Bank Managers Urged Sam Trickett to Quit Poker

Last week, the Daily Star published an article on the British poker ace Sam Trickett in which it estimates that the 32-year-old pro has amassed a massive £30 million ($39,375,246) fortune over the past 12 years. During that time, Trickett also admits to losing as much as £1 million per day on a number of occasions, and to going broke several times, leading to numerous pleas from his family and bank managers urging him to quit. As the partypoker ambassador subsequently commented in the revealing piece:

“My dad was really anti-gambling at the time. I went broke a couple of times and my bank manager sat me down and told me to stop. It was hard because I knew they’d be right in other situations.”

Poker Millionaire

Sam Trickett looked to have a promising football career ahead of him before suffering a serious knee injury that forced him from the game. The Brit then embarked on his poker odyssey in 2005, with his success on both the tournament and cash games circuit making him a very wealthy young man. In addition to all the money he has earned from the game,
Trickett says that he currently owns four properties around the world, and is also the owner of a number of luxurious cars.

Going Broke

Poker is a game of ups and downs, with the roller coaster ride experienced by high-stakes players not for the fainthearted. In the news piece, Trickett said that his biggest winning day saw him drag in around £7.6 million, while on the flipside he also had to contend with sessions in which he would sink to a £1 million loss. Although Trickett says that he doesn’t tend to get “nervous even when there are millions on the line,” he did say that he would call it quits for the night when such thresholds were reached in order to prevent further losses.

That said, Trickett has still managed to bust his bankroll more than once, but nonetheless refused to give up the game. As he subsequently explains:

“But I could see there was money to be made because poker is a skill game. I knew in the long run I’d end up with money. I had to go against what everyone said, which did upset my family. It took a while before they understood.”

£30 Million Fortune

According to the article, Sam Trickett now has around £30 million in money and assets to his name. In fact, Trickett is currently ranked the UK’s highest earning tournament player with £16 million ($20,849,721) in winnings. Most of his fortune must have come from playing high-stakes cash games, though, as that figure doesn’t take into account tournament buy-ins.

Furthermore, Trickett won $18,171,274 of that amount between 2011 and 2013, of which $10,112,001 was earned playing a single $1 million buy-in tournament known as The Big One for One Drop. From 2015 to 2018, he has subsequently added just a further $296,759 to his overall total on the live tournament circuit.

By comparison, Stephen Chidwick is currently number 2 on England’s ‘All Time Money List’ with $17,988,675 in winnings, although his highest score to date is still just $1,352,531. Moreover, the 29-year old is enjoying the best year of his professional career at the moment, having won a whopping $7,974,166 in 2018 alone, so it remains to be seen just how much longer Trickett will be able to hold onto his number one spot.

Balanced Life

Trickett says that the downside to making a lot of money is that it is difficult to tell who is a true friend, and who is there simply for freebies. He further added that the amount of time spent traveling and focusing on poker can make it “difficult to maintain friendships”. These days, however, Trickett is happily married and seems to be enjoying a more balanced approach to poker.

In 2016, Trickett was signed as a partypoker ambassador, and in addition to his online obligations, he also continues to earn an income plying his skill on the live poker circuit while sporting the logo of his sponsored site. The pro can next be seen in action on the PartyPoker Live Millions UK tour, which will get underway in Nottingham on September 29th.