
Justin Arnwine: WSOP Circuit Ring Winner and East Coast Tournament Grinder
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Justin Arnwine has developed from a high-volume East Coast cash-game grinder into one of the most prolific live tournament players on the American regional circuit. His résumé includes a WSOP Circuit ring, a RunGood Poker Series Main Event victory, a career-best win during the WPT World Championship festival and more than $2 million in recorded live tournament earnings.
Arnwine’s results have accelerated considerably in recent years. He won the $1,600 Mystery Bounty during the 2025 WPT World Championship festival at Wynn Las Vegas for $259,670, captured the 2025 RGPS Grand Prix Maryland Main Event for $80,646 and earned his first World Series of Poker Circuit ring in July 2026.
As of August 23, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Arnwine with $2,048,100 in live tournament earnings and a career-best cash of $259,670. Tournament databases can change as additional results are reported and processed.
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Who Is Justin Arnwine?
Justin Arnwine is an American poker player from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, who built much of his reputation through cash games and frequent live tournaments in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Poker was initially a cash-game pursuit. In an interview with CardPlayer, Arnwine said the Stu Ungar film High Roller helped spark his interest in the game. He progressed from online play-money games to real-money poker and Maryland home games before becoming a regular in Atlantic City and later at casinos closer to home.
That background produced an unusually high-volume approach to live poker. Arnwine spent years playing extended cash-game sessions before increasingly focusing on multi-table tournaments. He told CardPlayer that a 2017 accident affected his ability to continue the marathon cash-game schedule he had maintained, eventually helping push him toward tournament poker.
The change proved significant. Arnwine said he won his first poker tournament in 2019, and his volume of tournament victories quickly became a defining part of his reputation.
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Justin Arnwine’s Live Tournament Earnings
As of August 23, 2026, Hendon Mob lists Arnwine with $2,048,100 in live tournament earnings.
His largest recorded live cash is $259,670, earned by winning the $1,600 No-Limit Hold’em Mystery Bounty during the 2025 WPT World Championship festival at Wynn Las Vegas.
Arnwine’s tournament record is notable not only for its total earnings but also for the frequency of his victories. Poker.org reported in July 2026 that his Hendon Mob record contained more than 140 wins, while Arnwine said his actual total exceeded 230 when tournaments not reported to the database were included.
Those figures reflect the unusual path of a player who accumulated much of his experience in recurring tournaments and regional series rather than relying exclusively on major championship events.
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First WSOP Circuit Ring
Arnwine won his first World Series of Poker Circuit ring on July 20, 2026, at Horseshoe Las Vegas.
The victory came in the $600 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack during the WSOP Circuit stop that immediately followed the summer World Series of Poker. According to Poker.org’s report on Arnwine’s first Circuit ring, the tournament attracted 953 entries.
Arnwine outlasted the field to collect $77,485 and his first official WSOP Circuit ring.
The victory added a major piece of WSOP hardware to a résumé already filled with tournament wins. According to Arnwine’s official WSOP player profile, he has one Circuit ring and no WSOP bracelets as of August 2026.
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Breakthrough Wins in 2025
The second half of 2025 produced several of the most important results of Arnwine’s career.
In November, he won the $1,700 RunGood Main Event at MGM National Harbor. The tournament was part of the RGPS Grand Prix Maryland festival, and Arnwine entered the final stages with an opportunity to convert years of success in the region into a major Main Event title.
He finished the job, defeating Russ Dunlevy heads-up and earning $80,646. The victory was particularly fitting for a player whose tournament reputation had been built largely in Maryland.
A month later, Arnwine delivered an even larger result in Las Vegas.
The $1,600 Mystery Bounty at the 2025 WPT World Championship festival drew 1,253 entries. Arnwine won the tournament and collected $259,670, establishing a new career-high live score.
The result gave him a significant victory on one of poker’s largest annual festival stages and demonstrated that his regional success could translate to major Las Vegas fields.
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Arnwine’s 2026 WSOP Results
Arnwine remained active throughout the 2026 World Series of Poker and recorded several notable finishes.
His deepest bracelet-event run came in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event, where he finished eighth for $35,250. He also reached the money in several other bracelet events, including the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller, $10,000 Mystery Bounty and $10,000 WSOP Main Event.
The six-handed result brought Arnwine close to his first WSOP bracelet but stopped one position short of the official final table.
His summer did not end with the WSOP. The first Circuit ring followed shortly afterward at Horseshoe Las Vegas, giving Arnwine one of the most significant tournament accomplishments of his career.
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More Tournament Wins During the 2026 Las Vegas Summer
Arnwine added victories away from the WSOP during the same Las Vegas summer.
