Idaho is known as the Gem State and there are a few poker diamonds who hail from the state. Idaho borders six other states which could be why its best poker players are great at a number of different variants.
The five biggest live poker tournament winners from Idaho have racked up $12,201,408 in winnings. The bulk of that impressive total stems from its top two earners. Who are those superstars? Let us find out right now.
Kevin MacPhee Is The Biggest Poker Winner From Idaho
Kevin MacPhee of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho began playing poker in 2003. MacPhee saw Chris Moneymaker turn a satellite into the WSOP Main Event title and wanted to emulate his success. MacPhee hasn’t won the WSOP Main Event, yet, but he has some incredible results.
PocketFives ranked MacPhee as high as seventh in the world for online poker tournaments in 2009. Winning $7,746,114 makes MacPhee one of the biggest winners in the online poker world. Most his winnings, $4,512,524, stems from playing at PokerStars under the alias “ImaLuckSac”.
MacPhee has won $5,953,671 from live poker tournaments, too. He won EPT Berlin in 2010 after armed robbers stormed the casino. That netted him €1,000,000 ($1,356,428). 2015 saw MacPhee won two WSOP bracelets. The first came in the $5,000 NL Hold’em Turbo in Las Vegas. He also won the €10,450 WSOP Europe Main Event for €883,000 ($1,001,576).
Dylan Linde Lives in Vancouver But Idaho Is Home
Dylan Linde lives in Vancouver but grew up in Coeur D’Alene like MacPhee. Indeed, Linde and MacPhee are good friends; Linde even chose the online alias “ImaLucSac”
Linde has $6,033,435 in online poker winnings plus an additional $4,231,127 from live events. A WSOP bracelet eludes Linde, although he won a circuit ring in Hammond in 2016.
His biggest-ever score came in 2018 in Las Vegas. Linde was one of 1,001 entrants in the $10,400 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event. A week later, Linde was the last man standing and banked an incredible $1,631,468.
Linde loves playing non-hold’em games such as Omaha and other mixed game. He wrote a book called “Mastering Mixed Games” which is a fantastic read, check it out.
Michael Kinney Of Sand Point, Idaho
Michael Kinney of Sand Point, Idaho isn’t anywhere near as prolific as MacPhee or Linde yet still has $948,483 in winnings. The bulk of that sum came in 2004 in a $5,100 WPT Main Event at Grand Sierra Resort, Reno. It is here that this photo of Kinney comes from.
Kinney battled with the likes of Dan Heimiller, JC Tran, and John Juanda during the Main Event. He eventually found himself heads-up against the legend that is Paul “Eskimo” Clark. Kinney got the job done and banked $629,469, leaving Clark to collect $310,403.
It’s rare to see Kinney at the tables these days and he’s only cashed twice in the last two years.
Chad Wassmuth Is Closing In On $750K In Winnings
Lewiston, Idaho is where you find Chad Wassmuth when he’s not playing poker. Wassmuth’s first recorded live cash was an outright victory for $13,580. He has gone on to cash in 88 other tournaments, winning nine more events.
His biggest score from a victory weighs in at $67,154, his reward for triumphing in a $2,000 buy-in event. That isn’t Wassmuth’s biggest prize, however. That is reserved for his runner-up finish in the 2014 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Wassmuth scooped $142,299 after losing heads-up to Jason Ryan Helder.
Wassmuth cashes consistently each year and now has $742,292 in earnings. Plenty more money is heading is way, mark our words.
Mans Montgomery From The Awesomely Named Eagle
Mans Montgomery of the brilliantly named Eagle, Idaho is the state’s fifth-biggest winner. Montgomery has accumulated $351,893 in live tournament winnings. He has a knack of cashing in the WSOP Main Event. 2007 saw him finish in 161st place and net a career-best $58,570. Montgomery cashed again in 2019 and 2019. He’s going about it right whatever he’s doing.
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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.