Mike Leah
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $7,962,978
- Best Win: $1,047,638
- Born: Toronto, ON, Canada
From Sales Manager to one of Canada's Best Poker Players
Though Mike Leah was once a simple sales manager, he now ranks as one of the top 10 greatest male poker players in Canada. This male Toronto native frequents live casino events and partakes in tournaments hosted by the World Series of Poker and beyond. Leah currently holds one WSOP bracelet and a total of five rings. He has earned 120 cashes between WSOP, Europe, APAC, Circuit, and the International circuit. Though Leah doesn't often earn the aplomb of his fellow male poker players, he is an astute top 10 listed male player who has had a tremendously successful career. His greatest accomplishment has been winning the WSOP Asia-Pacific High Roller Event in October 2014. Since then, Leah has garnered favorable results in Hold'Em tournaments but also stands as a highly respected mixed-game male player. He currently lists at a 138th on the All Time Money List.
Peter Jetten
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $9,328,640
- Best Win: $1,323,634
- Born: Toronto, ON, Canada
A Top 10 Regular
Some players just have what it takes to succeed in the high stakes world of poker. Peter Jetten is one of those male players. Regularly ranked in the top 10 poker male players in Canada, Jetten has amassed well over $9,300,000 in live poker tournament winnings. He also partakes in online tables under the screen name 'Apathy'. Jetten played his very first live tournament just outside of Toronto in 2005. By 2006, his talents came to notice on the tournament circuit as he finished 8th in the World Series of Poker $2,500 Short Handed No-Limit Hold'Em Event. In 2008, Jetten truly started to make waves among the top ranks of male poker players in the world. This is when he missed on his first bracelet by finishing second to Marty Smyth in the $10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Omaha Event at the casino held WSOP. He followed up that near win with a fourth-place finish at the European Poker Championships in London. Since then, Jetten regularly places in the top 10 at events throughout the world. He currently ranks as 103rd on the All Time Money List.
Michael Watson
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $12,117,332
- Best Win: $1,673,770
- Born: St. John's, NL, Canada
2008 World Poker Tour Champion
Michael Watson is the type of poker player people love to root for. With roots in St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador, Watson quickly climbed the ranks to become one of the best male online poker players in Canada. He won a World Poker Tour title in July of 2008 and also finished in the top two at the elite $1,500 No Limit Hold'Em Mixed Max of the 2004 World Series of Poker. Aside from making his mark at the World Poker Tour, Watson also proved his power by finishing third at the 2008 European Poker Tour London High Roller Showdown, taking home a generous $422,750. Proving he is also adept at online poker, Watson took first at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2016, amassing over $700,000. Watson's career will only shine brighter as the years go on. He currently ranks at 64th on the exclusive All Time Money List, though we're sure he'll only join the upper echelon's as his career as a male player progresses.
Sorel Mizzi
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $12,683,474
- Best Win: $2,073,868
- Born: Toronto, ON, Canada
Canada's Poker Veteran
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Sorel Mizzi has made his mark as one of the top 10 best professional poker players in Canada. From 2006 to 2007, Mizzi emerged as one of the most successful Canadian online casino tournament players while also leading the online poker world rankings during that time frame. Mizzi has played a mix of online and live tournament play since 2006. He has won tournaments worth over 3.5 million with his greatest win coming in May of 2015 when he took first at the Spring Championship of Online Poker event on PokerStars. In April of 2017, Mizzi emerged as at the top of the PocketFives, a ranking that lists the most successful online poker players worldwide. At his very first World Series of Poker Event in 2007, he managed to reach the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas three times. In 2013, he took the Main Event in Macau winning the equivalent of two million dollars. In total, Mizzi ranks 58th on the All Time Money LIst. He frequently plays as a part of the Berlin Bears in the male Global Poker League.
Mike McDonald
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $13,314,190
- Best Win: $1,701,808
- Born: Waterloo, ON, Canada
Youngest EPT Winner
The online platform is a great learning tool--at least that's what Mike McDonald believes. He learned the game of poker entirely online. From those skills, McDonald went on to become the youngest ever poker player to win an EPT event with his startling victory in Dortmund in 2008. At the time, he was just 18 years old and already making a mark among the best poker players in Canada. In 2009, McDonald came close to regaling his title, finishing fifth at the very same event. Though young, McDonald is proving himself in the best online casinos around the world - taking part in poker tournaments as well as live events. He also works as a cardrunner instructor, ceding his skills to those who are eager to learn. As a top male poker player, McDonald only continues to grow in both skill and victory. In May 2017, he won at the High Roller of the party poker million Kahnawake for 200,000 Canadian dollars. In total, McDonald has amassed more than $13 million in poker winnings at live tournaments and sits at 52nd on the All Time money list. In 2018, he launched the PokerShares website where anyone can bet on poker players - male or female.
