March 2018

Stockholm-born Martin Jacobson, who currently lives in London, ranks thirty-fourth on the all-time money list, with $16.8 million in live earnings. Far and away his biggest payout was the $10 million he collected for winning the World Series of Poker (WSOP) World Championship in 2014, having previously finished in sixth place – worth $807,247 – in the WSOP One Drop High Roller event, also held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the previous year.

In his formative years, Jacobson attended a culinary school, before working a chef in a Stockholm seafood restaurant and, when he turned 18, in the Swedish Navy during military service. He originally played online poker as a hobby but, remarkably, won a seat at the WSOP Main Event in 2008. Having turned 21 just three days before the start of the tournament, Jacobson travelled to Las Vegas alone and was eliminated after just three hands. Sensing revenge, rather than discouragement, Jacobson continued to gather momentum as a poker player on his return to Sweden and, later the same year, cashed for $89,000 when finishing second in the PokersStars Sunday Million, having risked the last $200 in his account.

The Swedish professional joined Gibraltar-based online poker network 888poker as a brand ambassador in late 2017. Prior to ‘Bros Vs Pros II’ – a tournament in which qualifiers take on well-known, professional players – at the Aspers Casino in Stratford, East London in early 2019, Tom Mason, one of the latest ‘Bros’, genuinely asked Jacobson what his biggest live cash was!