Jason DeWitt

Born in Indiana in 1983, Jason DeWitt found poker at the perfect time. Rewind to 2004 – the year after Chris Moneymaker made history by winning the WSOP Main Event after earning a seat by playing online. At the young age of 22, DeWitt was introduced to Hold’em by some friends while he was working in a supermarket. He soon realised that he had a natural ability for the game, and his strength as a player was compounded by study and hard work. Jason ran up a large enough bankroll that allowed him to quit his job and commit to poker full-time.

After winning big in some online tournaments, the American used the money to take a shot at some of the juiciest events at the WSOP in 2006. Amazingly, his first ever live tournament cash wasn’t just any old one – he made the final table of the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout tournament. Among the competition was Vanessa Selbst and multiple-time bracelet winner David Pham. Although DeWitt wasn’t able to strike it lucky at his first WSOP outing with a bracelet win, his deep run in an event packed with talent reaffirmed his ability as a player.

2009 saw Jason get another shot at the WSOP gold when he reached two final tables in the same series. The closest he came to winning the top prize was when he got down to the final heads-up stage at the $3,000 NLH Triple Chance event. Unfortunately for him, he fell just short once again and had to settle for $313,227.

It was 2010 where the American had his breakout year. Jason finally seized that much sought-after bracelet when he took down the $5,000 NLH event for a huge $818,959. What made his achievement all the more impressive was how he earned it – by beating English high-stakes boss Sam Trickett in the final heads-up battle.

DeWitt became a two-time WSOP winner in 2016 when he won the title in one of the largest-field events on the roster – the $1,500 NLH Millionaire Maker. A tournament that targets recreational players with its promise of a seven-figure prize to the winner, Jason had to get past 7,189 other players to get his hands on the gold. He was awarded $1,065,403 for the victory which helped boost his live tournament earnings to well over $3,000,000 today.

A lover of dogs with his own called Buddy, head to Jason’s Twitter page if you want to see some cute pictures of his prized pet.