Small Ventures USA, LP (SMV) is a venture capital and private equity firm founded by William O. Based in Houston, Texas, SMV deploys capital across multiple sectors and geographic regions on an opportunistic basis, with a bias toward early stage investment. Tags for 'william-perkins' Recent Tweets @WPT Tweets by @wpt. WPT.com; ClubWPT; PlayWPT; WPT League; LearnWPT.

William is a businessman and amateur poker player who’s appearing on The Big Game to test his skills against the best in the world, have a good time and meet new people. He runs a private equity and venture capital company in Texas, with a wide portfolio of business interests and investments. He also has a passion for making films, and regularly acts as producer on various titles made by his own company. William is married with three children, and dedicates much of his time to helping a range of different charities and research projects.

There have been many great events and series throughout the past fifty years of poker with chances to win life changing prizes. Tensions have certainly run high in the past with players being able to take home incomprehensible amounts of money. Let’s breakdown three of the biggest tournament payouts we’ve seen so far.

1: 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series - ‘Triton Million’

Marking the biggest payout in poker history, amateur high stakes player Aaron Zang surprisingly beat pro Bryn Kenney in the heads up in this year’s Triton London event. Although earning himself the title, Zang and Kenney agreed to a chop before heads up began with Bryn securing himself the biggest individual payout in poker history for $20,563,324. Zang, with very little live cashes himself, is a regular at the Triton Events but was a shock to many when he earned the win at the high stakes charity event.

2: 2006 WSOP ‘Main Event’

Apart from 2019’s winner Hossein Ensan, and 2014 winner Martin Jacobson, who both collected $10,000,000 for the Main Event titles. The biggest takeaway in WSOP Main Event history was 2006’s winner Jamie Gold. The champion took away a stunning $12,000,000 to secure the win in a field of 8,773 entries. 2006 also marks the year of the biggest ever prize pool ($82,512,162).

Road to Glory

Having ten years of previous live experience, this was Gold’s first Main Event entry, and what a way to start. Sitting down with legends like Johnny Chan and Chris Ferguson, Gold felt that watching these players really elevated his game and made him focus on the educational parts of the game. He said at the time ‘I remember being both confident and nervous’ but credits his ability to remain calm and continue to run deep in these events through his knack for picking up on his mistakes early. He says this only comes with years of experience

3: 2012 ‘The Big One for One Drop’

Bill Perkins Poker Hendon

William Perkins Poker Tournaments

In 2012, Antonio 'The Magician' Esfandiari, managed to pull of a heroic victory in the famous $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop tournament. Defeating Sam Trickett in the heads up, Esfandiari managed secure his second bracelet along with $18,000,000 for winning the prestigious event. He also achieved his third bracelet the same year in the $1,100 No Limit Hold’em competition. Esfandiari ranks 13th on the All Time Money List as of 2019.