Mike Leah: WSOP Bracelet Winner, WPT Champion and Canadian Tournament Veteran
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Michael “Mike” Leah has built one of the most durable tournament careers in Canadian poker, combining a World Series of Poker bracelet, a World Poker Tour championship, five WSOP Circuit rings and nearly $10 million in recorded live tournament earnings.
Leah has competed successfully across no-limit hold’em, pot-limit Omaha and mixed games while producing major results on the WSOP, WPT and international tournament circuits. His résumé includes a WSOP Asia-Pacific High Roller bracelet, a WPT Fallsview Poker Classic championship and multiple seven-figure or six-figure finishes against major fields.
As of September 28, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Leah with $9,856,739 in live tournament earnings and a career-best live cash of $1,047,638. Tournament earnings and rankings change as new results are recorded.
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Who Is Mike Leah?
Mike Leah is a Canadian professional poker player originally from Toronto, Ontario. The Hendon Mob lists his residence as Innisfil, Ontario, and records live tournament results dating to 2006.
Although his full name is Michael Leah, he is widely known throughout poker as Mike Leah. He has also used the online screen name “GoLeafsGoEh,” a reference to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Leah established himself during the growth of online tournament poker before becoming a regular on the live circuit. CardPlayer reported that he left his full-time job in 2008 to pursue poker professionally after building a bankroll through online play.
His first full year as a touring professional produced a major breakthrough. In 2009, Leah reached nine final tables and finished 11th in CardPlayer’s Player of the Year race while recording nearly $700,000 in tournament cashes for the year.
Online poker remained an important part of his early career. Leah won multiple Full Tilt Online Poker Series titles and finished third in the 2011 World Championship of Online Poker Main Event, demonstrating the tournament experience that later translated into sustained live success.
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Mike Leah’s Major Poker Accomplishments
Leah’s career is defined less by a single tournament run than by repeated success across different tours, buy-in levels and poker formats.
His major accomplishments include:
One World Series of Poker bracelet
Five WSOP Circuit rings
One World Poker Tour title
More than $9.85 million in recorded live tournament earnings as of September 28, 2026
A career-best live cash of $1,047,638
Runner-up finish in the 2015 WPT L.A. Poker Classic
Fourth-place finish in the 2018 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship
Continued tournament cashes more than two decades after his first recorded live results
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2014 WSOP Asia-Pacific High Roller Bracelet
Leah won his first WSOP bracelet at the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in Melbourne, Australia.
The Canadian entered the final day of the AU$25,000 High Roller with more than half of the chips in play and converted that advantage into the championship. He defeated a 68-entry field to earn AU$600,000.
PokerNews’ report on Leah’s WSOP Asia-Pacific victory identified the win as his first WSOP gold bracelet.
The victory was especially significant because Leah had already reached a number of WSOP final tables before finally breaking through for a bracelet. It also came during the strongest year of his career to that point.
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Seven-Figure Score at the 2014 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open
Only weeks before winning his bracelet, Leah recorded the largest live tournament cash of his career at the 2014 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship in Hollywood, Florida.
Leah reached heads-up play against Dan Colman in the $5,300 championship after navigating a field of 1,499 entries. Colman ultimately won the tournament, while Leah earned $1,047,638 for second place.
The official Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open recap confirms the seven-figure payout, which remains Leah’s largest recorded live tournament cash as of September 2026.
That result, followed by his WSOP Asia-Pacific bracelet, turned 2014 into one of the defining seasons of his career.
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Runner-Up at the 2015 WPT L.A. Poker Classic
Leah came close to adding a World Poker Tour title in March 2015 when he reached heads-up play in the prestigious WPT L.A. Poker Classic.
He finished second to Anthony Zinno, earning $701,350.
The World Poker Tour’s official coverage shows that Leah advanced through the championship before Zinno won the final confrontation to secure his third WPT title.
For Leah, the result added another major final table and one of the largest cashes of his career, but his own place in the WPT Champions Club would have to wait three more years.
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Mike Leah Wins the 2018 WPT Fallsview Poker Classic
Leah captured his first World Poker Tour championship in February 2018 at the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
The C$5,000 Main Event attracted 517 entries, then a record field for the tournament. Leah defeated Ryan Yu heads-up to earn C$451,821 and a seat in the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.
The victory carried additional significance because Fallsview had already been one of Leah’s most productive tournament stops. He had won preliminary events there in previous years before finally capturing the Main Event.
The World Poker Tour’s official tournament recap confirmed the victory as Leah’s first WPT title and his entry into the WPT Champions Club.
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Five WSOP Circuit Rings
Leah has also enjoyed sustained success on the World Series of Poker Circuit.
