It’s safe to say that taking down the Main
Event is the dream of almost every amateur and professional poker player out
there.
And unlike other sports, there is actually a
chance of that dream becoming a reality for anyone. You wouldn’t expect an average
Joe to take down the chess Grandmaster tournament, but it could easily happen
in poker.
Over the years, the WSOP Main Event has seen the
unlikeliest of outcomes. Hardened professionals were often left in the dust and
watching the backs of aspiring amateurs driven by hope and desire.
On the surface, these people come from very
different backgrounds and have very different life stories and paths that led
them to the coveted final table.
But are there some common traits that all these
winners share, or is it really anyone’s game?
That’s what we set out to discover in this article.
Looking at WSOP winners over the years, I’ll try to discover if there are certain qualities that a majority of these people share and if there are certain personality traits that make one likelier to triumph on poker’s largest stage.
From 2003-2020, we’ll look at the Main Event winner from each year to see if there are any patterns.
2003 – Chris Moneymaker
Image: YouTube
I’ve decided to start this article with the year 2003 because that was the year of the poker boom. It was in 2003 that one Chris Moneymaker, an unknown accountant from Tennessee, went on to do the impossible and capture the Main Event title.
The Moneymaker story is a well-known one, and
it’s what helped propel poker into a global phenomenon.
But was there something special about
Moneymaker that helped him win?
From a technical point of view, he was definitely an amateur and on a personal level, he wasn’t even all that motivated to play in the Main Event.
He won his entry through a satellite on
PokerStars, but he was inches away from throwing away the victory in favor of
taking a few grand for finishing “on the bubble”.
It was only at the insistence of his friend who
said he’d buy a piece of action to help cover his Las Vegas expenses that
Moneymaker decided to go for it.
There was nothing particularly remarkable about
his WSOP appearance, either (apart from the crazy run of cards, of course). His
table presence wasn’t spectacular in any way.
Still, he managed to take down the 2003 Main Event, defeating none other than Sammy Farha in the final skirmish for the title, forever changing the history of poker.
2004 – Greg Raymer
Image: YouTube
Greg “Fossilman” Raymer took down the 2004 Main Event, earning $5,000,000 for his efforts. Unlike Moneymaker, Raymer was a professional player for the best part of his life.
One similarity between both players is that
Greg also won his Main Event seat via a cheap ($160) online satellite.
Named “Fossilman” for his legendary fossil card
protectors, Raymer started out as a professional blackjack player. It was only
later that he switched to poker, realizing there was more money to be made
there.
He was very motivated to make his career as a professional gambler a success as that was his first and only career. The Main Event win, albeit unexpected, was one of the biggest targets he could hope to hit along the way.
As for his personality, Raymer has always had
quite a table presence. His weird sunglasses and willingness to engage in the
table banter with his opponents made him a fan favorite and a great ambassador
for the game after his win.
2005 – Joe Hachem
Image: YouTube
Australia-born Joe Hachem found his way into poker after his initial career as a chiropractor was brought to an abrupt end due to a rare medical condition.
As unfortunate as that development may have been, it was a blessing in disguise as well, as Hachem went on to build an impressive career in poker.
This includes his victory in the 2005 Main
Event, which brought him $7,500,000.
Despite his impressive results on the felt, Hachem has always kept his cool. He is one of the calmest, most collected people you’ll see on the circuit. No tilting, no swearing, and only some light table banter.
Always nice and friendly, he gives off the vibe
of a guy who wouldn’t bluff you if his life depended on it.
Maybe it was this quality that helped Hachem
make his way through the ranks of the poker world. He doesn’t give off the
feeling of someone who’s after your chips, but his results didn’t come by
accident.
But despite it all, Joe has always remained one
of the good guys of poker. He stayed away from any controversy and didn’t pick
up the “larger-than-life” attitude like some other winners on this
list.
2006 – Jamie Gold
Image: YouTube
Talking of “larger than life,” there is probably no one out there who hasn’t heard of Jamie Gold, the 2006 Main Event winner.
A talent agent by profession, it was only a
couple of years before 2006 that Gold seriously took up poker.
Jamie managed to secure his seat in the
tournament through a deal with Bodog, so he was clearly very motivated to play
but not motivated enough to put his own 10 grand on the line.
Poker skills aside, Gold definitely put up quite a show during his Main Event run.
Instead of trying to put up a poker face and
“out-stare” his opponents, he kept on talking and talking every time he was
involved in a hand.
Jamie was a real showman, which wasn’t that
surprising given his background. What was surprising, though, was that his
style was apparently working.
