Meet Canada’s Biggest Earners in the World of Online Poker

Forget, “Oh, Canada” – it’s “Go Canada!” when it comes to poker. From online upstarts to global tournament legends, Canada has played a disproportionately large role in shaping modern poker. This isn’t just about prize money. The players below have influenced how the game is played, studied, and understood at the highest levels.

Join us as we look at some of the most impactful Canadian poker players, focusing on their achievements, playing styles, and lasting contribution to the game.

Career Earnings: $7.9 Million

Biggest Win: $1.047 Million

Mike Leah has an interesting background as he was a professional wrestler before becoming a professional poker player. That’s quite a transition. In wrestling, he was part of Canada’s National Team. Eventually, after dealing with a boring, insipid day job, he learned about the game and quickly became very good at it.

Leah’s transition from elite-level sport into professional poker highlights the crossover between competitive discipline and long-term success in the game, particularly in mixed formats and high-variance tournament environments.

Career Earnings: $9+ Million

Biggest Win: $1.323 Million

Jetten started off with playing at online casinos, working the tables under the name ‘Apathy’. He would eventually become one of the top high stakes poker players. He was still quite young at the time but that was good enough to take playing at online poker sites a little more seriously and become a pro.

Surprisingly, he doesn’t have a lot of huge outright tournament wins. However, he often finishes near the top or in the final table, which is why his career earnings are approaching $10 million. Jetten built his career through sustained high-level performance, reflecting the importance of consistency and volume in modern online poker ecosystems.

Career Earnings: $12+ Million

Biggest Win: $1.673 Million

“SirWatts” collected a lot of wins online in the early part of his career. He dominated on Full Tilt and PokerStars – including a number of SCOOP titles. Many consider him to be Canada’s best online player. Watson represents the early wave of Canadian players who established dominance in online tournament series early on, helping to define the skill ceiling and strategic depth of the digital poker era that followed.

Career Earnings: $12+ Million

Biggest Win: $2.073 Million

Mizzi’s career has not been without controversy. A multi-accounting incident in 2007 led to significant scrutiny from the poker community. While this impacted his reputation at the time, his continued results in both online and live formats have contributed to a more balanced legacy in the years since. That’s evidenced by his $12+ million in career earnings. And now that it’s been more than 15 years since his scandal, few remember him for that. His long-term results demonstrating how sustained performance can reshape a player’s legacy over time.

Career Earnings: $13+ Million

Biggest Win: $1.701 Million

‘Timex’ Mike McDonald had the nickname because he used to win like clockwork. McDonald helped signal a generational shift toward younger, analytically driven players entering the professional scene through online pathways. There was a period where he would win a significant amount of money in almost every event he played in. He was the youngest player ever to win the European Poker Tour main event at age 18. He would consistently be one of the front-runners in the World Poker Tour and WSOP. Now, he’s more focused on investing in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, although he still plays from time to time.

Career Earnings: $15.5+ Million

Biggest Win: $4.080 Million

Canada welcomes in many immigrants every year, and Daniel Dvoress is one of them. Born in Russia, he came to Canada when he was eight years old and he’s made the most of it.

He built a strong reputation through consistent online tournament performance early in his career (known as Oxota) and that’s where he’s mostly comfortable. His playing style exemplifies the modern high-stakes specialist. He is highly selective, data-driven, and focused on elite-level tournaments where small strategic edges translate into significant long-term results. While a lot of players love the spotlight, especially on television and broadcasts – he actually prefers to be out of the limelight. He does make an appearance for super high roller casinos events though. If there’s enough money on the line, he’ll most likely play.

