{"id":25699,"date":"2020-12-16T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/?p=25699"},"modified":"2024-03-22T11:43:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T16:43:54","slug":"top-10-richest-esports-players-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/top-10-richest-esports-players-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Richest Esports Players Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The world of Esports seems to grow every year. From its origins as a niche hobby, it has now turned into a multi-million-dollar industry and opened up a huge Esports betting<\/a> market, all while creating celebrities out of the world\u2019s best players. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of these top players are now millionaires,\nliving off money they\u2019ve made by being among the best in the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But which of the many different Esports players are\nthe richest? Below, we\u2019re going to take a look at the players who have managed\nto win the most in prize money throughout their career\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Lasse \u201cMatumbaman\u201d Urpalainen – $3.8 Million<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Lasse
Image: Monster Energy<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At number 10, we\u2019ve got Lasse Urpalainen, better known to his fans as Matumbaman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 25-year-old Finn is a Dota 2 player, as are the\nrest of the players on this list. He currently plays for Team Secret and has so\nfar collected a fortune of around $3.8 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His biggest victory came as part of Team Liquid, when the team scooped a prize of nearly $11 million at The International 2017<\/a>. This was worth nearly $2.15 million for each player. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His team also finished 4th<\/sup> at The\nInvitational 2018, sharing a prize of nearly $1.8 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Maroun \u201cGH\u201d Merhej – $4.2 Million<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Maroun
Image: Monster Energy<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next up, we have Maroun \u201cGH\u201d Merhej, a Lebanese professional Dota 2 player, currently playing for Team Nigma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nplays support during tournament games and has regularly used Io, Tusk and\nKeeper of the Light. At the time of writing, he has won around $4.2 million\nfrom Dota 2 tournaments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\nbiggest ever prize came alongside Matumbaman, the previous entry on this list,\nwhen he was part of Team Liquid and they triumphed at The International 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nhas also been part of teams taking 2nd<\/sup> and 4th<\/sup> at The\nInternational Tournaments and was part of the team to win the Tier 1 China Dota\n2 Supermajor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8.\nIvan \u201cMinD_ContRoL\u201d Ivanov – $4.6 Million<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Ivan
Image: Twitter\/NigmaMC<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ivan Ivanov is a 25-year-old Dota 2 player from Bulgaria and he takes 8th<\/sup> place on this rich list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s\nbeen playing professionally since 2014 and currently plays for Team Nigma. Ivanov\nis generally known as an offlaner and his signature heroes are Dark Seer,\nNature\u2019s Prophet and Beastmaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nwith the previous two names in this list, Ivanov was a member of the victorious\nTeam Liquid when they won at The International 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More\nrecently, he has been part of the winning China Dota 2 Supermajor team, plus\nhis team finished 2nd<\/sup> at The International 2019, sharing a prize of\nnearly $4.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Amer \u201cMiracle-\u201d Al-Barkawi – $4.8 Million<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Amer
Image: Wikimedia Commons\/Dota 2 The International – The International 2018, CC BY 2.0 <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Amer Al-Barkawi is another Dota 2 player.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 23-year-old Polish-Jordanian plays for Team Nigma and he generally has the carry role. Before Team Nigma, he played for Team Liquid and OG, and was previously ranked number one in the world<\/a> by MMR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once\nagain, he was a member of the victorious team at The International 2017. He was\nalso part of the team that came second in the 2019 tournament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nwon just under $1 million in 2019, however his best ever year was 2017, when he\nwon over $2.4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.\nKuro \u201cKuroKy\u201d Takhasomi – $5.2 Million<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Kuro
Image: Twitter\/NigmaKuroKy<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kuro Takhasomi, who is better known as \u201cKuroKy\u201d is currently a member of Team Nigma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n28-year-old has been playing professionally since back in 2011 and is\nbest-known for playing support or captain. He is one of only two players to\nhave competed in every International tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once\nagain, he was part of the team that won at The International 2017. He came 2nd<\/sup>\nin the 2019 tournament and 4th<\/sup> in the 2018 tournament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other\ntournaments he\u2019s tasted victory in include the China Dota 2 Supermajor,\nEPICENTER 2017 and ESL Frankfurt 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.\nTopias \u201cTopson\u201d Taavitsainen – $5.4 Million<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Topias
Image: Twitter\/Mplay_esports<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now we come to the second of three Finns on this list, who currently plays for OG and has been a member of their team since 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nEsports player has won a whopping total of $5.4 million throughout his career,\nmost of which was won in 2018 and 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no wonder he\u2019s so good; he\u2019s been playing Dota since he was eight years old!  He\u2019s now 22 and has recently become a father to a baby girl<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taavitsainen\nis the first name on this list not to be a winner at The International 2017,\nhowever he tasted success at both the 2018 and 2019 tournaments. By winning\nboth tournaments he got to share a prize pool of over $25 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During\nthe 2019 tournament, he had the highest average kills per game of any player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.\nS<\/strong>\u00e9<\/strong>bastian \u201cCeb\u201d Debs – $5.5 Million<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"S\u00e9bastian
Image: Twitter\/Ceb<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Debs, more commonly known as \u201cCeb\u201d, is a French-Lebanese Dota 2 player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n28-year-old is the only French player to have ever won The International. He\ncurrently plays for OG as a coach or offlaner, generally playing with Magnus\nthe Magnoceros, Bradwarden or Aiushtha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority of Debs\u2019s winnings have come from winning both The International 2018 and 2019 while playing for OG \u2013 the first team to ever win consecutive titles<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nhas also placed highly in many other Tier 1 tournaments, most notably winning\nat DreamHack Summer 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Anathan \u201cana\u201d Pham – $6 Million<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Anathan
Image: El Comercio<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Taking the bronze medal in this list of the richest Esports players is Anathan Pham, an Australian player better known as \u201cana.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n21-year-old currently plays for OG, although he is currently inactive, and\nplays the carry or solo middle role. He is best known for playing with Io,\nfinishing unbeaten with the hero at The International 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Pham has been a member of OG<\/a> since June 2018, he has also won two titles at The International. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s\nalso won the Boston Major 2016 and the Kiev Major 2017, sharing a prize of $1\nmillion each time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall,\nhe has won an impressive $6 million so far in his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.\nJesse \u201cJerAx\u201d Vainikka – $6.5 Million<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Jesse
Image: Twitter\/iamJERAX<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The runner-up on this list is the third and final Finn to mention, Jesse Vainikka, better known as \u201cJerAx.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\ninitially played Heroes of Newerth, however switched to Dota 2. He has played\nfor a number of teams in his career, including OG and Team Liquid, however\nretired in January 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout\nhis career, Vainikka won a number of massive tournaments, including The\nInternational 2018 and 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nalso won the Kiev Major 2017, the Boston Major 2016 and EPICENTER 2016. He was\nthe first player to make the final of four consecutive Major tournaments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Johan\n\u201cN0tail\u201d Sundstein – $6.9 Million<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Johan
Image: Twitter\/OG_BDN0tail<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At number one on this list is the Dane, Johan Sundstein, who is better known to Dota 2 fans as \u201cN0tail.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nis currently the captain of OG and is renowned for his use of Meepo. He is the\nmost successful Dota 2 player of all time, with four Major titles and two\nInternational titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside\nfrom his victories at the last two International tournaments, Sundstein has won\nMajors at Frankfurt, Manila, Boston and Kiev. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recently came 2nd<\/sup> with his team in the OMEGA League: Europe Immortal Division. Overall, he has won $6.9 million in prize money throughout his Dota 2 career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more rich lists, check out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n