John Hesp Reveals $2.6million Main Event Winnings are Still in the Bank

3 years ago
John Hesp Reveals $2.6million Main Event Winnings are Still in the Bank
09:01
25 Aug

In one of those ‘hard to believe how time flies’ moments, it’s been three full years since Englishman John Hesp won over the hearts of the World Series of Poker, turning his Main Event bucket list joyride into 4th place and $2.6million!

Three years on, and Hesp recently revealed that most of his prizemoney is still sitting in the bank, and the incredible memories are still as fresh as when they happened.

 â€œWe didn’t need any fancy holidays or any big expensive toys or anything like that. So the money is still in the bank!” the 67-year old semi-retired businessman told his local Hull Daily Mail newspaper. “We treated family, that sort of thing, so they had a few quid out of it but other than that, we haven’t really spent anything on ourselves.”

Hesp shot to fame – and then fortune – when he started a deep run in the $10k buy-in flagship Main Event in July of 2017, his distinctive multi-coloured jacket making him hard to miss.

Hesp was a self-confessed ÂŁ10 Sunday re-buy regular at Napoleons Casino and Restaurant in Hull, his Vegas trip just one more thing to tick off his bucket list.

Questioned about the massive money on offer as the field was whittled down to less than two dozen from an initial 7221 entries, Hesp’s answer might shock many.

“How much did a $100,000 hike in prize money make to my style of play? I would say nothing. Whereas I think for most others, you would say that it did." That, he says, isn’t meant as cockiness. “I say that with a degree of humility”, admitting: “I had won when I got into the top thousand players. Anything else was a bonus.”


By the time he reached the final table, he was assured of $1million and was already a media darling – and found himself surrounded by big-name pros and hardened regs.

Suddenly he was sat alongside Ben Lamb, Jack Sinclair,  Benjamin Pollak and eventual winner Scott Blumstein – poker’s biggest prize and $8,150,000 in cold hard cash on the line.

“I was determined to keep on playing just as I had been doing at the start with a spirit of fun and enjoyment in the game,” John says, adding: “It was almost like I donned my jacket and my hat and became the fun face of poker.”

Finishing in 4th place, a $2.6million tax-free windfall and a place in poker history makes the John Hesp tale one of the riveting and positive of any in the game’s long history.

And the memories live on, John reminiscing:

“…all these top pros that I only ever dreamed that I would ever meet, were actually wanting to rub shoulders with me and have pictures taken with me. …take the money away and that experience alone was worth $10,000.”

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Andrew from Edinburgh, Scotland, is a professional journalist, international-titled chess master, and avid poker player.Read more

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