Somehow, he was able to talk his opponents into
doing exactly what he wanted – call him when he had the goods and throw away
their cards when he was bluffing.
Of course, luck had a lot to say in Gold’s 2006
victory, but his unorthodox style of play and the ability to confuse his
opponents certainly played a significant role as well.
2007 – Jerry Yang
Image: YouTube
Of all WSOP winners over the years, recreational
player Jerry Yang must be one of the most colorful personalities in the mix.
Much like Jamie Gold, he was a real presence on
the felt. But, unlike Gold, Yang wasn’t trying to throw his opponents off or
get reads on them.
His performance was marked by his firm belief
that his run in the Main Event was his destiny.
He believed God was by his side, and he was
very emotional all the way through. His sometimes excessive celebration after
winning big pots could be excused as he wasn’t a hardened pro, and he was on
the path to win a huge, truly life-changing amount of money.
While his demeanor wasn’t to everyone’s taste,
Jerry Yang was a passionate player and an interesting one to watch. That’s a
trait shared by quite a few winners, especially from the earlier period.
2008 – Peter Eastgate
Image: YouTube
Born in 1985, Eastgate became the youngest-ever WSOP Main Event winner at the time. His profile was much different from all the winners preceding him, though, announcing perhaps a new poker era.
Eastgate was one of the young guns who decided
to abandon the traditional career path and instead try to make living playing
poker. He also qualified for the Main Event that year via an online poker room
and arrived in Vegas as a part of the Ladbrokes team.
His win brought him $9.1 million and opened
doors for many interesting and lucrative opportunities.
However, during the Main Event and in his later
appearances, Eastgate never showed a great degree of passion or interest for
the game. He wasn’t explicitly saying it, but he always had the aura of a man
who was done with it.
Only a few years after the win, Eastgate confirmed these suspicions, announcing he was retiring from poker and even auctioned away his Main Event bracelet. Unlike most other champions who enjoyed the attention, Eastgate preferred to live his life away from the limelight.
These definitely aren’t common traits found in top-level professional poker players, but it only goes to show that the WSOP has seen many different types of winners over the years.
2009 – Joe Cada
Image: YouTube
Eastgate’s record as the youngest-ever champion
wasn’t long-lived. It was beaten the very next year when young Joe Cada went on
to win the Main Event at the age of 21.
Cada was very serious about poker as he was playing for real money online even before he turned 18 and started playing live games in Canada when he turned 19.
Truly passionate about poker and determined to
succeed, he built a successful career in the game. His Main Event victory was
just one of many to follow in upcoming years.
Yet, he’s never seemed too fazed by the money.
The 2009 win brought him $8.5 million, and over the years, he’s almost doubled
that amount, but you could never guess this by his demeanor or lifestyle.
Quiet, composed, and always focused on the
game, he’s one of those guys you might not even notice at the table. That is, until
you get involved in a pot with them.
Despite his unassuming nature, Cada is very
competitive and enjoys winning for the sake of winning, which is probably why
he’s been able to stay on the grind for so long and not complain about any of
it.
2010 – Jonathan
Duhamel
Image: YouTube
The first Canadian to win the Main Event,
Jonathan Duhamel, was just a few months older than Cada when he claimed the
title in 2010. He, too, decided to leave school and pursue the path of a
professional poker player.
As far as his table demeanor and personality,
he’s in the same boat with Eastgate and Cada.
He belongs to the generation of players who see
poker in an entirely different way. He wasn’t playing for theatrics or fun – he
was there to make money and be the best player he could in the game he fell in
love with.
Duhamel won $8.9 million in 2010, but his live
tournament earnings exceed $18 million. His Main Event success wasn’t a fluke,
and his later results clearly show that.
Looking at these three, there seems to be a bit
of a pattern. Young people determined to succeed and ready to do what it takes
to get to the top have done quite well in poker over the years.
These are people who didn’t see poker as a fun
pastime or just another casino game. They recognized it for what it was – a
game of skill – and then invested the time and effort to systematically get
better.
2011 – Pius Heinz
Image: YouTube
After reading previous paragraphs, you probably
won’t be surprised to hear that the 2011 Main Event winner Pius Heinz was born
in 1989. He, too, discovered poker at a very young age and started playing
online.
In fact, Heinz has never been too much into
live play. He barely made a few hundred thousand on the live circuit after his
$8.7 million win in the Main Event.
He studied the game hard and brushed his skills
online, and it wasn’t long before he was making a lot of money on the virtual
felt.
