Jonathan Jaffe: WPT Champion and Two-Time Triton Winner
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Jonathan Jaffe has built a poker career spanning more than two decades, progressing from an online heads-up specialist and emerging live tournament player into a regular competitor in some of the world's largest high-stakes events.
The American professional is a World Poker Tour champion, a two-time Triton Poker Series winner and a Poker Masters champion. His résumé also includes multiple seven-figure tournament scores and deep runs across the World Series of Poker, WPT and international high-roller circuit.
As of September 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Jaffe with $22,952,800 in live tournament earnings and a career-best cash of $2.86 million. Tournament earnings databases can change as new results are added.
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Who Is Jonathan Jaffe?
Jonathan Jaffe is an American professional poker player from Longmeadow, Massachusetts, whose tournament record dates back to the mid-2000s.
Jaffe first developed his game online, where PokerNews reports that he became known as a heads-up specialist playing under the screen name "Iftarii." His success eventually carried into the live tournament circuit, where no-limit hold'em became the foundation of a career that has included major titles and repeated appearances in elite high-roller fields.
One of his earliest breakthroughs came in November 2008, when Jaffe reached the final two of the World Poker Tour Foxwoods World Poker Finals. He finished runner-up to Jonathan Little and earned $670,636.
That result established Jaffe as a significant live tournament player, but his biggest achievements would arrive over the following decade and beyond.
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Jonathan Jaffe's Major Poker Accomplishments
Jaffe's career combines success on established championship tours with results in modern super high roller events.
Career highlights include:
One WPT Main Tour title
Two Triton Poker Series titles
Victory in the 2023 WPT Alpha8 for One Drop
Victory in the $50,000 finale of the 2023 Poker Masters
More than $22.9 million in live tournament earnings as of September 2026
A career-best $2.86 million tournament cash
Multiple seven-figure scores in Triton and other high-stakes events
Jaffe has not won a WSOP bracelet or WSOP Circuit ring. The World Series of Poker player database lists him with zero bracelets and zero Circuit rings.
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Early Live Tournament Breakthrough
Jaffe had already recorded tournament results before his 2008 run at Foxwoods, but the WPT World Poker Finals placed him on a much larger stage.
The $10,000 championship attracted 412 entries. Jaffe advanced to heads-up play before Jonathan Little won the title. Jaffe's $670,636 runner-up payout represented a major step forward in his live career.
Five years later, Jaffe made another notable deep run in one of poker's most recognizable tournaments. He finished 42nd in the 2013 WSOP Main Event, earning $185,694 from a field of 6,352 entries.
Those results helped establish a tournament record that would later expand into major victories across the WPT, PokerGO Tour and Triton Poker Series.
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Jonathan Jaffe Wins WPT Montreal
Jaffe secured his first WPT Main Tour championship in November 2014.
He entered the final stages of the partypoker.net WPT Montreal Championship at Playground Poker Club and ultimately defeated a 732-entry field. According to the World Poker Tour's official results, Jaffe earned $409,656 and joined the WPT Champions Club.
The victory came six years after his runner-up finish at Foxwoods and confirmed that his earlier WPT success was not an isolated result.
Jaffe has continued to cash in WPT events throughout his career. The WPT's player database credits him with one Main Tour championship while separately tracking his success in the tour's Alpha8 high-roller competition.
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High-Roller Success and the WPT Alpha8 Title
Jaffe's tournament career increasingly shifted toward high-stakes events as the modern high-roller circuit expanded.
One of his biggest victories came in July 2023 at Wynn Las Vegas, where he won the $111,000 WPT Alpha8 for One Drop. The tournament drew 45 entries, and Jaffe defeated fellow WPT champion Taylor von Kriegenbergh heads-up.
The victory paid $1,537,600, giving Jaffe the first seven-figure tournament score of his career.
Later that year, he added another major title at the Poker Masters in Las Vegas. Jaffe won the series-ending $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, defeating a 42-entry field for $756,000.
Those wins marked an important period in his career as he became increasingly established in some of poker's most expensive tournament fields.
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Two Triton Poker Series Titles
Jaffe's results on the Triton Poker Series have become another defining part of his tournament résumé.
His first Triton title came in Monte Carlo in October 2023. Jaffe won a $50,000 no-limit hold'em turbo bounty tournament for a $501,000 regular payout, plus additional bounty prizes.
The Triton Poker Series reported that Jaffe collected nine bounty tokens, including his own for winning the tournament, adding $180,000 to his overall return from the event.
He captured his second Triton title in September 2025 in Jeju, South Korea.
Jaffe won the $30,000 Triton No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed event after defeating Mao Renji heads-up. The tournament generated 183 total entries including re-entries, and Jaffe received a deal-adjusted payout of $1,061,672.
The second championship demonstrated Jaffe's ability to remain competitive against the specialized high-stakes tournament fields that define the Triton series.
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Jonathan Jaffe's Largest Live Tournament Cash
Jaffe recorded the largest tournament cash of his career during the 2025 WSOP Paradise festival in the Bahamas.
He finished fourth in the $250,000 Triton No-Limit Hold'em Invitational, an event that generated a $33.25 million prize pool. Jaffe earned $2.86 million.
