The Five Biggest Canadian Tournament Winners

Canada has produced some of poker’s greatest players, especially in the tournament world. The United States is still king, but being a Canadian certainly doesn’t hinder you on the path to superstardom. Canadian Timothy Adams recently won the Super High Roller Bowl Australia, so we’re looking at the biggest Canadian tournament winners. Let’s get this show on the road.

Daniel Negreanu: Biggest Canadian Winner ($42,053,307)

Daniel Negreanu is the biggest Canadian winner and by a huge margin. The former PokerStars ambassador has accumulated $42,053,307 in live poker tournament winnings, enough for third-place on the overall leaderboard.

The Canadian star has six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets to his name. Eight of his tournament scores weigh in at $1 million or more. Negreanu’s largest cash is worth $8,288,001, his reward for a runner-up finish in the 2014 Big One for One Drop.

More recently, Negreanu signed with GGPoker as a brand ambassador. We wouldn’t bet against him breaking through $50 million in winnings this year.

Sam Greenwood ($21,416,344)

Sam Greenwood is one of the best poker players in the world, never mind one of the best Canadian players. The tournament specialist has $21,416,344 in live winnings and an additional $6,814,213 from online poker.

The Ontario resident burst onto the live poker scene in 2015 when he amassed $2,040,020 in winnings. He has won at least $2 million every year since. An incredible $13,894,190 of Greenwood’s total winnings stem from the past two years. He enjoyed his best results in 2019, walking away with $8,146,727 across the year.

Greenwood has banked nine seven-figure prizes in his career so far. The largest weighs in at $1,853,387, his reward for winning a €100,000 Super High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo.

Timothy Adams ($20,626,384)

Timothy Adams finds himself within touching distance of Greenwood after his Super High Roller Bowl Australia victory. Adams only needs $789,960 more to leapfrog Greenwood into second place on the Canadian leaderboard.

Being a model professional is possibly Adams’ best feature, literally, nobody has a bad word to say against him. Everyone was delighted when Adams won his first and only WSOP bracelet in 2012. Adams defeated Brendon Rubie of Australia heads-up in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Four-Handed event to win $392,476.

He prefers a quality over quantity approach to his poker tournament schedule, so doesn’t play as many events. Adams has won $20,626,384 live and $2,047,237 online despite lacking the volume of some of his peers.

Jonathan Duhamel: Canadian WSOP Main Event Champion ($18,012,109)

Jonathan Duhamel is the only Canadian on our list to have won the WSOP Main Event. Duhamel won the 2010 WSOP Main Event for $8,944,310, which is still his biggest cash. He triumphed in the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop five years later for $3,989,985 for his second bracelet.

Duhamel was sponsored by PokerStars, although they let him go in 2015. Controversy has followed Duhamel in the latter stages of his career. Rumors about his drunken behavior at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure refuse to go away. Also, his former ex-girlfriend was involved in an armed robbery that resulted in injuries to Duhamel.

The Canadian used to be backed by the billionaire co-founder of Cirque du Soleil Guy Laliberte. That deal appears to have expired, however, as Duhamel has not cash in a tournament for two years.

Daniel Dvoress ($15,607,625)

Daniel Dvoress started playing online poker in 2007 and has since become one of the best Canadian poker players. Dvoress boasts of $15,607,625 in live tournament winnings, more than half coming in 2019.

Last year saw Dvoress win $2,717,155 in Montenegro at the Triton poker Super High Roller Series. Dvoress’ biggest prize still is the $4,080,000 he scooped for taking down the Super High Roller Bowl in The Bahamas.

Others who reside in the current Canadian top 10 are Mike McDonald, Sorel Mizzi, Michael Watson, Peter Jetten, and Mike Leah.

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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