Sam Grafton: Triton Champion and British High-Stakes Poker Pro
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Sam Grafton has built a poker career that stretches from the British tournament circuit to some of the biggest buy-in events in the world. The English professional's defining result came in 2022, when he won the $200,000 Coin Rivet Invitational at Triton Poker Cyprus for $5.5 million.
That victory transformed an already accomplished tournament résumé. As of September 2026, Hendon Mob lists Grafton with $15,653,991 in live tournament earnings and a career-best cash of $5.5 million. He has also won tournaments on the GUKPT, Aussie Millions, PokerStars Festival and European Poker Tour circuit while recording major results in super high rollers.
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Who Is Sam Grafton?
Sam Grafton is an English professional poker player from Leamington Spa, England. His recorded live tournament career dates to 2009, and he has competed extensively in No-Limit Hold'em tournaments in Europe and around the world.
Grafton is particularly associated with tournament poker. His career has included results in traditional main events, six-max tournaments, bounty events and high rollers with buy-ins reaching six figures.
He has also been a prominent online player. Hendon Mob's database, using online data credited to PocketFives, lists more than $9.7 million in recorded online tournament earnings under Grafton's profile.
Grafton joined Team PokerStars Pro in 2021 and became a familiar presence at European Poker Tour and PokerStars events. PokerNews now describes him as a former PokerStars ambassador.
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Sam Grafton's Early Poker Career
Grafton's Hendon Mob record begins in 2009 with live tournament cashes in England. Over the next several years, he became a regular on the British and European tournament circuit.
A major breakthrough arrived at the 2012 GUKPT London Grand Final. Grafton won the £2,500 Main Event for £102,700, worth approximately $163,953 at the recorded exchange rate. The victory gave him a significant title before his later move into the international high-roller scene.
His results continued to expand geographically. In 2017, Grafton won an A$5,000 six-max No-Limit Hold'em event at the Aussie Millions for A$140,860. Later that year, he captured the PokerStars Festival Bucharest Main Event for €117,707.
Those victories demonstrated a pattern that would continue through the next stage of his career: Grafton could win in sizable fields while also competing effectively as the buy-ins and strength of competition increased.
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Move Into High-Stakes Tournament Poker
By the end of the 2010s, Grafton had established himself in high-stakes events.
One of his largest results before the Triton breakthrough came at the 2019 EPT Barcelona festival. Grafton finished second to Sergi Reixach in the €100,000 Super High Roller, earning €1,303,950.
His high-roller résumé continued to grow over the following years. In March 2022, Grafton won a €10,200 No-Limit Hold'em event at EPT Prague for €80,360 plus bounties and later finished second in a €25,000 single-day high roller at the same festival for €220,050.
At the 2021 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, he finished seventh in the $100,000 High Roller for $263,227. Despite his WSOP high-roller success, WSOP's Sam Grafton player record lists him with zero WSOP bracelets and zero WSOP Circuit rings as of September 2026.
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Sam Grafton's $5.5 Million Triton Victory
The biggest moment of Grafton's tournament career came in September 2022 at Triton Poker Cyprus.
Grafton entered the $200,000 Coin Rivet Invitational, an event that attracted 115 entries and created a $23 million prize pool. It was the first $200,000 buy-in tournament of his career.
He reached the final table alongside a field that included Fedor Holz, Aleksejs Ponakovs and Seth Davies.
Grafton eventually defeated Linus Loeliger heads-up to win the tournament and $5.5 million. The result gave him his first Triton title and remains his largest recorded live tournament cash.
The victory was especially significant because it came only days after another major Triton result. Grafton had finished second in a $50,000 six-max No-Limit Hold'em event at the same Cyprus festival for $994,500.
Combined with the Invitational victory, the two results produced nearly $6.5 million in payouts in a matter of days and made 2022 by far the largest live-earnings year of his career.
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European Poker Tour Success
Grafton's results are not defined by the Triton victory alone. He has remained closely associated with the European tournament circuit and has recorded multiple wins and deep finishes at PokerStars festivals.
In April 2023, he won the €10,200 Mystery Bounty event at EPT Monte Carlo. The tournament drew 74 entries, and Grafton defeated Sam Greenwood heads-up.
The standard first-place payout was €97,900, while mystery bounties lifted his total return from the tournament to €145,400.
Grafton added another significant European victory at EPT Barcelona in August 2023, winning a €25,000 No-Limit Hold'em event. His success continued in 2024 when he won the €3,300 Super High Roller at the combined Estrellas Poker Tour and UKIPT festival in Malaga for €62,450.
Those results illustrate the breadth of his tournament career. Although his largest scores have come in elite high rollers, Grafton has continued to compete across a range of buy-ins and tournament formats.
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Sam Grafton's Live Tournament Earnings
As of September 2026, Hendon Mob lists Sam Grafton with $15,653,991 in total live tournament earnings.
His $5.5 million Coin Rivet Invitational victory remains his largest recorded cash. Hendon Mob also places him fifth on England's all-time live tournament money list as of September 20, 2026, behind Stephen Chidwick, Ben Heath, Sam Trickett and Talal Shakerchi.
Career earnings totals and all-time money-list positions change as new tournament results are added, so those figures should be treated as a September 2026 snapshot rather than permanent rankings. Recorded tournament earnings are gross cashes, not profit or net worth, and do not deduct buy-ins, expenses or staking arrangements.
