Youngest WSOP Main Event Winners

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Youngest WSOP Main Event Winners

The 2018 WSOP Main Event is coming to a close later today. The winner will capture a gold bracelet and $8.8 million in prize money for taking down the second largest World Championship in the nearly five-decade history of the popular poker series.

While waiting for the name of this year’s winner to become known, Casino News Daily is offering to its readers the chance to look back at previous editions of the tournament, particularly to ones won by players in their early 20s. Here is a list of the five youngest players to have ever claimed the WSOP Main Event title and a little bit about how they did that.

Joe Cada (21)

Cada won the 2009 edition of the WSOP Main Event to become the youngest ever player to accomplish the feat. Born on November 18, 1987, the Michigan native took down the world’s most prestigious No-Limit Hold’em tournament just days before turning 22. Cada is still holding the title nine years after his big victory.

The player outlasted a field of 6,494 tournament entries, battled and beat Darvin Moon heads-up and collected a first-place prize of $8,547,042. Cada has won two more gold bracelets since 2009, the second of which he captured just a couple of weeks ago when he emerged victorius in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout.

Pius Heinz (22)

The German poker player won the tournament in 2011. Born on May 4, 1989, he was just 22 years and 6 months old when he scored his best poker achievement. Here it is also important to note that Heinz was the first-ever German player to take down the WSOP Main Event.

Heinz was one of 6,865 players to enter the World Championship in 2011. Czech Republic’s Martin Staszko was his opponent in an all-European heads-up. Heinz eventually collected $8,715,638 for his major accomplishment.

Peter Eastgate (22)

The Danish player took down the World Championship in 2008. He was born on December 13, 1985. In other words, the player won the Main Event a little over a month before turning 23. It is interesting to note that he dethroned none other but the legendary Phil Hellmuth (who won his record-breaking 15th WSOP gold bracelet just days ago) as the youngest ever player to have claimed poker’s most coveted title.

Hellmuth became the youngest player to accomplish the feat back in 1989 at the age of 24. It thus took nearly two decades for someone younger to emerge as the WSOP Main Event victor.

Eastgate was part of a 6,844-person field. He played heads-up against Ivan Demidov and collected $9,152,416 for outlasting that field.

Jonathan Duhamel (23)

Born on August 24, 1987, the Canadian poker pro was 23 years and 2 months old when he took down the WSOP Main Event in 2010. And his impressive WSOP portfolio did not end there, as the player has won two more bracelets since then. He captured both of them in 2015, one from the $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP and the other from the WSOP Europe €25,600 High Roller.

Looking back to his 2010 achievement, Duhamel won the Main Event after remaining the last man standing from a field of 7,319 entries. John Racener was his heads-up opponent. Duhamel took home a hefty first-place payout of $8,944,310 for his triumph.

Ryan Riess (23)

Riess was the winner of the 2013 World Championship. Born on June 21, 1990, the player was nearly 23 years and 5 months old when he scooped the major title. It is also important to note that Riess is winner of one WPT Main Tour Main Event title, as well.

The player won $8,361,570 for outlasting a field of 6,352 players who entered the tournament during its 2013 edition. Jay Farber was the last fellow competitor Riess had to overcome to claim the WSOP Main Event title.

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