Michael ‘SirWatts’ Watson

Canadian born Michael Watson is one of the most successful tournament poker players to ever come out of The Great White North. He found poker at a sensible time in his life, getting into the game in 2005 shortly after he completed his Maths degree at the University of Waterloo.

Watson splits his time somewhat equally between playing online MTTs and grinding the live circuit in the summer months. With live earnings of over $10,000,000, he has scooped a number of prestigious titles including a WPT win, multiple WSOPE victories, two Aussie Millions titles and a couple of EPT first-places as well. His first seven-figure score came in 2008 in the $15,000 No Limit Hold’em WPT Bellagio Cup IV, where he outlasted fellow pro David Benyamine to claim the top-prize of $1,673,770. Two years on and another Bellagio Cup victory later, he took down the 2010 $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Aussie Millions event and beat the likes of tournament wizard James Obst to get there. In 2012, Watson won his second seven-figure prize in the 2012 €50,000 No Limit Hold’em Majestic Roller Re-Entry tournament at the WSOPE in Cannes. Given the large buy-in for the tournament, the field was an extremely competitive one with the likes of Philipp Gruissem, Tobias Reinkemeier, Steve O’ Dwyer and John Juanda all at the final table and eventually losing out to the Canadian. In a more recent and well-covered event, Michael shipped the final ever PCA EPT Main Event in 2016 for $728,325.

Along with a decorated live tournament career, his online tournament earnings are not to be scoffed at with more than $3,500,000 to his name. Playing under the screenname ‘SirWatts’ with most of his volume put in at PokerStars, he has won both WCOOP and SCOOP titles. His MTT track record over at PocketFives demonstrates that he is not just a one-trick-pony that plays only No Limit Hold’em. Both of his SCOOP titles have come in Pot Limit Omaha events, one of them in the Hi/Lo format.