David Coleman
David Coleman is an American professional poker player born in 1993, originally from Livingston, New Jersey. His rise from the state’s online games to major international high rollers culminated in the 2024 Global Poker Index Player of the Year award, the 2025 Poker Masters championship and a first World Series of Poker bracelet.
The Hendon Mob profile snapshot checked for this article records 19.901.906 $ in live tournament earnings. His largest individual cash is 3.113.000 $, earned by winning the 125.000 $ Triton No-Limit Hold’em 7-Handed event at WSOP Paradise in December 2025.
Coleman’s record combines results in relatively accessible festival events with victories against elite high roller fields. That range became particularly visible in 2024, when a player already accustomed to deep runs finally began turning them into a succession of titles.
Early Life and Education
Coleman grew up in Livingston, New Jersey. He graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in finance and a minor in economics, then briefly worked in pension administration before deciding to pursue poker professionally.
In a 2025 interview with Card Player, he described childhood home games with his brother and friends, followed by regular sessions during high school. Poker therefore entered his life well before it became a career choice.
His academic background and interest in numbers formed part of that transition. The move into professional play began with online games rather than an immediate commitment to the international live circuit.
Building a Career Online
Coleman developed his professional game in New Jersey’s regulated online market. He initially concentrated on cash games before making tournaments a larger part of his schedule.
He has explained that the smaller fields and familiar player pool offered a useful setting in which to build his bankroll. Online play remained central to his development even as live results began attracting wider attention.
These online winnings should be considered separately from his recorded live tournament earnings. A live money list does not provide a complete account of online results, cash-game performance or the costs of playing professionally.
Establishing Himself in High Rollers
By 2021 Coleman was reaching the closing stages of major high roller tournaments. His results included second place in a 50.000 $ PokerGO Cup event for 455.000 $ and another runner-up finish in a 50.000 $ event at Super High Roller Bowl Europe for 364.000 $.
Those performances established that he could compete at substantial buy-ins before he became a regular tournament winner. They also help explain why his first live victory later carried significance beyond its prize money.
His career did not follow a simple sequence in which a small title immediately led to bigger ones. Instead, significant final tables and six-figure payouts preceded the breakthrough that changed his results in 2024.
The Move Toward a Full Live Schedule
Coleman moved to Las Vegas before his breakthrough season, giving himself more regular access to the PokerGO Studio and the city’s tournament schedule. In an interview with the World Poker Tour in January 2024, he spoke positively about the move while emphasising his continuing New Jersey roots.
He also described the studio as somewhere to learn from strong opponents. That perspective placed improvement alongside immediate financial return as a reason to enter difficult fields.
Late in 2023, he finished third in a 1.600 $ event at Wynn for 255.796 $. Strong results were already accumulating as he approached the year in which victories became a much more regular feature.
First Live Title and the January 2024 Run
Coleman won the 1.600 $ Card Player Poker Tour Main Event at the Venetian in January 2024. He topped a field of 457 entries for 115.989 $, securing the first live tournament title of his career.
He followed it with an exceptional run at PGT Kickoff. Across four consecutive events, he finished first, second, fifth and first, giving him three live victories in nine days when the Venetian result was included.
The opening wins changed the shape of his record. Previously known for coming close in substantial events, he now had a series of completed victories against the kind of opponents he had chosen to face more regularly.
Four PGT Titles in 2024
His early success continued at the PokerGO Cup, where he won a 15.100 $ no-limit hold’em event for 302.400 $. A further victory followed at the U.S. Poker Open in April.
In that 10.100 $ event, Coleman recovered from a heads-up deficit against Shannon Shorr after the players agreed to adjust the payouts. He collected 202.300 $, his fourth PGT title of the year.
The result illustrates why a tournament’s eventual winner is not necessarily the player who controls every stage. Coleman began the final table with the lead, lost it, and still found a route back to the title.
WPT Alpha8 Trifecta Victory
In July 2024 Coleman won the third WPT Alpha8 Trifecta event at Wynn Las Vegas for 730.300 $. The 25.000 $ high roller drew 117 entries, the largest field of the three-event Trifecta series that summer.
His final-table opposition included established high roller names, and the win also helped him secure a seat in the WPT World Championship through the Trifecta leaderboard.
This was an Alpha8 victory, a distinction that should be preserved when describing his WPT record. Alpha8 results are tracked separately from the tour’s Main Tour championships.
EPT Barcelona and the GPI Player of the Year Award
Coleman finished fifth in the 2024 EPT Barcelona Main Event for 398.950 €. Reaching the closing stages of that 1.975-entry tournament added a major large-field result to a season already marked by high roller success.
He went on to win the 2024 GPI Player of the Year award with 4.383,70 points, narrowly ahead of Jesse Lonis. The race remained close until the end of the year.
