In the world of poker, there is only one scoreboard that matters – how much money have you won? With this fact in mind (and before the start of the 2025 World Series of Poker), Poker News Daily has headed over to The Hendon Mob poker database with a critical question: Who are the all-time money leaders by state? In our first four parts, we covered twenty states and the District of Columbia (alphabetically), so let’s keep it going with the state of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts
This is the first state we have come to whose top three players are all in the eight-figure range. In fact, the top FOUR for Massachusetts are all over $10 million in career earnings, and the top nine are all over FIVE million in earnings. The scoreboard for The Bay State could also quickly change, as the players battling it out are all still active.
All of that said, the top player for Massachusetts might surprise some. Nick Petrangelo has a comfortable lead atop the all-time list for Massachusetts, with a $11 million lead over his closest competitor in Daniel Colman. Coleman himself has an ample lead over the third-place player, Jonathan Jaffe, who is looking to hold off Anthony Zinno for the final spot on the podium.
1. Nick Petrangelo (Feeding Hills, MA), $39,250,878
2. Daniel Colman (Holden, MA), $28,925,059
3. Jonathan Jaffe (Longmeadow, MA), $15,468,564
Michigan
Perhaps not surprisingly, a couple of former World Champions are atop the list for the Wolverine State. 2009 World Series of Poker Championship Event (“Main Event”) winner Joe Cada scooped up over $8.5 million to make up a sizeable chunk of his career earnings. What most do not realize is that Cada has done more than just that World Championship; he has won three other WSOP bracelets besides the World Championship jewelry, with his last title coming in 2018.
But that’s not enough to get to the top in Michigan. Sitting in the first slot of the standings is another World Champion, Ryan Riess, who used his 2013 victory to rack up over $8.3 million in earnings. Since then, Riess has also earned a World Poker Tour title and only needs to win on the European Poker Tour stage to accomplish poker’s “Triple Crown.” Here are the top three on the all-time money leaders list (at least for tournament poker) for the state of Michigan:
1. Ryan Riess (East Lansing, MI), $16,679,444
2. Joe Cada (Macomb, MI), $14,701,136
3. Dan Heimiller (Livonia, MI), $7,880,583
Minnesota
More surprises await when we look at the list of Minnesota’s top three players. In the first position is a player that many would not think of for the spot, Blake Bohn, who sits just over four million in career earnings. Bohn has been slowing down his playing schedule over the past couple of years (only $68K in earnings after a blistering $682,527 in 2023), but he surely would like to make it to 200 cashes for his career and extend his lead.
If Bohn cannot do that, then Ryan Laplante is in position to take over the lead for the Land of 1000 Lakes. Laplante’s $3.5 million in earnings would mean that, should he replicate his work from 2023 and 2024 (and Bohn stay idle), he would take over the lead. Here are the top three on the all-time money leaders list (at least for tournament poker) for the state of Minnesota:
1. Blake Bohn (Savage, MN), $4,156,980
2. Ryan Laplante (Brainerd, MN), $3,567,933
3. Anthony Hu (Plymouth, MN), $2,816,750
Mississippi
One of the veterans of the game has the honor of holding the #1 position for the state of Mississippi. ‘Captain’ Tom Franklin has been playing poker longer than many have been alive, and it shows when you look at his Hendon Mob resume. Franklin has over $3.4 million in career earnings alone (with tournaments dating back to the early Eighties), but you can figure that Franklin made that much or more through cash game play.
The two men behind Franklin have their work cut out for their grinding styles. Tyler Smith is in second, but he is a quarter million dollars behind the ‘Captain.’ William Stanford rounds out the Mississippi lineup, but anyone looking to catch Franklin will have to get going on that goal. Here are the top three on the all-time money leaders list (at least for tournament poker) for the state of Mississippi:
1. ‘Captain’ Tom Franklin (Gulfport, MS), $3,417,517
2. Tyler Smith (Smithdale, MS), $2,678,356
3. William Stanford (Tupelo, MS), $1,979,143
Missouri
You might be shocked by the quality that exists atop the standings for the Show Me State. Leading the way (and perhaps not surprisingly) for Missourians is the record holder for WSOP Circuit rings, Maurice Hawkins. For the entirety of his career, Hawkins has earned over six million dollars – but he has also generated a great deal of controversy regarding those who have supported him in the past.
After Hawkins are two veteran pros who powered their way to the top in the “boom days” of the game. Both Blair Hinkle and ‘Dutch’ Boyd made their bones during the “poker boom” of the Aughts, earning enough to have pushed them into the podium spots for Missouri. As Hawkins is active on the tournament circuit – and Hinkle and Boyd have slowed their playing schedules – it looks as though the “Ringmaster” is going to sit on top of the all-time money leaders list (at least for tournament poker) for the state of Missouri for some time coming:
1. Maurice Hawkins (St. Louis, MO), $6,358,608
2. Blair Hinkle (Kansas City, MO), $5,416,678
3. Russell ‘Dutch’ Boyd (Columbia, MO), $2,964,614
That brings us to the halfway mark on our rundown of the top three players in each state by tournament poker winnings. Have we hit your state yet? Come back as we enter the last twenty-five states soon!
The post Who’s the Best? The All-Time Money Leaders in Poker by State, Part Five appeared first on Poker News Daily.
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