Koray Aldemir

Koray Aldemir is a German professional poker player of Turkish descent, born in Berlin and now residing in Vienna Austria.  He is a World Series of Poker Main Event Champion having taken it down in 2021 for $8,000,000. Aldemir is a three time Awardee of the German Player of the Year in 2017, 2021,2022.  

Koray Aldemir: Early Life

In 2006, Aldemir played poker online for the first time with his friends. For the young Koray, the thought of playing cards as a living seemed to be intriguing. He started out playing freerolls on PokerStars and made his first live cash in a €200 Berlin tournament in January 2012. Soon after, he moved to Vienna to study college and played all around Europe during the 2010s. He also visited the WSOP in Las Vegas to play cash tournaments. In 2013, Aldemir met Fedor Holz in Vienna. Fedor was then competing in smaller tournaments. But over the years, he progressed to become one of the world’s top poker players. Motivated by Fedor’s success, Aldemir quit his studies to pursue a career as a professional poker player. 

Koray Aldemir: Poker Career

His 16th place finish in the 2015 EPT Malta Main Event earned him 35,800. Which was the best finish of his early career. However, the following year, he actually surpassed that with his first six figure cash. Prior to earning his first seven-figure cash, he placed second at the $1,500 NLH Summer Solstice for $252,805 in the 47th WSOP, Las Vegas. Then at the  $111,111 NLH for One Drop – 2016 WSOP, he ranked third against Fedor Holz and Dan Smith for $2,154,265 among 183 entries. 

Koray Aldermir continued to play and travel, achieving a remarkable number of major cash prizes. In 2017, he clinched a significant victory at the Triton Poker Main Event in the Philippines, taking home a staggering $1.29 million.

In 2018, he further solidified his poker prowess by securing third-place at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, where he earned over $480,000 with a buy-in of $9,700 + $600.

Aldemir, who has become a regular in the High Roller poker scene, added another impressive win to his list in 2019. He dominated the $50K NLH – Event #9 during the US Poker Open in Las Vegas, pocketing a hefty $738,000 in winnings.

Only a few months later, he showcased his skills once again as the runner-up in the 25K NLH – EPT High Roller Event #30, beating 98 competitors and securing a substantial cash prize of $734,086.

Aldemir’s Best Live Cash was for $8,000,000 when he won in the $10K NLH Main Event (Event#67) – 52nd World Series Of Poker. At the 2021 Main Event, Aldemir began the final table with the chip lead and went heads-up against George Holmes. This victory moved him over $20 million in career earnings. He placed third in the player of the year competition at the 2022 WSOP. He also made another deep run in the Main Event, ending in 75th place out of 8,633 to defend his title. 

Conclusion

Aldemir was last seen at the – $10,100 NLH Poker Masters #5 finishing sixth place for over $50,000. According to Aldemir’s Hendon mob profile, Aldemir has cashed for more than $22 million in live tournaments. This total is the result of 148 different live event cashes. His impressive finishes put him in the top 40 on the overall All Time Money List. While ranking third at the Germany All Time Money List as per writing.