Martin Jacobson: 2014 WSOP Main Event Champion and Swedish Poker Star
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Martin Jacobson is a Swedish professional poker player best known for winning the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event for $10 million. The victory made him the first Swedish WSOP Main Event champion and remains the defining result of a career that had already included multiple major international final tables before he became poker's world champion.
Jacobson has continued competing long after his Main Event victory. As of August 25, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists him with $18,490,450 in live tournament earnings, the most among Swedish players in its database, while his official WSOP player profile lists one WSOP bracelet and no WSOP Circuit rings. Tournament earnings and rankings change as new results are recorded.
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Who Is Martin Jacobson?
Martin Jacobson is a tournament poker professional from Stockholm, Sweden. The Hendon Mob currently lists his residence as London, England, and his tournament record stretches back to the mid-2000s.
Although the 2014 Main Event made Jacobson internationally recognizable even outside regular poker circles, he was already an established tournament professional before that breakthrough. His earlier résumé included major final tables on the European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour, along with deep runs at the World Series of Poker.
That pre-2014 record is important to understanding his career. Jacobson did not arrive at the Main Event final table as an unknown player enjoying one extraordinary tournament. He had spent years reaching the late stages of major events against international fields.
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Building a Career Before the WSOP Main Event
Jacobson began accumulating significant live tournament results during the late 2000s.
One early breakthrough came at the 2008 EPT Budapest Main Event, where he finished third. In 2009, he reached heads-up play in the WPT Venice Main Event and finished second. He also made a WSOP final table that summer, placing eighth in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event.
His run of major finishes continued in 2010. Jacobson finished fourth in another $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event at the WSOP before taking second in the EPT Vilamoura Main Event later that year.
Another major runner-up finish followed at EPT Deauville in 2011. Those results established a pattern that defined the first phase of his career: repeated deep runs in large-field No-Limit Hold'em tournaments across both Europe and the United States.
By the time the 2014 WSOP Main Event began, Jacobson had already demonstrated that he could consistently navigate major championship fields.
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Martin Jacobson Wins the 2014 WSOP Main Event
Jacobson's career changed permanently at the 2014 World Series of Poker.
The $10,000 Main Event drew 6,683 players. Jacobson survived seven days of play to reach the nine-player final table, but he entered the November Nine eighth in chips.
His starting position made the eventual victory especially notable. Rather than relying on a dominant stack, Jacobson worked his way through the final table and reached three-handed play alongside Jorryt van Hoof and Felix Stephensen.
Van Hoof finished third, leaving Jacobson heads-up against Stephensen. Jacobson completed the comeback to win the championship, his first WSOP bracelet and the $10 million first-place prize.
According to the official WSOP account of the 2014 Main Event, Jacobson became the first Swedish player to win poker's world championship.
The final hand provided a fitting finish. Jacobson held pocket tens against Stephensen's ace-nine, flopped a set and secured every chip in play.
The $10 million payout remains Jacobson's largest recorded live tournament cash.
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Major Poker Accomplishments
Jacobson's career is defined by more than a single championship, even though the Main Event remains his most important achievement.
His major accomplishments include:
Winning the 2014 WSOP Main Event for $10 million
Becoming the first Swedish WSOP Main Event champion
Winning one WSOP bracelet
Reaching major EPT and WPT final tables before his world championship
Winning the 2022 UKIPT London Main Event for £232,300
Surpassing $18 million in recorded live tournament earnings
Remaining first on The Hendon Mob's Sweden all-time money list as of August 25, 2026
Finishing runner-up in a 2026 WSOP $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em bracelet event for $327,370
His 2022 UKIPT London victory was another meaningful championship result. Jacobson defeated a 1,458-entry field in the £1,100 Main Event and earned £232,300, according to PokerNews' coverage of the tournament.
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Martin Jacobson's Career Earnings
As of August 25, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Jacobson with $18,490,450 in live tournament earnings.
That figure places him first on the database's Sweden all-time money list. His $10 million score from the 2014 WSOP Main Event accounts for more than half of that total, but his remaining results still represent millions of dollars earned across a long international tournament career.
