One of online poker's most-prestigious festivals has been running since 2002 and it's time to have a closer look at some of the winners and stories that emerged in the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event thus far.
It all started back in the year 2002 with a buy-in of $1,050 and Sweden's "MultiMarine" topped a field of 238 entries to claim the top prize of $65,450. One year later, the buy-in remained the same but the field skyrocketed to a total of 891 entries. Joseph “DeOhGee” Cordi became the first American winner and took home $222,750.
While the field size remained just shy of that in 2004, the buy-in increased to $2,600 and Scandinavia had another reason to celebrate as Edgar “Ragde” Skjervold the first and only victory for Norway in the WCOOP-H Main Event, walking away with $424,945 for the efforts.
What followed was the domination of players from the United States prior to Black Friday as they earned the title for the next six consecutive years. Among those to shine in the spotlight were such big names as J.C. “area23JC” Tran (2006), Carter “ckingusc” King (2008), and Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko (2009).
The last American to win the title was Tyson “POTTERPOKER” Marks in 2010 and he earned the biggest winner prize in the history of the pinnacle event thus far. Out of a field of 2,443, the biggest tied to a buy-in of $5,200, Marks received $2,278,098 for his efforts.
Two years later in 2012, some online poker fans may still recall the deal discussions of Marat “maratik” Sharafutdinov who demanded in chat "I wont million". The micro stakes grinder from Russia had won his entry into the tournament after starting his journey with a 40 FPP satellite and eventually won the title and top prize of $1,000,907.
Online poker stronghold Germany then notched up three wins in the next four years as David “PlayinWasted” Kaufmann (2013), Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz (2014) and Jonas “llJaYJaYll” Lauck (2016) came out on top. For Holz, it was the start of an incredibly successful period and he has amassed millions in cashes on the virtual and live poker tables since.
The Netherlands got on the scoreboard with back-to-back victories by Steven “ SvZff” van Zadelhoff (2017) and "wann2play" (2018). However, a controversy ensued shortly after when "wann2play" was caught multi-accounting and the account was frozen shortly after the victory. Ultimately, the top prize was split among all players in the money which in return also crowned Ezequiel "eze88888" Waigel as the champion.
Scotland's Fraser “BigBlindBets” Russell then emerged as the latest champion in 2019. A high stakes cash game regular that had barely dipped into the MTT scene, Russell binked a payday of $1,665,962 and will be the man to watch if he decides to try and defend his title in 2020.
All WCOOP-H Champions at a Glance
| Year | Buy-In | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | Top Prize |
|---|
| 2002 | $1,050 | 238 | $238,000 | MultiMarine | Sweden | $65,450 |
| 2003 | $1,050 | 891 | $891,000 | Joseph “DeOhGee” Cordi | United States | $222,750 |
| 2004 | $2,600 | 843 | $2,104,500 | Edgar “Ragde” Skjervold | Norway | $424,945 |
| 2005 | $2,600 | 1494 | $3,735,000 | Jordan “Panella86” Berkowitz | United States | $577,342 |
| 2006 | $2,600 | 2510 | $6,275,000 | J.C. “area23JC” Tran | United States | $670,194 |
| 2007 | $2,600 | 2998 | $7,495,000 | Kyle “ka$ino1” Schroeder | United States | $1,378,331 |
| 2008 | $5,200 | 2185 | $10,925,000 | Carter “ckingusc” King | United States | $1,265,432 |
| 2009 | $5,200 | 2144 | $10,720,000 | Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko | United States | $1,715,200 |
| 2010 | $5,200 | 2443 | $12,215,000 | Tyson “POTTERPOKER” Marks | United States | $2,278,098 |
| 2011 | $5,200 | 1627 | $8,135,000 | Thomas “Kallllle” Pedersen | Denmark | $1,260,019 |
| 2012 | $5,200 | 1825 | $9,125,000 | Marat “maratik” Sharafutdinov | Russia | $1,000,907 |
| 2013 | $5,200 | 2133 | $10,665,000 | David “PlayinWasted” Kaufmann | Germany | $1,493,499 |
| 2014 | $5,200 | 2142 | $10,710,000 | Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz | Germany | $1,300,000 |
| 2015 | $5,200 | 1995 | $10,000,000 | Kristof “Coenaldinho7” Coenen | Belgium | $1,300,000 |
| 2016 | $5,200 | 2091 | $10,052,880 | Jonas “llJaYJaYll” Lauck | Germany | $1,517,541 |
| 2017 | $5,200 | 2183 | $10,915,000 | Steven “ SvZff” van Zadelhoff | Netherlands | $1,624,502 |
| 2018 | $5,200 | 2044 | $10,220,000 | Ezequiel "eze88888" Waigel | Argentina | $1,529,003* |
| 2019 | $5,200 | 2236 | $11,180,000 | Fraser “BigBlindBets” Russell | United Kingdom | $1,665,962 |
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