Paul Berende

Born in 1989, Dutch tournament pro Paul Berende got into poker around 2007 and quickly became a prolific name on the live European scene. He rose to fame on a national level after he won the 2009 €1,500 No Limit Hold’em Master Classics of Poker event in Amsterdam for $224,494.

He solidified his reputation as one of the strongest players from the Netherlands when he won another significant tournament – the 2010 Dom Classics Main Event in Utrecht – which earned him a second six-figure payday.

Paul carried the momentum from this victory into the largest tournament that he’d ever played just a few months later: the €25,000 NLH High Roller event at EPT Monte Carlo. The Dutchman made it down to the final nine in a star-studded line-up that included Tobias Reinkemeier, Olivier Busquet, Thomas Marchese, Sorel Mizzi and Luke Schwartz. While he exited in fifth and missed out on the seven-figure top prize, Berende still earned $254,540.

Add a minor EPT title to this list and Paul’s list of live earnings are now around $2,000,000. His online résumé is even more decorated, with more than $4,000,000 from MTT winnings at PokerStars alone under the screenname ‘Padjes’. In 2012 he won a SCOOP title and followed this up with a 2013 TCOOP victory in the $109 NLH 1R1A event that earned him $115,866.

In 2015, he became the centre of controversy at online poker forum 2+2 following allegations from Fedor ‘CrownUpGuy’ Holz that Berende owed him money from a staking deal. According to Fedor’s original post, the German was backing Paul in a staking arrangement and had known the Dutchman for a number of years prior. Berende refused to co-operate with Holz’s requests for audits showing transaction history, rousing suspicions that he’d stolen money that Fedor had lent to him after being more than $100,000 in make-up. In July of 2015, Holz confirmed that he had received the money owed to him as Berende bought out of make-up. This came less than a week after Paul finished runner-up in the prestigious Sunday Million for a huge $140,315 – likely the run good he needed to settle his debts with the German poker legend. In tournament poker where staking is such a crucial part of longevity, it is wise that Berende sought to clear his name by paying Fedor back the money he owed.