The 57th World Sequence of Poker opens on Could 26 with 100 bracelet occasions throughout seven weeks at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Among the many 1000’s of gamers who will sit down this summer time, a handful of elite execs share one obvious hole on their résumé: zero WSOP bracelets.
These are usually not fringe names. One of the best poker gamers and not using a WSOP bracelet have mixed poker earnings north of $250 million, collected dozens of WSOP ultimate desk appearances, and produced a number of the most painful runner-up finishes within the sport’s historical past.
WSOPE Prague awarded 15 bracelets in April, however none went to any participant on this record. All the subject of candidates arrives in Las Vegas intact, with extra possibilities than ever: buy-ins from $300 to $250,000 and a parallel on-line collection on GGPoker.
These droughts do finish. Alex Foxen broke by in 2022. Isaac Haxton ended a 16-year WSOP wait in 2023. Darren Elias, Seth Davies, and Rainer Kempe all gained their first bracelets final summer time.
The query heading into this summer time: who’s subsequent?
The Finest Gamers With no WSOP Bracelet
Ranked by WSOP earnings, complete stay outcomes, and near-miss finishes. Each participant listed right here is actively competing heading into the 2026 schedule.
1. Ben Tollerene
“Ben86” constructed his status as probably the most feared on-line PLO money recreation participant on the planet earlier than pivoting to stay tournaments. He now has over $36 million in stay earnings, two Triton Foremost Occasion titles (together with March 2026), and a public endorsement from Jason Koon, who referred to as him “one among, if not probably the most gifted poker gamers of all time.”
The WSOP near-misses are brutal. In 2024, he completed runner-up within the $250,000 Tremendous Excessive Curler to Santhosh Suvarna for $3,537,135. Six months later at WSOP Paradise, he misplaced the $100,000 PLO Tremendous Excessive Curler ultimate to Lautaro Guerra. Two photographs at a bracelet. Two runners-up.
2. Niklas Astedt
The best on-line MTT grinder in historical past. “Lena900” has over $50 million in tracked on-line winnings, seven WCOOP titles, 9 SCOOP titles, and 155 WSOP cashes throughout stay and on-line occasions. He additionally holds WSOP Circuit rings, which aren’t bracelets.
His breakout stay second got here in 2024 when he completed Third within the WSOP Foremost Occasion for $4,000,000. On the ultimate desk he informed reporters the stay grind was “a chunk of cake” in comparison with 20-tabling SCOOP for 40 days. He has gained each main on-line title that exists. The WSOP bracelet is the hole.
3. Christoph Vogelsang
Germany’s second-highest stay earner behind Fedor Holz, with $45.9 million in profession cashes and $10.35 million on the WSOP alone throughout 41 cashes. He turned 40 in 2026, making him newly eligible for the Poker Corridor of Fame.
Thrice he has completed Third in a WSOP bracelet occasion. The most costly was the 2014 Huge One for One Drop, the place he banked $4,480,001 with out profitable. He was additionally knocked out by Dan Smith within the 2022 $25K Heads-Up Championship. Smith went on to win that occasion for his first bracelet, breaking his personal years-long drought that very day.
4. Sean Winter
The very best-earning American event participant and not using a bracelet. Winter has $36.8 million in stay earnings, 14 WSOP ultimate tables, and a high-roller résumé that places him in rivalry for any $25K+ occasion he enters.
His closest name was the 2018 $50,000 Excessive Curler, the place he misplaced heads-up to Benjamin Yu. In 2023, he completed Third twice in the identical week: as soon as within the $25K Excessive Curler 6-Max and once more within the $25K Heads-Up Championship. Three near-misses, all at premium buy-ins.
5. Maria Ho
Considered one of poker’s most achieved and visual gamers. Maria Ho has 105 WSOP cashes, 9 ultimate tables, and $2.33 million in WSOP earnings. She is a Girls in Poker Corridor of Famer, a Recreation of Gold winner, and one of the revered commentators within the recreation.
