The Largest Cash Game Pots in Poker History

In May 2023, Tom Dwan won a $3,081,000 pot against Wesley Fei on Hustler Casino Live and the poker world thought the record might stand for years. It lasted two. By September 2025, Ossi “Monarch” Ketola had broken it three times over, pushing the all-time mark to $12,700,000.

This is the complete ranking of the biggest poker cash game pots ever played on camera, covering every verified pot over $1,000,000 on a televised or livestreamed poker show and updated for 2026.

Why Cash Game Pots Keep Getting Bigger

Three forces pushed televised cash game pots from six figures to eight figures. The first was higher minimum buy-ins: HCL’s Million Dollar Game and Triton Poker’s invite-only cash games both require $1,000,000 or more to sit down, putting seven-figure stacks on the table as a starting point. The second was crossover money: crypto entrepreneurs, tech founders and casino high rollers now sit alongside poker pros, creating action that all-professional tables rarely produce.

The third was format. In 2025, Ketola took heads-up freezeout matches to stakes of up to €6,000,000 per player. These winner-take-all duels at Triton Jeju and the Onyx Club in Cyprus generated the three largest pots on this list.

The result: Rick Salomon’s $1,109,000 pot on High Stakes Poker Season 11, a milestone when it aired in 2023, now sits outside the top 10. Whether you study cash game strategy or simply follow the biggest poker pots ever played, the full ranking starts below.

Every Record Poker Pot Played on Camera

These are the 10 largest verified cash game pots ever broadcast on a televised or livestreamed poker show, ranked by total pot size.

#1. Ossi Ketola vs Bjorn Li: $12,700,000

The largest pot in livestreamed poker history. Ossi Ketola and Bjorn Li were deep into a $16,000,000 heads-up freezeout at the Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju II on September 19, 2025, playing $40,000/$80,000 blinds.

Ketola raised the button to $200,000. Li three-bet and Ketola shoved for $6,350,000. Li called after a long tank.

Ossi Ketola: 9♣ 9♥
Bjorn Li: 8♥ 8♦

The 6♠ 7♥ 10♥ flop gave both players additional draws but neither connected. The 3♣ turn and 2♠ river changed nothing, and Ketola’s nines held to scoop the $12,700,000 pot.

Li won the overall series 3 matches to 1 at lower stakes. But this single hand gave Ketola a roughly $4,000,000 session profit and broke his own record of $10,990,000 set just four days earlier against Alex Foxen at the same venue.

Across the full Triton Jeju week, Ketola challenged five different opponents in escalating heads-up freezeout matches. This pot was the peak: the single largest hand ever captured on a poker stream, cementing Ketola as the player most responsible for pushing cash game stakes into eight-figure territory.

#2. Ossi Ketola vs Alex Foxen: $10,990,000

This pot held the all-time record for exactly four days before the Li hand above surpassed it. Ketola and Alex Foxen were playing a $12,000,000 heads-up freezeout at Triton Jeju II on September 15, 2025, with blinds at $30,000/$60,000.

Ossi Ketola: K♣ J♥
Alex Foxen: 8♦ 6♦

The K♦ J♦ 8♣ flop hit both players hard: Ketola flopped top two pair while Foxen paired his eight with a four-card diamond flush draw. Both checked. The A♦ turn completed Foxen’s flush and he led out, with Ketola calling behind.

The K♠ river gave Ketola a full house. Foxen bet $550,000, Ketola jammed for roughly $5,050,000, and Foxen called. GTO Wizard analysis published after the hand judged Foxen’s river call as roughly break-even given the pot odds and Ketola’s range.

#3. Ossi Ketola vs Dan Cates: ~$7,700,000 (€7.7M)

The first pot to break Dwan’s $3,081,000 world record. Ketola and Dan “Jungleman” Cates were deep into a marathon six-match session at the Onyx Super High Roller Series in Cyprus on August 19, 2025. This was the €6,000,000 per player finale.

Ossi Ketola: A♣ J♣
Dan Cates: A♥ 8♣

After a four-bet preflop, €2,800,000 was already in the middle. The Q♠ 7♠ 5♣ flop was checked through. Cates bet €1,200,000 on the J♠ turn and Ketola called.

