Many of the poker rooms in Las Vegas are amongst the most famous in the world, attracting players from all over the globe year-round. Whether it’s the $10,000 WSOP Main Event or the $60 Nightly at South Point, there’s something for everyone and all skill levels.
With huge cash and plenty of tournaments to grind, we asked ourselves: Who are the kings (or queens) of the top Las Vegas poker rooms?
Thanks to the phenomenal, hard-working people at TheHendonMob, we’ll analyze who has earned the most cash and cashed the most tournaments at five of the most popular poker rooms in Las Vegas.
Wynn Casino
Most Cash: Eliot Hudon ($4,142,545)
Over the last few years, the Wynn has gained deserved prestige for being the best and best-run poker room in Las Vegas. In addition, the Wynn has hosted an incredible four tournaments with a guarantee of $10M or more, including the EveryOne for One Drop (running now) and last year’s $15M GTD WPT World Championship.
Despite only having three cashes at the Wynn, Canadian Eliot Hudon reigns at the player with the most cash made at the Wynn.
Hudon scored 30th-place ($2,512) and 12th-place ($4,033) wins in a pair of $1,100 Wynn seasonal classic events. Then there was that one 1st-place finish in the 2022 $10,400 WPT World Championship for the small sum of $4,136,000.
Most Cashes: Ben Palmer (73)
With 380 career recorded cashes on HendonMob, Palmer classifies as a true grinder of the game. His biggest win at the Wynn came last February, when he topped a 697-player field to win $58,262.
Aria Resort & Casino
Most Cash: Jake Schindler ($15,982,115)
Of course, with the Aria playing host to events such as the Super High Roller Bowl and the various PokerGO Tour High Rollers, the US Poker Open, and more, it’s no surprise that the top-10 list is full of world-renowned tournament high rollers.
The one who tops the list is disgraced player Jake Schindler, with nearly half of his $35.6M in career tournament earnings coming in various Aria events. His career-high score came in the 2017 $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl, when he finished 2nd for $3,600,000 behind Christoph Vogelsang ($6,000,000).
Of course, it shouldn’t be too long until Justin Bonomo (2nd, $14,641,193), David Peters (3rd, $14,060,578), or any of the other regulars catch up to him as the accused cheater was suspended from the PokerGO Tour, along with admitted cheater Ali Imsirovic, back in September 2022.
Most Cashes: Cary Katz (103)
Who else but the founder of PokerGO, Cary Katz? Katz has remained super-loyal to his brand over the years, always donning his PokerGO merch whenever you see him on the felt.
Katz, who ranks 12th on poker’s all-time money list, has earned 103 of his 282 career recorded cashes at the Aria. Despite this, only one of his top-10 career cashes has come at the Aria, with his $1,058,000 win at the 2021 PokerGO Cup Event #8: $100,000 No Limit Hold'em ranking being the “worst” on his nine-career seven-figure cashes.
Bellagio
Most Cash: Thomas Marchese ($6,398,053)
Though the Bellagio may be best known for the mythical Bobby's Room, which hosts some of the biggest cash games in the world, the Bellagio has hosted some of the biggest tournaments ever. Currently, the Bellagio’s biggest annual draw is the annual WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
Just ahead of “Cowboy” Dan Smith is Thomas “Kingsofcards” Marchese, currently 42nd on poker’s all-time money list. Marchese has earned nearly a third of his $19,131,563 in career earnings at the Bellagio. This includes his career-high $1,574,518 live score, which came after finishing 2nd (and making a deal) in the 2014 $100K WPT Alpha8 event behind Andrew Lichtenberger.
In fact, four of Marchese’s seven-career seven-figure cashes have come at the Bellagio.
Most Cashes: Cary Katz (43)
Proving he’s not just an Aria/PokerGO loyalist, #1 on this list is none other than Cary Katz. Aside from the annual WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Katz doesn’t play there all that often anymore.
However, the large majority of Katz’s early cashes came at the Bellagio 15-20 years ago, with seven of his 29 recorded tournament wins coming at the incredible establishment.
The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino
Most Cash: Qing Liu ($1,542,416)
While he may not be a household name, Qing Liu is a very respected pro who also ranks (from personal experience) as one of the nicest people in poker.
Roughly half of Liu’s Venetian haul came when he won a career-high $752,880 by winning the 2021 WPT Venetian Main Event, coming ahead of fellow final-tablists Joseph McKeehen (2nd), Jack Hardcastle (5th), Sergio Aido (7th), and Jared Jaffee (8th).
Last year, Liu notably finished 2nd in the 5,715-entry WSOP $600 Deepstack for $207,192, losing an all-decisive coin flip with nearly exactly the same stack as winner Raj Vohra to be denied his first bracelet.
Most Cashes: Ben Palmer (142)
Being the top-overall grinder at not one, but two of Vegas' most-prominent casinos is an incredible task that Ben Palmer has managed to accomplish.
142 of his 380-career cashes have come in the Venetian and he’s been very successful there as well, currently 3rd on the Venetian all-time money list ($1,134,263).
Palmer’s career-high cash came in the 2019 WPT Venetian Main Event for $335,397, which got his name engraved on the Mike Sexton trophy.
South Point Hotel, Casino, & Spa
You can’t be a low-stakes player without going to South Point, home of $1.25 hot dogs and $5.45 steak-and-eggs between midnight and 6am. Of course, they have plenty of daily, weekly, and monthly recurring tournaments that keep locals and tourists coming to the classic venue. However, recurring tournaments are not listed as official venue cashes, which will make the leaderboards seem a bit odd in nature.
Most Cash: Phil Hellmuth ($440,000)
Believe it or not, it’s the 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth that ranks number one at South Point. How crazy is that?
Well, to explain this, we have to take a trip down memory lane to back when South Point hosted the early seasons of Poker After Dark.
In Season 4 of PAD, Hellmuth won a $50K Winner-Takes-All four-man heads-up tournament between Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, and Paul Wasicka for $200,000 in 2008. Earlier that year, in Season 3, Hellmuth also won two $20K 6-Max Winner-Takes-All tournaments for $120,000 each.
Most Cashes: Patricia Pfeil (11)
The large majority of this list includes women in poker as South Point continues to host the annual Ladies International Poker Series (LIPS) Nevada State Ladies Poker Championship, as well as LIPS Poker Series events.
As a result, it’s Lake Tahoe local Patricia Pfeil who tops the list.
