The Top 5 Most Successful WSOP Players Without a Bracelet

Sam Trickett: $11.68 million

Sam Trickett earned half of his WSOP winnings, but never won a single tournament. The Brit made his WSOP debut in 2008 and immediately finished fourth in a $5K event. Two years later, he had cashed in six tournaments in Las Vegas.

In 2012, he came within a whisker of the most prestigious trophy when he reached heads-up in the Big One for One Drop with a buy-in of $1 million, but lost to Antonio Esfandiari.

Trickett now has six WSOP final table appearances, losing three heads-up. It seemed a bracelet was just a matter of time, but the last time he participated in WSOP was in 2019.

Christoph Vogelsang: $10.35 million

One of the most consistent high rollers of his generation and No. 2 on Germany’s All Time Money List, Christoph Vogelsang is also widely recognized for the hoodie, which often covers his face.

He has reached eight WSOP final tables, with three third-place finishes, including the 2014 $1M One Drop, where he earned $4.48 million.

His closest shot at a bracelet came in the 2022 $25K Heads-Up Championship, where he was defeated by Dan Smith. Ironically, heads-up is Vogelsang’s preferred format; during the first five years of his online career, he played it exclusively.

Ben Tollerene: $8.1 million

Tollerene began playing poker during the golden era of online poker and favored Omaha cash tables, which, however, didn't stop him from becoming the most successful player from Texas in live tournament winnings.

Tollerene made his first WSOP final table in 2011 and failed to improve beyond seventh place in the $10K Six-Handed Championship.

2024 was the most eventful year for the US player at the World Series: two heads-up losses – first in a $250K tournament in Las Vegas, then a $100K tournament in the Bahamas. He finished third in his favorite $50K Omaha event.

In 2025, Tollerene again gained third place in a $50K tournament, this time in Hold'em.

Thomas Boivin: $7.4 million

Thomas Boivin—known online as "Karma is a Cat" is one of Belgium’s top players. He reached his first WSOP final table in 2016 (7th place), then followed it up in 2017 with second- and third-place finishes.

In the years that followed, Boivin mostly played the WSOP online and didn’t finish higher than 11th place.

He finally broke through again in 2025, reaching two high roller final tables and finishing third in both:

• $250K Super High Roller in Las Vegas - $2,057,430 in prize money
• $100K High Roller - $1,212,020 in prize money

Niklas Astedt: $6.83 million

Niklas Åstedt is one of the top online tournament players, better known by his nickname "lena900." Online, a Swedish player has captured two WSOP Circuit rings and became runner-up in a $1.5K WSOP event on GGPoker in 2020.

In Las Vegas, Åstedt recorded his first cash in 2016 (182nd in the Main Event). Since then, he has added two more WSOP final tables, along with a sixth-place finish in the WSOPE GGMillion$ in Rozvadov.

The peak of his live career came in 2024, when he reached the WSOP Main Event final table, finishing third and earning $4 million.

Two other players also deserve mentioning, both with slightly fewer WSOP results than Åstedt, but still boasting impressive accomplishments:

1. Jonathan Jaffe — $6.55 million. 9 final tables and no heads-up appearances.
2. Antoine Saout — $6.67 million. Three WSOP Main Event final tables: two in 2009 (London and Las Vegas) and one in the US in 2017. Interestingly, the following year, he finished 25th in the Main Event, a tournament with several thousand entrants.