Mike Watson’s Early Life and Introduction to Poker

Mike Watson was born in 1984 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Raised in an academically inclined household, with both parents as university professors, Watson’s upbringing emphasized education. He developed a passion for strategic games like chess and Magic: The Gathering and frequently participated in math contests.

His love for mathematics led him to pursue an undergraduate degree in the subject. During his college years, Watson was introduced to poker by friends and quickly found a natural talent for the game, which he attributes to both his upbringing and analytical mindset.

Mike Watson’s Poker Career Highlights and Winnings

Mike Watson’s first recorded live poker cash came in 2006 when he finished 6th in the Bellagio Cup II $1,000 NLH, earning $7,060. The following year, he cashed in five WSOP 2007 events, including a 10th-place finish in the $1,500 PLO High-Low 8 or Better for $9,049. His breakthrough victory came in 2008 when he won the Bellagio Cup IV $15,000 NLH WPT Main Event, securing a massive $1,673,770 payday.

In 2010, Watson claimed his first Aussie Millions title by winning the A$1,150 NLH event for $119,911. Two years later, he narrowly missed out on a WSOP bracelet, finishing 2nd in the €3,200 NLH Shootout at the 2012 WSOP Europe for $150,319. However, he made up for it by winning the non-bracelet €50,000 Majestic High Roller for $1.3 million.

Watson continued his strong performances, making multiple deep runs in WSOP events and scoring another major win in 2016 by taking down the PCA $5,300 NLH Main Event for $728,325—his first EPT trophy after years of close calls.

His first Triton Poker cash came in 2017, when he finished 2nd in the Triton Macau HK$240,000 6-Max Side Event for $290,000. In 2020, as poker shifted online, Watson adapted quickly, winning Event #4 of the PGT Poker Masters Online for $249,900.

When live poker returned in 2022, Watson continued his dominance, finishing 2nd in the WSOP $2,000 NLH event for $326,296 and winning the EPT Barcelona €50,000 NLH for $895,933.

In 2023, he secured two major titles, winning his first Triton Poker event in Vietnam for $695,000 and clinching the €5,300 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event for $825,731.

Watson finally captured his first WSOP gold bracelet in 2024, winning the WSOP Online $1,000 NLH 6-Max Championship for $138,327. He also finished 3rd in the Triton Jeju $150,000 NLH for a career-best $1,895,000. His year ended on a high note with a victory in the EPT Barcelona €10,000 High Roller, earning $660,185.

His recent poker cashes in 2025 include a runner-up finish in the Triton Jeju $30,000 NLH Ante Only event for $353,000.

Mike Watson’s Net Worth in 2025

While the official reports on Watson’s net worth are not available, his total live poker earnings exceed $30.5 million. This places him among the top five richest Canadian poker players. With multiple seven-figure scores and continued success in live and online tournaments, his net worth is estimated to be in the seven-figure range.

Mike Watson’s Personal Life

Mike Watson married his longtime girlfriend, Sarah, in 2020. The couple has a child and resides in Toronto, Canada. Watson often travels with his family while competing in major poker tournaments worldwide.

Keep following PokerProNews for more such inspiring stories from poker pros from across the world. 

<p>The post How Rich is Mike Watson? A Look at His Poker Career & Net Worth first appeared on Global Poker News Daily: PokerProNews.com.</p>

Fresh off his first bracelet win at WSOP 2024, Watson was already having a good series. Following several close finishes, including a third-place finish in the €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em I, a runner-up in the €5,200 8-Game, and sixth in the €10,200 Pot-Limit Omaha, he finally claimed the first title of the recent series with a first-place finish in the €10,000 EPT High Roller. He overcame a field of 431 entries and bested Enrico Camosci heads up to take home €595,000.

The tournament ended in an ICM chop with Camosci banking the largest prize of €734,900 from the massive €4,180,700 prize pool. While Camosci secured the top payout, Watson capped off his incredible run at the festival with an impressive over €850,000 in total winnings.

Watson overcame a tough final table featuring partypoker €2,200 Nordic Poker Championship winner and last year’s EPT Prague Main Event runner-up Jon Kyte and the current GPI ranking topper Jesse Lonis. Eventually, he clashed with Camosci in the heads-up with the latter holding a commanding 4:1 chip lead over Watson. Before the final duel began, the two struck a deal that guaranteed Camosci the largest prize but left €20,000, the title and the trophy for the winner.

