From 1 cent to $5,800: the story of the millionth ROI from "VanaMoldovan"

Author

Vargoso

Published

9/4/2025

Updated

9/4/2025

Another "poker Cinderella" story happened at CoinPoker. A player under the nickname "VanaMoldovan" qualified for the Sunday Special $40K GTD tournament for $200, starting from a step satellite with a buy-in of only $0.01. In the end, the player took second place and received $5,800.

One cent and a little luck

Anyone familiar with the history of poker knows about Chris Moneymaker's victory in the 2003 WSOP Main Event, which he entered through an inexpensive satellite. Then the American showed an ROI of 2,906,877%. Even more impressive victories are known online, if we consider the ratio of the initial deposit and the amount of winnings.

From August 19 to 24, CoinPoker player "VanaMoldovan" went from a step satellite with a buy-in of 1 cent to second place in the TOP event Sunday Special $40K GTD for $200 and a payout of $5,800.

That is, the ROI of the player from Moldova was 57,999,900%!

What path did «VanaMoldovan» take?

Step 1: $0.01 Centroll — the beginning of the journey

Participants: 341
Prize: $2 ticket

CoinPoker hosts several Centrolls every day, with tickets ranging from $1 to $8.8 being played for. On August 19, «VanaMoldovan» turned 1 cent into a $2 ticket in a similar tournament.

341 players were competing for 100 tickets, and our hero only needed to get into the TOP-29%.

Step 2: $2 Feeder

Participants: 123
Prize: $25 ticket

In the next satellite, «VanaMoldovan» was among the top 12 players, which allowed him to advance.

Step 3: Mega Satellite

Participants: 63
Prize: $250 ticket

The next day, he won a ticket to the Sunday event, having passed the satellite with even fewer participants and a guarantee of 10 tickets.

Step 4: Sunday Special - dreams come true!

Participants: 216
Prize: $5,800

The main difference between the Sunday Special and satellites is the level of the field. Many strong regulars played at the tournament tables.

"VanaMoldovan" reached heads-up, where he lost to "tidontbelievei". It's a shame to stop one step away from first place, but considering the path he's traveled, even second place is a unique achievement.

Even more ROI

VanaMoldovan's achievement is not an absolute record for the highest ROI in online poker history, but it does show how impressive the path from a minimum buy-in to a serious win can be.

Date	Tournament	Player	Initial buy-in	Winning	ROI
09/2012	$5,200 WCOOP Main Event	"maratik"	40 FPPs (~$0.64)	$1,000,907.26	156,391,659%
10/2015	$0.01 Common Cents Kick-Off	"DaDumon"	$0.01	$10,000	99,999,900%
03/2020	$215 Sunday Million	"AAAArthur"	$0.25	$1,192,802	477,120,700%