The Five Biggest Scottish Live Poker Tournament Winners

Scotland is only a small country with a population of 5.31 million, similar to Minnesota, but many top poker players call Scotland home. Some Scottish players have global reputations thanks to their incredible results. Others are better known for enjoying themselves at the tables.

The top five Scottish live poker tournament players have $16,777,162 in earnings between them. One completed poker’s Triple Crown of an EPT, WPT, and WSOP title. Who? Keep reading to find out.

Niall Farrell is the Scottish Triple Crown Winner

Niall Farrell is the Scottish number one thank to $6,237,941 in winnings. Farrell started as a keen amateur, playing in low-stakes live events and grinding online poker, before moving up as his experience and bankroll allowed.

2012 is when things started clicking. Nine five-figure scores and a $366,815 prize came his way that year. The latter was Farrell’s reward for a second-place finish in a $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP.

Solid results continued, and Farrell became a European Poker Tour champion when he won EPT Malta for €534,330 ($588,592). Farrell triumphed in the WPT Caribbean Main Event in 2016 for $335,000 before winning the €25,000 High Roller event at the 2017 WSOP Europe for €745,287 ($867,591), thus completing the Triple Crown.

The man from Dumfries has an additional $3.9 million from online poker tournaments.

David Vamplew Was The First Scottish EPT Champion

David Vamplew was a relatively unknown quantity when he entered the 2010 EPT London Main Event. Vamplew found himself heads-up against John Juanda several days later. The Scottish grinder defeated Juanda to walk away with £900,000 ($1,408,406).

Vamplew spent the next few years traveling the world playing tournaments and helping himself to big scores online. He won $2.2 million at PokerStars alone, plus $3,878,238 from live events.

He last played a live event in February 2018 before turning his back on the game. Highly intelligent, Vamplew achieved a Masters degree with distinction in Financial Modelling and Optimisation after quitting poker.

Ludovic Geilich Plays Big Live and Online

Ludovic Geilich is another Scottish poker player who exploded onto the scene. Geilich was playing low-stakes MTT online when he won his way into a €1,100 buy-in event in Marbella, Spain. The Scottish loose-aggressive star finished in first place for €130,000 ($171,789). Geilich won another £193,340 ($313,482) four months later. He was not a fully-fledged poker pro.

Geilich’s 12 six-figure live scores help his lifetime winnings weigh in at $3,062,233. He has another $4,161,936 from his online exploits, including a $462,182 score in September 2016.

Aymon Hata Came Close To Winning a WSOP Bracelet

Aymon Hata is a Scottish-Japanese star with $2,681,553 in live tournament winnings. A hugee chunk of that sum, $1,247,230, to be exact, stems from one result. Hata finished third in the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the 2018 WSOP. He outlasted such luminaries as Jason Koon, Stephen Chidwick, and Bryn Kenney, but fell at the penultimate hurdle. Nick Petrangelo defeated Elio Fox that day and won $2,910,227.

Hata’s last live events took place at the 2020 Aussie Millions. It should not be long before we see Hata back at the felt.

Gordon Huntley Hails From Scotland But Calls Australia Home

Gordon Huntley is a Scottish poker lover who resides in Australia. Huntley has $917,198 in live tournament earnings the bulk of which came between 2010 and 2013. Huntley combined his love of travel with poker, and entered tournaments wherever he found himself.

His best result came in March 2012 in a A$2,200 event in Sydney, Australia. Huntley came out on top of a 461-strong field and won A$226,812 ($238,832). His only other six-figure haul happened in Manila in March 2010. Huntley finished second in a $2,500 buy-in APPT event for $166,800.

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.

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