Following a back-and-forth battle, Watson won a big pot with his king-queen besting Camosci’s ace-jack, leaving the Italian with just five big blinds. On the final hand, Watson shoved his ace-jack from the button and Camosci called for his last 2 million with seven-three. Following a queen-high flop, a seven landed on the turn giving Camosci the lead but then a jack on the river sealed victory for Watson.

This tournament ran over the course of three days and  generated €4,180,700 in prize pool. The top 63 players were paid out, with Niall Farrell (31st for €25,150), Sam Greenwood (55th for €19,000), Mark Teltscher (62nd for €17,300), Boris Angelov (11th for €72,800), and poker legend Erik Seidel (20th for €38,200) being some notables among them. 

2024 EPT Barcelona €10,300 EPT High Roller Final Table Payouts

Also taking place on the final day of the 2024 European Poker Tour Barcelona was the the €10,200 No-Limit Hold’em event, which played out in the Pau Cassals room at Casino Barcelona where  Slovakia’s Eric Bauer pulled off thrilling comeback to claim his first EPT title and career-best €151,400.

Bauer started the final table with a short stack and was on the brink of elimination at one point. However, he fought back and made it to the heads-up against  Canada’s Dongwoo Ko with stacks being nearly even. Following a back-and-forth battle, he pulled ahead before the final hand, which was a nail biter. Bauer shoved holding queen-nine against the king-ten of Ko. The board ran out Qs Jd 3c Js, sealing victory for Bauer. Unfortunately, Ko had to settle for the runner-up prize of €100,100.

The €10,200 No-Limit Hold’em drew 48 entries and generated €465,600 in prize pool, which was shared by the top seven finishers. A total of 16 players returned to the felts for the final day’s play, with PokerStars Team Pro Maria Konnikova becoming one of the early eliminations of the day.

2024 EPT Barcelona €10,200 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Payouts

The final event to conclude at the PokerStars EPT Barcelona festival was the €10,200 6-Max Turbo. After six-and-a-half hours of intense play, it came down to an all-French heads-up between Jeremie Zouari and Thomas Eychenne. Zouari, the 2023 EPT Monte Carlo €3,000 Mystery Bounty champion, won the heads-up battle, claiming his second EPT title and a massive top prize of €107,200. Eychenne took the runner-up payout of €69,800, topping $2,000,000 in career tournament earnings.

The single day event drew 32 entries, creating a prize pool of €310,400. The top six players made the money, with China’s Ren Lin (fifth for €27,900), Sam Greenwood (fourth for €35,700), and Alexander Ivarsson (third for € 48,100) being notables among them. 

2024 EPT Barcelona €10,200 6-Max Turbo Final Payouts

Source: PokerNews & PokerStars

<p>The post EPT Barcelona: Mike Watson, Erik Bauer &  Jeremie Zouari Dominate Final Events first appeared on Global Poker News Daily: PokerProNews.com.</p>

Watson claimed the coveted bracelet just recently by taking down the WSOP Online Event #21: NL Hold’em 6-Max Online Championship to earn $138,327 in top prize. This coveted victory made the Toronto, Ontario resident the 10th player in history to achieve poker’s prestigious ‘triple crown,’ with wins at the WSOP, World Poker Tour, and European Poker Tour – all world-famous poker tours.

Watson is a four-time Triton Poker event winner along with Fedor Holz and Wai Kin Yong . He won a high roller event in 2012 during that year’s World Series of Poker Europe, but sadly that tournament was not listed in the WSOP bracelet category. Watson topped a star-studded field of 60 entries in that $66,060 buy-in tournament and earned a whopping $1,301,900 for his top-notch performance.

In WSOP Online Event #21: NL Hold’em 6-Max Online Championship, Watson had to face a tough competition especially in the final phase of the tournament.  He had to overcome the likes of bracelet winner Mitch Halverson (16th – $ 5,870), bracelet winner Ryan Hiller (13th – $7,858), bracelet winner and two-time WPT champion Kevin Eyster (10th – $10,131), Frank Bonacci ( 8th – $17,137), and WPT champion Matthew Salsberg (6th) on his way to bracelet victory. Finally, he clashed with Michael McNeil, who could not go all the way and had to eventually settle for the runner-up prize – $101,118.

