Biggest Online Winners In 2008 So Far

Published on 23 Jul 08 16:40 by Drakhor

The WSOP is in its final table phase and thus the poker year has entered its half-time. The right moment to take a look at the online high stakes and check out the live performances of the online pros at the major tournaments.

Here the top online winners since 01.01.2008 according to highstakesdb:

1.) David Benyamine - $2,895,627

David Benyamine experiences his best poker year since playing the game professionally, both live and online. Online, 92,374 of his hands were tracked. In 919 sessions he was able to generate a breath-taking profit of $2,895,627. Live, things go just as well for the Frenchman. At the WSOP he was able to win his first bracelet and reached the final table twice more. At the $15,000 WPT Championship in the course of the Bellagio Cup, Benyamine finished second. His live winnings from tournaments amount to $1,976,946 for this year. Almost twice as much as in all his previous professional years before.

2.) CHUFTY - $2,805,517

The second big online winner of 2008 is 'CHUFTY' so far. The person behind the nickname is Richard Ashby, a 34 years old pro from Great Britain. He is regarded as a hyper-aggressive Omaha specialist and can be met on the highest limits on both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. In 133,042 tracked hands Ashby can show a profit of $2,805,517. In February alone he was able to generate a plus of almost $800,000.

3.) OMGClayAiken -  $2,214,021

'OMGClayAiken', aka Phil Galfond was able to rake in $2,214,021 so far this year. To win about $2M in roughly 100,000 hands means a profit of $20 per hand. An extraordinary reward for the troubles. Live, Galfond was also able to score. Just like Benyamine he managed to win his first bracelet this year. His live winnings from tournaments for the year of 2008 sum up to $939,384.

4.) durrrr - $2,181,824

Tom Dwan, who most rather know as 'durrrr', has also already won over $2M this year. In 133,091 tracked hands since January 1st 2008, he was able to come up with winnings worth $2,181,824. Live, things also went well for the young US American. With two eighth places at the WSOP and a ninth place in the $25,000 WPT finale he was able to leave clear marks. His live winnings from tournaments for the year of 2008 amount to $959,358.

5.) trex313 - $1,849,917

The last one in the Top 5 is 'trex313'. Supposedly, Hac Dang is hiding behind this nick, the brother of Di Dang ('Urindanger'). In 105,864 hands he made a nice profit of $1,849,917.

10.) Markus Golser -  $1,129,858

Even though Markus Golser didn't make it into the Top 5, it should still be noted that the Austrian is currently on rank 10 with $1,129,858 in 88,365 tracked hands. Live, Golser was also able to call attention to himself. In the $1,500 Limit Hold'em Event of the WSOP he was able to finish sixth. He finished the EPT San Remo on rank 21. At the Poker Spring Challenge in Bregenz he won the €1,500 High Mountain Challenge. His winnings from live tournaments this year sum up to $847,904 so far.

Also in the Top 10 are: 6.) 'ICallSoWhat' ($1,789,132) -  7.)'Urindanger' ($1,745,735) – 8.) 'pr1nnyraid' ($1,515,246) – 9.) Phil Ivey ($1,302,897).