Her most painful near-miss stays the 2011 $5,000 No-Restrict Maintain’em, the place she completed 2nd to Allen Bari for $540,020. She skipped the 2025 WSOP for the primary time in 16 years. Whether or not she returns to a full schedule in 2026 is an open query, but when she does, the $1,000 Women Championship on June 25 and mid-stakes NLHE occasions are her pure path. Ho can also be among the many most achieved feminine poker gamers in event historical past.
6. Viktor Blom
The participant behind the “Isildur1” display screen identify rewrote on-line poker historical past within the late 2000s, taking part in in each one of many ten largest pots ever recorded on Full Tilt Poker. Since 2023, he has absolutely pivoted to stay tournaments.
On the 2025 WSOP, Blom reached 4 ultimate tables and was within the Participant of the 12 months race for a lot of the summer time earlier than Shaun Deeb pulled away. At WSOP Paradise in December, he made it to heads-up within the $10,000 Tremendous PLOSSUS however misplaced to Tom Vogelsang on a cooler. He has 23 WSOP cashes and the quantity is barely rising.
7. Punnat Punsri
The 2025 GPI Participant of the 12 months and the primary participant from Asia to win the award, edging Jesse Lonis by simply eight factors. Punsri has $35.7 million in stay earnings, six Triton titles, and a rising record of WSOP near-misses.
Simply six weeks in the past, he completed runner-up within the WSOPE Prague GGMillion$ Excessive Curler to Christian Pedersen. Earlier than that, he was 2nd within the 2022 Poker Corridor of Fame Bounty and Third within the 2022 $50K NLH Excessive Curler. He has acknowledged publicly that profitable a WSOP bracelet for Thailand is a profession aim.
8. Thomas Boivin
Belgium’s all-time cash chief introduced himself on the worldwide stage throughout the 2025 WSOP with three seven-figure scores in a single summer time. He completed Third in each the $100,000 Excessive Curler and the $250,000 Tremendous Excessive Curler, then added a fifth within the $250K WSOPP Triton Invitational in December.
These three outcomes alone totaled $5.56 million. His closest brush with a bracelet earlier than the high-roller breakout was a 2nd in a 2017 $1,500 NLH Shootout. At 35, he’s coming into his peak years with critical quantity on the high finish of the schedule.
9. Antoine Saout
The one participant in WSOP historical past to achieve three Foremost Occasion ultimate tables. Saout completed Third in 2009 for $3,479,485, fifth in 2017 for $2,000,000, and seventh on the 2009 WSOPE Foremost Occasion. No bracelet from any of them.
The Frenchman’s $10.36 million in stay earnings comes largely from these deep Foremost Occasion runs. He performs a selective schedule centered on the Foremost and mid-stakes occasions. If anybody on this record goes to win a bracelet by sheer Foremost Occasion persistence, it’s Saout.
10. Steve O’Dwyer
With $47 million in stay earnings, O’Dwyer ranks sixteenth on the all-time cash record. He has gained titles on nearly each main stay circuit: EPT, WPT, Triton, US Poker Open. The one piece of {hardware} lacking from his assortment is WSOP gold.
His inclusion on this record comes with a caveat. O’Dwyer not often performs the total Vegas summer time, citing an aversion to the Las Vegas grind and huge crowds. A number of notable execs are skipping or lowering their 2026 WSOP schedule for related causes. His lifelike 2026 path runs by the WSOP On-line collection or the September WSOP Europe fairly than seven weeks on the Horseshoe.
How A lot Has the WSOP Paid These Gamers With no Bracelet?
All ten gamers, one desk. Sorted by WSOP earnings: the cash the WSOP has paid out with out ever awarding a bracelet.
*Astedt’s ~$8M displays stay event earnings solely. His $50M+ in on-line event winnings are tracked individually and are usually not included within the Hendon Mob stay totals used for each different participant on this desk.