Daniel Dvoress
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $15,607,625
- Best Win: $4,080,000
- Born: Mississauga, ON, Canada
2014 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker Winner
Despite a rather unconventional upbringing Canadian poker player Daniel Dvoress currently ranks as one of the top 10 male poker players in Canada. Having earned some $15.5 million in poker from live tournaments, his biggest success was a major victory at the Super High Roller Bowl Bahamas in November of 2019. In addition to live tournaments, Dvoress has been playing online poker on PokerStars and online Full Tilt Poker since 2006. In 2014, he took the top spot at the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker and received a rich online payout of $400,000. Since 2013, Dvoress has also been committed to participating in prestigious live tournaments. At the end of 2014, Dvoress was in the money at the main event of the European Poker Tour Barcelona and received a high-payout for a 17th place finish. He also finished third at an EPT High Roller in Malta, and finished seventh at an EPT main event in 2015. As one of the most popular male players amongst online gamblers, he currently lists 41st on the All Time Money List, though as his career continues an upward trajectory, he is sure to improve that high ranking in time.
Jonathan Duhamel
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $18,012,110
- Best Win: $8,944,310
- Born:Boucherville, QC, Canada
Three-Time Canadian WSOP Winner
Jonathan Duhamel is a Canadian Poker player from Boucherville, Quebec who currently ranks in the top 10 list as one of the best male poker players in Canada. He is most well-known for being the winner of the main event at the 2010 World Series of Poker. To date, Duhamel has amassed an impressive three WSOP bracelets in his short career. Duhamel handily defeated poker player John Racener head-sup to secure the 2010 event title, earning a whopping $8,944,310 in payout and becoming the first male Canadian player to capture the elusive Main Event Bracelet. As a true-blue fan of the Montreal Canadiens Duhamel chose to donate $100,000 of his winnings to their Children's Foundation. This was the single largest private donation made to the organization. Duhamel, as one of the most popular male players amongst online gambling communities, currently lists as number 5 on the Global Poker Index and is listed as 33rd on the All Time Money List.
Sam Greenwood
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $22,307,602
- Best Win: $1,853,387
- Born: Toronto, ON, Canada
The Canadian Online Poker Titan
At just 31 years old, Sam Greenwood is already making marks as one of the top 10 best poker players in Canada. Greenwood made his first high-roller poker tournament score in the lower limit $97,000 No Limit Hold'em Super High Roller 8 Handed tournament event at the 2015 PokerStars tournament series. While adept at live casino tables, Greenwood also plays online poker under the nickname Str8$$$Homey on the Online Casino - PokerStars. To date, Greenwood, as a famous male player, has won more than $6 million in online poker tournaments, with nearly $3.5 million of that coming from online tournaments on PokerStars. In September of 2009, Greenwood even won a title at the World Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars. He has been playing live tournaments since 2008 and earned his first WSOP bracelet in a $1,000 No-Limit Hold'Em Event at the 2015 World Series of Poker. As of 2019, this top 10 list male player has amassed over $20,368,169 in live poker tournaments instead of online.He is currently listed 23rd on the All Time Money List.
Timothy Adams
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $24,330,801
- Best Win: $3,600,000
- Born: Burlington, Canada
Canada's 20th All Time Money List Representative
At just 34 years old, Timothy Adams has already earned a remarkable top 10 listed, reputation as a male poker player. Adams started playing at the ripe age of 18 and has since earned more than $24 million in poker from live tournaments, making him the second most successful male Canadian poker player behind Daniel Negreanu. In 2012, Adams secured a bracelet of the World Series of Poker and in March of 2019, he lists a victory in the main event of the Triton Series Super High Roller. In August of 2019, Adams took part in the Triton Million for Charity in London with a steep buy-in of one million, the most expensive poker tournament in the world so far. At the final table, Adams received 8th place for an equivalent of some $1.7 million. He is currently listed as 20th on the All Time Money List. Though still fairly a young male player, Adams will surely continue to impress in both online poker and at the live casino tables.