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WSOP Record
Grafton has reached major final tables at the World Series of Poker but has not won a bracelet.
His largest recorded WSOP-series payout came at WSOP Europe in November 2022, when he finished second to Orpen Kisacikoglu in the €50,000 Diamond High Roller for €462,363. His Las Vegas results include seventh place in the 2021 $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for $263,227 and six-figure scores in two high-roller events during the 2019 series.
As of September 2026, WSOP lists Grafton with zero bracelets and zero Circuit rings.
That distinction is important when assessing his career. Grafton's biggest titles have come outside the WSOP, particularly on the Triton, PokerStars and British tournament circuits.
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Online Poker Career
Online poker has also been an important part of Grafton's career.
PokerNews reported when he joined Team PokerStars Pro in 2021 that Grafton had played substantial volume on PokerStars and had achieved major results both live and online. His résumé includes a World Championship of Online Poker title.
Hendon Mob's online-results section, which credits its data to PocketFives, lists $9,741,468 in recorded online tournament earnings for Grafton. Online poker databases can differ in how they identify accounts and count results, so that figure is best understood as the total recorded by that source rather than a complete accounting of every tournament he has played online.
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Playing Style and Poker Reputation
Grafton's results support describing him primarily as a No-Limit Hold'em tournament specialist with extensive high-roller experience.
His career progression is notable for the range of stakes at which he has succeeded. He built his résumé through British and European tournaments before becoming a regular in EPT high rollers and Triton events. That experience has required adjusting between large-field tournaments and much smaller high-stakes fields populated by established professionals.
Grafton has also become a recognizable personality within tournament poker through interviews, televised and streamed events, and his years representing PokerStars.
His tournament record provides the clearest measure of his standing: more than $15.6 million in recorded live earnings, a $5.5 million Triton victory and major wins spanning the British, Australian and European poker circuits.
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Sam Grafton's Recent Poker Activity
Grafton's recorded results show continued tournament activity after the peak earning years of 2022 and 2023.
In 2024, he won the €3,300 Super High Roller at the ESPT/UKIPT Malaga festival and later finished sixth in a €25,000 event at EPT Barcelona for €77,300. He also cashed in the EPT Prague Main Event.
His 2025 results included a 15th-place finish in the PokerStars Open Campione Super High Roller, fourth place in the Irish Poker Open High Roller Mystery Bounty and a cash at a WSOP International Circuit event in Argentina.
Hendon Mob's results database does not list a 2026 live cash for Grafton as of September 21, 2026. That does not establish that he has stopped playing poker, and there is no basis to describe him as retired.
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Why Sam Grafton Matters in Poker
Grafton's career connects several different eras and levels of modern tournament poker.
He developed through the British live circuit, became a successful online tournament player, accumulated titles at international festivals and ultimately broke through at the super-high-roller level. His $5.5 million Triton victory placed a career-defining result on a résumé that was already more than a decade in the making.
Unlike players whose reputations rest primarily on WSOP bracelets, Grafton's record is spread across multiple tours and tournament ecosystems. The GUKPT, Aussie Millions, PokerStars festivals, EPT and Triton Poker have all contributed important victories or deep runs to his career.
That combination makes Grafton a useful example of how a modern tournament professional can build a major career without relying on success at a single series.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much has Sam Grafton won playing live poker?
As of September 21, 2026, Hendon Mob lists Sam Grafton with $15,653,991 in live tournament earnings. Tournament earnings figures change as new results are recorded.
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What is Sam Grafton's biggest poker win?
Grafton's largest live tournament cash is $5.5 million. He earned it by winning the $200,000 Coin Rivet Invitational at Triton Poker Cyprus in September 2022.
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Has Sam Grafton won a Triton Poker title?
Yes. Grafton won the 2022 $200,000 Coin Rivet Invitational in Cyprus for $5.5 million. It was his first Triton title.
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Does Sam Grafton have a WSOP bracelet?
No. The World Series of Poker lists Grafton with zero WSOP bracelets as of September 2026.
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Does Sam Grafton have a WSOP Circuit ring?
No. WSOP's player database lists Grafton with zero Circuit rings as of September 2026.
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What is Sam Grafton's best WSOP result?
His largest recorded WSOP-series payout is €462,363 for second place in the €50,000 Diamond High Roller at WSOP Europe in November 2022. In Las Vegas, he finished seventh in the 2021 $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for $263,227.
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Has Sam Grafton won an EPT event?
Yes. Among his victories at EPT festivals, Grafton won the €10,200 Mystery Bounty at EPT Monte Carlo in 2023. He received €97,900 from the standard prize pool and €47,500 in mystery bounties for a total of €145,400.
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Where is Sam Grafton from?
Hendon Mob lists Grafton's nationality as England and his residence as Leamington Spa, England.
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Was Sam Grafton sponsored by PokerStars?
Yes. Grafton joined Team PokerStars Pro in 2021 and represented the brand at live and online events. PokerNews currently describes him as a former PokerStars ambassador.
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Is Sam Grafton still playing poker?
Grafton's tournament record includes live cashes during 2025, including events in Italy, Ireland, Slovakia and Argentina. Hendon Mob does not list a 2026 live cash as of September 21, 2026, but there is no reliable basis to describe him as retired.
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