WSOP Online Event #21: NL Hold’em 6-Max Online Championship Final Table Payouts

Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates and results from the ongoing WSOP 2024!

Image Credit: WSOP

<p>The post WSOP 2024: Mike Watson Finally Wins His First Bracelet 17 Years of His First WSOP Cash first appeared on Global Poker News Daily: PokerProNews.com.</p>

Event #2: $25K NLH 8-Handed was a two-day affair running from May 13 to 14, 2024. A total of 135 entries were recorded in this event, building a prize pool of $3,375,000. The top 23 were paid out, with Mikita Badziakouski (23rd), Seth Davies (22nd), Steve O’Dwyer (17th), Quan Zhou (15th), Nick Petrangelo (14th), Henrick Hecklen (13th), Patrik Antonius (12th) being some notables to cash.  

The final table was reached after the elimination of Ben Heath (9th). Ni held the chip lead when the official 8-handed final table was reached. He extended his lead when his pocket aces bested A-Q of Alex Kulev (8th – $98,500) to narrow the field to seven. Jose Barbero was the next to fall, with his A-K losing to pocket aces of Chris Brewer. Five-time Triton champion Danny Tang then exited in sixth place with his pocket queens failing to beat A-K suited for Nicolas Chouity. Brewer then scored another knockout with his A-3 holding up against the K-8 of Viacheslav Buldygin (5th for $233,000).

Aram Sargsyan, whose pocket tens failed to hold up against the Q-7 suited of Chouity, was the next player to fall, earning $290,000 for his fourth-place finish. This was just his second Triton event. Later, Ni won a key pot with his K-10 coming from behind against the K-J suited of Brewer. Finally, it was all over with hi Ah Jc holding up against the As 10d of Chouity and Ac 8s Brewar. The board brought Qd Qc 7h 6d 4d, giving Ni the coveted title. Brewer, the two-time WSOP bracelet winner, took home $354,000 as the third-place finisher.  Chouity, a bracelet winner, banked $531,000 as the runner-up.

Event #2: $25K NLH 8-Handed Final Table Results

The third event of the Triton Poker’s Super High Roller Series in Montenegro concluded yesterday, crowning a winner in Canada’s Mike Watson, who overcame a field of 154 entrants, taking home the coveted trophy and his first-seven figure score worth $1,023,000. In the final showdown, he defeated Malaysia’s Kiat Lee, who, despite his valiant fight, had to settle for the runner-up prize of $691,000.

The strong turnout for Event #3 was the $30,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed resulted in a massive $4,620,000 prize pool, which was finally shared by the top 27 players with a min cash worth $46,200. On Day 1 of the tournament, the field whittle down to 25 hopefuls. Mario Mosboeck was the unfortunate bubble boy, exiting in 28th place. Watson’s fellow Canadian Andrew Chen and Chuck Chu exited before Day 1 concluded. Both of them took home $46,200 prizes.

Day 2 saw a total of 25 players, with Mikita Badziakouski (24th), Chris Moneymaker (23rd), Dimitar Danchev (16th), and Patrik Antonius (11th), all falling before the final table was reached.

The final table was set when the 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Hossein Ensan busted in 9th place.  He was followed by Daniel Rezaei (8th), Leon Sturm (7th), Sirzat Hissou (6th),  Morten Klein (5th) and David Yan (4th). Finally, it came down to heads-up after the demise of Biao.

In this hand, Lee open-shoved with ace-seven, and Biao called with pocket jacks from the big blind. An ace came on the flop and Lee held from there, busting his opponent in third place ($475,000).

The heads-up saw Lee holding a three-to-one chip lead over Watson. However, Watson was able to take the chip lead by the time the final hand arrived. On the final hand, Lee’s queen-six improved to top pair on a nine-queen-seven flop, with Watson holding eight-six for a straight draw. Watson hit his straight on the turn 5h, claiming Lee’s stack and the title with a river shove that Lee called to see bad news. Lee finished second for $691,000. Watson claimed the $1,023,000 top prize and his fourth Triton title.

Event 3 – $30,000 – 8-Handed Final Table Results

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