David Steicke

Born in Australia, David Steicke accrued the bulk of his wealth by working as a commodities trader. For him, poker is just one of various forms of gambling that he enjoys to partake in as a hobby. Considering that Steicke treats it as such, he’s done pretty darn well at it. The Australian has over $3,800,000 in tournament winnings over the last decade.

Heading straight for the shark-infested deep end, David’s first ever in-the-money finish took place in 2007 at a $15,000 High Roller event in Macau. For a recreational player, David showed that he had potential in the game as he ended up finishing third-place for $110,592 – ahead of poker legend and multiple-time WSOP bracelet winner John Juanda.

After this initial success, David got the itch to enter more high roller tournaments. Two years on, he was raising the trophy of one for himself – the Aussie Millions A$100,000 No Limit Hold’em Challenge event. A tournament that attracts many of the strongest players in the game with its big prize pool and beautiful location, Steicke outlasted a tough field to scoop the $852,442 up top. Speaking about his victory, he explained, ‘If you want to beat the best, you’ve got to play the best. I got to play with the best here’.

A few months later, David won his second high roller tournament – this one taking place in Macau once again. He earned $129,021 for finishing in first – just one of nine six-figure cashes that Steicke has pocketed in his live tournament career. Two others of these have come at the WSOP, where David has managed to reach two final tables but is yet to get his hands on the gold. Remarkably, the closest he came was in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event in 2017 – a tournament that is extremely hard given the diverse number of games that players must be comfortable with. David fell two places shy of the top prize in a run that no doubt made him hungrier than ever to win some WSOP gold.

Outside of poker, the Australian has been involved in a high-profile legal battle with his ex-wife for a long period of time regarding her claim to a portion of money generated by the Punters Club – a gambling syndicate to which David belonged. The combined legal fees for both parties have reportedly exceeded $50,000,000.