Sam Trickett: Poker Results & Memorable Hands
Sam Trickett’s poker resume details the accomplishments of one of the world’s most successful poker players. The high-stakes tournament fixture has amassed more than $21 million in career tournament earnings since taking up the game.
Born in Nottinghamshire, England, in 1986, Trickett chose a path as a poker pro while at a crossroads in life in the mid-2000s. That decision has led to a career that puts him among the top 25 all-time tournament money winners.
Let’s take a look at the life and poker career of Sam Trickett:
Sam Trickett’s Tournament Results and Biggest Cashes
As of Janaury 2021, Sam Trickett’s career poker tournament earnings total $21,782,558. Trickett’s five biggest tournament scores include:
- 2012 WSOP $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop (2nd – $10,112,001)
- 2013 Aussie Millions A$250,000 Challenge (1st – $2,111,397)
- 2011 Aussie Millions A$100,000 No-Limit Hold’em (1st – $1,508,258)
- 2011 Aussie Millions A$250,000 Super High Roller (1st – $1,384,631)
- 2011 Partouche Poker Tour Cannes €8,500 Main Event (1st – $1,364,666)
Take a look at Trickett’s entire history of tournament poker results at his Hendon Mob page.
Sam Trickett’s Memorable Hands
Upswing Poker founder Doug Polk takes us through the following hand from the 2019 Triton Poker London Super High Roller. This event played as the highest buy-in poker tournament ever recorded, with players putting up a £1.05 million entry fee ($1,215,901).
Polk begins his analysis with a catch up on what happens in this hand before we get to see the streaming coverage. Stephen Chidwick min-raises to 12,000 from the hijack with J♣ 8♣, Trickett flat calls with A♣ J♦ from the small blind, and Bryn Kenney calls with 8♥ 6♣ from the big blind.
The flop comes 7♣ 4♣3 ♣, with 45,000 in the pot:
Chidwick flops a jack-high flush, and the blinds both check. Chidwick decides to check back.
The turn comes J♠, bringing in top pair for Trickett along with his ace-high flush draw. Trickett checks, Kenney checks, and Chidwick checks for a second time.
With the pot still at 45,000, the river comes 7♠. Trickett bets 16,000, and Kenney, with just eight-high, raises to 102,000. Chidwick calls, putting the action back on Trickett.
Trickett decides to turn his hand into a bluff, going all-in for 485,000. Kenney folds, and Chidwick uses a few time chips, then folds. Polk’s video questions whether this hand represents the sickest bluff ever, especially considering it comes in the early stages of a million-plus buy-in tournament.
Trickett vs. Antoine Saout
This vintage hand from the partypoker World Open features Trickett watching and commentating post-production. The hand starts with an under-the-gun Antoine Saout opening to 15,000 with K♣ K♥, and Trickett flat calling in the small blind with T♦ T♣:
The flop comes T♥ 6♣ 8♥, bringing in top set for Trickett. Trickett checks Saout bets 30,000, and Trickett makes the call.
The turn falls J♣, and both players check through. The river falls a disastrous K♠ for Trickett, with his set of tens now rendered no good against Saout’s set of kings.
Trickett checks again, and Saout bets 45,000. Trickett check-raises all in for his remaining 365,000, and Saout calls, with Trickett looking stunned when Saout tables the kings.
In the post-tournament commentary from this video, Trickett says he doesn’t like the way he ended up playing the hand.
Sam Trickett’s Rise to Poker Greatness
Trickett now sits with more than $21 million in live earnings, but times were tough for the English-born superstar back in 2006. Trickett began playing poker in the pubs of Nottinghamshire and taught himself how to get better with each outing.
One of Trickett’s first wins came in a local tournament, in which Trickett’s then-girlfriend loaned him the money for the buy-in. Trickett worked as a plumber and was an aspiring football player at the time.
An injury cut Trickett’s football dreams short, so he started to learn gas engineering while continuing to study poker. By the time Trickett’s training for a gas engineering career was complete, Trickett decided to pursue poker full time instead.
Trickett’s rise up the tournament stakes began with low-stakes tournaments around England, with his recorded wins beginning in 2007 according to Hendon Mob.
Trickett’s breakthrough came at the 2008 World Series of Poker, where the then 21-year-old Trickett finished fourth in a $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for $245,927. He followed up two months later with a win in the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Main Event for $215,718.
Sam Trickett’s poker accomplishments put him among the best tournament players of all time. (Image courtesy of partypoker)
Seven-Figure Scores and Beyond
Trickett began 2011 with a pair of million-dollar-plus cashes at the Aussie Millions. A win in the A$100,000 No-Limit Hold’em event ($1,508,258) and a runner-up finish in the A$ 250,000 Super High Roller ($1,384,631) marked his two biggest cashes to date at the time.
The 2012 WSOP $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop yielded Trickett’s career-high cash, by far. Trickett finished second for a $10,112,001 payday in what was then the biggest buy-in tournament of all time.
Trickett claims five scored of seven figures or larger across his career, and stands at No. 24 on the Hendon Mob all-time tournament earnings list as of January 2021. He’s at No. 11 in the Hendon Mob’s Popularity Rankings.
Partypoker employs Trickett as a Global Ambassador, and he has two different poker rooms named after him. “Trickett’s Room” can be found at Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club in Nottingham, England, and an online version of Trickett’s Room is hosted on partypoker’s international online poker site.
Trickett still appears regularly in high-stakes tournaments and cash games around the globe. Still just 34 years old, Trickett has amassed one of the most impressive poker resumes of all time over the last decade-plus.