It’s pretty clear that the German has never
been interested in becoming famous. His Main Event victory probably opened many
sponsorship opportunities, and he probably could have traveled the world to
play tournaments left and right pretty much for free.
However, he chose not to.
Heinz went back to online poker and kept on
grinding. He’s probably one of the least famous Main Event winners out there.
Unlike some others on the list, he clearly
didn’t need to bolster his ego – being one of the best poker players was a
confirmation enough.
2012 – Greg Merson
Image: YouTube
Merson’s story isn’t all that different from
the few previous ones, at least as far as his poker endeavors are concerned.
He started young, playing six-max cash games
online, honing his skills on the virtual felt, and playing in some live
tournaments along the way.
However, Greg had to overcome a number of
personal struggles on his way to the top.
For many years, he was struggling with a drug
addiction, which was holding him back from realizing his full potential.
After some failed attempts, Merson finally overcame
his addiction in December of 2011, just months before his Main Even triumph
that brought him $8.5 million. Interestingly enough, he won another bracelet
that year in the $10,000 Six-max Championship, good for another $1.1 million.
The fact that he was able to overcome many
difficulties in such an epic fashion only shows that motivation and
determination go a long way and can definitely play a huge role in one’s path
to becoming a WSOP champion.
2013 – Ryan Riess
Image: YouTube
Ryan Riess is another young WSOP winner who
took up poker as a career. Born in 1990, he had some experience and success on
the live circuit but nothing that could prepare him for the big win that was
about to come his way.
Riess didn’t quit his education to play, as he
graduated from the Michigan State University, acquiring a hospitality business
degree.
Although slightly more flamboyant than his
young predecessors, Riess is another typical representative of the new wave of
WSOP champions.
The money he made that year helped propel his
career, and he’s stayed on the grind to this very day with a fair bit of
success.
Apart from some interviews and appearances
immediately following the win, Ryan Riess can hardly be called “famous” outside
of poker circles. In fact, when trying to name all the Main Event winners, his
name is on the list of candidates you’d likely forget.
This has nothing to do with Ryan’s ability to
play poker, of course.
Like quite a few others “new” champions, he chose
not to make a big deal out of it.
It seems like later Main Event winners weren’t
as fascinated by the idea of being game ambassadors and preferred to stay away
from the limelight.
2014 – Martin Jacobson
Image: YouTube
Talking of “quiet” WSOP champions,
unless you’re a proper poker fan, you might not even know the name of Martin
Jacobson.
The young Swede took down the 2014 Main Even
for an impressive amount of $10 million, but there was hardly any fuss about
it.
Jacobson started his career online as well,
gradually moving up the stakes. Like the rest of the young guns, he used the
advantages of the poker software and other available tools to improve his
skills and results.
But Jacobson has never shown much interest in
the fame and glory that came with winning the prestigious title.
He barely did any interviews immediately after
and has pretty much disappeared from the public eye.
While some other names on this list had a
similar approach, Martin really took it to the extreme.
It was for this reason that his name is barely
ever mentioned in the context of WSOP winners, although the amount won is tied
for the second-biggest Main Event prize, behind only Jamie Gold’s $12 million
win in 2006.
2015 – Joe McKeehen
Image: YouTube
Born in 1991, Joe McKeehen belongs to the same
category of Main Event winners described in the previous paragraphs. Young,
motivated, and fascinated by the game, he started playing at a very early age,
making his first online steps while still underage.
Before his Main Event triumph, McKeehen has
already acquired a lot of experience on the live felt. He started playing live
tournaments as soon as he turned 18, and just the year before, he came within
inches of winning a bracelet, finishing runner-up in the 2014 Monster Stack
event for $820,000.
Unlike many guys who would just come to play
poker, McKeehen has always been a vocal presence at the tables, to say the
least. He enjoys banter and “speech play” as much as anyone.
Although an common among those who came up
playing online poker, he clearly made it work.
Not everyone is fascinated by Joe’s table
antics, but the same can be said for any similar character, be it Jamie Gold or
Will Kassouf. Like him or not, he’s entertaining to watch and adds flair to the
games.
2016 – Qui Nguyen
Image: YouTube
After a series of Main Event winners from the
new generation of players, Qui Nguyen broke the pattern in 2016.
Born in 1977 in Vietnam, Nguyen moved to the
United States when he was 24, and he started playing poker in 2003, slowly
graduating from low limit games to No-Limit Hold’em.
Nguyen is everything that all the young
champions aren’t.
His love for gambling goes well beyond poker as he is a big fan of table games such as baccarat. He’s more of a professional gambler than a professional poker player.
