How Have Recent Main Event Champions Performed at the WSOP Since Their Big Win?
Since Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2003, the poker world has exploded with thousand-player fields, million-dollar prize pools, and television superstars. While things have tempered off a bit in the most recent years, the winners of the WSOP Main Event will always be looked upon as heroes.
Everyone can argue until they're blue in the face about how good or bad a player has been as a poker ambassador post Main Event win, but it's hard to argue with the actual stats when determining performance. That said, PokerNews wanted to look at each winner since 2003 to see how he has performed at the WSOP in Las Vegas after winning poker's greatest tournament.
As a little refresher, Moneymaker won in 2003 for $2.5 million. He was followed by Greg Raymer in 2004 for $5 million, Joe Hachem in 2005 for $7.5 million, and then Jamie Gold in 2006 for $12 million. After Gold, the size of the event dropped back down and then evened off for the coming years. Jerry Yang took the title in 2007 for $8.25 million, Peter Eastgate took the title in the first year of the November Nine in 2008 for $9.15 million, and Joe Cada won over $8.5 million in 2009. In the double-digit years of the 2000s, Jonathan Duhamel won nearly $9 million in 2010, Pius Heinz won over $8.7 million in 2011, Greg Merson won over $8.53 million in 2012, and Ryan Riess scored $8.36 million in 2013. Last year, Martin Jacobson scored the guaranteed top prize of $10 million.
Now, let's see how each of these Main Event winners has fared at the WSOP in Las Vegas after their big win.
| Year | Player | Main Event Cashes Since | Total Cashes Since | Winnings | Final Tables Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Chris Moneymaker | 0 | 3 | $32,041 | 0 |
| 2004 | Greg Raymer | 1 | 21 | $1,582,491 | 6 |
| 2005 | Joe Hachem | 2 | 14 | $506,891 | 2 |
| 2006 | Jamie Gold | 0 | 3 | $19,122 | 0 |
| 2007 | Jerry Yang | 0 | 6 | $30,913 | 0 |
| 2008 | Peter Eastgate | 1 | 2 | $278,090 | 1 |
| 2009 | Joe Cada | 0 | 11 | $1,382,819 | 4 |
| 2010 | Jonathan Duhamel | 0 | 17 | $524,780 | 1 |
| 2011 | Pius Heinz | 0 | 3 | $22,402 | 0 |
| 2012 | Greg Merson | 1 | 8 | $324,560 | 2 |
| 2013 | Ryan Riess | 0 | 4 | $25,731 | 0 |
| 2014 | Martin Jacobson | - | 0 | $0 | 0 |
The 12 winners from 2003 on have a combined $4.73 million in WSOP earnings in Las Vegas. Only one player has won a gold bracelet since his Main Event victory, and that's Cada. He won the $10,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event in 2014 for $670,041. Cada also has the second most WSOP final table appearances in Las Vegas since his win with four and the fourth most cashes with 11. The player who holds the most final tables is Raymer at six. Raymer also has the most total cashes since with 21.
Speaking of Raymer, he also boasts the most post-win earnings, with over $1.58 million. The largest chunk of that came in the 2009 WSOP 40th Anniversary $40,000 No-Limit Hold'em event. There Raymer took third for $774,927.
Jacobson hasn't done anything this year yet in his title-defense year, so we'll basically throw him out for now when thinking of who's performed the worst. That player would be Gold, who has only cashed three times at the WSOP in Las Vegas for a combined total of $19,122. Heinz hasn't done much better with three cashes for $22,402, but Gold has had a few more years to put up some results. Moneymaker also hasn't done much at the WSOP in Las Vegas, cashing only three times for a little over $32,000.
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