Professional poker player Sam Trickett has left Everest Poker and is now a free agent on the poker sponsorship scene, according to a report from CalvinAyre.com. Trickett, 28, is the top all-time live tournament earner in the history of the UK.
Trickett joined Everest Poker in March 2014, a surprise to many in the poker community, as though it has a solid reputation, Everest is not a notable brand name in online poker. The site is on the iPoker Network along with the likes of WilliamHillPoker.com, LadbrokesPoker.com, and TitanPoker.com. But sign on he did, and he certainly hit the ground running. That same month, Trickett came an eyelash away from winning the World Poker Tour Venice Main Event, finishing second for €65,888 ($91,418).
After that, Trickett had a series of “modest” cashes (for him – five figures is something most people can only dream of, but methinks Trickett aims a bit higher), including two on the European Poker Tour and two at the World Series of Poker. That 2014 WSOP was disappointing for Trickett, as he was hampered by an illness caused by food allergies in addition to a problematic laceration on his foot. The WSOP was that much more of a letdown for Trickett because he was the feature of a promotion by Everest in which Everest players could win up to 10 percent of Trickett’s earnings from that Series.
He bounced back after the WSOP, though, notching a €288,400 ($386,346) score with a fifth place finish in the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller Event.
Since EPT Barcelona, though, Trickett has little to show for his live tournament efforts. It sounds like he is doing well in the cash games at the WSOP, though, as he recently tweeted he has been so busy with them that he has neglected the tournaments.
Of course, Trickett’s biggest live tournament moment came at the 2012 WSOP when he finished second in the million dollar buy-in Big One for One Drop event, cashing in for over $10 million. His next two tourney cashes after that were one for a million bucks in the 2012 Macau High Stakes Challenge Super High Roller in August 2012 and then another for over two million in the $250,000 Challenge at the 2013 Aussie Millions in February 2013.
His 2011 Aussie Millions was also spectacular, as Trickett won the $100,000 High Roller event, for over $1.5 million and finished second in the $250,000 Super High Roller for about $1.4 million.
All told Sam Trickett has more than $20.5 million in lifetime live tournament earnings.
Trickett also made news of a less fortunate kind in 2012 when, just hours after his Big One for One Drop success, he was attacked by six men when he and his girlfriend were leaving a club late at night. He was beat up pretty badly, but in the end, it all looked much worse than it actually was; he healed up just fine. One would think that the attack had something to do with the money he had just won, but Trickett and his girlfriend said it didn’t. No details were offered as to what prompted the incident.
As for his departure from Everest Poker, Everest’s Campaigns Manager, Dave Bland, released a statement, posted at CalvinAyre.com:
Sam’s time as the sponsored pro with Everest Poker was one which saw some real highs for us, both as an online poker room and fans of the game. Our players had a really unique way of enjoying Sam’s progress at the World Series of Poker last year through our “Share 10% of Sam,” and Sam has been an exemplary ambassador for our brand. We’d like to thank him for his contribution to Everest Poker in the past 12 months and we’re really looking forward to a summer with some exciting news just around the corner.