The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has long been the game’s largest and most prestigious tournament. It’s the epitome of competitive poker, a huge annual event attracting thousands of players worldwide to join. With guarantees of fame and fortune to all skilled enough to win a bracelet, it’s easy to see why the WSOP is so popular.
The WSOP has been going on for over 50 years and has a rich history. Many poker players have become recognized for their WSOP prowess, from old legends like Johnny Moss and Doyle Brunson to up-and-coming supernovas like Jason Koon. Today, we’ll look at the players who’ve mastered their field: The WSOP’s record holders. We’ll cover all kinds of records, from the most bracelets to the youngest champions.
Most bracelets, cashes, and final tables: Phil Hellmuth
Starting the list, we have Phil Hellmuth for the most bracelets. He has a dominant lead over everyone else, at a massive 16 bracelets compared to the second place’s 10. Hellmuth also holds several other WSOP-related records, such as the most amounts of cash (163) and final tables (64).
One of his WSOP bracelets was from the 1989 Main Event, and another from the 2012 WSOP Europe. This makes Hellmuth the first player to win the WSOP and WSOP Europe Main Events.
An interesting bit of trivia is that the WSOP bracelets did not have this much prestige back then. Doyle Brunson, who is tied for the second-most bracelets of any player, has gone as far as to say they “didn’t mean anything” back in his day.
Hellmuth, however, was one of the few that recognized the bracelets’ worth from the beginning. “To me,” Hellmuth said, “the bracelets have always been a really huge deal, because I knew that they represented history.”
Youngest bracelet winner: Annette Obrestad
With another bracelet-related record, we have Annette Obrestad for the youngest player ever to win a bracelet. She won the 2007 WSOP Europe at 18 years and 364 days old, just shy of 19.
Obrestad was an online prodigy, having played online poker for a few years to build a massive bankroll, though she couldn’t withdraw it until she turned 18.
Winning the Main Event of the WSOP early on in her career is already spectacular, but it’s made even more impressive because it was the first-ever WSOP Europe. This also makes her the first and only woman to win a WSOP Main Event.
Finally, one of the most impressive things about this record is that it legally cannot be broken in the main WSOP. The main tournament is held in Nevada, where the minimum gambling age is 21.
First woman to win an open event: Barbara Enright
In the traditionally male-dominated field of poker, strong female players are few and far between. When you think of a woman poker pro, you may think of modern-day names like Annette Obrestad and Vanessa Selbst. However, one player has been representing women in poker since the beginning: Barbara Enright.
Enright’s an incredibly old player, up there with the likes of Doyle Brunson and Johnny Moss. She’s most known for her various bracelet records. She was the first woman to reach two and three bracelets and the first one to win an open event, taking down the 1996 Pot Limit Holdem event.
Beyond this, Enright is also known for being the only woman to make the final table of the WSOP Main Event, finishing 5th in 1995. Having been inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, the Senior Poker Hall of Fame, and the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, she’s the only member of all three.
Highest total earnings: Antonio Esfandiari
While Phil Hellmuth may have the most bracelets, the player with the most overall cash from the WSOP is Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari. Despite only cashing in 49 times, he has made $21,917,218 from the tournament.
A huge chunk of this was from the 2012 Big One for One Drop event. This was a charity event hosted by the WSOP in partnership with One Drop, a nonprofit organization that aims to raise awareness about water-related issues.
The tournament had a massive $1,000,000 buy-in and 48 entrants in total. Esfandiari beat a formidable set of opponents, from Phil Hellmuth to Brian Rast. He claimed $18,346,673 from the win, which remains the second-largest single payout in poker tournament history.
Longest streak of cashes: Mike Sexton
Mike Sexton is another senior poker pro with an impressive career. In the WSOP, he has one bracelet from the 1989 Seven Card Stud event.
Sexton isn’t known primarily for his career as a player. While his career has been incredibly successful, with over $6 million in tournament earnings, it’s overshadowed by his immense contributions to the game.
He was the co-founder and chairman of partypoker, one of the biggest online poker sites in the world. Sexton also served as the commentator of the World Poker Tour (WPT), alongside Vince Van Patten, for nearly 15 years. He’s widely accredited for introducing the game to countless new players, giving him the nickname “The Ambassador of Poker.”
With all his contributions to the scene, it may surprise you that he also holds the WSOP record for the longest streak of cashes. Beginning in 1989 and ending in 2019, Sexton cashed in at least one WSOP event every year without fail.
This is made even more impressive by his duties as a commentator, as he managed a 30-year streak of consecutive cashes while commentating every WPT broadcast for 15 years.
Who’s your favorite?
There are many incredible players in poker, and these are just a few of the WSOP’s record-holders. If any of these WSOP pros inspired you, we recommend checking out the game’s competitive scene. Pro poker is bigger than ever, and the internet has made it trivial to view games from anywhere.