Poker Leaderboard: Bulgarian Tournament Earnings

When it comes to talent, Bulgaria might be slept on as one of the top poker nations in the world. In fact, the European country of just 6.6 million people is currently tied with China for 13th in terms of World Series of Poker bracelets won. Bulgarian players have also secured two European Poker Tour main event titles and a World Poker Tour championship.

Recent EPT France Poker Series Monte Carlo main event winner Atanas Malinov became the 25th Bulgarian to surpass $1 million in recorded tournament earnings. The top 10 players on the nation’s all-time money list all have more than $2 million in career cashes to their name.

Sitting atop the leaderboard is Alex Kulev with nearly $10 million in lifetime scores. The 29-year-old had an incredible run in 2023, recording his three largest scores in the span of a few months. He kicked off the spree by winning the EPT Monte Carlo $100,000 super high roller for $1.1 million in May. In June he placed fourth in the $250,000 buy-in at the WSOP for $1.6 million. As the series wound down in mid-July, he took down a $50,000 no-limit hold’em event for $2.1 million and his first bracelet.

Hot on Kulev’s heels is Dimitar Danchev with $9 million in total scores. The Plovdiv native secured his EPT title by winning the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event for nearly $1.9 million and earned a bracelet as the champion of the $10,000 heads-up event at the 2022 WSOP Online festival.

Two-time bracelet winner Ognyan Dimov rounds out the top three with $5.9 million. The 2015 EPT Deauville main event winner won his first bracelet in a $1,500 six-max event in 2018, and his second by taking down last year’s pot-limit Omaha ‘Colossus’ event during the WSOP Online series. He also has a live seven-figure score from a $30,000 Triton Poker event last fall in Monte Carlo. ♠