Take a look at the hole between WSOP earnings and complete stay earnings. Punsri has $35.7 million in stay cashes however barely $1.5 million from the WSOP. O’Dwyer sits sixteenth on the all-time cash record with $47 million however has lower than $1 million from WSOP occasions. For these gamers, the WSOP bracelet drought is partly about alternative: they merely don’t play sufficient WSOP occasions to provide variance a good shot.
Then evaluate Vogelsang and Astedt, who’ve 41 and 155 WSOP cashes respectively. Their droughts are usually not about quantity. They’ve been there, repeatedly, and misplaced on the ultimate desk.
Honorable Mentions
Six extra gamers who belong on this dialog however fell exterior the highest ten for causes of WSOP quantity, latest exercise, or lifelike 2026 attendance.
Gamers Who Lately Broke the Drought
Ten gamers who hadn’t gained a WSOP bracelet have been scratched off this record prior to now 4 years. Each one among them was thought-about among the many greatest within the recreation earlier than they gained. Some waited over a decade. Right here is when and the way they lastly received their bracelet.
The Sample
9 of those ten breakthroughs got here in one among three occasion sorts: $25K+ excessive rollers, $25K heads-up championships, or on-line bracelet occasions. Not one got here from a flagship $1,000 or $1,500 open-field NLHE event.
That tells you one thing about the place bracelet droughts finish for elite execs. Smaller fields, larger buy-ins, and codecs the place talent edges are largest. For the candidates nonetheless on the record above, the $250K Tremendous Excessive Curler on June 13 and the WSOP On-line collection operating in parallel are statistically the almost definitely paths to a primary bracelet.
The one exception is Kempe, who gained a $10K Tremendous Turbo Bounty with a sooner construction and a blended subject. However even that was a $10,000 buy-in with a sub-200 participant subject.
Who’s the most effective poker participant and not using a WSOP bracelet?
As of Could 2026, Ben Tollerene tops our record based mostly on WSOP earnings, complete stay outcomes, and near-miss finishes. He has over $36 million in stay earnings, two Triton Foremost Occasion titles, and two WSOP runner-up finishes in 2024 and 2025. Jason Koon has publicly referred to as him “one among, if not probably the most gifted poker gamers of all time.”
Has Niklas Astedt gained a WSOP bracelet?
No. Niklas “Lena900” Astedt has over $50 million in on-line event winnings and 155 WSOP cashes, however he has by no means gained a WSOP bracelet. He does maintain WSOP Circuit rings, that are separate from bracelets. His closest name was a Third-place end within the 2024 WSOP Foremost Occasion for $4,000,000.
Did any of those gamers win a bracelet at WSOP Europe Prague 2026?
No. The 15 bracelets awarded at WSOPE Prague (March 31 to April 12, 2026) went to gamers exterior this record, together with Marius Kudzmanas (Foremost Occasion), Frank Koopmann, Jules Ayoub, and Anca Eggenberger. Punnat Punsri got here closest, ending runner-up within the GGMillion$ Excessive Curler.
What’s the distinction between a WSOP bracelet and a Circuit ring?
A WSOP bracelet is awarded to winners of official WSOP bracelet occasions held on the primary summer time collection in Las Vegas, WSOP Europe, and WSOP Paradise. A WSOP Circuit ring is awarded at WSOP Circuit stops held at regional casinos all year long. Each are WSOP titles, however bracelets carry much more status. Maurice Hawkins holds 25 Circuit rings however zero bracelets.
Which gamers not too long ago gained their first WSOP bracelet?
Ten gamers broke their bracelet droughts between 2021 and 2025. The newest first-time winners embody Darren Elias (2025, WSOP On-line $888 Loopy Eights), Seth Davies (2025, $250K Tremendous Excessive Curler for $4,752,551), Rainer Kempe (2025, $10K Tremendous Turbo Bounty), and Matthias Eibinger (2025, WSOPP $75K Triton PLO). Alex Foxen, Dan Smith, Isaac Haxton, Chris Brewer, Shannon Shorr, and Jason Koon all broke by between 2021 and 2023.
Final up to date Could 2026, forward of the 57th World Sequence of Poker.
