Jan 21, 2016
Biggest Online Poker Winners and Losers of 2015
By RTR Dennis
The world of high stakes online poker changed greatly in 2015. Full Tilt Poker, previously the world's biggest high stakes destination, disbanded their nosebleed tables in the summer. And PokerStars, the other major high-roller spot, announced in December that they will no longer offer rewards at mid and high stakes tables. Despite all this, plenty of big online poker action took place in 2015. That said. take a look at our review of the biggest online poker winners and losers below.
Biggest Online Poker Winners in 2016
Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom has had a roller-coaster internet poker career that's seen him win and lose millions of dollars in short spans. But in 2015 — when overall poker skill reached a peak — Blom somehow managed to string together his best year ever. The Swede collected $3.5 million in winnings at PokerStars and lost $1.3 million at Full Tilt before their nosebleeds shut down. Overall, Isildur1 earned $2.2 million in profits, which is his best complete year since bursting onto the high stakes scene in 2009.
Another familiar Scandinavian who dominated the cash-game tables in 2015 is Jeans 'Jeans89' Kyllonen. The Finnish grinder, who became famous after winning over $4 million from Feb. 2011 to Aug. 2013, had been relatively quiet until last year. But as HighStakesDB (HSDB) shows, Kyllonen got back to his winning ways by adding another $853k to his career profits.
Ben 'Sauce1234' Sulsky and Ike 'luvtheWNBA' Haxton are two more famed players who rejoiced in 2015. Sulsky collected $743k on Full Tilt and another $409k at Stars, giving him $1.14 million on the year. Haxton did all his winning on PokerStars, earning just over $341k on the year. Here's a more-complete look at the biggest winners, as tracked by HSDB:
- Isildur1 (PS + FTP) - $2.2 million
2. Sauce1234 (PS + FTP) - $1.14 million
3. bbvisbadforme (FTP) - $965,000
4. Jeans89 (PS) - $853,000
5. luvtheWNBA (FTP) - $341,500
6. punting-peddler (FTP) - $286,800
7. Cobus83 (PS) - $278,900
8. jama-dharma (PS) - $256,700
9. Empire2000 (PS) - $203,200
10. mrw8419 (PS) - $199,000
A few years ago, it would have seemed unfathomable that Phil Ivey would be the biggest online poker loser of 2015. After all, Ivey at one point had more winnings on Full Tilt than anybody else with $19.2 million. Unfortunately, last year was a rough one for Ivey as he dropped $2.48 million under his 'RaiseOnce' name at PokerStars, and another $1.25 million under his 'Polarizing' name at FTP. Since Black Friday (April 15, 2011), Ivey has lost $8.8 million in online poker, although he still has a net worth of $100 million.
Another notable player who suffered through a down year is Ilari 'Ilari FIN' Sahamies. The Finnish pro had a fantastic start to 2015, earning over $1 million within the first three months. But his hot streak cooled off, ultimately resulting in a $473k loss on the year. Here's an expanded look at the biggest losers of 2015.
- RaiseOnce (PS + FTP) - $3,731,000
2. Jaqueline (PS) - $1,139,100
3. Sanlker (FTP) - $910,700
4. 8superpoker (PS) - $751,700
5. bodamos (PS) - $626,800
6. candela2005 (PS) - $564,400
7. natalie724 (PS) - $508,000
8. OMGClayAiken (FTP) - $470,700
9. BigNittyBanker (FTP) - $459,000
10. Ilari FIN (PS) - $473,700