Qui is a flamboyant character you’re definitely
going to notice at the tables.
His Main Event performance was marked by his
peculiar clothing style, especially his raccoon hat that fans simply fell in
love with.
Add to this a very aggressive style that was
more based on the feeling and willingness to gamble than on the game theory,
and you get a proper old-school winner in 2016.
Nguyen wasn’t camera-shy, either.
He enjoyed giving interviews and even turned
his Main Event experience into a book. He was very proud of his achievement and
wanted the whole world to know about it.
2017 – Scott Blumstein
Image: YouTube
The 2016 Main Event was somewhat of disruption,
but things got back on track in 2017. That year, the young American Scott
Blumstein took home the title and $8.15 million for first place.
That win was by far the biggest in Blumstein’s
career as his total live tournament earnings stand at around $8.6 million.
As far as his personality is concerned, Scott
seems like a genuinely nice guy. Instead of excessive celebrations or taunting
his opponents, he seemed to genuinely share their pain when they ended up on
the losing end of an all-in.
This isn’t to say that he wasn’t happy about
winning, but there was nothing striking about his performance in 2017. He was a
genuine, humble winner, which can’t be said about too many poker players.
2018 – John Cynn
Image: YouTube
John Cynn found his way into poker after trying
his hand at a traditional career. He worked as an IT consultant for a while but
realized that he needed a change. Poker presented itself as an interesting
alternative, and Cynn decided to take a chance.
That decision turned out to be a very good one,
as he went on to win the 2018 Main Event to the tune of $8.8 million at the age
of 34.
While this was a huge result for Cynn, his run
through the tournament was remarkable in any non-poker sense. He was there to
play poker, and he didn’t attract much attention to himself.
After his victory, he quickly got back to his
regular life. He kept playing poker, of course, but he wasn’t actively trying
to cash in on the title, nor was he looking to live the life of a poker
superstar.
2019 – Hossein Ensan
Image: YouTube
The 2019 WSOP champion Hossein Ensan definitely doesn’t belong to the new school of GTO players.
Born in 1984 in Iran, he moved to Germany in
1989. He had to build his life in a foreign country, starting with all sorts of
jobs and eventually creating his own taxi company in 2003.
Unlike many on this list, Hossein Ensan didn’t
find his fortune thanks to poker.
In fact, he fell in love with the game pretty
late, when he was 39. Although he enjoys playing cards and has $13 million in
live winnings ($10 million coming from the Main Event win), he could hardly be
called a professional.
As for his personality, Hossein is a bit of an
enigma. His style threw off everyone, even the hardened pros. He wasn’t playing
what would be considered “good” poker by today’s standards, but his
unorthodox approach somehow still worked.
Although not afraid to engage in the table
banter and throw some jabs, Ensan strikes you as more of a withdrawn, silent
type. He enjoyed every moment of the ride through the Main Event as he probably
didn’t expect to win.
He’s more of an aspiring amateur in love with
the game than anything else.
2020 – Damian Salas
Image: YouTube
Damian Salas , the final name of this list of
WSOP winners, is the first Argentinian poker player to win the Main Event.
The 1975-born lawyer has an impressive poker résumé,
with great live and online results alike.
Unfortunately, due to the majority of the event
taking place online and only the final table played live, we didn’t get to see
much of Salas in action.
From what was shown, he seems like a fairly
down-to-earth character despite his successful career.
Gracious in victory and defeat, he would be a
good ambassador for the game if he wanted to take on that role.
Summary: Is There a Common
Trait WSOP Champions Share?
After looking into all these Main Event winners
over the years, can we find certain personality traits that all or most of them
have in common?
Is there a characteristic that makes one player
likelier to triumph on the greatest poker stage than the other?
There really doesn’t seem to be too much of a
pattern. The World Series has seen winners from all age groups, experience
levels, and backgrounds.
One thing that does stand out is that the
biggest percentage of winners in recent years comes from the group of young,
motivated players who took on poker in full capacity and entirely devoted
themselves to the game.
Given that poker is the game of skill, it
stands to reason that those willing to learn and improve have better odds of
winning, even in a massive field such as the Main Event.
But, as Hossein Ensan and Qui Nguyen demonstrated, even in today’s day and age, anyone can still win.
All it takes is some luck in the right spots
and the desire to win.
Whether you’ve got an OTT, loud personality or you’re
more of the silent type, it doesn’t matter.
There is no way to predict who the next WSOP Main Event winner will be based on personality traits alone.
And that’s just one of the reasons poker is such a wonderful game!
Lead image: WSOP.com
