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 previous segments, we covered thirty-five states and the District of Columbia (alphabetically), so let’s keep it going with the state of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma
The state of Oklahoma delivers both the “new blood” of poker while also paying tribute to the “old school.” Originally out of Tulsa, Ben Lamb has been able to build a nice poker resume in his twenty years on the felt. In that span, Lamb has racked up over $17 million in career earnings from strictly tournament poker alone.
There is another “new blood” member in the #2 slot in Calvin Anderson. He is quite a distance back of Lamb, however, with “only” $6 million or so in career earnings. This is the surprise of the Oklahoma list, however: longtime poker pro and 1986 World Champion Berry Johnston still ranks quite high on the all-time list for the state. Here are the top three all-time money leaders from the state of Oklahoma:
1. Ben Lamb (Tulsa, OK), $17,872,532
2. Calvin Anderson (Yukon, OK), $6,755,946
3. Berry Johnston (Bethany, OK), $3,503,688
Oregon
It’s a two-way battle in the state of Oregon, which only HAS two players who are over the eight-figure mark in career earnings. Seth Davies has been able to surge to the top of the leaderboard in Oregon, just a tick shy of $40 million in career earnings. The other person with an eight-figure resume? That would be Chris Brewer, who is looking up to Davies with his $27 million-plus stack.
From there, it gets a bit more interesting. James Romero is in the third-place slot on the state’s standings, but the more interesting person in the countdown is in fourth place. Annie Duke is within shouting distance of making the podium in Oregon with $4.2 million in career earnings…but I think we can safely be assured that she is not going to be taking a shot at the leaders! Here are the top three all-time money leaders from the state of Oregon:
1. Seth Davies (Bend, OR), $39,861,025
2. Chris Brewer (Eugene, OR), $27,224,729
3. James Romero (Portland, OR), $6,407,247
Pennsylvania
There is a whiff of scandal sitting atop the Pennsylvania standings. In the first place, even though he has not cashed in a tournament since 2023, is Jake Schindler. Why hasn’t Schindler cashed since 2023? Schindler was accused, and enough evidence was disclosed, that he was breaking the rules in online poker; because of that fact, he has been persona non grata in many poker rooms (and on many tournament circuits) since then.
Second place on the list isn’t lily-white either. Joseph McKeehen, despite being a former World Champion, was a part of the Tamayo Situation at last year’s World Series of Poker Championship Event (the Main Event). He still has the resume to take the second-place slot on Pennsylvania’s leaderboard. Paul Volpe does not play a great deal anymore, but he is the third and final member of the eight-figure club for the Keystone State’s all-time money leaders:
1. Jake Schindler (Bryn Mawr, PA), $36,817,581
2. Joseph McKeehen (North Wales, PA), $21,151,844
3. Paul Volpe (West Chester, PA), $10,075,817
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island has only three players who have earned over one million dollars in career earnings. They are led by high roller fixture Aram Zobian, who has built up a $6 million bankroll in just ten years of play. Behind Zobian is an unfamiliar name for those outside of the Northeast poker scene, but Soukha Kachittavong has amassed nearly 350 cashes in tournaments on the East Coast of the U.S., and particularly the Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun area.
She has not been an active part of the poker world for a few years, but Anna Wroblewski captures the honors for being the second woman to make one of these “top three” lists from the States. Wroblewski is the final member of the Rhode Island contingent who is over the million-dollar mark in career earnings. Perhaps she can make a run at Kachittavong and solidify her place in the top three all-time money leaders for the state of Rhode Island:
1. Aram Zobian (Cranston, RI), $6,199,472
2. Soukha Kachittavong (Woonsocket, RI), $2,177,400
3. Anna Wroblewski (Providence, RI), $1,186,766
South Carolina
I wish I had some commentary that I could give to the trio of players that make up the South Carolina list but, other than Benjamin Diebold, they are not particularly noteworthy. Leading the way is Adam Adler, who has racked up over $3.3 million in career earnings to pop ahead of Diebold (a 2022 WSOP bracelet winner). Taking the third slot is John Sitton, who also closes out the number of poker millionaires produced by South Carolina (three). Here are the top three all-time money leaders for the state of South Carolina:
1. Adam Adler (Mount Pleasant, SC), $3,366,003
2. Benjamin Diebold (Mount Pleasant, SC), $1,411,573
3. John Sitton (Greenville, SC), $1,103,296
South Dakota
None of the players on the South Dakota leaderboard has cracked that million-dollar mark, making the race for all-time leader in the state potentially a fluid one. Right now, Terence Reid has been able to take the top slot with “only” $827,633 in earnings. He is followed by the only “name” player that people could recognize, Mark Fink, who has earned seven WSOP Circuit rings in his career. William Eichel is the final player on the podium, but these players are all close enough that the board could change when it comes to the top three all-time money leaders in the state of South Dakota:
1. Terence Reid (Sioux Falls, SD), $827,633
2. Mark Fink (Sioux Falls, SD), $768,185
3. William Eichel (Parker, SD), $685,134
Tennessee
It might not come as a surprise to anyone that the top all-time money leader from the Volunteer State is a notable name. 2003 World Champion Chris Moneymaker leads the way for those from Tennessee, but it is the people in second and third places that might be surprising to some. In fact, the person in second is only a couple of nice cashes from catching the former World Champ.
Kathy Liebert becomes the third woman to enter her name into one of our top three lists, and she has a chance at passing Moneymaker should he falter. If they both concentrate on each other too much, then former WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela is there, but he has a bit of a leap to make to reach the top two. Here are the top three all-time money leaders for the state of Tennessee:
1. Chris Moneymaker (Nashville, TN), $8,292,912
2. Kathy Liebert (Nashville, TN), $7,067,612
3. Frank Kassela (Germantown, TN), $3,500,842
You might notice we had more than five states in this part. That is because we want to get this wrapped up while the WSOP (and all the other tournaments in Las Vegas) are going on! Our final segment of this series is on the horizon, which will cover the final eight states – come back to see who is there!
The post Who’s the Best? The All-Time Money Leaders in Poker by State, Part Eight appeared first on Poker News Daily.
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