The A♦ river gave both players top pair. Ketola check-jammed his remaining €2,530,000 and Cates folded. The €7,700,000 figure includes the uncalled river shove.

Despite losing this pot, Cates won the overall 12-hour session and finished roughly $15,000,000 in profit. For the full recap, see our detailed breakdown of the Jungleman vs Monarch battle.

#4. ST vs Aaron Zang: $5,029,000

The largest pot ever played in a traditional multi-way cash game on stream. The hand developed at a full table at the King Poker Cup “Million Dollar Cash Game” in Jeju, South Korea, with a $1,000,000 minimum buy-in and $1,000/$2,000 blinds. It was played in January 2026 and aired on YouTube in April 2026.

Wiktor Malinowski opened with K♥ J♣ but folded the turn. The hand came down to two players.

ST: A♥ J♥
Aaron Zang: J♦ 9♣

The Q♠ 10♦ 7♣ flop gave both players straight draws. The K♠ turn completed two different straights: ST made the nut straight (ace through ten) while Zang made the second nut (king through nine).

Zang bet $800,000 on the 8♦ river. ST raised all-in and Zang called with his king-high straight, only to see ST’s ace-high straight take down the $5,029,000 pot. The entire hand took 14 minutes to play out.

If you separate ring game records from heads-up freezeout pots, this hand stands alone at the top.

#5. Tom Dwan vs Wesley Fei: $3,081,000

The hand that put HCL’s Million Dollar Game on the map and held the world record for over two years. Tom Dwan and Wesley Fei clashed in a five-bet pot at the Hustler Casino Live Million Dollar Game in Gardena, California on May 30, 2023. The stakes were $500/$1,000 with a $3,000 BB ante, $2,000 straddle, and a $1,000,000 minimum buy-in.

LSG Hank opened the action. Fei three-bet, Dwan four-bet to $100,000, and Fei five-bet to $275,000. Dwan called.

Tom Dwan: Q♠ Q♣
Wesley Fei: A♦ K♥

The 3♦ 8♠ 8♦ flop missed Fei completely but he fired anyway. The 5♥ turn changed nothing and Fei barreled again. On the 6♣ river, Fei shoved his remaining $2,300,000 with ace-king high.

Dwan tanked for nearly four minutes before calling with his queens. 58,000 concurrent viewers watched live as the pot was confirmed at $3,081,000, the largest in US poker livestream history.

This remained the biggest pot on any poker broadcast worldwide until Ketola’s Cyprus session in August 2025. It is still the largest pot ever played in a US ring game.

#6. Martin Kabrhel vs Alan Keating: $2,801,000

The second-largest pot in US ring-game livestream history. Martin Kabrhel and Alan Keating went to war at the HCL Million Dollar Game during the 2026 WSOP in Las Vegas on June 12, 2026. The game ran with $500/$1,000 blinds and a $1,000,000 minimum buy-in.

Kabrhel three-bet to $300,000 from the straddle with A-K. Keating shoved for $1,346,000 on the button with K-Q suited. Kabrhel called and both players agreed to run the board three times.

Kabrhel’s ace-king held on two of the three runouts. Keating won one. The split gave Kabrhel roughly two-thirds of the $2,801,000 pot.

Despite taking two-thirds of poker’s second-biggest US pot, Kabrhel still finished the session as the biggest loser at roughly $2,000,000 in the red. Keating was the second-biggest loser at approximately $1,800,000.

#7. Antonio Esfandiari vs Alan Keating: $2,441,000 (Chopped)

A semi-retirement comeback for “The Magician.” Esfandiari sat down at the PokerGO Super High Roller Cash Game at the ARIA in Las Vegas on January 27, 2026. The stakes were $500/$1,000 with a $2,000 BB ante.

Andrew Robl opened to $20,000 with K♦ Q♣. Esfandiari three-bet to $58,000 and Keating four-bet to $125,000 from a double straddle. Robl folded.

Antonio Esfandiari: 9♠ 9♥
Alan Keating: 8♥ 7♦

The 9♦ 8♣ 6♠ flop gave Esfandiari top set while Keating made second pair with an open-ended straight draw. The money went in and both players agreed to run it twice.

Keating completed his straight on the first board. The second board bricked and Esfandiari’s set held. The $2,441,000 pot was chopped, with each player taking roughly half.

