Poker Leaderboard: Best Players Without A WSOP Bracelet

Bracelet season has begun in 2021! The World Series of Poker is currently set to award 169 gold bracelets throughout the year, starting with the 33 bracelets to be handed out in the WSOP Online domestic schedule that got underway at the start of July. Another 33 will be won during the international-facing segment of the WSOPO, which will span August and continue into the middle of September. An additional 88 bracelets are set to be handed out at the WSOP in Las Vegas this fall (Sept. 30 – Nov. 23), with the final 15 allotted for the WSOP Europe from Nov. 19 – Dec. 8. The bottom line is that there will be plenty of opportunities for players looking to win their first bracelet to come away with the hardware in the coming months.

This leaderboard is a collection of the ten players with the most career tournament earnings to their name who have yet to come out on top in a bracelet event. Dan Smith currently sits atop the rankings, with $37,301,645 won. Smith has had plenty of deep runs at the WSOP with more than $9.9 million in cashes in bracelet events, including a third-place finish in the 2018 $1 million buy-in Big One For One Drop for $4 million and a runner-up showing in the 2016 $111,111 One Drop High Roller for almost $3.1 million. While Smith has secured titles on other major tours like the World Poker Tour, he has yet to break through with a win at the series. He has finished third six times and runner-up once.

Jason Koon is the next-highest on the list with over $33 million in career cashes to his name. Koon has cashed for seven figures in eight separate events, with most of his 23 titles coming in ultra high buy-in events. Koon has made nine WSOP final tables, with his highest finish being runner-up in the 2012 $3,000 no-limit hold’em / pot-limit Omaha event.

Cary Katz is the third and final player among the top ten on poker’s all-time money list without a bracelet. Katz has accrued more than $32.4 million in tournaments across the years, with a heavy emphasis on high roller events much like the majority of the other players on this list. Katz has made eight WSOP final tables, with two second-place showings along the way. While all of the players on this list have tens of millions of cashes on their resume, they’d all surely love to cross their name off it as soon as possible.