06 Sep 2024 Most poker pros grind hard with the goal of climbing up the stakes ladder, and moving to the highest stakes is an understandable dream for many. However, what most poker pros don't consider is that with great opportunity comes the great risk of encountering a downswing of a lifetime. Downswings in poker are inevitable, and the higher the stakes, the harder they can hit. Here are the 10 biggest downswings in online poker history. This list surprisingly includes players like Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Viktor Blom and many other well known poker players. So let’s start! #1: Phil Galfond - $2.5 million Phil Galfond, known online as "OMGClayAiken," has been a prominent figure in online poker since 2007, earning over $8 million in cash games. The worst downswing of his career occurred in early 2011 when a new game, 2-7 Triple Draw, entered the scene. Phil, eager to learn, jumped straight into the $1,500/$3,000 games. Unfortunately, this decision cost him around $2.5 million. Despite this massive loss, Phil quickly bounced back, recovering $2 million at the tables just before Black Friday. #2: Di Dang - $2.6 million Di Dang, also known as "Urindanger," and his brother Hac Dang, aka "trex313," were two of the most successful high-stakes players online, winning millions against top-tier competition. Though they avoided the limelight, Di Dang became the more recognized of the two due to his remarkable performance. Even as one of the most consistent high-stakes players, Di Dang faced a significant downswing of $2.6 million in early 2009. However, this didn't shake him, as he rebounded strongly and overcame two more million-dollar downswings in subsequent years. By 2011, Di shifted his focus toward a new venture, opening a restaurant in Northern Virginia, leaving him with little time for poker. #3: Ben Sulsky - $3 million Ben Sulsky, known as "Sauce1234," was the biggest winner at the high-stakes tables in 2012, amassing around $4 million in gains. However, 2013 started rough for him, as he lost nearly $3 million between January and March. Many professionals speculated that Ben's decline was due to the level of competition he faced in 2013. In 2012, Gus Hansen contributed significantly to Ben's earnings, but in 2013, he found himself up against some of the best in the game, including Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, and Patrik Antonius. The fierce competition appeared to overwhelm him, resulting in his massive loss. #4: Patrik Antonius - $4 million Patrik Antonius was the highest earner on Full Tilt Poker in 2009, winning over $9 million. However, 2010 started disastrously for the Finnish pro, as he found himself down nearly $4 million by March. Antonius later revealed that he had been undergoing rehab for an old back problem, which kept him off his game. As his health improved, so did his poker skills, and by the end of 2010, he had recovered all of his losses. #5: Brian Townsend - $4.5 million Brian Townsend had a particularly rough year in 2010. By June, he was down over $2.5 million and decided to step down as a Full Tilt Red Pro and lead instructor at CardRunners. After the announcement, Townsend switched back to his original account on Full Tilt Poker, only to lose an additional $2 million. Unlike Patrik Antonius, Townsend's downswing seemed to have a lasting effect, as he finished 2010 as the biggest loser at the high-stakes tables and has rarely been seen playing since. #6: Ilari Sahamies - $6 million Ilari Sahamies, also known as "Ziigmund," was known for his hyper-aggressive style and frequent habit of playing while intoxicated. It’s no surprise that Sahamies experienced multiple million-dollar swings throughout his career. His biggest downswing occurred after reaching a career high in 2010, when his lifetime earnings nearly hit $7 million. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse, and he lost all of his profits gained since he began playing online in 2007. By the time Black Friday arrived, Sahamies' lifetime earnings had fallen to just under $1 million, marking a nearly $6 million downswing. #7: Phil Ivey - $6.3 million With $14.3 million in online high-stakes profits and an additional $38 million in live tournament earnings, Phil Ivey is undeniably one of the most successful players in poker history. It's rare to associate the name Phil Ivey with losing, but since Full Tilt Poker's relaunch in 2012, he has struggled at the online tables. Under his screen name on Full Tilt, Ivey has experienced a steady downswing, totaling over $6.3 million in losses. Most of these losses came from high-stakes mixed games, proving that even legends can face setbacks. #8: Guy Laliberté - $7 million In October 2006, a new player with the screen name "Noataima" entered the online high-stakes scene. After playing for nearly six months, "Noataima" was down nearly $7 million, earning the title of the second biggest loser in online poker history. Persistent rumors later suggested that the account belonged to Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil. Given Laliberté's penchant for high-stakes action and recreational play, this theory makes a lot of sense. #9: Viktor Blom - $7.2 million Viktor Blom, better known by his online alias "Isildur1," took the poker world by storm, amassing nearly $7 million in winnings at Full Tilt’s high-stakes tables in just a few weeks. However, it didn’t take long for the pros to line up for a chance to take on Viktor. Some of the first to cut into his winnings were Patrik Antonius, Ilari Sahamies, and Cole South, each walking away with roughly $1 million after a few sessions. Viktor rebounded, gaining almost $2 million in a single day, only for the tables to turn dramatically. That day ended in a massive defeat, as Viktor faced Brian Hastings, who took him down for a record-breaking $4.2 million – the largest single-day loss in online poker history. #10: Gus Hansen - $20 million While Gus Hansen has had tremendous success in live poker, his online results tell a different story, marking him as the biggest online poker loser by a wide margin. Up to this point, Gus has lost nearly $20 million at the online high-stakes tables. Prior to Black Friday, Gus was still bouncing back and forth with losses peaking at around $4 million. However, since his return to Full Tilt Poker after its relaunch, Hansen’s losses have snowballed, with a staggering $17.2 million downslide and no sign of recovery.