Biggest Poker Tournament Winners of 2016

With 2016 drawing to a close, the live poker tournament circuit continued to have a positive impact on the industry as a whole, as it stimulated interest in the game and its personalities from the USA to Europe and Asia. Here is a closer look at the top poker players that made their mark on the live tournament scene this year.
1: Fedor Holz ($16,484,153)
Fedor Holz had a truly remarkable year, having cashed in at 24 seperate tournaments, and winning an incredible six of them. Furthermore, five of those were high-roller events which resulted in six-figure scores for the 23 year-old German. Counted amongst Holz’s wins in 2016 was taking down the WPT National Philippines $200,000 Super High Roller for $3,463,500, and capturing a gold bracelet at the WSOP $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP for $4,981,775.
2: Elton Tsang ($12,248,912)
Going into 2016, China’s Elton Tsang had $504,078 in live career earnings, but in October the player went shooting to number 2 on this year’s money list after winning the €1 Million Big One for ONE DROP event for €11,111,111 ($12,248,912).
3: Qui Nguyen ($8,005,310)

Once upon a time, each year’s WSOP Main Event champion was almost guaranteed to finish top of the year’s tournament money list. Reflecting recent times, and the growth of high-roller events, the 2016 WSOP ME winner reached number 3 on our list after walking away with a top prize worth $8,005,310. Previous to his victory, Nguyen had just $52,986 in live career earnings.
4: David Peters ($7,271,414)
David Peters enjoyed by far his most successful year to date since his first tournament cash back in 2006, having won a total of $7,271,415 in 2016. The US pro’s long list of successes over the past 12 months includes in January finishing runner-up at the $200k Triton Super High Roller event for $2,309,000, and in December booking a 3rd place finish at the €5,300 EPT Prague for €397,300 ($420,499).
5: Rainer Kempe ($6,627,501)
Rainer Kempe, the second German player on our list, enjoyed an impressive $6,627,501 year, although most of that amount was won after taking down the $300k Super High Roller Bowl for a cool $5 million payday. The event was held at the Aria Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, and the very next month Kempe did likewise at the casino’s $50k Aria Super High Roller 10 to add a further $531,245 to his year’s earnings.