The Top 5 UK Players from the 2023 World Series of Poker
As we all know, the WSOP is the most prestigious poker tournament in the world.
While Americans dominate the all-time money lists, several British players have also found success at the annual events in Las Vegas. This year already saw record attendance at the tables, with said poker pros and amateurs making it across the Atlantic in the hopes of digging gold. And now, more players can qualify through online poker sites such as the ones listed on Casinowings.com. Some of the more fortunate ones included a Scotsman and a handful of Gents from England. So, without further ado, here are the top 5 UK players from the World Series of Poker 2023.
1. Dean Hutchison - $1,916,613
Hutchison is topping this list with almost 2 million dollars in cashes from this year's WSOP. No one will argue that his 6th place finish ($1,850,000) in the Main Event helped him earn the crown. The new-found Scottish poker hero hasn’t been that successful in Vegas before that life-changing sum, but will most likely attend next year's circuit and add on to his earnings. Off the felt, Hutchison enjoys traveling and spending time with his family - and we’re guessing they might be going someplace luxurious this Christmas.
2. Toby Lewis - $1,430,636
Lewis has found WSOP success in both tournaments and cash games over the past decade. The English pro has an impressive 47 cashes and over $2.6 million in earnings from the Circuit in total under his belt. Finishing in 7th place ($1,425,000) - one place worse than Hutchison - made him clinch the second spot on this list. Toby is a notorious online poker pro but will now always be remembered as a Main Event final tableist. When he's not playing poker, Lewis enjoys playing golf and spending time with his family.
3. Ryan O'Donnell - $1,055,557
No one outside the live poker scene of London really knew who Ryan O'Donnell was before his prestigious 2nd place ($1,049,577) in the $25,000 High Roller. Prior to becoming a dollar millionaire, his winnings from live tournaments were sparse - since we had to go way back to WSOP 2012 to find the most notable cash ($24,390). However, we’re not going to take anything away from Ryan since he’s, ironically, a pretty household name on the online poker tables. And now he’s also a force not to be trifled with on the real felt as well.
4. Talal Shakerchi - $1,014,116
Shakerchi has been participating in the WSOP Circuit since 2008 when the second wave of the Poker boom emerged. Since then, he’s tallied up 16 cashes, earning over 2 million dollars in tournament winnings. This year’s World Series of Poker could’ve seen him grabbing his first Bracelet, but he just missed out after losing the Heads-up match ($818,756) against Brian Rast in the honorable $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Besides poker, Talal is a notorious chess player and investment shark - the perfect mix to become successful at the tables in Vegas it seems.
5. Stephen Chidwick - $751,477
Last, but definitely not least, we have the seasoned pro Stephen Chidwick. The Englishman could not replicate the Bracelet success story from 2019, but were awfully close coming in 2nd ($653,688) in a $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Texas Hold’em Championship. He “only” cashed in four events in this year’s WSOP but still managed to grab a spot on this Top 5 list. At only 34 years old, he’s already been racking up over 5 million dollars in winnings both online and offline in the Circuit - chasing Sam Trickett ($11,694,374) on the WSOP All Time Money Leaderboard.
Meanwhile, the UK poker scene remains strong with famous live tournaments throughout the year. Since the WSOP saw a lot of new faces and freshly made poker millionaires, the Circuit around the Isles will surely be packed. If we have to place a low-odds guess, the next generation of British pros will look to follow in the footsteps of Hutchison, Lewis, O'Donnell, Shakerchi, and Chidwick by finding success on poker's biggest stage - the World Series of Poker.