Career Earnings: $18 Million

Biggest Win: $8.94 Million

Duhamel is etched in Canadian poker lore (and all lore about the game). He’s the first Canadian to ever win the WSOP Main Event, the WSOP Main Event, which is basically the Super Bowl of Poker. So, if you’ve got one of those bracelets, especially the main event, you’ll live like a king. That’s not his only big win, he has made big moves in the European Poker Tour and the WSOPE High Roller. The winnings from the WSOP Main Event are by far his biggest score. They also account for almost half of his lifetime winnings. This win also marked a defining moment for Canadian poker, elevating the country’s presence on the global stage and inspiring a new generation of players.

Career Earnings: $22+ Million

Biggest Win: $1.85

Greenwood doesn’t present like a celebrity or a star, but he is in Canadian poker. The stock-trader-turned-poker-pro has made some good investments. He loves to play in the super high roller events and he’s become a feared player in those circles. Prior to that, he was doing quite well online where he picked up more than $6 million in winnings and played under the screen name “IfHeDiesHeDies” in his early career. Greenwood’s background in finance reflects the increasingly analytical nature of modern poker, where decision-making, risk management, and game theory play a central role in sustained success.

Career Earnings: $24+ Million

Biggest Win: $3.6 Million

Adams maybe has a shot to catch up and make it to the number one spot. He made a name for himself online as “Tim0thee”, and has collected over $2.5 million in winnings at PokerStars and Full Tilt.

He has a real laissez-faire mood about him, which makes him fun to watch. It doesn’t mean that he’s not incredibly competitive. He seemingly plays for the love of the game, first and foremost. He consistently demonstrates adaptability in a game that has evolved significantly in terms of competition and strategy. Several winnings have followed but the money doesn’t appear to be this game enthusiast’s first priority.

Career Earnings: $42+ Million

Biggest Win: $8.2 Million

Negreanu is not just the most successful Canadian poker player, he’s the face of the game in the Great White North. He emerged in 1997 as not just a stellar player from Canada but a stellar player overall. To this day, he’s one of the greats. He has more than $42 million in winnings, including tons of World Poker Tour, WSOP and European Poker Tour wins to his name. He’s the highest earning Canadian player by a mile (or should we say, kilometre?). Known for his ability to read opponents and adapt across formats, Negreanu helped popularise a more analytical and media-visible version of poker, which has certainly helped the visibility of the game both locally, and internationally.

As stated earlier, there’s no shortage of skilled players in Canada. They are littered from coast-to-coast, and many are working tirelessly to crack the top ten:

11. Ari Engle, Toronto, Ontario ($7,546,388)
12. Shawn Buchanan, Vancouver, BC ($6,934,037)
13. Gavin Smith, Guelph, Ontario ($6,321,096)
14. Pascal LeFrancois, Rosemere, Quebec ($5,346,275)
15. Kristen Bicknell, St. Catharines, Ontario (5,344,935)
16. Andrew Chen, Mississauga, Ontario ($5,112,251)
17. Alexander Livingston, Halifax, Nova Scotia ($4,861,292)
18. Taun Lam, Mississauga, Ontario ($4,851,424)
19. Scott Montgomery, Perth, Ontario ($4,835,321)
20. Lucas Greenwood, Toronto, Ontario ($4,735,571)

By the way, Justin Bonomo is the all-time money leader. According to the Hendon Mob, the 36-year-old from Fairfax, Virginia has now earned $57,194,647, and recently surpassed Bryn Kenny for the number one spot. Don’t feel bad for Kenney, though. The 35-year-old Long Beach, New York native has made $57,108,861. Incidentally, Bonomo scored his best live cash by winning the WSOP’s Big One for One Drop in 2018 for $10 million, while Kenney’s largest cash came in 2019 at the Triton Million when he finished second for more than $20 million.

While winnings may be the most visible metric, these players’ real impact lies in how they’ve shaped the game itself. Canada continues to produce high-level poker talent across both online and live formats. While the players listed here represent some of the most established names, the broader ecosystem (from emerging online grinders to high-stakes regulars) remains highly active.

Their collective impact reflects not just individual success, but a sustained contribution to how poker is played and understood globally.