Daniel Weinman has just won the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event, the latest such tournament on the tour’s 2016/2017 calendar. The player, a poker professional from Georgia, cashed $892,433 for his triumph. Tradition also dictates that all Main Tour Main Event winners have their names engraved on the WPT Champions Cup, a massive trophy that has accompanied the tour in its travels around the US and the rest of the world since its very beginning.
The WPT is among the largest, if not the largest, and longest-running seasonwide live poker tours. It was founded in 2002 and has since then featured fifteen seasons (Season 15 is currently running).
Although Weinman scooped a hefty payout from the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open, the player is far from being one of the biggest Main Event winners in the tour’s fifteen-year history. Yet, he became the second-biggest winner this season. James Romero, who topped the field of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic $10,400 Main Event in late 2016, has scooped the largest payout this season. The player won $1,938,118 for his triumph and it is yet to be seen whether his accomplishment will be bested by the end of Season 15.
To answer the question who has won the most from a WPT Main Event over the years, we should go back ten years ago, when Spanish player Carlos Mortensen won the $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship event that marked the end of the tour’s fifth season. The player received the absolute record-breaking first-place prize of $3,970,415. Here it is also interesting to note that Motensen has entered WPT’s annals as one of the few players to have won three Main Events within the tour.
Over the years, the WPT has distributed very attractive payouts to its Main Tour Main Event winners. Here are the players to have locked the biggest first-place prizes for topping Main Event fields over the past fifteen years. It is important to note that our list includes champions of Main Events to have taken place within the WPT’s seasons. Winners of the season-ending WPT Championship will be paid more attention in a separate article by Casino News Daily.
Eugene Katchalov – $2,482,605
Ukraine’s most profitable player won the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic $15,400 Main Event back in 2007. The event was part of the tour’s sixth season. Katchalov bested a field of 626 entries to win the lion’s share of the $9,390,000 prize pool.
Although the Ukrainian has accomplished quite a lot since then, his Five Diamond first-place prize has remained his career largest.
Eric Hershler – $2,429,970
Hershler won what still is his career largest cash in 2007. He emerged victorious in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 Main Event, a tournament that was part of the WPT’s Season 5 schedule. The player beat a field of 790 other entries to become one of the biggest winners in the tour’s history.
Here it is also important to note that this was his first-ever live poker in-the-money finish – not a bad start to a poker career.
Alan Goehring – $2,391,550
Goehring won the 2006 WPT L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 Championship event as part of WPT’s fourth season. He turned out to be the last man standing from a field of 692 entries.
It is also interesting to note that the player was, in fact, the first-ever WPT Championship winner. In 2003, Goehring bested 110 other players to scoop the precious Championship title and $1,011,886 in prize money.
Joseph Hachem – $2,207,575
Hachem won the WPT Season 5 Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic $15,400 Main Event in late 2006. His victory came after the player held up against a field of 583 entries. Although Hachem’s payout from the WPT tournament was indeed a massive one, it was far from being his career largest.
Only a year earlier – in 2005 – the player emerged as the victor of the WSOP $10,000 Main Event for a first-place prize of $7,500,000.
Nick Schulman – $2,167,500
Schulman’s first-ever in-the-money finish became his best live poker accomplishment. The player collected the massive payout for winning the 2005 WPT World Poker Finals $10,200 Main Event, playing against 782 other opponents. It is interesting to note that he became the youngest WPT Main Tour Main Event winner at the time. He was 21, when he took down the tournament.
His first victory marked the start of a successful poker career that later on saw Schulman capture two WSOP gold bracelets, among other titles.
