Kevin MacPhee is an American professional

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

player. Born in

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Coeur d'Alene ( ; ) is a city and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the most populous city in North Idaho and the principal city of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 54,628 at th ...

, he currently resides in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. MacPhee competes in high-stakes poker tournaments worldwide.

Early years and poker career

MacPhee was born in

, and attended Lake City High School. He graduated from the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

in 2005 with a degree in

general studies North America Some North American universities offer the Bachelor of General Studies degree. England, Wales and Northern Ireland General Studies is a GCSE and former A-level examination offered to 16- to 18-year-olds in England, Wales and North ...

. MacPhee began playing poker during his college years as a

hobby A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other ...

. After graduating, MacPhee won the title of 2002 Magic: The Gathering Idaho State Champion. In 2003, following Chris Moneymaker's victory in the

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada, and since 2004, sponsored by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...

Main Event, MacPhee decided to transition from Magic: The Gathering to playing

. MacPhee has been playing

professionally since April 2008, when he set the

PokerStars PokerStars is an online poker cardroom. It is the largest real money online poker site in the world, controlling over two-thirds of the total online poker market, and can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for Windows, macOS, Androi ...

Tournament Leader Board record. As of November 2024, he continues to travel and compete in live events.

Achievements

In March 2010, MacPhee won the

European Poker Tour The European Poker Tour (EPT) is a series of poker Poker tournament, tournaments created by John Duthie (poker player), John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas ...

(EPT) Berlin Main Event during Season 6, earning the title of tournament champion and a prize of €1,000,000. In an interview, MacPhee stated, "I am a luck-sack. (...) I ran extremely good and I had the nuts every time someone played back at me." Since 2010, he has achieved more than 20 notable cashes in EPT events. MacPhee was the EPT Player's Choice Award Winner for 2010. In June 2015, MacPhee won his first World Series of Poker bracelet by taking first place in Event #56: ''$5,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold'em'', earning $490,900. In October 2015 he won his second

bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, ...

, winning the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for $1,001,577. As of January 2025, his total live tournament winnings exceed $6,000,000.

References

External links

Card Player profileHendon Mob profileWPT profileWSOP profile
American poker players World Series of Poker bracelet winners European Poker Tour winners Sportspeople from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{poker-stub