On June 14, he won the $1,100 BetMGM Mystery Bounty at the ARIA Poker Classic. The tournament attracted 268 entries and had a $300,000 prize pool.
According to BetMGM’s tournament recap, Arnwine received $38,368 from the regular prize pool after an ICM deal and collected another $43,500 in bounty awards, including the $25,000 top mystery bounty.
He added another title on July 24 at the Venetian DeepStack Championship. Arnwine topped a 307-entry $600 No-Limit Hold’em tournament after a heads-up deal, earning $25,048.
The sequence of results reinforced his ability to win across different venues and tournament structures during one of the most competitive periods on the live poker calendar.
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East Coast Tournament Reputation
Arnwine remains especially closely associated with the Mid-Atlantic tournament scene.
His Hendon Mob record contains a large number of cashes and wins in Maryland, Atlantic City and surrounding markets. MGM National Harbor has been particularly important to that record.
PokerNews reported in August 2026 that Arnwine had accumulated more than 80 victories at MGM National Harbor alone and described him as holding an unofficial record for Hendon Mob-listed tournament victories.
His influence in that regional poker community is also visible through other players. During the 2026 Potomac Summer Poker Open, Maryland grinder Matt Mullins told PokerNews that he had studied Arnwine’s rise through daily tournaments and described Arnwine’s approach as disciplined and fearless.
That reputation helps explain why Arnwine’s career stands out. His success has not been built solely around occasional large scores. It has also come through sustained tournament volume and repeated wins in smaller and mid-stakes events.
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Playing Style and Tournament Approach
Arnwine’s public interviews and tournament record point to patience, discipline and a willingness to play an extremely high volume of live poker.
His years in cash games gave him extensive experience with long sessions before he transitioned more heavily into tournaments. That endurance eventually became part of a tournament career built around repeated participation rather than selective appearances.
Arnwine has also shown an ability to compete across a wide range of buy-ins. His 2026 WSOP included cashes in events ranging from the $300 Gladiators of Poker to the $25,000 six-handed High Roller.
The breadth of those results supports his reputation as a tournament grinder rather than a specialist in one narrow event category.
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Recent Results and Current Status
Arnwine continued producing significant results after his first WSOP Circuit ring.
He won the $600 No-Limit Hold’em Event #108 at the Venetian DeepStack Championship in July 2026 for $25,048 after a heads-up deal.
In August, he returned to familiar territory at MGM National Harbor for the Potomac Summer Poker Open. Arnwine reached the final table of the $600 Opener after holding the chip lead for much of Day 2.
The tournament attracted 1,508 entries and generated a $723,540 prize pool. Arnwine eventually finished fourth for $36,157.
That result, coming only weeks after his first Circuit ring and Venetian victory, showed that he remained active and competitive after an already productive Las Vegas summer.
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Why Justin Arnwine Matters in Poker
Arnwine represents a career path that receives less attention than the high-roller circuit but remains central to live tournament poker.
He built his reputation through volume, recurring events and regional tournament series before expanding his résumé with wins on larger stages. The transition has produced a career-best WPT festival score, an RGPS Main Event championship and an official WSOP Circuit ring.
His record also illustrates how a player can turn years of daily and regional tournament experience into success in increasingly competitive national events.
With more than $2 million in Hendon Mob-listed earnings and major victories arriving in both 2025 and 2026, Arnwine enters the latter part of 2026 as an active tournament professional whose résumé is still developing.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much has Justin Arnwine won in live poker tournaments?
As of August 23, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Justin Arnwine with $2,048,100 in live tournament earnings. That figure can change as new results are recorded.
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What is Justin Arnwine’s biggest poker tournament cash?
Arnwine’s largest recorded live tournament cash is $259,670. He earned it by winning the $1,600 Mystery Bounty during the 2025 WPT World Championship festival at Wynn Las Vegas.
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How many WSOP bracelets does Justin Arnwine have?
Justin Arnwine has no WSOP bracelets as of August 2026. His official WSOP record lists one WSOP Circuit ring.
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When did Justin Arnwine win his first WSOP Circuit ring?
Arnwine won his first WSOP Circuit ring on July 20, 2026, in the $600 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack at Horseshoe Las Vegas. He topped a field of 953 entries and earned $77,485.
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Where is Justin Arnwine from?
The Hendon Mob lists Justin Arnwine as a United States player residing in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
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What are Justin Arnwine’s biggest poker accomplishments?
Arnwine’s major accomplishments include winning his first WSOP Circuit ring in 2026, capturing the 2025 RGPS Grand Prix Maryland Main Event for $80,646 and winning the 2025 WPT World Championship $1,600 Mystery Bounty for a career-best $259,670.
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