#8. High Stakes Poker Season 16: $2,421,500 Three-Way Pot

The new all-time High Stakes Poker record. This hand from HSP Season 16, Episode 6 aired on PokerGO in June 2026, played at the PokerGO Studio with $500/$1,000 blinds and straddles.

Four players put in $100,000 each preflop after Santhosh Suvarna three-bet from the straddle.

Santhosh Suvarna: Q♣ Q♠
Sam “Señor Tilt” Kiki: A♠ K♦
Matt Kalish: 8♦ 6♦
Sameh Elamawy: 8♠ 7♠

The 6♣ Q♦ A♦ flop hit three players hard: Suvarna flopped a set of queens, Kiki made top pair top kicker, and Kalish paired his six with a diamond flush draw. Elamawy folded. Suvarna bet $125,000 and Kiki called.

Kalish jammed for $948,000. Suvarna snap-called and Kiki folded his ace-king, saving his remaining $648,000. Both remaining players ran it twice.

Suvarna made a full house on the first board and neither improved on the second, giving him the entire $2,421,500. Kalish, the DraftKings co-founder, saw both runouts miss his flush draw. Suvarna had won a $50,000 WSOP bracelet for $1,990,000 just days before this session.

#9. Patrik Antonius vs Eric Persson: $1,978,000

When this pot was confirmed, PokerGO commentator Jeff Platt declared it the biggest in US televised poker history. That record lasted only three months before Dwan and Fei surpassed it, but the hand itself remains one of the standout moments from the legendary “Cash of the Titans” session.

Antonius and Eric Persson clashed at the PokerGO No Gamble, No Future “Cash of the Titans” at the ARIA in February 2023. The $1,000,000 buy-in game ran $1,000/$2,000 with a $2,000 BB ante.

Patrik Antonius: A♥ K♥
Eric Persson: Q♥ 9♥

Rob Yong entered the pot with A♣ 2♣ but folded the turn. The 3♥ 3♣ 8♥ flop gave both Antonius and Persson heart flush draws, but Antonius held the nut version with his ace and king of hearts.

The A♠ turn gave Antonius top pair and left Persson drawing dead: even a heart on the river would give Antonius the bigger flush. Persson jammed his remaining $692,000 anyway. The J♠ river changed nothing and Antonius scooped the $1,978,000.

“That is the biggest pot in US televised poker history.”
Jeff Platt, PokerGO commentator

The same “Cash of the Titans” session produced three additional seven-figure pots, making it one of the most action-packed days in PokerGO history.

#10. Texas Mike Moncek vs Eric Wasserson: $1,933,000

The same HCL Million Dollar Game at the 2026 WSOP session that produced pot #6 also delivered this one, played in Las Vegas on June 12, 2026 with $500/$1,000 blinds and a $1,000,000 minimum buy-in.

Moncek jammed for $948,000 with A♣ K♠. Wasserson snap-called with Q♠ Q♦. They ran it once.

The 5♦ 10♣ 2♣ flop kept Wasserson ahead. The 9♠ turn and 9♦ river changed nothing, and queens held to scoop the $1,933,000.

Wasserson finished the night as the session’s biggest winner at +$2,700,000. Texas Mike bought back in after the loss and managed to grind his way back to a small profit by the end of the night.

The Mythical $9 Million Hand: Andrew Robl vs Tom Dwan

The largest poker pot ever reported was never televised. During a taping of High Stakes Poker Season 10 (Episode 9), Andrew Robl told the table about a private cash game hand at the ARIA’s Ivey Room in Las Vegas, believed to have taken place around 2015.

Robl held A♦ K♦ against Dwan’s pocket kings. They ran the board twice: an ace appeared on one board and a diamond flush completed on the other. Robl scooped both.

“That was the biggest pot I ever won in a ring game: $9,000,000 pot.”
Andrew Robl

Jean-Robert Bellande, who was present at the private game, corroborated the story on camera during the same episode.

“By the way, the way Dwan handled it, you’d have thought he lost a $300 pot.”
Jean-Robert Bellande

No footage of the hand exists. It survives as a told-and-corroborated anecdote from two credible first-hand sources. Because it was never broadcast, it sits outside the verified televised/streamed ranking above.

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