The annual GPI award is distinct from the rolling GPI ranking and from other organisations’ Player of the Year systems. Coleman’s success reflected the results counted under that specific annual formula, rather than a universal title shared by every ranking provider.
Another Deep Barcelona Run in 2025
In August 2025 Coleman finished second to Leon Sturm in the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller. After a heads-up agreement, Coleman’s prize was 1.148.755 €.
The result provided another substantial international score before his biggest victory later that year. It also continued a pattern visible throughout his career: runner-up finishes could be financially significant even when the trophy went elsewhere.
His Barcelona record consequently includes both a deep Main Event run and a seven-figure euro prize in the Super High Roller. These are separate events, with very different buy-ins and field sizes.
Winning the 2025 Poker Masters Purple Jacket
Coleman became the overall 2025 Poker Masters champion after collecting 492 PGT points across three cashes. He won the opening 1.000.000 $ Showcase for 270.000 $, cashed in Event #6 and finished second in the 25.200 $ finale.
His total prizes for the series were 657.700 $. The overall victory brought the Purple Jacket and a 25.000 $ PGT Passport, with Alex Foxen finishing second on the series leaderboard.
The jacket recognised performance across the festival. It was therefore a different achievement from winning one individual tournament, even though his Showcase victory was an important part of the points total.
First Triton Title and First WSOP Bracelet
At WSOP Paradise in December 2025, Coleman won the 125.000 $ Triton No-Limit Hold’em 7-Handed event for 3.113.000 $. The tournament attracted 99 entries and awarded both a Triton title and a WSOP bracelet.
He defeated Lithuania’s Dominykas Mikolaitis heads-up, with Martin Kabrhel finishing third. Coleman had entered the final table with a substantial chip lead but still had to navigate changes in the standings before completing the victory.
The result remains his largest recorded cash in the profile snapshot checked here. It also supplied two firsts at once: his first Triton championship and his first WSOP bracelet.
Continuing Success in 2026
Coleman won the 25.200 $ finale of the 2026 U.S. Poker Open for 420.000 $, defeating Kristen Foxen heads-up. The tournament drew 48 entries and was his sixth career PGT victory at the time.
The win followed his earlier U.S. Poker Open success in 2024, alongside titles at PGT Kickoff, the PokerGO Cup and Poker Masters. It demonstrated that his winning run continued beyond the season in which he first broke through.
As with his other results, the individual event title should be distinguished from the overall series championship. Winning the finale did not make him the 2026 U.S. Poker Open series champion.
Selected Career Results
| Year | Tournament | Finish | Prize |
| 2021 | PokerGO Cup, 50.000 $ No-Limit Hold’em | 2nd | 455.000 $ |
| 2021 | Super High Roller Bowl Europe, 50.000 $ No-Limit Hold’em | 2nd | 364.000 $ |
| 2024 | Card Player Poker Tour Venetian Main Event | 1st | 115.989 $ |
| 2024 | PokerGO Cup, 15.100 $ No-Limit Hold’em | 1st | 302.400 $ |
| 2024 | U.S. Poker Open, 10.100 $ No-Limit Hold’em Event #4 | 1st | 202.300 $ |
| 2024 | WPT Alpha8 Trifecta Event #3 | 1st | 730.300 $ |
| 2024 | EPT Barcelona Main Event | 5th | 398.950 € |
| 2025 | EPT Barcelona Super High Roller | 2nd | 1.148.755 € |
| 2025 | Poker Masters 1.000.000 $ Showcase | 1st | 270.000 $ |
| 2025 | WSOP Paradise, 125.000 $ Triton NLH 7-Handed | 1st | 3.113.000 $ |
| 2026 | U.S. Poker Open, 25.200 $ No-Limit Hold’em Event #10 | 1st | 420.000 $ |
Career Figures and Place in Poker
Coleman’s rise connects the regulated online poker environment in New Jersey with the modern international high roller circuit. His results provide evidence of success both in large festival fields and in smaller tournaments populated by experienced professionals.
The figures below reflect the Hendon Mob snapshot checked for this article. They are gross tournament payouts, not profit or net worth: entry fees, re-entries, travel expenses and any private arrangements are not deducted. Rankings can change as new results are recorded.
| Category | Profile information checked in October 2026 |
| Year of birth | 1993 |
| Nationality | United States |
| Hometown / listed residence | Livingston, New Jersey, United States |
| Recorded live tournament earnings | 19.901.906 $ |
| Largest recorded live cash | 3.113.000 $ |
| All-time money list | 77th |
| United States all-time money list | 37th |
| New Jersey all-time money list | 2nd |
| Major annual award | 2024 GPI Player of the Year |
| Major series championship | 2025 Poker Masters |
Career figures checked on October 20, 2026. Recorded live tournament earnings are gross cashes and exclude private cash-game results. Image positions refer to three separately supplied AI-generated illustrations created in October 2026.