Who Are the Best Poker Players Without a WSOP Bracelet? – PokerNews.com

September 28, 2021Calum Grant

A total of 1,689 World Series of Poker Gold Bracelets have been awarded in the competition's existence and is often the first bit of hardware that poker players aspire to win at the beginning of their careers.

However, there are a host of top name players who have found it difficult to etch their name in the history books of the WSOP. PokerNews last looked at the best poker players not to win a bracelet back in 2018 and since then, the likes of Stephen Chidwick, Shawn Buchanan and Ari Engel have taken their names off of that list with their bracelet event triumphs in 2019.

As a result, there are now some free spaces in the top ten who have yet to win at the WSOP and you can find out who made the cut by reading to the bottom. One entry to the list could be seen as controversial so stick to the end to find out who that could be.

Note: This list looks at primarily poker tournament players or who are regular names in the tournament circuit. This excludes the likes of Tom Dwan and popular high stakes cash game players like Garrett Adelstein and Andy Stacks.

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It should be no surprise that Dan Smith's name should appear at the top of the list. The fifth-placed player on the Hendon Mob All Time Money List, Smith has over $37.5 million in total live earnings and has added a further four career wins to his resume, winning a PokerGO Tour, World Poker Tour, Super High Roller Bowl Online and Poker Masters Online title, since this topic was last discussed.

The High Roller has eight podium finishes in WSOP events including two second-places and although Smith has downplayed the importance of winning his first WSOP bracelet, despite three PokerNews staff members tipping him to break his duck in 2021. Despite these feelings, if Smith is able to capture a win on at the WSOP, he would become just the tenth poker player to have completed the triple crown (titles in the WSOP, WPT and EPT) and further his case as being the best poker tournament player of all time.

A jaw-dropper of a name that has yet to taste WSOP glory, Jason Koon's best finish in an event stretches all the way back to 2012 being the runner-up in WSOP Event #3: 3,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em / Pot-Limit Omaha.

As listed on his WSOP.com player profile, Koon's long term poker goals are WSOP Bracelets. A natural competitor, stemming from his days as a State Champion sprinter in high school and college, Koon will no doubt like to join the trio of Chidwick, Buchanan and Engel in relieving himself of his WSOP hoodoo.

Since 2018, Koon has broken the top ten on the all-time money list with just over $32.5 million won which includes the $2.13 million won in WSOP events. Like Smith, Koon has added a host of career wins to his name including titles in the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in both No Limit Hold'em and Short Deck Poker.

By the end of 2020, Steve O'Dwyer eclipsed the $30 million mark in lifetime earnings, becoming just one of twelve players to achieve the feat.

O'Dwyer has just added one extra WSOP cash since the last approach to this topic. That score came just a few months later at the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe in Event #9: 100,000 King's Super High Roller, taking home a payday of 161,587 which was also his highest payday in a WSOP event.

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Now with over $3 million in WSOP earnings alone, Isaac Haxton has been a staple at the WSOP for over a decade. Despite not winning a bracelet so far in his career, the poker player added a career-high result of $3,672,000 following his victory in the 2018 $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl.

Following that event, Haxton told PokerNews that "This is my biggest score ever and easily the best accomplishment. This is the highlight of my tournament career.

The first new name to enter this list, Jake Schindler has $27,127,090 in total live earnings, amassing $12.7 million of that since 2018 alone. Since his first recorded result in 2009, the United States player has gone on to have 24 career wins, just one less than both Smith and Koon.

One difference between Schindler and the aforementioned players on this list is that the former actually has WSOP Circuit win to his name. However, it is surely the case that Schindler would like a bracelet to go along with his ring.

The United States national's best performance at the WSOP came at the 2014 WSOP in Event #39: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em. His third place finish, his highest ever at the WSOP ($212,373), netted the player his first of four six-figure WSOP scores.

Similarly to Haxton, Schindler's biggest career cash was in the 2017 $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl. His performance over the course of the five-day event was awarded with a $3.6 million prize for his second-place finish. Coincidentally, Schindler would lose during heads-up play to the next player who makes this list.

The 2017 Super High Roller Bowl winner Christoph Vogelsang is another name that shocks people when they discover he has yet to deck his wrist out with a gold bracelet. With six WSOP final table appearances and over $8.5 million in WSOP earnings, a WSOP title to go along with his extensive list of career wins is surely only around the corner.

The German benefits in being able to play in both the WSOP and WSOP Europe so it may be just a matter of time before he adds his name to the extensive list of German players who have reigned supreme in WSOP events.

Sam Trickett had a series to remember back in 2012, the Englishman and poker veteran came second in Event #55: The Big One for One Drop - $1,000,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $10,112,001. It would be Antonio Esfandiari who would trump Trickett to the title and first place spoils. He would then narrowly miss out again, coming up short to Kahle Burns in the 2019 WSOPE 25,500 No Limit Hold'em - Platinum High Roller.

Trickett is now less active on the tournament circuit nowadays, but following the latest news regarding the US/UK travel ban on November 1, Trickett could make an appearance in Las Vegas towards the tail end of the poker festival.

Read More: Common Poker Tells To Look For at the 2021 WSOP

For those unfamiliar with Maurice Hawkins, your best bet is to think of him as the Phil Hellmuth of the WSOP Circuit Events. Hawkins has won an unmatched 14 WSOP Circuit Rings, his first coming in December 2008 and his latest in January last year, however a bracelet has stayed out of reach during his career.

The closest Hawkins has come to a bracelet win was in 2017 where he had two deep runs at the WSOP in Vegas finishing sixth in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MONSTER STACK for $213,591, and ninth in the $2,620 MARATHON for $54,356.

A skilled poker broadcaster and poker player, Maria Ho has been a renowned name in the community for a long time now. With 64 WSOP cashes to her name, which has amassed to a total of $1,739,550 in WSOP earnings, many would like to see Ho obtain WSOP greatness before she calls a day on her career.

Her career-high result came in the 2011 edition of the WSOP, winning $540,020 for her silver medal finish in Event #4: $5,000 No-Limit Holdem. Ho has also made the final table of a WSOP event five more times which includes a sixth-place finish in 2017 WSOPE Main Event.

The last and by no means least name on this list is none another than Sean Perry. A polarizing figure in the poker world, this addition may cause a stir but there is sound reason for his inclusion.

Perry's first recorded result only came in March 2017, but in his fledgling career has gone on to win a total of $4 million in live earnings. In that time there have been seven career wins and 13 six-figure results. Perry has become a regular name on the PokerGO Tour playing a plethora of $10,000 and higher buy-in events and has shown he can go toe to toe with the most elite poker players on the planet. In such a short space of time, which is rare to see nowadays in poker, Perry has become one to watch out for and will no doubt want to secure his place in the poker history books.

Notably, Perry is the son of WSOP Bracelet winner Ralph Perry. Perry Senior's bracelet win came in 2006 in Event #26A: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha, four years after he finished in third place in the 2002 Main Event. The pair have even battled at the tables with each other before and with his father's legacy to uphold, Perry will no doubt be going all-in on securing his maiden WSOP victory.

WSOP 2021 Schedule Released: 88 Bracelet Events, Sept. 30 - Nov. 23

Live poker statistics and poker's all-time money list rankings courtesy of The Hendon Mob.

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Who Are the Best Poker Players Without a WSOP Bracelet? - PokerNews.com