Past Winners

MATT BRADY

2008 WINNER

$1,000,000 1ST PRIZE

2007 – Travis “TravestyFund” Rice

They say everything’s bigger in Texas. For Lone Star State native Travis Rice, it’s Aruba that has the larger-than-life claim to fame. The poker player from Fort Worth, Texas conquered 548 of his peers in the 2007 Texas Hold’em tournament to secure a first place prize of $800,000 out of an impressive $2.74 million prize pool.

2006 – Devon Miller

Devon Miller went head-to-head with JohnnyBax—one of online poker’s most respected players at the final table of the 2006 Aruba Poker Classic. Miller walked away with $774,960 and bragging rights after crushing 512 players.

2005 – Freddy Deeb

Heading into the final table with an impressive chip lead, Freddie Deeb surprised few people after winning the $1 million first place prize and being declared the 2005 Aruba Poker Classic champion.

2004 – Eric “Liga26″ Brenes

When a poker tournament takes place in paradise, it’s hard to categorize it as grueling. But it isn’t easy beating 646 other poker contenders for a million bucks, which is what Eric “Liga26” Brenes did in 2004.

2003 – Erik “Ticker” Lindgren

If you’re going to make your first final table, you might as well go big or go home. That’s exactly what Erik Lindgren did in 2003 when he beat out 400 participants to claim the Aruba Poker Classic trophy and a $500,000 first place prize.

2002 – Juha “Peasant” Helppi

After winning his Aruba seat in an online poker tournament, Helppi went head-to-head with Phil Gordon at the final table to win the first ever Aruba Poker Classic.