Daniel Negreanu
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $42,053,307
- Best Win: $8,288,001
- Born: Toronto, ON Canada
All-Time Legendary Canadian Poker Player
Born in Toronto, Daniel Negreanu has emerged as one of the top 10 best online poker players in Canada. As a four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner, Daniel first earned the title back in 1998. At the time, he was still a relative yearling to the online game, making him the youngest male player listed in WSOP history to earn a gold bracelet achievement. In 2002, 2003, and 2003 Negrenau won a list titles, earning him ranking as one of the best poker players in Canada. In 2004, Negreanu was awarded the WSOP 'Player of the Year' award. Without question, he is one of the game's most popular players, a superstar who has earned public aplomb and online adoration. He frequently appears on high-stakes poker shows and is no stranger to filming television commercials. Right now, Negreanu is slated to appear on a pilot US TV series which will begin filming shortly. Due to his remarkable knack for online poker, Negraneu ranks third on the online career all time money list for worldwide poker tournaments. He boasts over $11 million in wins to date.
Top 10 Best Canadian Female Online Poker Players
The online and live world of high-stakes poker has long been associated with male competitors who hold a grand portion of the online spotlight. Still, online female players are making big waves on the list, proving they can keep up with the male online competition and ranking highly as some of online casinos' best poker players in Canada on top online 10 lists. These female players are capable of taking control of an online table and bringing the heat when it matters. Talented, astute, and competitive, these are the best poker players in Canada that are female and play online or live!
Carla Sabini
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $ 559,415
- Best Win: $214,543
- Born: Montreal, Canada
Top 10 Regular Canadian Female Poker Player
Carla Sabini may not be as well-known as some of her female counterparts, but she still knows her way around a poker table. Whether partaking in online or playing her hand at a live tournament, Sabini has earned a top 10 rated online reputation for being a skilled player who can counter any male with her quick-thinking and keen judgement. Though Sabini does not currently hold any WSOP bracelets, she has enjoyed 29 total lifetime cashes and regularly ranks highly at tournaments in Canada, popular USA casinos, as well as top rated Europen casinos. She recently took second at the Deep Stack Championship Poker Series, earning her a reputation as one of the top 10 best female online poker players in Canada. This top 10 best-listed female player's single biggest cash out took place in 2012 at the No-Limit Hold'em High Roller EPT Season X tournament in London where she earned a massive $214,544. Sabini sees herself as a pioneer and trailblazer female player putting tiny cracks into the glass ceiling for all female poker players who come after. Sabini is currently listed at 3,810th on the All Time Money List.
Kara Scott
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $664,795
- Best Win: $413,612
- Born: Calgary, AB, Canada
Canada's 2008 PartyPoker.com Sports Star Challenge III Winner
Top female professional poker player and beloved television presenter Kara Scott has been working in the media since 2002. Her career started in female kick-boxing programming and quickly moved to a wide variety of poker related programming. She continues to be a female presenter on GSN's High Stakes Poker. As one of the top 10 female poker players, Scott knows the intricacies of the sport with skill and ease. She made the final table of the Party Poker Women's World Open I in 2007 and won the exclusive PartyPoker.com Sports Star Challenge III in 2008. Scott also saw a second place finish in the Irish Open, earning a whopping 312,600 Euros in 2009. Scott is the only female poker player to have cashed in at both the 2008 and 2009 World Series of Poker Main Events. She is only the second female player in history to have cashed in two WSOP main events. Her live earnings currently total over $600,000 and she ranks 3,190th on the All Time Money List.
Isabelle Mercier
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $1,196,277
- Best Win: $341,862
- Born: Victoriaville, Canada
From Poker Room Manager to one of Canada's Best Female Poker Players
Breaking into the male-driven world of competitive poker is far from an easy task. Isabelle Mercier stands as one of the few top 10 female players who engage professionally. Though Mercier obtained a law degree in school, she eventually moved to Paris after college to pursue her masters in International Law. While there, she became a poker room manager at the Aviation Club de France and left her law career behind her. Mercier has truly made her mark in the poker world as a female tour de force who can stand up to male competition with ease. Aside from a second place finish this female top 10 listed player made a few years ago in Europe, she has made it several dozen final tables at big tournaments throughout the world. She even won a No Limit event at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. She has also won the Ladie's event of the World Poker Tour in Los Angeles that was for females. Her aggressive style of poker has earned her the reputation as 'No Mercy' Mercier. As a popular female player on many top 10 online rankings, she currently lists 1,682nd on the All Time Money List and has total live earnings of $1,196,277.