The official WSOP results show Kayhan Mokri winning the tournament for $7.725 million, with Gabriel Andrade finishing second, Albert Daher third and Jaffe fourth.
That single result moved Jaffe significantly higher on poker's all-time live tournament earnings list and surpassed the $1.537 million payday from his 2023 WPT Alpha8 victory as his career-best recorded cash.
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Jonathan Jaffe's 2026 Results and Current Activity
Jaffe remained active at the highest levels of tournament poker in 2026.
His most significant result through September came at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro. Jaffe reached heads-up play in the $150,000 No-Limit Hold'em 10th Anniversary Special in May.
He finished second to Aleksejs Ponakovs and collected $2.103 million. Ponakovs earned $3.027 million for the victory.
The runner-up finish gave Jaffe another seven-figure score and helped push his Hendon Mob total above $22.9 million.
Jaffe also appeared in the 2026 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, continuing a tournament career that now stretches across more than two decades of recorded live results.
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Jonathan Jaffe's Playing Style and Poker Specialization
Jaffe's career has been centered primarily on no-limit hold'em.
His early reputation as an online heads-up specialist is particularly relevant to understanding his development. Heads-up poker requires players to compete in nearly every hand and make frequent decisions without the protection of a full table, creating an environment that rewards adaptability and experience in one-on-one situations.
Jaffe later translated that background into multi-table tournament success.
His modern résumé shows a particular concentration in high rollers and super high rollers, including events with buy-ins of $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 and higher. Reaching repeated final tables in those events requires navigating relatively small but highly accomplished fields where many opponents are themselves established professionals.
Rather than defining Jaffe with a subjective label such as aggressive or conservative, his tournament history provides a clearer description: he is an experienced no-limit hold'em specialist with a long record of success in heads-up situations, championship tournaments and high-stakes fields.
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WSOP Record
Jaffe has accumulated numerous World Series of Poker cashes but has not won a bracelet.
Among his most notable WSOP-related results is his 42nd-place finish in the 2013 Main Event for $185,694. He has also cashed in high-roller events and competed at WSOP Paradise.
His fourth-place finish for $2.86 million in the 2025 Triton Invitational at WSOP Paradise is his largest recorded tournament payday, although the result did not produce a bracelet.
As of September 2026, the WSOP database lists Jaffe with zero bracelets and zero Circuit rings.
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Jonathan Jaffe's Career Earnings
As of September 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Jonathan Jaffe with $22,952,800 in live tournament earnings.
His career-best recorded cash is $2.86 million from the 2025 Triton Invitational at WSOP Paradise.
Other major scores include $2.103 million for finishing second in the 2026 Triton Montenegro $150,000 event, $1,537,600 for winning the 2023 WPT Alpha8 for One Drop and $1,061,672 for his second Triton victory in 2025.
Live tournament earnings measure recorded cashes rather than a player's profit. They do not account for tournament buy-ins, travel expenses, staking arrangements, swaps, taxes or other costs associated with professional poker.
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Why Jonathan Jaffe Matters in Tournament Poker
Jaffe's career connects multiple eras of modern tournament poker.
He emerged during the growth of online poker and made a major live breakthrough on the WPT in 2008. He later won a WPT championship, adapted to increasingly competitive high-roller fields and became a multiple champion on the Triton Poker Series.
His longevity is particularly notable because the environment around him has changed considerably. The live tournament circuit Jaffe entered in the mid-2000s was dominated by traditional championship events. By the 2020s, much of his schedule included specialized high rollers and international super high rollers with six-figure buy-ins.
Jaffe has remained competitive through those changes, with some of the largest results of his career coming more than 15 years after his first major WPT final table.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much has Jonathan Jaffe won in live poker tournaments?
As of September 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Jonathan Jaffe with $22,952,800 in live tournament earnings. That figure represents recorded tournament cashes and should not be interpreted as career profit.
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How many WSOP bracelets does Jonathan Jaffe have?
Jonathan Jaffe has not won a WSOP bracelet. The WSOP player database lists him with zero bracelets and zero Circuit rings as of September 2026.
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Has Jonathan Jaffe won a WPT title?
Yes. Jonathan Jaffe won the 2014 partypoker.net WPT Montreal Championship for $409,656. He also won the 2023 WPT Alpha8 for One Drop for $1,537,600, which is tracked separately from his Main Tour championship.
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How many Triton Poker titles has Jonathan Jaffe won?
Jonathan Jaffe has won two Triton Poker Series titles. He captured his first in Monte Carlo in 2023 and his second in Jeju in September 2025.
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What is Jonathan Jaffe's biggest poker tournament cash?
Jonathan Jaffe's largest recorded live tournament cash is $2.86 million. He earned it by finishing fourth in the $250,000 Triton Invitational at the 2025 WSOP Paradise festival.
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Is Jonathan Jaffe still active in poker?
Yes. Jaffe remained active in major live tournaments in 2026. His biggest result of the year through September was a runner-up finish in the $150,000 Triton 10th Anniversary Special in Montenegro for $2.103 million.