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Seat 4: Samuel Ju, 42, Berlin, Germany – 4,000,000
Entrepreneur and startup investor, Samuel Ju, only became passionate about poker a few years ago, after discovering the game’s strategic and competitive aspects. Since mid-2022, he has accumulated more than $3.8 million in live tournament earnings, competing in some of the toughest events worldwide.
Co-founder of an app that combines bankroll management, live event scheduling, and social networking, now with thousands of users, Ju has established himself among poker industry professionals and has also become one of Germany’s elite players.
He is still doing both: traveling for poker while working on various other projects, including the development of an artificial intelligence-related application. “I’m tired but super happy and focused,” he says.
Player bios courtesy of Jan Kores/Florenze Mazet/Howard Swains/PokerStars
Career statistics
The Hendon Mob Earnings: $3,881,851
EPT Main Event cashes: 3
Best result: 93rd, 2023 EPT Monte-Carlo (€13,050)
Tournament progression
Day 1: 240,000 (4/177, 1B)
Day 2: 313,000 (31/151)
Day 3: 287,000 (40/48)
Day 4: 1,640,000 (7/20)
Day 5: 4,000,000 (3/8)
Key hands
Ju started Day 4 as one of the shorter stacks, but won aces against ace-king early on to climb above the average stack.
On Day 5, Ju won two sizable pots against Mirsolav Rizov, with the last one eliminating the Bulgarian player in 11th place