World Poker Tour Champions Club


The World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments since 2002 with winners of WPT Main Tour stops awarded a membership to the WPT Champions Club. The WPT Champions Cup is the trophy awarded to all winners of WPT Main Tour stops, and champions have their names engraved on the WPT Champions Cup.
On July 21, 2020, the WPT Champions Cup was renamed to the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup in honor of WPT commentator and WPT Champions Club member Mike Sexton. Sexton died on September 6, 2020, after battling prostate cancer.

World Poker Tour champions

Season 1 (I)

The inaugural season of the WPT featured 13 events running from May 2002 to April 2003.
DateEventLocationWinnerPrizeRunner-upEntrantsBuy-inPrizepool
May 27-June 1Five Diamond World Poker ClassicBellagio Resort & CasinoGus Hansen$556,460John Juanda146$10,000$1,416,200
August 30–31Legends of PokerBicycle CasinoChris Karagulleyan$258,000Hon Le134$5,000$670,000
October 9–11Aruba Poker ClassicThe Radisson Aruba Resort & CasinoJuha Helppi$50,000Anssi Tuulivirda100$300$350,000
October 19Costa Rica ClassicCasinos EuropaJose Rosenkrantz$108,730Jamie Ligator134$500$234,858
November 10–11Gold RushLucky Chances CasinoPaul Darden$146,000Chris Bigler152$3,000$456,000
November 14–17World Poker FinalsFoxwoods Resort CasinoHoward Lederer$320,400Layne Flack89$10,000$915,000
January 28–31World Poker OpenBinion's Horseshoe TunicaDave Ulliott$589,175Phil Ivey160$10,000$1,600,000
February 12–15Euro Finals of PokerAviation Club de FranceChrister Johansson€500,000Claude Cohen86€10,000€831,000
February 21–24L.A. Poker ClassicCommerce CasinoGus Hansen$532,490Daniel Rentzer136$10,000$1,360,000
February 25–26Celebrity InvitationalCommerce CasinoLayne Flack$125,300Jerry Buss104$0$208,300
March 6Party Poker Million IIHolland America CruiseHoward Lederer$289,150Chip Jett177$5,300$1,013,800
March 31-April 2World Poker ChallengeReno HiltonRon Rose$168,298Cal Dykes87$5,000$421,746
April 14–18WPT World ChampionshipBellagio Resort & CasinoAlan Goehring$1,011,886Kirill Gerasimov111$25,000$2,691,750

The second season of the WPT featured 14 events running from July 2003 to April 2004.
DateEventLocationWinnerPrizeRunner-upEntrantsBuy-inPrizepool
July 10–13Grand Prix de ParisAviation Club de FranceDavid Benyamine€357,000Jan Boubli96€10,000€894,400
September 1–3Legends of PokerBicycle CasinoMel Judah$579,375Paul Phillips309$5,000$1,545,000
September 20–22Borgata Poker OpenBorgata Hotel & CasinoNoli Francisco$470,000Charlie Shoten235$5,000$1,175,000
October 18Ultimate Poker ClassicRadisson Aruba Resort & CasinoErick Lindgren$500,000Daniel Larsson436$4,000$1,697,460
November 14–17World Poker FinalsFoxwoods Resort CasinoHoyt Corkins$1,089,200Mohamed Ibrahim313$10,000$3,155,000
December 15–18Five Diamond World Poker ClassicBellagio Resort & CasinoPaul Phillips$1,101,908Dewey Tomko314$10,000$3,044,750
January 25PokerStars Caribbean Poker AdventureRoyal CaribbeanGus Hansen$455,780Hoyt Corkins221$7,500$1,657,501
January 26–29World Poker OpenHorseshoe Casino & HotelBarry Greenstein$1,278,370Randy Jensen367$10,000$3,455,050
February 21–24L.A. Poker ClassicCommerce CasinoAntonio Esfandiari$1,399,135Vinnie Vinh382$10,000$3,781,500
February 24Celebrity InvitationalCommerce CasinoPhil Laak$100,000Humberto Brenes196$0$200,000
March 3–5Bay 101 Shooting StarBay 101Phil Gordon$360,000Chris Moneymaker243$5,000$1,125,000
March 18PartyPoker Million IIICard Player CruiseErick Lindgren$1,000,000Daniel Negreanu546$7,500$3,682,337
March 30-April 1World Poker ChallengeReno HiltonMike Kinney$629,469Paul Clark342$5,000$1,658,700
April 19–23WPT World ChampionshipBellagio Resort & CasinoMartin de Knijff$2,728,356Hasan Habib343$25,000$8,342,000

  • PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure was held on Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas cruise ship.
  • PartyPoker Million III was held as a Limit Hold'em tournament.
  • PartyPoker Million III was held on a Card Player Cruise on the Sea of Cortez.
  • Gus Hansen became the first player to win three WPT titles.
  • Erick Lindgren won WPT Player of the Year for Season 2.

    Season 3 (III)

The third season of the WPT featured 16 events running from July 2004 to April 2005.
DateEventLocationWinnerPrizeRunner-upEntrantsBuy-inPrizepool
July 17–21Grand Prix de ParisAviation Club de FranceSurinder Sunar€679,860Tony G205€10,000€1,957,750
July 29-August 1Mirage Poker ShowdownThe MirageEli Elezra$1,024,574Lee Watkinson281$10,000$2,725,200
August 28–31Legends of PokerBicycle CasinoDoyle Brunson$1,198,260Lee Watkinson667$5,000$3,335,000
September 19–22Borgata Poker OpenBorgata Hotel & CasinoDaniel Negreanu$1,117,400David Williams302$10,000$3,020,000
September 26-October 1Aruba Poker ClassicRadisson Aruba Resort & CasinoEric Brenes$1,000,000Layne Flack647$6,000$3,879,000
October 19–22Festa al LagoBellagio Resort & CasinoCarlos Mortensen$1,000,000Kido Pham312$10,000$3,026,400
November 13–17World Poker FinalsFoxwoods Resort CasinoTuan Le$1,549,588Temperance Hutter674$10,000$6,765,000
December 14–18Five Diamond World Poker ClassicBellagio Resort & CasinoDaniel Negreanu$1,770,218Humberto Brenes376$15,000$5,470,800
January 8–11PokerStars Caribbean Poker AdventureAtlantis Paradise IslandJohn Gale$890,600Alex Balandin461$8,000$3,487,200
January 24–27World Poker OpenGold Strike Resort and CasinoJohnny Stolzmann$1,491,444Chau Giang512$10,000$3,832,773
February 18–22L.A. Poker ClassicCommerce CasinoMichael Mizrachi$1,859,909Haralabos Voulgaris538$10,000$5,166,414
February 23–24Celebrity InvitationalCommerce CasinoAlex Brenes$125,500Johan Storakers233$0$225,500
March 7–11Bay 101 Shooting StarBay 101Danny Nguyen$1,025,000Jay Martens438$10,000$4,070,000
March 19–25PartyPoker Million IVHolland America CruiseMichael Gracz$1,500,000David Minto735$10,000$7,430,000
March 29-April 1World Poker ChallengeReno HiltonArnold Spee$633,880Blair Rodman345$5,000$1,725,350
April 18–24WPT World ChampionshipBellagio Resort & CasinoTuan Le$2,856,150Paul Maxfield453$25,000$10,961,000

  • PartyPoker Million IV was held as a Limit Hold'em tournament.
  • PartyPoker Million IV was held on Holland America's MS Oosterdam cruise ship on the Sea of Cortez.
  • Daniel Negreanu and Tuan Le became the third and fourth players respectively to win two WPT titles in the same season after Gus Hansen and Howard Lederer each won two in Season 1.
  • Doyle Brunson became the first player to win both the WSOP Main Event and a WPT title.
  • Daniel Negreanu won WPT Player of the Year for Season 3.