The biggest name in high-stakes poker is also its biggest winner: Bryn Kenney. In the world of poker, he has been the money leader for two straight years and has more than $57 million in wins to his credit in his career. This piece will begin by tracing the path Kenney has taken to win that money, before turning to how the evolution of the game, from casinos to online, has allowed players like him to emerge.

The Poker Boom: From Back Rooms to Online Arenas

All this would not have been possible without the fundamental transformation in the game of poker over the past decades. Just 25 years ago, a casino would have been considered a venue to play ordinary games. Las Vegas and Atlantic City have been drawing millions of players every year to play the game. Nonetheless, the real boom began when the doors of online casinos were opened to the general public. Online casinos allow players of all levels from all over the world a readily available and easy way to play online casino table games from wherever they were, on any device they had.

Quickly, the games attracted millions of players. Anyone can create a poker account at the click of a button, and start playing and winning from anywhere. While millions of dollars of prize purses were already on offer in major tournaments worldwide before, in the new post-TV poker world, seven-digit prize purses became common in online tournaments. The game now mints 20 and 30-year-old poker millionaires quite often and Bryn Kenney is one of the world’s newest poker millionaires.

Bryn Kenney Net Worth

Bryn Kenney, who is currently believed to be worth around $57 million dollars, perhaps the richest poker player ever, is estimated to have taken home more than half his net worth through poker wins alone. He is neither poker’s wealthiest, nor its most recognized or accomplished player.

Bryn is now 37 years old and still lives in Long Island, New York. He keeps his personal life very private and mainly shares professional updates on his personal Instagram account.

From Humble Beginnings to High Stakes

Bryn Kenney was born and raised on Long Island in New York. Little is known of his early life, but it is said that he started playing poker in his youth as a way to keep himself entertained during the years he spent at college. It wasn’t long, though, before he found the chip- and cash-filled oases of local card rooms, and with daily dosages of poker came increasing skill and aspiration. Making good use of rising capability, Kenney gradually worked his way up from small, live tournaments to bigger buy-in events that helped accelerate his progress.

The pivotal moment for Kenney came in 2014. At the largest poker tournament, he won the champion’s bracelet, an iconic symbol of poker greatness. With that, he won the affection of poker fans by effectively launching himself onto the international poker stage.

The Rise of a Poker Powerhouse

The next few years he was virtually unbeatable. He placed high in tournament after tournament across the globe and carved out a well-earned reputation for his ‘all-in’ or ‘nuts or die’ sense of play, making him the perfect player for high-stakes, high-intensity environments. In 2017, Kenney would cap his arrival into the big time by winning the Triton Super High Roller Series in Montenegro, pocketing a tidy $20 million – the then-largest single live tournament win in poker history.

Beyond the Tournament Scene

And tournament winnings are not the only source of Kenney’s billions. Like many successful celebrities, he has got into other businesses related to his domain of interest, in this case – poker. He has put together a stable of sponsored online poker players, which itself is not unusual for high-stakes professionals: they hire players who compete online, taking a share of their winnings, providing them with a nice, predictable revenue stream. He has built up a brand that he now licenses for advertising contracts, another classic exodus for gamblers of fortune-seeking to make their mark the world over.

Looking Ahead: A Legacy in the Making

One thing is for sure, though: poker has been changed by Bryn Kenney. And it is very clear exactly how. He has built a new profile of what it means to be a high-stakes poker ‘great’. He has raised the bar on the possibility in the game. He has revolutionized strategy through all manner of aggression, and inspired a new generation of players. He has become a role model to those with dreams of succeeding in the game.