2024 $1,000 Mystery Millions).
- 6. Tyler Montoya, $1,003,680 = $1,000,000 bounty + $3,680 prize (416th place in 2025 $1,000 Mystery Millions).
- 5. Thomas Zanot, $1,004,790 = $1,000,000 bounty + $4,790 prize (305th place in 2025 $1,000 Mystery Millions).
- 4. D.J. Buckley, $1,008,170 = $1,000,000 bounty + $8,170 prize (90th place in 2024 $1,000 Mystery Millions).
- 3. Shant Marashlian, $1,008,541 = $1,000,000 bounty + $8,541 prize (138th place in 2023 $1,000 Mystery Millions).
- 2. Patrick Liang, $1,017,700 = $1,000,000 bounty + $17,700 prize (60th place in 2023 $1,000 Mystery Millions).
- 1. Matt Glantz, $1,020,730 = $1,000,000 bounty + $20,730 prize (42nd place in 2022 $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty).
Honorable Mention:
- Klint Teveraei, $503,560 = $500,000 bounty + $3,560 prize (452nd place in 2023 $1,000 Mystery Millions).
- Arin Youssefian, $505,260 = $500,000 bounty + $5,260 prize (203rd place in 2022 $1,000 Million Dollar Bounty).
- Nikolay Ponomarev, $505,520 = $500,000 bounty + $5,520 prize (232nd place in 2025 $1,000 Mystery Millions).
- Yosef Fox won just a $250,000 bounty but took first place for $729,333 ($979,333 total) in the 2025 $10,000 Mystery Bounty 8-Max.
Is Scotty the last ME champ to win with action on the river?
