Cary Katz: WSOP Bracelet Winner, High-Stakes Regular and PokerGO Founder
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Cary Katz has built one of poker's most unusual résumés by combining a long career in high-stakes tournament poker with a major role in the business and media side of the game. The American player has won a World Series of Poker bracelet, captured some of poker's biggest high-roller events and accumulated more than $43 million in recorded live tournament earnings.
Katz is also the founder of PokerGO, giving him an influence on modern poker that extends well beyond his results at the table. His tournament career has included victories at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Super High Roller Bowl London and PokerGO Tour events, along with repeated deep runs against elite high-stakes fields.
As of September 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Katz with $43,178,677 in live tournament earnings and a career-best cash of $2,610,317. Those figures can change as additional results are recorded.
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Who Is Cary Katz?
Cary Katz is an American businessman, poker player and poker-industry entrepreneur associated with Las Vegas. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and attended the University of Georgia before building a career in business.
Katz founded College Loan Corporation in 1999 and later became increasingly active in major poker tournaments. PokerNews reported during the 2012 World Series of Poker that Katz had already been recording tournament results for years while running the student-loan company.
His involvement in poker eventually expanded far beyond playing. Katz founded Poker Central, which developed into the media operation behind PokerGO. PokerGO has become a major platform for televised and streamed poker, including high-stakes tournaments, cash games and original programming.
That combination of player and industry founder makes Katz distinct from many of the professionals he regularly competes against.
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Cary Katz's Poker Career
Katz recorded tournament success before becoming a regular presence in the high-roller era, but his results accelerated considerably after he began playing more frequently in Las Vegas.
By the 2010s, he was regularly competing in five-figure, six-figure and occasionally seven-figure buy-in tournaments against many of the strongest players in the world.
One early WSOP breakthrough came in 2013, when Katz finished runner-up to Davidi Kitai in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event. Katz earned $138,794 but missed his first bracelet when Kitai won the heads-up match.
The result began a long stretch in which Katz repeatedly came close to WSOP gold without winning a bracelet. He added another runner-up finish in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event in 2017 and finished second to Chris Brewer in the 2023 WSOP $100,000 High Roller for $1,592,539.
His career outside the WSOP was already filled with major titles by that point.
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Major High-Roller Victories
Katz's largest tournament successes have often come in high-stakes events with small but exceptionally accomplished fields.
2018 PCA $100,000 Super High Roller
Katz won the $100,000 Super High Roller at the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas.
The event drew 48 entries and generated a $4,737,600 prize pool. Katz defeated the final field to earn $1,492,340, one of the largest scores of his career.
The victory established Katz as more than a businessman participating in high rollers. He had demonstrated that he could win outright against fields populated by experienced high-stakes professionals.
2019 Super High Roller Bowl London
Katz recorded his largest live tournament cash in September 2019 at Super High Roller Bowl London.
The £250,000 buy-in event attracted 12 entries. Katz won the tournament and collected £2.1 million, worth $2,610,317 for Hendon Mob reporting purposes.
That remains his largest recorded live cash as of September 2026.
The victory came only weeks after Katz finished fourth in the £250,000 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London event for another seven-figure score.
Other Seven-Figure Results
Katz has produced several additional seven-figure finishes during his career.
His major results include:
Fifth place in the 2016 €1 million Big One for One Drop Extravaganza for approximately $1.93 million.
Second place in a 2018 Triton Poker Short Deck event in Jeju for approximately $1.77 million.
First place in the 2019 Super High Roller Bowl London for $2.61 million.
Second place in the 2023 WSOP $100,000 High Roller for $1.59 million.
First place in the 2018 PCA $100,000 Super High Roller for $1.49 million.
Those finishes helped move Katz into the upper levels of poker's all-time live tournament earnings list.
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Cary Katz Wins His First WSOP Bracelet
Despite years of high-stakes success, a WSOP bracelet remained missing from Katz's résumé until the 2025 World Series of Poker.
Katz entered Event #83, the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout, and advanced through a field of 1,299 entries at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
He defeated Breno Drumond heads-up to win the event, earning $449,245 and his first WSOP bracelet.
The official WSOP results list Katz as the Event #83 champion and confirm the $2,890,275 prize pool.
The victory was especially significant because Katz had previously reached several WSOP final tables and finished runner-up three times. His bracelet arrived in a tournament with a substantially larger field than the invitation-heavy and high-roller events for which he had become widely known.
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WSOP, WPT and Major-Tour Record
As of September 2026, Katz has one WSOP bracelet.
His bracelet came in the 2025 $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout. He has also recorded numerous high-roller cashes and final-table appearances at the WSOP, including his 2013 and 2023 runner-up finishes.
Katz does not have a World Poker Tour Main Tour title. The World Poker Tour's player record lists eight Main Tour cashes, one Main Tour final table and no Main Tour victories.
His tournament résumé is instead defined largely by independent high rollers, PokerGO Tour events, WSOP competition, Triton events and other major series.
