How much money did the 2022 WSOP Main Event final table players really make?

Espen Jorstadnew World Series of Poker (WSOP) The Main Event champion, despite the payouts shown, actually received significantly more than the runner-up Adrian Attenborough than you think.

Jorstad, who brilliantly dominated the final table Friday and Saturday, received a base payout of $10 million. After tax, if he had remained in his native Norway, he would be taxed at 28% according to section 5-50 (1) of the Norwegian tax law. That comes out to $2,800,000, which means he would end up with $7,200,000 after taxes.

But the world champion no longer resides in Norway. Instead, he now lives in the UK where gambling winnings are not taxed, even for massive scores such as the WSOP Main Event.

View the 2021 WSOP Main Event Tax Breakdown here!

How to Legally Avoid Paying Taxes on Gambling Scores

Many high-stakes poker players who were born in countries that heavily tax gambling winnings move to places like England to avoid being cheated by the local tax collector. Last year’s champion Koray Aldemiris originally from Germany but lives in nearby Austria, which does not tax game scores. So he won the $8,000,000 cash.

Runner-up Attenborough comes from a country that does not tax gambling winnings – Australia. However, he now resides in the United States where they are taxed at a flat rate of 24%. So he actually received and estimated $4,560,000 after forecasting $1,440,000 withheld from the $6,000,000 payment. It’s still life-changing money, but a bigger gap to the Main Event champion than you might have realized before.

In third place was Michael Duek, who was born in Argentina but resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Similar to Attenborough, his $4,000,000 cash probably had about $960,000 held back for Uncle Sam, and his after-tax payout should be $4,560,000.

John Eames, fourth, is another lucky one. The British poker pro, thanks to a deal between the United States and England, won’t have a penny of his $3,000,000 score withheld.

Matija Dobric, who took fifth place, however, owes a significant amount of the $2,250,000 he won. Croatian gambling tax winnings require a 30% deduction for winnings over HRK 500,000 (USD 67,042). Thus, he will earn approximately $1,575,000 after deducting the projected $675,000.

Jeffrey Farnesanother American, should have had $420,000 (24%) for his sixth-place finish of $1,750,000, leaving him with $1,330,000 after Uncle Sam’s cut.

Seventh place paid less than eighth place?

Aaron Duczak, a Canadian, is one of the most interesting cases at the final table. He finished in seventh place but will technically receive less than eighth, Philippe Souki. US casinos are instructed to deduct 30% of jackpots over $1,200 won by Canadian residents. As such, Duczak’s payment of $1,350,000 should then have been deducted from $405,000 for a net payment of $945,000.

Souki, meanwhile, lives in the UK. As mentioned, US casinos are not required to tax UK winnings, so he should be allowed to keep all of that $1,075,000 check, which means he technically won more than Duczak.

First to jump to the official final table was Matthew Su, whose cash of $850,675 was actually much lower given the 24% US withholding tax requirement. Instead, it is estimated that he will receive approximately $646,513 after the $204,162 withholding.

In total, the base payout for the nine players at the 2022 WSOP Main Event final table was a combined $30,275,675. After all applicable taxes have been deducted, totaling $4,104,162, the table will unequally divide $26,174,513.

2022 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payout Chart After Tax