2014 WSOP Main Event: Where Are They Now?

Full episodes from the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event debuted on PokerGO last week, giving fans a chance to look back at Mark Newhouse’s second November Nine run for the first time. Over the course of six days of coverage, starting with Day 4, the field dwindles from hundreds, to nine, to a champion. There are tons of characters and personalities on display throughout the ESPN coverage, but four players from deep in the 2014 Main Event stick out and are featured in Poker Central’s first Where Are They Now? feature.

Dan Smith

Over the last few years, High Roller specialists have made deep runs in the WSOP Main Event. Tom Marchese made Day 7 in 2016 and Fedor Holz made Day 7 in 2015, but both followed in Dan Smith’s footsteps. Smith finished 20th in 2014 and since then, has crushed some of the world’s biggest tournaments. Over $10 million of Smith’s $19 million career earnings have been won since his 2014 Main Event run, including a $3 million score in the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop at the 2016 WSOP and a $1.4 million win in a $100K Super High Roller at Bellagio to end 2017.

Mark Newhouse

After going back-to-back in 2013 and 2014, Mark Newhouse has basically removed himself from the live tournament circuit. Newhouse has only recorded two live tournament results since his second 9th place finish, with the most recent coming in the summer of 2015.

Bruno Politano

While Mark Newhouse has disappeared, Bruno Politano has been a household name since his 2014 November Nine run. The Brazilian has pushed his career earnings near $1.5 million, doing most of his damage in South America, but maybe more importantly, Politano has paved the way for other Brazilians. Felipe Ramos, Andre Akkari, Vivian Saliba, who was the Last Women Standing in the 2017 Main Event, and more have become stars since Politano finished 8th in 2014.

Martin Jacobson

When Martin Jacobson won the 2014 Main Event, the $10 million first place prize was the largest since 2006. The Main Event winner has not made eight-figures since, but players at the final table have been guaranteed $1 million payouts. In the four years since winning the Main Event, Jacobson has not recored a seven-figure cash and has only cashed for more than over $1 million in a calendar year once. That was in 2017, when Jacobson final tabled the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop at the WSOP for $641,000 and finished 2nd in a $5,000 Venetian CPPT summer post-lim for nearly $400,000. Outside of those two scores, Jacobson has been more Qui Nguyen than Joe McKeehen since his WSOP Main Event triumph.