The World Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars has produced some notable winners in its 10+ years of existence.
Many online players consider WCOOP the World Series of online poker and in recent years the prizepools have begun to rival some live tournaments.
Of course the biggest prizes are in the $5,200 No-Limit Hold’em main event where numerous millionaires have been made over the years.
5 Biggest WCOOP Winners
On the eve of the 2012 WCOOP, we’re taking a look at the biggest cash winners in the prestigious series since it began in 2002.
1. Tyson “POTTERPOKER” Marks - $2,285,759
Missoula, MT, native Tyson “POTTERPOKER” Marks was the last player to win the WCOOP main event before Black Friday so his record may stand for some time.
Marks had already made significant scores in the Full Tilt $1k Monday and Sunday Brawl before he won the WCOOP main event and became one of the rare players to amass over $4 million in online winnings.
The WCOOP main event final table in 2010 was no cakewalk with noted players Grayson Ramage and Darren Elias competing for the huge first-place payout.
Marks put on an impressive performance that eventually saw him enter heads-up play with a 5-1 chip lead over joeysweetp and it didn’t take Marks long to find the knockout blow.
Not limited just to online poker, Marks won a couple of WPT prelims at the LAPC for $77k back in 2009.
Claim to fame: Took down $2.2 million by winning the 2010 WCOOP Main Event.
Lifetime online winnings: $4,111,061
Live tournament winnings: $320,188
Yevgeniy "JovialGent" Timoshenko
2. Yevgeniy “JovialGent” Timoshenko - $1,733,944
Yevgeniy “JovialGent” Timoshenko is arguably the most well known player on this list and needs little introduction to most poker fans.
A skilled online player from Seattle, Timoshenko actually burst onto the poker scene with a live tournament win at the 2008 APT Macau event for $500k.
In April of 2009 Timoshenko did one better by winning the WPT World Championship for $2.1 million.
Timoshenko wasn’t done however and just a few months after winning the WPT Championship he outlasted 2,144 players to win the 2009 WCOOP main event for $1.7 million.
He is the only player in poker history to win both the WPT World Championship and the WCOOP Main Event.
Claim to fame: Numerous. Timoshenko was a live tournament killer before he won a WCOOP main event.
Lifetime online winnings: $4,718,965
Live tournament winnings: $4.4 million
Carter King beat liberace but got less money.
3. Liberace - $1,431,865
Unidentified online player liberace finished second to Carter “ckingusc” King in the 2008 WCOOP main event but actually won more money thanks to a five-way deal made earlier.
The 2008 WCOOP main event final table was littered with online stars as Sumpas, Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kamberis and the aforementioned ckingusc were all in attendance.
Liberace was able to use his chip-leading stack to get all the way to second place and secure the biggest payout at the final table.
Liberace’s true identity remains a mystery but there’s a good chance he’s played WSOP events because the TwoPlusTwo account of the same name has posted questions about registering several times.
The liberace account is no fluke either as he won a SCOOP event in 2009 for $24k.
Claim to fame: Second place for $1.3 million in 2008 WCOOP main event
Lifetime online winnings: Unknown
Live tournament winnings: Unknown
4. joeysweetp - $1,404,725
Joeysweetp is a weird chapter in WCOOP history.
The unidentified account placed second in the biggest WCOOP main event ever held – the one that POKERPOTTER WON in 2010 – for $1.4 million.
Joeysweetp wasn’t particularly active after the huge score, although he did lose several hundred thousand to Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky in the high-stakes cash games on PokerStars.
Since then joeysweetp has basically dropped off the map completely.
There’s really no telling just whom the account belonged to but he or she apparently decided to quit while still ahead.
Claim to fame: Finishing second in 2010 WCOOP for $1.4 million. Disappearing.
Lifetime online winnings: Unknown
Live tournament winnings: Unknown
Ka$ino couldn't beat Mark Teltscher, but got his money anyways.
5. Kyle “ka$ino” Schroeder - $1,380,000
Kyle “ka$ino” Schroeder was a part of the most controversial main event in WCOOP history.
Schroeder originally finished second for $850k in the 2007 WCOOP main event to opponent TheV0id.
Two weeks after the tournament ended, TheV0id was disqualified for cheating and Schroeder was awarded the massive $1.2 million first-place prize.
Apparently TheV0id account belonged to Natalie Telscher, the sister of English poker pro Mark Teltscher, but it was Mark who had been playing during the WCOOP main event. Mark had allegedly been playing on numerous accounts.
Female poker icon and Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso, who plays online under the name LadyMaverick, actually finished third at the final but was bumped up to second after the investigation.
Claim to fame: Winning 2007 WCOOP main event for $1.2 million
Lifetime online winnings: $1,517,834
Live tournament winnings: $4,917
Notable Players in WCOOP All-Time Top 20
7. Carter “ckingusc” King - $1,290,422
An established online grinder, Carter King took down the 2008 WCOOP main event for $1.2 million.
9. Dan “djk123” Kelly - $1,058,336
WSOP bracelet winner Dan Kelly has been a wrecking ball in the World Championship of Online Poker and is one of the very few players who has won three separate WCOOP events.
12. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier - $1,016,586
Multi-tabling Team PokerStars pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier has 33 cashes in the WCOOP with two victories.
15. Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso - $883,023
Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso has proven to be very comfortable at the WCOOP although her stats did benefit significantly from making that 2007 WCOOP main event final table.
16. Alex “AJKHoosier1” Kamberis - $833,345
One of the most skilled online players, Alex “AJKHoosier1” Kamberis has had a fair amount of WCOOP success but the majority of his profits come from finishing third at the 2008 WCOOP main event.
