button in SafariHigh Roller History at the World Series of Poker (WSOP)
The 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) recently ended its $25,000 Heads-Up Championship, and the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller is entering Day 3. While there are plenty of high rollers on this year’s schedule, that wasn’t always the case.
The first "High Roller" WSOP tournament with a buy-in of $25,000 or more was the 2006 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E., which has now become the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, won by Chip Reese for $1,784,640. He prevailed over a stacked field of 143 after an epic seven-and-a-half-hour heads-up battle with Andy Bloch.
It was the only game in town until 2009, when the $40,000 40th Anniversary NLH Event became the second high roller, although it was a one-time event won by Vitaly Lunkin for $1,891,018.
In 2010, the Poker Players Championship (PPC) officially joined the Las Vegas festival with a $50,000 buy-in and is now considered by many to be the de facto world championship.
WSOP Europe joined the party in 2013 with the €25,000 NLH High Roller (about $34,603 USD), while the first online High Rollers were the 2020 $25,000 NLHE Poker Players Championship and $25,000 Heads-Up NLH: People's Choice Event on GGPoker.
The floodgates opened in 2023 when WSOP Paradise debuted, featuring two $25,000, one $50,000, and one $100,000 events.
$25,000+ Buy-in Events By Year
| Year | Events w/ Buy-ins $25K+ |
|---|---|
| 2006-08 | 1 |
| 2009-12 | 2 |
| 2013-15 | 4 |
| 2016 | 3 |
| 2017 | 5 |
| 2018 | 7 |
| 2019 | 10 |
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2021-22 | 12 |
| 2023 | 18 |
| 2024 | 21 |
| 2025 | 25 |
When it comes to WSOP High Roller bracelets, 11 players are tied with two each. The players with two high roller bracelets are Aleksejs Ponakovs, Alex Foxen, Chad Eveslage, Dan Cates, Daniel Negreanu, Fedor Holz, Jason Koon, Jonathan Duhamel, Martin Kabrhel, Santhosh Suvarna, and Stephen Chidwick.
Brian Rast, Joao Vieira, and Michael Addamo are tied with three apiece, while Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi and Shaun Deeb are tied for the all-time lead with four.
Most High Roller Final Tables
| Place | Player | Final Tables |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Brian Rast | 10 |
| 6 | Chance Kornuth | 10 |
| 6 | Daniel Negreanu | 10 |
| 6 | Martin Kabrhel | 10 |
| 6 | Stephen Chidwick | 10 |
| 4 | Ben Lamb | 11 |
| 4 | Isaac Haxton | 11 |
| 3 | Jason Koon | 12 |
| 2 | Adrian Mateos | 13 |
| 1 | Phil Ivey | 16 |
Most High Roller Cashes
| Place | Player | Cashes |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | 8 players tied | 17 |
| 6 | Alex Foxen | 19 |
| 4 | Jason Koon | 20 |
| 4 | Phil Ivey | 22 |
| 2 | Adrian Mateos | 22 |
| 2 | Stephen Chidwick | 22 |
| 1 | Daniel Negreanu | 26 |
The players with 17 cashes are Chance Kornuth, Christoph Vogelsang, Dan Smith, Justin Bonomo, Martin Kabrhel, Nick Schulman, Scott Seiver, and Shaun Deeb.
Most High Roller Winnings
| hPlace | Player | Winnings |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | $10,722,275 |
| 9 | Adrian Mateos | $11,951,321 |
| 8 | Alejandro Lococo | $12,833,420 |
| 7 | Ben Heath | $14,764,795 |
| 6 | Fedor Holz | $15,028,689 |
| 5 | Justin Bonomo | $15,041,128 |
| 4 | Daniel Negreanu | $16,089,417 |
| 3 | Dan Colman | $17,038,561 |
| 2 | Alex Foxen | $17,072,233 |
| 1 | Antonio Esfandiari | $20,293,720 |
This final list is, of course, dominated by results from the three $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop tournaments. If you remove those results, the list looks like this:
Most High Roller Winnings Without Big One for One Drop
| Place | Player | Winnings |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Fedor Holz | $9,028,689 |
| 9 | Stephen Chidwick | $9,113,517 |
| 8 | Chris Hunichen | $9,150,441 |
| 7 | Bernhard Binder | $10,000,000 |
| 6 | Martin Kabrhel | $10,400,948 |
| 5 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | $10,722,275 |
| 4 | Adrian Mateos | $11,951,321 |
| 3 | Alejandro Lococo | $12,833,420 |
| 2 | Ben Heath | $14,764,795 |
| 1 | Alex Foxen | $17,072,233 |
If you also remove the 2024 Paradise Island $500,000 Triton Million, Heath and Lococo drop off the list, replaced by Joao Vieira and Isaac Haxton.
