# Ian Matakis

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American poker player (born 1997)

Ian Matakis Born (1997-10-18) October 18, 1997 (age 28) Faribault, Minnesota, U.S. World Series of Poker Bracelet 1 Final tables 8 World Poker Tour Money finishes 4 Information last updated on 2025-07-17.

**Ian Matakis** (born October 18, 1997) is an American professional [poker](/source/Poker) player and coach who won [Player of the Year](/source/2023_World_Series_of_Poker#Player_of_the_Year) competition at the [2023 World Series of Poker](/source/2023_World_Series_of_Poker) (WSOP).

## Biography

Matakis is from [Faribault, Minnesota](/source/Faribault%2C_Minnesota).[1] His sister taught him how to play poker when he was about 8 or 10 years old[1][2] He played penny poker games with his brothers and sister growing up.[2] It was his [side hustle](/source/Side_hustle) while he attended [University of Minnesota](/source/University_of_Minnesota), until he dropped out during his junior year to play it professionally.[1] He had been majoring in [accounting](/source/Accounting) with a minor in [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language).[2]

He started as an online gambler. Whereas in many states the age minimum to gamble at casinos is 21, in Minnesota it is 18, so he started playing at casinos at age 18.[2] He began his career with success in the Mid-States Poker Tour events before doing well at the [2020 World Series of Poker Online](/source/2020_World_Series_of_Poker_Online),[1] where he cashed 7 times.[3] During the [2022 World Series of Poker Online](/source/2022_World_Series_of_Poker_Online) Matakis cashed 13 times.[1] Prior to the 2023 World Series of Poker, 31 of Matakis' 38 career WSOP cashes had come online.[4]

Matakis won his first [World Series of Poker bracelet](/source/World_Series_of_Poker_bracelet) at the [2023 World Series of Poker](/source/2023_World_Series_of_Poker).

In the 2023 World Series of Poker he earned the Player of the Year. That year, he won his first [World Series of Poker bracelet](/source/World_Series_of_Poker_bracelet) during the $500 buy-in No-limit Hold'em Bankroll Builder online event #2 for $120,686.[4] He played much of the tournament on his phone while participating in a live event.[5] He did place in the live event (Event #12: $5,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed, 99th, $8001).[4] A ninth-place finish in the $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller event #71 earned him a $199,275 payout.[4] It became his largest career live tournament payout.[1] He then placed third in the $3,000 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha event #82 for his biggest career score of $205,696. He totaled $881,052 in earnings with 22 cashes (9 online and 13 live).[4] Matakis played exclusively No-Limit [Texas hold 'em](/source/Texas_hold_'em) and [Pot-Limit Omaha hold 'em](/source/Pot-Limit_Omaha) during the 2023 WSOP.[4] At the time of his Player of the Year championship, he was a resident of [Lakeville, Minnesota](/source/Lakeville%2C_Minnesota).[2]

The following year, the WSOP Player of the year scoring was changed to count only the ten highest scoring finishes, including a maximum of one online event.[6] Matakis intended to play other types of poker events starting in the 2024 WSOP.[7]

## Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-HIMbtbsotyW_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-HIMbtbsotyW_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-HIMbtbsotyW_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-HIMbtbsotyW_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-HIMbtbsotyW_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-HIMbtbsotyW_1-5) Schoen, David (July 13, 2023). ["How Ian Matakis became the breakout star of this year's WSOP"](https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/poker/how-ian-matakis-became-the-breakout-star-of-this-years-wsop-2871711/). *[Las Vegas Review-Journal](/source/Las_Vegas_Review-Journal)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230720234422/https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/poker/how-ian-matakis-became-the-breakout-star-of-this-years-wsop-2871711/) from the original on July 20, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2025.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-PP_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-PP_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-PP_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-PP_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-PP_2-4) Holloway, Chad (August 6, 2023). ["PN Podcast: A Record Bad Beat Jackpot Hits; Guest is 2023 WSOP Player of the Year Ian Matakis"](https://www.pokernews.com/podcast/pokernews-podcast/pokernews-podcast-2023-wsop-ian-matakis-44255.htm). *PokerNews*. Retrieved July 17, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Ian Matakis"](https://web.archive.org/web/20241130094239/https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=482556). The Hendon Mob. Archived from [the original](https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=482556) on November 30, 2024. Retrieved July 17, 2025.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-IMW2WPotY_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-IMW2WPotY_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-IMW2WPotY_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-IMW2WPotY_4-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-IMW2WPotY_4-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-IMW2WPotY_4-5) Duckworth, Tim (July 19, 2023). ["Ian Matakis Wins 2023 WSOP Player of the Year"](https://www.pgt.com/news/ian-matakis-wins-2023-wsop-player-of-the-year). [PokerGO](/source/PokerGO) LLC. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250211131330/https://www.pgt.com/news/ian-matakis-wins-2023-wsop-player-of-the-year) from the original on February 11, 2025. Retrieved July 17, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Geoff, Paul (June 5, 2023). ["Ian "IanMa" Matakis Wins Online Event #2: $500 No-Limit Hold'em Bankroll Builder for $120,686"](https://www.pokernews.com/news/2023/06/ian-ianma-matakis-wins-online-event-2-500-no-limit-hold-em-43707.htm). *PokerNews*. Retrieved July 17, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-p847_6-0)** Grant, Calum (May 27, 2024). ["WSOP Introduces New Rule Changes for Player of the Year"](https://www.pokernews.com/news/2024/05/wsop-player-of-the-year-46111.htm#:~:text=In%20a%20significant%20update%20for,online%20bracelet%20result%20is%20allowed.). *PokerNews*. Retrieved July 17, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Walsh, Jeff (April 29, 2024). ["After Breakout Year, Ian Matakis Excited to Chase WSOP POY Again"](https://www.worldpokertour.com/article/after-breakout-year-ian-matakis-excited-to-chase-wsop-poy-again). [World Poker Tour](/source/World_Poker_Tour). Retrieved July 17, 2025.

