The 10 Poker Players Who Never Won WSOP Bracelets

Every year, legends of the poker realm get their hands on the bracelet to secure their legacy. Below are some of the greatest poker players who never won WSOP bracelets, and are still hoping to receive poker’s greatest prize.

Best Poker Players Without a WSOP Bracelet

Here are ten of the best players who have yet to win a desired WSOP bracelet.

Seth Davies

With nearly $26M in career live tournament earnings (31st all-time as of May 23rd, 2024), Davies tops our list of crushers who have yet to win gold in Vegas.

In 2023, Davies made a pair of final tables, finishing 4th in the 2,068-entry $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event for $230,772 and 5th in the 124-entry $50,000 High Roller for $385,617.

Felipe Ramos

Felipe Ramos, known as ‘Mojave’ in Brazilian circles, is just about as desperate and driven to win his maiden bracelet as any player in the world.

Ramos has made a whopping 10 WSOP final tables and has cashed over 100 times and generally plays all the bracelet events no matter where they are hosted.

He has fallen short in the top-three in each of the last three years, finishing 2nd in last year’s $5,000 8-Max Freezeout ($401,460), 2nd in the 2021 $1,000 Online Double Stack ($476,612), and 3rd in the 2022 WSOP Europe €2,200 Short Deck (€21,416).

Maria Ho

One of the most iconic names in poker and a Women in Poker Hall of Famer has somehow yet to win a bracelet at the age of 41, despite being very active at WSOP.

She has eight career WSOP final tables to her name and nearly sealed the deal at WSOP Paradise back in December, finishing 3rd in the 3,446-entry $1,500 Mystery Millions event for $200,000 plus bounties.

Bin Weng

While Bin Weng has not been a household name for long, there’s no doubt that he’s been one of the hottest poker players on the planet over the last two years, winning the 2023 GPI Player of the Year award in dominating fashion.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Weng has ascended to a top-200 player (#164 as of May 23, 2024) on poker’s all-time money list with over $8.8M in live tournament earnings.

It just seems like a matter of time before Weng is there in Vegas hoisting a gold bracelet.

Niklas Astedt

Say what you want but Niklas Astedt aka ‘lena900’ is one of the greatest poker players of this generation.

While Astedt has “only” mustered just under $3M in career live tournament earnings, he is the #1 winningest online poker player of all-time, hauling in over $48M.

Astedt has earned over $13M more than his nearest competitor and has won nearly everything to win online except the prestigious WSOP gold bracelet.

Whether the Swede will be present at the 2024 WSOP is anyone’s guess, he will undoubtedly continue his legacy as one of the most difficult players to compete against for decades to come.

You can read our WSOP players guide and predictions for more details.

Roland Israelashvili

Roland Israelashvili is a true grinder of the game and has an incredible 498 WSOP cashes – more than 100 cashes than his closest competitor.

Though he has earned 11 WSOP rings for his efforts, he has yet to take down a bracelet. “The better Allen Kessler” has finished 3rd on five occasions and has made an astounding 15 top-nine finishes.

There are few players who have a better poker resume at the World Series of Poker than the 66-year-old, who will undoubtedly play an extremely heavy WSOP schedule, as usual.

Matt Glantz

With nearly $8.5M in career poker tournament earnings and $4.4M from 86 career WSOP cashes, Matt Glantz has yet to reach the summit despite making an absolutely ridiculous number of deep runs.

To date, Glantz has posted 21 top-10 finishes in WSOP bracelet events without having achieved glory.

Though Glantz famously pulled a $1,000,000 bounty two years ago in the Mystery Millions event, it isn’t a bracelet. Glantz and ‘Team Lucky’ will be hoping to get the monkey off his back this summer in Vegas.

Maurice Hawkins

Hawkins is widely known as one of the most decorated players on the WSOP Circuit, having won an incredible 16 Circuit rings to date.

Hawkins won last week’s Main Event at Cherokee to put him 2nd all-time on the all-time rings list, just one behind Ari Engel.

However, when it has come to the WSOP in Las Vegas, Hawkins has been generally absent, with just 39 of his 193 total WSOP cashes coming during the annual summer camp.

Despite his lack of going for bracelets, the mid-stakes professional has made four WSOP final tables and has enjoyed a number of deep runs that has resulted in nearly $1M worth of scores.

If there’s anyone that’s capable of showing up and dominating low-to-mid stakes fields, it’s Hawkins.

Played a few hours with Maurice Hawkins here in Cherokee. It’s not the least bit shocking that he has so many rings. He is the best low buyin NL player I’ve seen in a long long time.

I found him fun to play with, it reminded me of my shit talking pool room days.

— Joshua Arieh (@JoshuaArieh) May 12, 2024

Josh Reichard

Reichard is another circuit grinder who has earned quite a bit in limited action at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

The Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Hall of Famer sits just behind the aforementioned Hawkins with 15 career WSOP Circuit rings but has also yet to taste glory in Sin City.

Last year, Reichard was agonizingly close to finally getting his moment in the sun in the $1,000 5,257-entry Mini Main Event but finished in second place for an impressive score of nearly $340,000.

He added another final table at the $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event at the end of the summer, finishing 6th in the 813-entry field for $116,842.

It appears that Reichard has been upping his tournament schedule and is prioritizing a bracelet more and more these days, so it’ll be no surprise if he gets his hands on some hardware in the near-future.

John Holley

Holley is fresh off of his 11th WSOP Circuit ring and has also upped his chase to finally get his hands on a WSOP bracelet.

In fact, he has claimed in his WSOP bio that it’s his goal to ‘win a dozen WSOP bracelets.’ Though he is into his 60s now, Holley is proving that he is still one of the toughest players to face, regardless of what game is being played.

Though only 31 of his 151 WSOP cashes have come in Vegas, he’s now taking his summers very seriously and nearly pulled off the feat last year.

Last July, Holley finished 3rd in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship for over $265,000, nearly topping the 277-entry field.

Holley also finished 8th in the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw last summer while finishing 7th in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better event in 2022.

Holley also made a deep run in the 2013 $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship, finishing 3rd to take home a whopping $283,312.

You can read our how to become a professional poker player guide which features useful tips, an inspirational true story, and more.

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