The 10 Biggest Online Poker Tournament Winners

Online poker tournament grinders are the players who poker news outlets rave about. They help to sell the dream that poker can see you win vast sums of money in a short time. There is a lot of luck involved in tournament poker, but equally as much skill.

Being able to continue playing their A-game in times of hardship is what separates the boys from the men. These 10 online poker tournament grinders have won the most money, but that only tells part of the story. All 10 players are massively in profit, but their profits will be a fraction of the figure you read about. The same is true for live poker players because buy-ins are not counted, just winnings. That said, there are some incredible sums mentioned in the top 10. Let us check them out.

Peter “Belabacsi” Traply: $16,872,977 in Online Poker Tournament Winnings

Hungary’s Peter “Belabacsi” Traply has won an incredible $16,872,977 from the online poker tournament grind. The Hungarian has finished in the money more than 27,500 times and has won 1,100 tournaments. Some players go their entire careers without an outright victory, but Traply has 1,100 of them. Let that sink in for a while.

Almost $8.5 million of Traply’s winnings stem from his play at PokerStars and his biggest single cash weighs in at an impressive $312,360. It is probably best not to tangle with Traply if you come across him playing online poker!

Chris “Moorman1” Moorman: $16,153,095

Chris “Moorman1” Moorman of the United Kingdom was the first player to surpass $15 million in winnings. The popular pro has cashed in almost 11,500 online poker tournaments and is five victories shy of 400. Moorman’s biggest prize was worth $235,592 which he earned in March 2011 at Full Tilt.

He is one of the rare players who can replicate his online form in the live arena. Moorman has accumulated almost $5.9 million from live poker tournaments helped by a WPT title and WSOP bracelet.

Niklas “Lena900” Astedt: $15,877,940

Niklas “Lena900” Astedt is the first Swedish online poker tournament player in the top 10. Astedt has an almost unnatural ability to reach final tables in the online poker world. The Swedish number one ranked players has 271 victories from 7,559 cashes, although those figures do not include his new alias at partypoker. Partypoker forced its players to change their nicknames a couple of months ago. Astedt has kept his new name secret, presumably to try and fly under the radar during his daily grind.

Andras “probirs” Nemeth: $14,344,640

Andras “probirs” Nemeth, like the aforementioned Traply, hails from Hungary; there must be something in the water there! Nemeth is found frequenting high stakes online, often the biggest events he can find. He once won a ridiculous $576,087 at PokerStars by triumphing in a $25,000 SCOOP event. More than $8.4 million of his $14.3 million in cashes come from PokerStars tournaments.

Nemeth has close to $2.9 million in live poker tournament winnings, enough for third in the Hungarian all-time money list. He won a €25,000 buy-in High Roller at the 2018 EPT Barcelona festival for €605,600, his largest ever cash.

Simon “C.Darwin2” Mattsson: $13,429,826

Sweden’s second representative in the top 10 is Simon “C.Darwin2” Mattsson, a phenomenal player. His average online poker tournament cash weighs in at $2,389 and he has 5,622 cashes to his name! Mattsson has eight six-figure prizes on his resume, including one worth $267,407. Like the Hungarians, the Swedes have some mightily impressive players hailing from their country.

Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar: $13,200,743

Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar is another Swedish player in the top 10 thanks to his $13.2 million worth of cashes. Korsar has more than 7,000 online poker tournament cashes to his name, but only five in the live arena. Why would you go to the trouble of traveling to live events when you can just crush them online?

Korsar is a prominent poker coach when he’s not playing online and one of the rare players who also excels in cash games in addition to tournament poker.

Sebastian “p0cket00” Sikorski: $12,923,428

Sebastian “p0cket00” Sikorski is Canada’s sole representative in the top 10. Sikorski has been a force for many years, grinding online since 2007. In light of this, it should be no surprise to learn he has almost 9,500 online poker tournament cashes.

The Canadian just loves playing poker. You can find him in the highest buy-in tournaments online, but he also turns up in $11 games too.

Chris “Gettin Daize” Oliver: $12,622,773

Chris “Gettin Daize” Oliver is one of America’s poker refugees. Oliver moved to Costa Rica after Black Friday to continue his online tournament grind. The American is a high volume player, often grinding dozens of tables at a time. This has resulted in more than 13,500 cashes in a career dating back to 2007

A controversial character because of his blasé attitude, Oliver has as many detractors as he does fans.

Andreas “r4ndomr4gs” Berggren: $12,535,427

Andreas “r4ndomr4gs” Berggren comes in at number nine, yet another Swedish superstar. Berggren is another high volume players, like Oliver, with over 11,000 online poker tournament cashes. The Swede recently broke his record for largest tournament cash when he finished third in the €10,300 High Roller at EPT Barcelona. It netted him €451,520, smashing his previous best of $174,150 out of the park.

Roman “RomeoPro” Romanovsky: $12,533,933

Last but not least is Ukraine’s Roman “RomeoPro” Romanovsky, a player who has said is will retire from the game soon. Nobody knows when that retirement will happen, probably not while he has the ability to add to his near 9,800 online poker tournament cashes.

Romanovsky is a likable man thanks in part to the charitable donations he makes. He is a player from humble beginnings who has really made a name and $12.5 million for himself.

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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