## External links

- [GPI profile](https://www.globalpokerindex.com/poker-players/ian-matakis-711715/)

- [WSOP profile](https://www.wsop.com/players/ian-matakis/)

- [Hendon Mob database](https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=482556)

- [Cardplayer.com profile](https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-players/364316-ian-matakis)

v t e Winners of the World Series of Poker Player of the Year Award Daniel Negreanu (2004) Allen Cunningham (2005) Jeff Madsen (2006) Tom Schneider (2007) Erick Lindgren (2008) Jeff Lisandro (2009) Frank Kassela (2010) Ben Lamb (2011 & 2011 E) Greg Merson (2012 & 2012 E) Daniel Negreanu (2013, 2013 AP & 2013 E) George Danzer (2014 & 2014 AP) Mike Gorodinsky (2015 & 2015 E) Jason Mercier (2016) Chris Ferguson (2017 & 2017 E) Shaun Deeb (2018 & 2018 E) Robert Campbell (2019 & 2019 E) Josh Arieh (2021) Daniel Zack (2022) Ian Matakis (2023) Scott Seiver (2024) The 2005 WSOP bracelet

v t e 2020s WSOP bracelet winners 2020/ 2020 O Kristen Bicknell Tony Dunst Daniel Dvoress Michael Gathy Alan Goehring Juha Helppi Fedor Holz Joe McKeehen David Peters Roberto Romanello Brad Ruben Damian Salas 2021/ 2021 O/ 2021 E Michael Addamo (2) Koray Aldemir Josh Arieh (2) Jeremy Ausmus (2) Mikita Badziakouski David "Bakes" Baker Farzad Bonyadi Yuval Bronshtein Daniel Cates Shaun Deeb Adam Friedman Benny Glaser Brian Hastings Phil Hellmuth Jason Koon Chance Kornuth Leo Margets Adrián Mateos John Monnette Chris Moorman David Peters Bryan Piccioli Shankar Pillai Brian Rast Brad Ruben (2) Ole Schemion Erik Seidel Brian Yoon Ben Yu Anthony Zinno (2) 2022/ 2022 O/ 2022 E Steve Albini Brian Altman Jeremy Ausmus (2) Pedro Bromfman Daniel Cates Eli Elezra Ali Eslami Amnon Filippi Alex Foxen Adam Friedman Brian Hastings Hong Jin-ho Phil Hui Espen Jørstad (2) Alex Livingston David Peters Brad Ruben Jake Schindler Scott Seiver Dan Smith Michael Wang Daniel Weinman Daniel Zack (2) 2023/ 2023 O/ 2023 E/ 2023 P Josh Arieh (2) Jeremy Ausmus David "ODB" Baker Chris Brewer Shaun Deeb Daniel Dvoress Yuri Dzivielevski (2) Kristen Foxen Benny Glaser Mike Gorodinsky Isaac Haxton Phil Hellmuth Ryan Hughes Faraz Jaka Alex Keating Ben Lamb Toby Lewis Tom Marchese Ian Matakis Jason Mercier John Monnette Brian Rast Nick Schulman Erik Seidel Shannon Shorr (2) Daniel Weinman Brian Yoon 2024/ 2024 O/ 2024 E/ 2024 P Calvin Anderson Richard Ashby Tony Dunst Yuri Dzivielevski John Hennigan Phil Hui Phil Ivey Bryn Kenney Maria Konnikova Chance Kornuth Alex Livingston Michael Mizrachi Robert Mizrachi Daniel Negreanu James Obst John Racener Dario Sammartino Nick Schulman Scott Seiver (3) Jonathan Tamayo Mike Watson 2025 David "ODB" Baker Michael Banducci Shaun Deeb Darren Elias Benny Glaser (3) Mike Gorodinsky Dan Heimiller Ian Johns Cary Katz Rainer Kempe Jason Koon Jonathan Little Adrián Mateos Michael Mizrachi (2) John Racener Brian Rast Brad Ruben Nick Schulman Michael Wang Daniel Zack 2026 Calvin Anderson (2) Scott Clements Shaun Deeb Yuri Dzivielevski Alex Foxen Kristen Foxen Benny Glaser Marco Johnson Jeff Madsen Adrián Mateos Michael Mizrachi Nick Schulman 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ian Matakis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Matakis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Matakis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.