Career earnings should not be interpreted as poker profit. Public tournament databases generally record gross cashes rather than subtracting buy-ins, travel expenses, staking arrangements, taxes or other costs associated with professional tournament poker.
Jacobson's official WSOP profile separately lists more than $15 million in WSOP earnings. That figure covers WSOP-recorded results rather than his complete live tournament career, which is why it differs from The Hendon Mob total.
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Playing Style and Tournament Strengths
Jacobson's tournament record is concentrated heavily in No-Limit Hold'em, including major championship events, large-field tournaments and short-handed formats.
Rather than assigning him a subjective label such as tight-aggressive or loose-aggressive, his results provide a more reliable picture of his strengths. He has repeatedly reached late stages against large fields, performed in deep-stack championship structures and produced major results across different eras of tournament poker.
His 2014 Main Event victory is a particularly strong example of tournament adaptability. Entering the final table eighth in chips required him to operate without the freedom afforded to the largest stacks and gradually improve his position as the field became shorter.
More than a decade later, his 2026 WSOP runner-up finish came in a six-handed event, a format that generally creates more frequent decisions and wider ranges than a conventional full-ring tournament.
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Martin Jacobson's Recent Poker Results
Jacobson remained an active live tournament player during the 2026 World Series of Poker.
His strongest result of the summer came in Event #56, the $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em tournament. He reached heads-up play and finished second for $327,370. PokerNews recorded 1,150 entries in the event, with Abhishek Mhatre ultimately winning the bracelet.
Jacobson also recorded several other WSOP cashes during the summer. They included a 13th-place finish for $37,990 in the $3,000 Freezeout, an 18th-place finish for $17,405 in the $1,500 Freezeout and additional cashes in No-Limit Hold'em events with buy-ins ranging from $1,500 to $5,000.
His most recent Hendon Mob result as of August 25, 2026 is a July 11 cash in the WSOP $1,500 Closer.
Those results provide current evidence that Jacobson remains an active tournament competitor rather than a former champion whose career is represented only by historical results.
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Why Martin Jacobson Matters in Poker
Winning the WSOP Main Event permanently places a player in poker history, but Jacobson's broader record gives the championship additional context.
He had already reached major final tables in Europe and Las Vegas before winning in 2014. He continued producing tournament results afterward, won another large-field Main Event in London in 2022 and came within one heads-up match of adding a second WSOP bracelet in 2026.
His career also holds particular significance in Swedish poker. As the country's first WSOP Main Event champion and its leader in recorded live tournament earnings on The Hendon Mob as of August 2026, Jacobson occupies a prominent position in Sweden's tournament poker history.
More than a decade after his world championship, his continuing WSOP results have kept his profile relevant beyond the accomplishment that first made him a global poker name.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much did Martin Jacobson win in the 2014 WSOP Main Event?
Martin Jacobson won $10 million for capturing the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event. The tournament attracted 6,683 players at a $10,000 buy-in.
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How many WSOP bracelets does Martin Jacobson have?
Martin Jacobson has one WSOP bracelet as of August 25, 2026. He earned it by winning the 2014 WSOP Main Event. The official WSOP database currently lists him with one bracelet and zero WSOP Circuit rings.
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How much has Martin Jacobson won in live poker tournaments?
The Hendon Mob lists Martin Jacobson with $18,490,450 in live tournament earnings as of August 25, 2026. Tournament database totals change as new results are added.
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What is Martin Jacobson's biggest poker win?
Jacobson's largest recorded live tournament cash is the $10 million he earned for winning the 2014 WSOP Main Event.
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Is Martin Jacobson still playing poker?
Yes. Jacobson recorded multiple results at the 2026 World Series of Poker, including a runner-up finish in the $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event for $327,370.
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Where is Martin Jacobson from?
Martin Jacobson is Swedish and was born in Stockholm. The Hendon Mob currently lists his residence as London, England.
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Did Martin Jacobson win a WPT or EPT Main Event?
Jacobson reached major final tables on both tours before his 2014 WSOP championship, including runner-up finishes at WPT Venice in 2009, EPT Vilamoura in 2010 and EPT Deauville in 2011. His later major European title included the 2022 UKIPT London Main Event.