His Circuit résumé began in memorable fashion in March 2014 at the Bicycle Casino in California. Leah won two Circuit tournaments in the same day, capturing his first two rings within a span of roughly 13 hours.
He later added additional titles, including a Pot-Limit Omaha victory at Harrah’s Cherokee in 2016.
In March 2017, Leah won a $1,125 no-limit hold’em bounty tournament at the Bicycle Casino for his fifth career Circuit ring. WSOP’s official report noted that the victory came three years after he had won his first two rings at the same property.
The Circuit results highlight an important part of Leah’s career: he has consistently competed in events well below the high-roller level as well as major championship tournaments.
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Tournament Versatility and Playing Reputation
Leah’s results show unusual breadth across tournament formats.
No-limit hold’em accounts for many of his largest scores, including the Seminole Hard Rock runner-up finish, WPT championship and numerous WSOP results. He has also produced significant results in pot-limit Omaha and mixed games.
That versatility was especially visible at the 2018 World Series of Poker, where Leah finished fourth in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. The event tests competitors across multiple poker variants and is widely regarded as one of the WSOP’s most demanding tournaments.
Leah continued entering mixed-game events well into the 2020s, including PokerGO Tour and WSOP competitions. Rather than being defined exclusively as a high roller, Circuit grinder or mixed-game specialist, his tournament record spans all three areas.
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Mike Leah’s Career Earnings
As of September 28, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Mike Leah with $9,856,739 in recorded live tournament earnings.
His largest recorded cashes include the $1,047,638 runner-up finish at the 2014 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open and the $701,350 runner-up result at the 2015 WPT L.A. Poker Classic.
The database also lists Leah among the leading Canadian players in career tournament earnings. Those totals and rankings are dynamic and can change whenever new tournament results are added.
Live earnings figures also do not represent a player’s profit. Tournament databases generally record gross cashes rather than subtracting buy-ins, travel expenses, staking arrangements, taxes or other costs associated with professional tournament poker.
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Mike Leah in 2026
Leah remained an active tournament player in 2026.
At the 2026 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, he recorded several cashes. Among them were a 16th-place finish in the $550 Mini Mystery Millions for $21,790 and a 50th-place finish in the $10,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Championship for $21,151.
He also cashed in the WSOP Main Event, Pot-Limit Omaha and mixed-game events during the series.
After the WSOP, Leah returned to Canada for the WSOP Super Circuit Canada festival in Kahnawake. His results included fourth place in the C$1,500 Closer Turbo Bounty on September 11, 2026, worth C$18,900.
Those results reinforce the longevity of a career that began producing recorded live cashes in 2006. Two decades later, Leah continues to compete in major series, championship events and smaller Circuit tournaments.
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Why Mike Leah Matters in Poker
Mike Leah’s career illustrates the value of consistency and versatility in tournament poker.
His résumé includes accomplishments at several levels of the game: a WSOP bracelet, a WPT championship, five Circuit rings, deep runs in high rollers and mixed-game championships, and hundreds of recorded tournament cashes.
He has also succeeded across multiple eras of poker. Leah developed during the online poker boom, transitioned into a full-time live tournament career and remained active as tournament structures, tours and player fields evolved.
The combination of longevity, major titles and success across different formats has made Leah a recognizable fixture in Canadian and international tournament poker.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many WSOP bracelets does Mike Leah have?
Mike Leah has one World Series of Poker bracelet. He won it in the AU$25,000 High Roller at the 2014 WSOP Asia-Pacific in Melbourne, earning AU$600,000.
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How many WSOP Circuit rings does Mike Leah have?
Mike Leah has five WSOP Circuit rings. His fifth came in a $1,125 no-limit hold’em bounty tournament at the Bicycle Casino in March 2017.
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Has Mike Leah won a WPT title?
Yes. Mike Leah won the 2018 WPT Fallsview Poker Classic Main Event in Niagara Falls, Ontario. He defeated a 517-entry field and earned C$451,821 for his first WPT championship.
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How much has Mike Leah won in live poker tournaments?
As of September 28, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Mike Leah with $9,856,739 in recorded live tournament earnings. The total can change as new results are added.
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What is Mike Leah’s biggest live tournament cash?
Mike Leah’s largest recorded live cash is $1,047,638. He earned it for finishing second to Dan Colman in the 2014 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship.
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Where is Mike Leah from?
Mike Leah is Canadian and was born in Toronto, Ontario. The Hendon Mob lists his residence as Innisfil, Ontario.
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Is Mike Leah still playing poker?
Yes. Leah remained active in 2026, recording multiple cashes at the World Series of Poker and competing at the WSOP Super Circuit Canada festival in September.