The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the most prestigious poker event on the planet and this annual poker fiesta attracts players from across the globe each year. The series got a new home on the Las Vegas Strip at Bally’s and Paris after WSOP 2021 was announced as the last event to take place at the Rio. Each year, pros and poker enthusiasts alike slog hard for the coveted World Series of Poker bracelets and titles.
Here on this page, we take a look at all former World Series of Poker Main Event (ME) winners till date. The poker series started in 1970 and completed more than five decades so far. We have 53 World Series of Poker Main Event winners who shot to fame with incredible WSOP wins, including poker legends like Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar, Phil Hellmuth, iconic 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker, Chris Ferguson, and several others.
ALSO READ: WSOP Rules You Surely Did Not Know About
The Grand Old Man of Poker — Johnny Moss, has three WSOP ME titles to his credit. The three titles include the inaugural edition of 1970, followed by victories in WSOP 1971 and WSOP 1974 as well. His first victory in 1970 was at a time when the concept of a Main Event didn’t even exist; the winner was selected by secret ballot after a short game with a set start and stop time.
Stu Ungar is the only other person in WSOP history to have nailed three WSOP ME titles in his career, namely in WSOP 1980, WSOP 1981 and WSOP 1997. Following Moss and Ungar’s three wins each is Doyle Brunson who nailed two consecutive Main Events in 1976 and 1977, with the same cards (T2) too. How amazing is that?!
Joining the bandwagon is Johnny Chan, who also holds the record of winning two WSOP ME titles back-to-back in 1987 and 1989. Since these early days in the game, the series has grown from being a single invite-only tournament to having 100+ events on the World Series of Poker schedule each year.
The prize pools have also grown massively, with winners getting $10+ million pay cheques as well. The first time a prize was awarded was at the WSOP 1971 series where Johnny Moss won again and he won a prize of $30,000 at the time. On the other hand, the highest WSOP Main Event cash so far has been $12,000,000, which was won by Jamie Gold after he shipped the WSOP 2006 ME. The most recent addition to the list of World Series of Poker Main Event winners is Norway’s Espen Jorstad, who took down the 2022 World Series of Poker Main Event and cashed 10,000,000.
The past WSOP Main Event winners have etched their names in the books of history. Here’s the list of all WSOP winners who have claimed the Main Event titles:
Year | Nationality | Winner | Prize ($) |
1970 | American | Johnny Moss | NA |
1971 | American | Johnny Moss | $30,000 |
1972 | American | Thomas Preston | $80,000 |
1973 | American | Walter Pearson | $130,000 |
1974 | American | Johnny Moss | $160,000 |
1975 | American | Brian Roberts | $210,000 |
1976 | American | Doyle Brunson | $220,000 |
1977 | American | Doyle Brunson | $340,000 |
1978 | American | Bobby Baldwin | $210,000 |
1979 | American | Hal Fowler | $270,000 |
1980 | American | Stu Ungar | $385,000 |
1981 | American | Stu Ungar | $375,000 |
1982 | American | Jack Straus | $520,000 |
1983 | American | Tom McEvoy | $540,000 |
1984 | American | Jack Keller | $660,000 |
1985 | American | Bill Smith | $700,000 |
1986 | American | Berry Johnston | $570,000 |
1987 | American | Johnny Chan | $625,000 |
1988 | American | Johnny Chan | $700,000 |
1989 | American | Phil Hellmuth | $755,000 |
1990 | Iranian-British | Mansour Matloubi | $895,000 |
1991 | American | Brad Daugherty | $1,000,000 |
1992 | Iranian-American | Hamid Dastmalchi | $1,000,000 |
1993 | American | Jim Bechtel | $1,000,000 |
1994 | American | Russ Hamilton | $1,000,000 |
1995 | American | Dan Harrington | $1,000,000 |
1996 | American | Huck Seed | $1,000,000 |
1997 | American | Stu Ungar | $1,000,000 |
1998 | Vietnamese-American | Scotty Nguyen | $1,000,000 |
1999 | Irish | Noel Furlong | $1,000,000 |
2000 | American | Chris Ferguson | $1,500,000 |
2001 | Ecuadorian | Carlos Mortensen | $1,500,000 |
2002 | American | Robert Varkonyi | $2,000,000 |
2003 | American | Chris Moneymaker | $2,500,000 |
2004 | American | Greg Raymer | $5,000,000 |
2005 | Lebanese Australian | Joe Hachem | $7,500,000 |
2006 | American | Jamie Gold | $12,000,000 |
2007 | American | Jerry Yang | $8,250,000 |
2008 | Danish | Peter Eastgate | $9,152,416 |
2009 | American | Joe Cada | $8,574,649 |
2010 | Canadian | Jonathan Duhamel | $8,944,138 |
2011 | German | Pius Heinz | $8,715,638 |
2012 | American | Greg Merson | $8,531,853 |
2013 | American | Ryan Riess | $8,359,531 |
2014 | Swedish | Martin Jacobson | $10,000,000 |
2015 | American | Joe McKeehen | $7,683,346 |
2016 | Vietnamese-American | Qui Nguyen | $8,005,310 |
2017 | American | Scott Blumstein | $8,150,000 |
2018 | American | John Cynn | $8,800,000 |
2019 | Iranian-German | Hossein Ensan | $10,000,000 |
2020 | Argentinian | Damian Salas | $1,550,969 |
2021 | German | Koray Aldemir | $8,000,000 |
2022 | Norwegian | Espen Jorstad | $10,000,000 |
2023 | American | Daniel Weinman | $12,100,000 |
2024 | American | Jonathan Tamayo | $10,000,000 |
Winning a World Series of Poker bracelet is a big deal, but winning a World Series of Poker Main Event can be a life-altering moment! It’s the biggest dream of almost every poker player in the world. We await to see which players can go on to create history by shipping future WSOP Main Events, though with the thousands of entries each year now, we doubt anyone can win a WSOP Main Event twice anymore.
As we prepare for the upcoming 2023 World Series of Poker Main Event and the entire series, all eyes are on who will win the World Series of Poker 2023 Main Event. Will World Series of Poker 2022 Main Event champion, Espen Jorstad, be able to defend his title? Well, only time will tell. Till then, check out the WSOP 2023 schedule here.
Also, we at Gutshot Magazine will be covering WSOP 2023 updates, so make sure to stay tuned and keep an eye for all the latest WSOP updates.
For more news and updates, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Telegram.
Amarylisa Gonsalves is a Content Writer at Gutshot Magazine. Advancing from a marketing background, she found her calling in writing. She takes delight in exploring genres and is a curious learner. Patient and ambivert, she believes in letting her work speak for itself. Apart from content writing, she finds solace in writing poetry by expressing herself through words. Additionally, she adores indulging in anything that satisfies her creative self, like drawing and DIY crafts.
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