Poker Leaderboard: The Best Without A Bracelet By Earnings

Bracelet hunting season never quite seems to end anymore. With an ever-expanding World Series of Poker schedule each summer, the WSOP Europe, and a growing variety of WSOP Online options, the window for players to chase their first bracelet or add to their collections is currently open longer than ever before.

Perhaps as a result of the myriad of events now available throughout the calendar, the list of the ‘best players without a bracelet’ has seen a lot of changes in recent years. Several high-profile players like Jason Koon, Mikita Badziakouski, Dan Smith, and Alex Foxen have removed themselves from the upper echelons of this dreaded leaderboard, resulting in a new-look top 10.

Leading the way is Cary Katz with more than $34.8 million. The successful businessman and founder of PokerGO is currently 12th on the all-time money list, making him the highest-earning player in the world who has not yet emerged victorious in a bracelet event. Katz has more than $5.4 million in cashes in bracelet events, with two runner-up finishes over the years and a third-place showing just this summer.

While Katz is a frequent contender at the series, second-ranked Steve O’Dwyer is unlikely to remove himself from this list anytime soon as the US-born resident of Ireland has not spent much time at the series in recent years. O’Dwyer has more than $33.3 million in career cashes to his name around the world, with three titles won this year alone, but has largely avoided WSOP competition for most of the last decade. His last cash at the series in Vegas was recorded in 2013.

Hot on O’Dwyer’s heels is Isaac Haxton with nearly $31.8 million in lifetime earnings. Haxton joins Katz and O’Dwyer as one of only three players with more than $30 million in career scores under their belt but without a bracelet win. The Super High Roller Bowl V champion’s top finish at the series came when he placed second in the $40,000 buy-in event held during the 40th annual WSOP, held in 2009. He earned $1,168,566 as the runner-up, which is good for his fifth-largest score.

Plenty of high-stakes regulars can be found on this list, with their records indicating that it is likely only a matter of time before they get the monkey off their back if they decide to chase the gold. Only time will tell which of these star players might finally remove their names in the coming months of WSOP Online and WSOP Europe competition.