An American known poker professional, Bryn Kenney, is the gambling world’s living icon. He managed to get numerous poker records and topped the list of the most financially successful players of all time, even though he had no intention of playing poker at a professional level initially.
Bryn’s total cash awards exceed $55 million, and this is truly a colossal fortune. However, few gamblers know what path this player went through to reach such incredible heights. Most people know Kenney as a consistent, winning poker guru who has never had any trouble at the table, but he undoubtedly has had his ups and downs too.
In this article, you will learn about Bryn’s amazing poker achievements and some interesting aspects of his playing career. We will tell you what milestones Kenney has overcome to gain his reputation as the world’s top player and discuss the intriguing tournament that has immortalized his name in poker history.
First Steps in Gambling
Bryn’s competitive career began with one of the fascinating card games in the world, Magic: The Gathering. As the player’s passion for cards progressed, he decided to put his poker talents to the trial, and for a good reason. The East Coast Poker Championships earned him his first substantial cash win in 2007, and Bryn has never looked back since then.
He took the live poker world by storm and began to participate in various tournaments and events actively. The down-to-earth demeanour and tendency to make high bets made Bryn a pretty appealing poker personality in no time. He follows a strategy based on low-risk moves with high winning potential, and it has been continuing to give him exceptional results for many years.
Being a fairly humble man, Kenney still managed to wow the community with controversial actions like attending poker events with the ridiculously expensive chain or posting tweets challenging famous pop singers to fight. And yet, these things did not affect the focus with which Bryn approaches each tournament.
Bryn Kenney’s Stunning Stats
After his first success, Bryn had a relatively short wait for his next solid win. He received a six-figure award for the first time at the World Series of Poker, which took place in 2010. Kenney joined the No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed tournament and finished eighth. While this result may seem mediocre to you at first glance, it allowed Bryn to get over $141,000 with his initial $25,000 buy-in.
Besides that, Kenney backed up his success with another victory at the World Series of Poker main event in the same year. He finished 28th overall and took home about $255,000.
These winnings allowed Bryn to cover more high roller poker events worldwide, and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure was no exception. The high-roller table with a $100,500 buy-in pleased Kenney with a 3rd place and impressive payout of $643,000. This 2011 event contributed to the player’s further success significantly, and he began to target even more exclusive tournaments.
From the First Million-Dollar Win to an Impressive High-Roller Winning Streak
Although the player had winning seasons overall, he did not manage to win seven figures until 2016. Ironically, he also got this money at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, taking 1st place and surpassing his 2011 result. This time around, the buy-in for the Super High Roller 8-Handed table was $100,000, and Bryn surely did not regret his investment. The first place allowed him to leave the tournament $1,687,800 richer, which opened up new horizons for him regarding elite poker events.
Riding the winning wave, Kenney focused on the next high-roller competition in the Philippines and finished second. While Bryn was disappointed that he did not win, his $1,401,694 cash prize was an excellent compensation.
The Caribbean event from PokerStars mentioned above actually became fateful for the player. The Super High Roller 8-Max competition with a €100,000 buy-in allowed Kenney to surpass his highest score there, and he earned almost $2 million for the first place. Bryn got this personal record in 2017 but broke it two years later in South Korea. The 2019 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series awarded the gambler an absurd $3,062,513 for the second-best result.
The Main High-Roller Experience in Poker History
According to Bryn, once he heard about the Triton Million event scheduled for August 2019 in London, he knew that he was about to experience something special. He was confident that he could win this mega high-roller competition and did his best to prepare himself and be in the best poker shape of his life.
Since Kenney had already won several substantial pots that year, the poker community felt that he relaxed and did not really care about this massive event. But as we know, that was not the case, and Bryn saw Triton Million as a unique opportunity from both a professional and financial perspective.
The buy-in for this tournament was £1,000,000, which is equal to $1,378,863, and players could not just sign up for it. Instead, they should have received invitations from the event’s organizers. Kenney got his invitation and made the most of it when he reached the final table. Although he finished second overall, his winnings exceeded the first-place money prize. The thing is that Bryn shared the main cash prize with his opponent, Aaron Zang. Therefore, Aaron was named this historic tournament’s winner and got about $16,7 million, while Kenney received over $20,5 million and a well-deserved record for poker earnings exceeding $55 million in total.
Some Fascinating Facts About Bryn Kenney
- Although the player has performed at the World Series of Poker final rounds 7 times, he has won the tournament bracelet only once. The $1,500 10-Game Mix Six-Handed event brought him $153,220 in 2014.
- When Kenney made his first serious poker money, he helped his parents and other relatives pay their credit bills.
- Bryn prefers to live like a normal person and does not spend money on various luxury items like cars, jewelry or giant mansions.
- Kenney claims that he has been playing poker for the past 15 years and has faced only one losing season in 2018.
10 Best Finishes in Kenney’s Career
| Rank | Date | Event | Finishing place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug. 2019 | £1,050,000 Triton Million | 2nd | $20,563,324 |
| 2 | March 2019 | HK $2,000,000 Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju Main Event | 2nd | $3,062,513 |
| 3 | May 2019 | HK $1,000,000 Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro Main Event | 1st | $2,713,859 |
| 4 | April 2017 | €100,000 NLHE Super High Roller Eight-Max | 1st | $1,946,911 |
| 5 | Jan. 2016 | $100,000 PCA Super High Roller Eight-Handed | 1st | $1,687,800 |
| 6 | March 2018 | HK $2,000,000 Super High Roller Bowl Macau | 5th | $1,484,024 |
| 7 | May 2019 | HK $500,000 Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro NLHE 6-Handed | 1st | $1,431,376 |
| 8 | Nov. 2016 | HK $500,000 Triton Super High Roller Series Philippines Main Event | 2nd | $1,401,694 |
| 9 | Jan. 2017 | $50,000 No Limit Hold’em at PCA | 1st | $969,075 |
| 10 | Sep. 2017 | $50,000 Poker Masters | 1st | $960,000 |
The Most Winning Players of All Time
| Position | Player | Country | Live tournament earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryn Kenney | United States | $ 55,505,634 |
| 2 | Justin Bonomo | United States | $ 48,508,780 |
| 3 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $ 41,857,384 |
| 4 | Dan Smith | United States | $ 36,742,718 |
| 5 | Erik seidel | United States | $ 35,726,969 |
| 6 | David peters | United States | $ 33,146,070 |
| 7 | Fedor Holz | Germany | $ 32,556,379 |
| 8 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | $ 31,720,378 |
| 9 | Jason Koon | United States | $ 30,344,229 |
| 10 | Daniel Colman | United States | $ 28,925,059 |
Regardless of how you perceive Bryn Kenney, he is undoubtedly an iconic poker personality. This humble gambler shocks his opponents with a sharp mind while playing and amazes poker enthusiasts with his humanity and down-to-earthiness. Although Bryn is 34 years old only, his resume already surpasses the achievements of legendary players like Daniel Negreanu, and something tells us that this man is not going to slow down any time soon.
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