Xuan Liu
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $1,973,260
- Best Win: $600,000
- Born: Toronto, Ontario Canada
First Female Poker Player to win EPT San Remo
Xuan Liu isn't just one of the top 10 female players in Canada, she's a tour de force even from out behind the table. Liu, besides being a top 10 rated female online player, is a graduate of Waterloo University in Canada, which piqued her interest in online and poker. During her college years, Liu ran home games attracting big stars such as Glen Chorny and Michael Watts. Post-grad Liu, carried on the tradition of playing live cash games and enjoying massive online success for several years in the online environment. Despite the difficulties many female players have breaking into casino tables, Liu switched her focus to live tournaments where she quickly amassed over $80,000 in earnings out the gate. She competed in NAPT LA before departing for Spain to compete in EPT Barcelona. Liu's true female poker player empowerment moment came when she won EPT San Remo as the first female finalist of the season. Liu has always been about breaking boundaries and rethinking the standards of what it means to be a top 10 list female poker player. She currently ranks at 931st on the All Time Money List.
Kristen Bicknell
Stats:
- Live Total Winnings: $5,098,014
- Best Win: $408,000
- Born: St. Catherine's, ON, Canada
Canada's Best Female Poker Player
Anyone who thinks online poker is a male-driven game has never played against Kristin Bicknell. Bicknell began her foray into playing poker during her freshman year at college. By 2006, she was taking PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker by Storm as a female. In 2011, 2012, and 2013, Bicknell hit Supernova Elite on PokerStars, meaning she had played around 2.5 million hands per year, something few females had accomplished before her. Bicknell refers to herself as the ultimate grinder female due to the sheer number of hands she plays online. In 2013, she eventually won the $1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold'Em Championship at the 2013 World Series of Poker, amassing around $173,922. Bicknell also went on to win the $1,500 No-Limit hold'em bounty event in 2016. That same year she signed with PartyPoker as a female player. As of 2017, Bicknell was listed as the highest live tournament female poker player. She made that title her own when she triumphed at a first-place trophy in 2017 at the WPT Five Diamond Series at Bellagio. Bicknell currently lists at 246 on the All Time Money List.
What Do the Top 10 Poker Greats Have in Common?
Each of the top 10 best poker players in Canada, both male and female come from different backgrounds, most even initially encountered the game of online poker in a disparate way. Yet each of these top 10 male and female best poker players in Canada have excelled at their craft. What do these male and female best poker players in Canada really have in common? Is it training? Perhaps, it is family background. Well, in reality there a few things each of these best poker players in Canada, online and live, have in common. Being the best poker player in Canada - female or male starts with math skills.
- Math skills. Now, you don't have to be a math savant to excel at poker. However, most of the top 10 list best players have a keen ability to multiply, divide, and know percentages in a quick manner. They are also adept at calculating pot odds and an opponent's range. They can also discern how to calculate a bet in relation to the pot and how often your call must be correct in order to be profitable.
- Risk tolerance. Aside from math skills, each of the best poker players possesses a high-risk tolerance. This is something that applies on both micro and macro levels in both online and casino poker. One has to be inherently comfortable with losing individual hands and money in general. In order to win everything, the best poker players are comfortable with losing everything first.
- Creativity or street smarts. The greatest players have a handle on creativity or street smarts, meaning they can think with both sides of their brain. They don't just operate on instinct, they can bet in such a way as to manipulate an opponent into doing exactly what they want them to do. Great poker is like pulling an elaborate heist. The potential for creativity isn't something every poker player possesses, but these top male and female players made these all-time lists because they do.
- Emotional control. This is something that can be taught, but it isn't simple. Maintaining composure at the casino or poker table is paramount to success. After all, poker is a game that requires cold calculated logic - online or not. As a top 10 player, you have to be able to let bygones be bygones and focus on the next hand, the next raise, and the upcoming pot. This is difficult in the competitive sports world, but emotional control is everything to taking the pot and winning the prize, whether online or not.
- Confidence. There is a reason why shrinking violets never sit atop the list for all-time money. The best poker players in Canada in the online list, male and female, do not back down from the inherent confrontation of online or regular poker. Confidence, on our list, means you expect to win. It is different from risk tolerance which means you are capable of handling loss. Generally, confidence stems from talent and experience. Not every player inherently possesses confidence, but in due time, even fledgling players learn to possess a bit of swagger in online poker and live environments.
The list of male and female best poker players in Canada all encompass different playing styles, techniques, and approaches to the craft. Still, each of these listed best poker players in Canada possesses a skill and confidence that is almost artful in execution. Whether partaking in online poker or betting it all during a live tournament, these male and female best poker players from Canada don't shy away from the myriad challenges that poker can inherently bring. Some skills are learned, others are more intrinsic. However each of these male and female poker savants earned their place at the online and live table, they surely won't be giving up their place on the all-time list anytime soon.
