Portugal has produced some incredible poker players over the years. Many of them are in or heading to Las Vegas for the 2021 World Series of Poker. Only six players from Portugal have won a WSOP bracelet, which is surprising considering the immense talent the country has in its poker ranks.
Two of the players on this list have WSOP bracelets to their names. We would not bet against any of this quintet returning to Portugal this fall with more poker gold.
Joao Vieira is Number One in Portugal for Live and Online Poker
Joao Vieira is the biggest winner for live and online poker in all of Portugal. Vieira has $3,810,652 in live tournament winnings plus a ridiculous $26,077,307 from the online grind.
2019 was Vieira’s best year in the live poker arena. He was the runner-up in the WPT Barcelona High Roller for €129,200 ($146,270) in March and followed that up by winning the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed event at the WSOP. The victory netted Vieira $758,011 and a coveted WSOP bracelet.
Nobody has won more money than Vieira in online poker history. He plays a ridiculous number of MTTs each week and does so with massive success. Vieira has banked more than $460,000 twice in 2021 in addition to a dozen or so six-figure prizes. The man is a beast of a poker player.
Pedro Marques Hails From Portugal But Loves Playing in Spain
Pedro Marques calls Corroios, Portugal, home but the man shines whenever he plays in Spain. All four of his four biggest cashes happened in Barcelona. Marques won €300,000 ($352,775) in a $2,200 High Roller in 2017. He followed that up with a fourth-place finish in the 2018 EPT Barcelona Main Event, which netted him €698,369 ($813,371). The following year, he won a €10,300 High Roller and finished third in a €25,000 High Roller for €330,580 ($366,578) and €313,070 ($346,592) respectively.
Those impressive results assist Marques in accumulating $2,324,480 in earnings. He is no slouch in the online world either; he has $7,229,063 in winnings right now.
Diogo Veiga is a World Series of Poker Champion
Diogo Veiga comes in at third in the Portugal all-time money listing courtesy of his $2,151,332 in earnings. A significant chunk of that total comes from three huge results in 2018.
Veiga finished sixth in a €10,300 Main Event in Barcelona for €450,000 ($555,144) in April. It gave him the bankroll and confidence to head to Las Vegas for the WSOP. He entered the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em event and won it for an additional $522,715. Veiga capped off a fabulous year by netting $400,000 in the Caribbean.
He has millions in online winning under his “phounderAA” alias.
Joao Barbosa is One of Two Portuguese EPT Winners
Joao Barbosa exploded onto the poker scene in 2008 and while he has not exactly lived up to his early promise, he has a rightful play in the Portugal all-time money list. Barbosa has $2,006,507 in live tournament winnings
Barbosa’s first live recorded cash was worth €115,800 ($179,240), his reward for winning a €1,500 event in Madrid, Spain. He won EPT Warsaw six months later for €367,140 ($460,566), which is still his best-ever score.
The man from Vila Nova De Gaia, Portugal, is a cash game specialist who crushes live and online but dabbles in MTTs quite regularly.
Fernando Brito is Successful On and Off the Felt
Fernando Brito is lives in Brazil but is Portugal through and through. Brito is a hugely successful businessman who has enjoyed some superb poker results. His lifetime winnings tip the scales at $1,976,516.
Brito has been a familiar face at the WSOP since 2012 and has racked up 50 cashes. Those cashes are worth $805,455 in total, although a bracelet eludes the veteran. He has twice come close to winning some poker jewelry. A third-place in a $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event in 2012 and a runner-up finish in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha Mixed event in 2018 were near misses indeed.
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Brad Johnson
You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.