If you recall, during the 2025 World Series of Poker, we ran down every state in the U.S., detailing the top three money earners by where the players came from. It was an intriguing listing, with a few surprises, and one astute reader had a thought. “How about doing this for Canada” that reader asked…so we did it! Parts One and Two of this series are in the books, leaving us with four provinces to go. Thus, settle in if you are from the Great White North as we count down the top players that hail from Canada, by province.
Alberta Features Close Contest
Of all the provinces and territories in Canada, Alberta presents the closest battle between the players in the top three. Only about $1.5 million separates first place from third, and all three of the players are still fairly active in the game. It will be a continuing battle over the next few years for supremacy in Alberta…or will someone come from off the grid to catch them?
Leading the way for Albertans is poker veteran Randy Holland, whose resume in the poker world dates to the Nineties. His first cash was in a WSOP event in 1993, and he is still active today – Holland’s most recent cash was during the Venetian DeepStack Championship in June. Along the way, Holland has been able to rack up over $3.7 million in career earnings.
Close behind Holland is Thomas Taylor, who was an absolute machine during the 2025 WSOP. Taylor would put together fifteen cashes at the WSOP, with a runner-up finish in Event #58 ($3000 Seven-Handed Nine-Game Mixed) for $149,152. Along with veteran pro Doug Lee, these three men will battle it out for the top three all-time money earners in Alberta poker for some time to come:
1. Randy Holland (Calgary, AB), $3,779,444
2. Thomas Taylor (Medicine Hat, AB), $2,714,569
3. Doug Lee (Calgary, AB), $2,221,193
Only Two Qualifiers from New Brunswick
In our search for players from Canada, there were some shortcomings. For example, the Northwest and Nunavut Territories did not provide any players for our list, and the Yukon Territory only provided one (Brad Booth). Two provinces could only produce one viable candidate (Newfoundland and Labrador’s Mike Watson and Prince Edward Island’s Benny Chen). We have another province that could only come up with two entries, the province of New Brunswick.
On the top of the standings for New Brunswick is a familiar name to most poker fans. Kevin MacDonald sits just outside the Top 100 players in Canadian history (literally…he is 101st), and he’s got Jeff Cormier on his tail. Both players don’t seem to be active on the U.S. tournament poker circuit (they are active in Canada and internationally), so any movements in the all-time money leaders here are going to be incremental:
1. Kevin MacDonald (Miramichi Bay, NB), $1,136,035
2. Jeff Cormier (Moncton, NB), $861,967
Gambling Legend Still on Top in Manitoba
In the province of Manitoba, the player leading the way is NOT a currently active poker pro. He has instead moved on to sports betting and owning a soccer team, which he seems to have purchased with those gaming wins.
Haralabos Voulgaris’ history in gaming is one of the amazing stories. He started by beating up the poker world for a spell, playing at the nosebleed stakes to the point where he earned over $5.4 million. From there, Voulgaris went on to a highly profitable career as a sports bettor, focusing on the National Basketball Association, to the point where the Dallas Mavericks’ Mark Cuban sought his expertise to assess his team, albeit in a short-lived partnership.
Voulgaris made, by his estimates, vastly more sports betting (his own estimates are that he won over $100 million) than what he won in poker. He was able to take that windfall and become the principal owner of CD Castellón, a Spanish football team in the Segunda Division (La Liga 2). Suffice it to say that Voulgaris’ fellow players in the top three all-time money leaders for Manitoba have not got the history that Voulgaris has!
1. Haralabos Voulgaris (Winnipeg, MB), $5,473,797*
2. Patrick Serda (Winnipeg, MB), $1,878,808
3. Eric Wasylenko (Winnipeg, MB), $1,099,546
* – also ranks in the Top Twenty in Canadian poker history (eighteenth)
Close Race in Saskatchewan
Two players, same hometown, similar names…are they brothers? On the top in Saskatchewan is Ryan Smith, who holds a slim lead over Michael Smith. How close are they? Ryan is only about $80K ahead of Michael, meaning this could flip-flop back and forth in the future. Throw in a lurker in Tyler Bonkowski in the third slot, and Saskatchewan will be a hard-fought province in the future for the all-time money leaders race.
1. Ryan Smith (Saskatoon, SK), $1,526,880
2. Michael Smith (Saskatoon, SK), $1,443,487
3. Tyler Bonkowski (Regina, SK), $1,102,813
With that, we have completed the nation of Canada. There were some expected outcomes – here’s looking at you, Daniel Negreanu – but there were some surprises as well. It may be something to look at in the future – IF Canada gets into the game of poker a bit more!
The post Who’s the Best…In Canada The Top Players in Total Career Earnings by Province or Territory, Part Three appeared first on Poker News Daily.
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