Poker Leaderboard: The Best Without A Bracelet (By Earnings)

The race for the bracelets is about to begin, so it only makes sense that we take stock of the most successful tournament players on the circuit who have yet to capture a title at the World Series of Poker. With Dan Smith’s win in the 2022 WSOP $25,000 heads-up championship, there are no longer any bracelet-less players inside the top 10 on poker’s all-time money list.

As a result of Smith’s victory, Isaac Haxton now sits atop the list of the highest-earning players without the gold. Haxton comes into the 2023 series as arguably the hottest high-stakes tournament player in the world, having already made ten final tables and won four titles this year, cashing for nearly $5.1 million across those scores.

The 37-year-old poker pro now has nearly $37 million in lifetime cashes, including seven separate seven-figure scores. His largest ever cash came when he took down the Super High Roller Bowl V for $3.7 million back in 2018. His top score at the WSOP saw him finish second in the 2009 $40,000 buy-in 40th-anniversary event for $1,168,566.

Cary Katz comes in second on this list. The 53-year-old businessman and founder of PokerGO has accumulated more than $36.6 million in lifetime earnings, with more than $5.4 million of that coming from WSOP events. Katz has finished as the runner-up in two bracelet events: the $5,000 pot-limit hold’em in 2013 and a $1,500 no-limit hold’em in 2017. Katz has 28 career titles, including a win in the 2019 Super High Roller Bowl London for more than $2.5 million.

The highest-ranked player on the money list with the lowest earnings at the WSOP is Steve O’Dwyer. The American-born resident of Ireland has nearly $36 million in lifetime cashes, with just under $700,000 of that coming from scores recorded in bracelet events. The 41-year-old poker pro’s most recent cash in a stateside bracelet event came back in 2013, however. Although he does have two in-the-money finishes at the WSOP Europe since then, O’Dwyer is a long shot to attend the series in Las Vegas. ♠