Russ Hamilton was the 1994 World Series of Poker main event champion. He defeated Hugh Vincent in heads-up play to win $1 million in first-prize money, as well as his body weight in silver. Following his World Series win, Hamilton served as a consultant for Ultimate Bet, an online poker server. In 2008, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission found Hamilton largely responsible for cheating players on Ultimate Bet out of $6.1 million through software that allowed access to opponents' hole cards. In 2009, Kahnawake increased the $6.1 million estimate to $22,100,000.Hamilton initially attended college and pursued a degree in electrical engineering, before a conversation with a professor led him to decide that playing poker for a living would be more profitable. After playing in underground games in Detroit, he moved to Las Vegas at the age of 36 where he joined a tournament blackjack team. He enjoyed a successful run, but when tournaments started barring blackjack pros, he turned back to poker. In 1994, he won the World Series of Poker main event bracelet.He also invented Elimination Blackjack a tournament Blackjack derivative that was used as the format for the televised Ultimate Blackjack Tour.As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $1,500,000. His eight cashes at the WSOP account for $1,261,940 of those winnings.
$850,000
