For the last several years, the largest tournament in the world has been the World Series of Poker Main Event. With the exception of 1992, the US$10,000 buy-in tournament increased in prize pool year-over-year from its start in 1970 until 2007 (the latter a result of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which reduced the number of players winning their seats via online play).
The first tournament to reach a million dollar prize pool was the 1983 WSOP Main Event. The WSOP Main Event of 2004 had the first prize pool of above $10,000,000.
The largest non Hold'em Tournament has been the 2008 WSOP $50K HORSE with a prize pool of $7,104,000 and the first prize of $1,989,120 going to Scotty Nguyen.[1]
Below are the largest poker tournaments with respect to the prize pool in United States dollars and not number of entrants. This list includes live and online poker.
Currently, 14 of the 15 largest prize pools in history have been WSOP Main Events. The second largest prize pool outside of the Main Event is the 2012 WSOP event known as The Big One for One Drop, held from July 1–3. It featured a buy-in of US$1 million, the largest in poker history. Of the buy-in, $111,111 was a charitable donation to the One Drop Foundation, and the WSOP took no rake. All 48 seats available for that event were filled, resulting in a prize pool of $42,666,672, with over 5 million dollars donated.[2] The second largest pool for any event outside of the WSOP was the 2012 Macau High Stakes Challenge, with a HK$2 million (US$260,000) buy-in plus a rebuy option. The event drew a field of 73, of which 21 made a rebuy, resulting in a prize pool of HK$182,360,000 (slightly over US$23.5 million).[3]
All of the 57 richest tournaments to date were played in No Limit Hold'em with more than $15,000,000 prize pool.
| Event | Prize pool (US$) | Winner | 1st prize | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 WSOP Main Event | $93,399,900 |  | $12,100,000 | [4] | |
| 2006 WSOP Main Event | $82,512,162 | | $12,000,000 | [5] | |
| 2022 WSOP Main Event | $80,782,475 |  | $10,000,000 | [6] | |
| 2019 WSOP Main Event | $80,548,600 | $10,000,000 | [7] | ||
| 2018 WSOP Main Event | $74,015,600 | | $8,800,000 | [8] | |
| 2010 WSOP Main Event | $68,799,059 |  | $8,944,310 | [9] | |
| 2017 WSOP Main Event | $67,877,400 | Scott Blumstein | $8,150,000 | [10] | |
| 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series - Triton Million | $65,660,000 (£54,000,000) |  Aaron Zang | $16,775,820* (£13,779,491) | [11] | |
| 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series - Triton Million | $65,660,000 (£54,000,000) | Bryn Kenney* | $20,563,324* (£16,775,820) | ||
| 2011 WSOP Main Event | $64,531,000 |  | $8,711,956 | [12] | |
| 2008 WSOP Main Event | $64,333,600 |  | $9,152,416 | [13] | |
| 2016 WSOP Main Event | $63,327,800 | Qui Nguyen | $8,005,310 | [14] | |
| 2014 WSOP Main Event | $62,820,200 |  Martin Jacobson | $10,000,000 | [15] | |
| 2012 WSOP Main Event | $62,021,200 | | $8,527,982 | [16] | |
| 2021 WSOP Main Event | $62,011,250 | $8,000,000 | [17] | ||
| 2009 WSOP Main Event | $61,043,600 | | $8,547,042 | [18] | |
| 2015 WSOP Main Event | $60,348,000 | | $7,680,021 | [19] | |
| 2007 WSOP Main Event | $59,784,954 |  | $8,250,000 | [20] | |
| 2013 WSOP Main Event | $59,708,800 | | $8,359,531 | [21] | |
