Sam Trickett is taking a break from the poker world, according to a tweet sent by the superstar. Trickett is one of the biggest winners of all time with $21,782,558 in live tournament earnings.
Trickett’s rise to superstardom is well documented. He harbored dreams of becoming a professional soccer player, but a severe knee injury ended his sports career before it fully got off the ground.
The Nottingham-born star in the making turned to playing 8-ball pool and became a good player. Trickett practiced daily and became a superb player. The lack of financial incentives for becoming the best player put him off progressing further.
Trickett discovered £10,000 was the prize for becoming world champion. He valued money from an early age.
Trickett Discovers Poker
He trained as a gas engineer with his soccer and pool days behind him. A chance meeting in the local pub led to a glistening poker career. His local pub held poker nights, and Trickett took an instant shine to the game. It is fair to say he became almost obsessive about improving his poker skills.
May 2007 is when Trickett’s love for poker began shining. Trickett won a £110 buy-in tournament for £3,610. Several four-figure prizes followed before Trickett won big at the 2008 World Series of Poker. He finished fourth in a $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for $245,927.
Trickett won a £1,060 GUKPT Main Event a month after returning from Vegas and won £109,050 ($215,178). His career accelerated from that point.
A trip to the 2010 WSOP saw Trickett cash seven times. A seventh-place finish in the $25,000 NLHE six-handed event netted him $141,168. He was the runner-up in a $5,000 NLHE event for an additional $505,725, which is still one of his ten biggest cashes.
Trickett’s Top 10 Cashes
| Date | Tournament | Place | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2012 | $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop | 2nd | $10,112,001 |
| Feb 2013 | A$250,000 Challenge | 1st | $2,111,397 |
| Jan 2011 | A$100,000 Challenge | 1st | $1,508,258 |
| Jan 2011 | A$250,000 Challenge | 2nd | $1,384,631 |
| Sep 2011 | €8,500 Partouche Poker Tour Main Event | 1st | $1,364,666 |
| Aug 2012 | HK$2,000,000 Super High Roller | 7th | $999,186 |
| Jun 2010 | $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 2nd | $505,725 |
| Mar 2020 | $25,500 Super High Roller | 1st | $435,000 |
| Oct 2019 | €25,500 Platinum High Roller | 2nd | $412,256 |
| Aug 2014 | €50,000 EPT Barcelona Super High Roller | 5th | $386,346 |
The next couple of years were a whirlwind; Trickett could not stop banking vast sums of money.
A trip to the 2011 Aussie Millions saw Trickett return home with almost $2.9 million in tournament winnings. Rumors have it he won even more in high-stakes cash games while in Australia.
2012 is when Trickett changed his life forever. He finished second to Antonio Esfandiari in the inaugural Big One for One Drop event. Trickett turned his $1 million buy-in into $10,112,001.
Look at the above table that lists his top ten cashes; it is ridiculous.
Trickett’s love for tournaments waned because he was a big winner in high-stakes cash games. He won untold millions of dollars in Macau; some pots weighed in at seven figures.
So why step away from a game you love? Why stop playing a game that you print money at?
Putting Family First
Trickett and his wife, model Mieke Dockley, became parents in October 2020. Becoming a father has changed Trickett’s outlook on life. Playing poker at the highest level is quite a selfish profession. It involves spending a lot of time on the road, often for weeks at a time. The British star wants to spend more time with his family.
He informed the world of his decision via his army of 54,800 Twitter followers.
“Life looks a little different for me these days, and to be able to spend more time with my family, I’ve decided to take some time out from my role with partypoker. It’s been one of the toughest decisions of my life, and a big thank you to all the staff and everyone involved.”
There is no doubt we will see Trickett at the poker tables again, but he is concentrating on being a good dad right now.
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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.