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PokerGO and Katz's Impact on Poker
Katz's importance to poker cannot be measured only through prize money.
He founded Poker Central, which became the foundation for PokerGO. The platform has developed into an important home for live poker broadcasts and original poker programming.
PokerGO's ecosystem includes major tournament brands and televised poker properties, while the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas has hosted a regular schedule of high-stakes competition.
Katz also helped support the development of recurring high-roller tournaments in Las Vegas. In a 2025 Card Player interview, he discussed helping establish early high-roller events before the format became a regular part of the Las Vegas tournament calendar.
His role therefore spans both sides of the game: Katz competes in many of the events that the poker media business he founded helps present to viewers.
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Cary Katz's Playing Style
Katz has described his own poker approach as combining mathematical understanding with instinct and close observation of opponents.
In a 2025 Card Player interview, he said he relies heavily on instincts, memory and information gathered by watching other players. He also described table conversation as one way of observing reactions and potentially disrupting an opponent's normal decision-making process.
That self-described approach fits a career built largely in high-stakes tournaments, where Katz has competed repeatedly against many of the same elite professionals.
His record also shows significant experience beyond standard no-limit hold'em. Katz has cashed in pot-limit Omaha, H.O.R.S.E., mixed-game and hybrid PLO/no-limit hold'em tournaments in addition to his extensive hold'em résumé.
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Relationship With the High-Stakes Poker Community
Katz has spent much of his career competing against players who are primarily full-time professionals.
His connection to the high-stakes community also extends into staking and tournament development. Katz has publicly discussed a long-running poker relationship with Bryn Kenney, including backing arrangements and strategy conversations.
His regular participation in PokerGO Tour events has kept Katz closely connected to the modern Las Vegas high-roller scene.
Rather than limiting his schedule to marquee championship events, Katz continues to appear in tournaments across multiple buy-in levels and formats.
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Cary Katz's 2026 Poker Results
Katz remained active throughout the first half of 2026.
Hendon Mob records show multiple PokerGO Tour and World Series of Poker cashes during the year. At the 2026 WSOP, Katz reached the quarterfinal stage of the $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship, finishing fifth for $150,000.
He also cashed in several WSOP high rollers, including:
15th in the $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for $201,754.
24th in the $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for $100,000.
15th in the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha/No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for $61,964.
34th in the $25,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for $50,207.
His most recent Hendon Mob result available as of September 16, 2026, is a 40th-place finish in the 2026 WSOP $5,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event for $16,364.
Those results show that Katz continued playing an active high-stakes tournament schedule after winning his first bracelet in 2025.
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Cary Katz's Live Tournament Earnings
As of September 16, 2026, Hendon Mob lists Cary Katz with $43,178,677 in live tournament earnings.
His largest recorded cash is the $2,610,317 he earned for winning Super High Roller Bowl London in 2019.
Live tournament earnings represent recorded cashes rather than profit. They do not subtract tournament buy-ins, re-entries, travel costs, staking arrangements or other expenses.
Because Katz remains an active tournament player, his career earnings total and ranking can continue to change.
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Why Cary Katz Matters in Poker
Katz occupies an uncommon position in modern poker.
As a player, he has won tens of millions of dollars in recorded tournaments, defeated elite high-roller fields, captured a WSOP bracelet and remained competitive across more than two decades of tournament results.
As an entrepreneur, he helped create a media platform that broadcasts many of poker's most visible tournaments and cash games.
Those two careers regularly intersect. Katz is both a participant in high-stakes poker and one of the business figures who helped shape how modern poker is presented to fans.
His 2025 bracelet added one of the few major pieces of tournament hardware that had been missing from an already extensive résumé, while his 2026 results showed that he remained an active competitor rather than shifting away from tournament poker.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many WSOP bracelets does Cary Katz have?
Cary Katz has one WSOP bracelet as of September 2026. He won his first bracelet in the 2025 WSOP $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout for $449,245.
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How much has Cary Katz won in live poker tournaments?
As of September 16, 2026, Hendon Mob lists Cary Katz with $43,178,677 in live tournament earnings. The figure represents recorded cashes and does not equal career profit.
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What is Cary Katz's biggest poker cash?
Katz's largest recorded live tournament cash is $2,610,317 for winning the 2019 Super High Roller Bowl London.
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Does Cary Katz have a WPT title?
No. The World Poker Tour lists Katz with no Main Tour titles. He has recorded multiple WPT cashes and reached a Main Tour final table.
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What major tournaments has Cary Katz won?
Katz's major victories include the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Roller, the 2019 Super High Roller Bowl London and the 2025 WSOP $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout. He has also won multiple other high-stakes tournaments.
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Is Cary Katz still playing poker?
Yes. Katz remained active during 2026, recording multiple PokerGO Tour and WSOP cashes. His 2026 WSOP results included a fifth-place finish in the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship and several cashes in high-roller events.
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Is Cary Katz the founder of PokerGO?
Katz founded Poker Central, the company that developed PokerGO. His role in building the poker media platform has made his influence on the game extend well beyond his tournament results.