| 2005 WSOP Main Event | $52,818,610 |  | $7,500,000 | [22] | |
| 2012 WSOP Event 55 – The Big One for One Drop | $42,666,672 | | $18,346,673 | [23] | |
| 2023 WPT Championship | $40,000,000 | Daniel Sepiol | $5,282,954 | [24] | |
| 2014 WSOP Event 57 – The Big One for One Drop | $37,333,338 | | $15,306,668 | [25] | |
| 2023 Triton Poker Series London | $29,500,000 | | $6,860,000 | [26] | |
| 2022 WPT Championship | $29,008,000 | | $4,136,000 | [27] | |
| 2023 WSOP Online co-hosted by GGPoker | $28,609,250 |  | $2,783,433 | [28] | |
| 2020 WSOP Online co-hosted by GGPoker | $27,559,500 | $3,904,686 | [29] | ||
| 2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza | $27,437,564 | | $12,248,912 | [30] | |
| 2019 PSPC PokerStars Players Championship | $26,455,500 | $5,100,000 | [31] | ||
| 2023 PSPC PokerStars Players Championship | $24,843,000 |  | $3,121,839 | [32] | |
| 2018 WSOP Event 78 – The Big One for One Drop | $24,840,000 | | $10,000,000 | [33] | |
| 2004 WSOP Main Event | $24,224,400 | | $5,000,000 | [34] | |
| 2022 WSOP Online co-hosted by GGPoker (International) | $23,674,000 | | $2,793,575 | [35] | |
| 2012 Macau High Stakes Challenge Super High Roller | $23,511,128 | | $6,465,560 | [36] | |
| 2022 Triton Poker Series Cyprus | $23,000,000 | | $5,500,000 | [37] | |
| 2024 Triton Poker Series Jeju | $21,600,000 |  | $4,330,000 | [38] | |
| 2015 Super High Roller Bowl I | $21,500,000 | | $7,525,000 | [39] | |
| 2018 partypoker Millions Online | $21,385,000 | $2,329,944 | [40] | ||
| 2024 Triton Poker Series Montenegro | $21,375,000 | | $4,737,000 | [41] | |
| 2019 Triton Poker Series London | $21,168,355 (£17,507,500) | | $5,821,826 (£4,815,000) | [42] | |
| 2019 partypoker Millions Online | $21,090,000 |  | $2,259,113 | [43] | |
| 2021 WSOP Online co-hosted by GGPoker (International) | $20,000,000 |  | $2,543,073 | [44] | |
| 2016 WSOP Event 67 – High Roller for One Drop | $19,316,565 | $4,981,775 | [45] | ||
| 2023 Triton Poker Series London | $18,875,000 | | $4,185,000 | [46] | |
| 2020 PokerStars Sunday Million 14th Anniversary Online | $18,603,200 |  | $1,192,802 | [47] | |
| 2018 Super High Roller Bowl China | $18,550,297 (HK$ 145,500,000) | | $4,823,077 (HK$37,830,000) | [48] | |
| 2013 WSOP Event 47 – One Drop High Roller | $17,891,148 | Anthony Gregg | $4,830,619 | [49] | |
| 2024 Triton Poker Series Jeju | $17,550,000 |  | $4,210,000 | [50] | |
| 2023 Triton Poker Series Cyprus | $17,200,000 |  | $4,122,554 | [51] | |
| 2023 Triton Poker Series Monte Carlo | $16,875,000 |  | $3,461,261 | [52] | |
| 2017 Super High Roller Bowl III | $16,800,000 | $6,000,000 | [53] | ||
| 2023 Triton Poker Series London | $16,200,000 |  | $3,052,002 | [54] | |
| 2007 WPT Championship | $15,495,750 |  | $3,970,415 | [55] | |
| 2013 GuangDong Asia Millions Main Event | $15,376,897 (HK$ 119,375,000) | $4,456,885 (HK$34,600,000) | [56] | ||
| 2011 Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure | $15,132,000 | | $2,300,000 | [57] | |
| 2016 Super High Roller Bowl II | $15,000,000 | $5,000,000 | [58] |
| Due to a prize splitting deal Aaron Zang received £13,779,491 ($16,775,820) for 1st, original payout for 1st was £19,000,000 ($23,100,000). Bryn Kenney received a larger cash prize of £16,775,820 ($20,563,324) for 2nd place. |