Youngest WSOP Bracelet Winners

Johnny Moss

Because many poker player's birthdays are unknown, these lists are not definitive, especially during the early years (ages listed in years.months.days format).

History of the Youngest Open WSOP Bracelet Winner

Player	Born	Date	Age
Johnny Moss	1907/05/14	1970/05/08	62
Puggy Pearson	1928/01/29	1971/05/06	43
Jack Straus	1930/06/16	1973/05/16	42
Billy Baxter	1940/09/21	1975/05/15	34
Jeff Sandow	~1954	1977/04/28	23
Daniel Negreanu	1974/07/26	1998/04/29	23*
Phil Ivey	1977/02/01	2000/05/06	23*
Gavin Griffin	1981/08/28	2004/05/15	22
Eric Froehlich	1984/02/09	2005/06/05	21
Jeff Madsen	1985/06/07	2006/07/16	21
Steve Billirakis	1986/05/25	2007/06/04	21
Annette Obrestad	1988/09/18	2007/09/17	18

Notes:

Walter Smiley would have passed Baxter in 1976 if he was born before 1940.

Daniel Negreanu only broke the record if Sandow was born between May and August 1953. Phil Ivey is more likely to have been younger than Sandow.

Obrestad was one day shy of her 19th birthday when she won the first WSOP Europe Main Event. This record can't be broken in Nevada, where the legal gambling age is 21.

The history of the youngest woman to win an open bracelet is fairly short: Vera Richmond was 58 when she won the $1,000 Limit Ace-to-Five Draw in 1982, Barbara Enright was 46 in 1996, Linda Johnson 43 in 1997, Jerri Thomas 41 in 2000, Jennifer Harman 35 later in 2000, and Obrestad.

Including non-open events, the record has belonged to just two players before Obrestad: Jackie McDaniel was very roughly 35 when she became the first woman to win a bracelet in the 1977 Ladies Championship. Terry King was about 24 or 25 when she won the 1978 edition, and Starla Thompson was 24 years and 23 days old when she won the 1979 Mixed Doubles with Doyle Brunson.

Another interesting question is "Who was the youngest player to win a given number of bracelets?" Two Phils currently dominate the upper end of the list, but their records don't look very safe over the next decade:

Youngest to Win N WSOP Bracelets

#	Player	Born	Date	Age
1	Annette Obrestad	1988/09/18	2007/09/17	18
2	Jeff Madsen	1985/06/07	2006/07/22	21
3	Adrian Mateos	1994/07/01	2017/06/09	22
4	Phil Ivey	1977/02/01	2002/05/11	25
5	Phil Ivey	1977/02/01	2005/06/28	28
6	Phil Hellmuth	1964/07/16	1997/05/06	32
7	Phil Ivey	1977/02/01	2009/06/11	32
8	Phil Ivey	1977/02/01	2010/06/22	33
9	Phil Ivey	1977/02/01	2013/04/11	36
10	Phil Ivey	1977/02/01	2014/06/27	37
11	Phil Hellmuth	1964/07/16	2007/06/11	42
12	Phil Hellmuth	1964/07/16	2012/06/10	47
13	Phil Hellmuth	1964/07/16	2012/10/04	48
14	Phil Hellmuth	1964/07/16	2015/06/08	50
15	Phil Hellmuth	1964/07/16	2018/07/11	53
16	Phil Hellmuth	1964/07/16	2021/10/17	57
17	Phil Hellmuth	1964/07/16	2023/07/02	58

Notes:

Honorable mention to Eric Froehlich , who broke Phil Ivey's record for youngest to two bracelets by almost three years only to lose his record to Madsen a mere four days later.

Ivey was also the former record holder for three bracelets at 25 years, 3 months, and 3 days, set during his three-bracelet summer of 2002.

Dominik Nitsche broke Ivey's record for three bracelets at age 23 years, 7 months, and 30 days in 2014 and held the record for three years.

After winning his fifth bracelet, Phil Ivey said, "I think I can win 30. Tournaments are much tougher to win now because the fields are (so big). I don't play as many tournaments for that reason, but I still think I can get to 30." His pace had him reaching thirty in 2021, but he began focusing on high stakes cash games after collecting his tenth in 2014.

Johnny Moss was the first to 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 bracelets, but Puggy Pearson beat him to 4.

The records for 6, 7, 8, and 9 bracelets have each been held in turn by Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, and Phil Ivey. The pattern broke when Johnny Chan got to 10 first, four days before Brunson (and Moss never got there).

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