Nick Schulman
Nick “The Takeover” Schulman is an American professional poker player and commentator with eight WSOP bracelets, a WPT title and more than $31.4 million in recorded live tournament earnings. A fixture in high-stakes poker for more than two decades, Schulman was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2025.
His biggest career score arrived in September 2026, when he won the $100,000 Triton Jeju II Main Event for $3,854,888. The victory came against a 196-entry field and pushed his career earnings beyond $31 million.
Main Info
Nickname
The Takeover
Residence
United States
Instagram
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Born
1984-09-18
Youtube
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Age
42
Twitch
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| Rank | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 Triton Jeju II NLH Main Event 2026 | 1 | $3,854,888 |
| 2 | $10,200 WPT World Poker Finals 2005 | 1 | $2,167,500 |
| 3 | $25,000 WSOP NLH High Roller 2024 | 1 | $1,667,842 |
| 4 | $100,000 WSOP NLH High Roller 2019 | 1 | $1,187,802 |
| 5 | $50,000 Poker Masters NLH 2017 | 1 | $918,000 |
Biography
Poker wasn't Nick Schulman's first competitive obsession. Growing up in New York City, he spent much of his teenage years around Amsterdam Billiards, where he developed into a serious pool player before eventually shifting his attention to poker. He began playing poker as a teenager and was already playing professionally by 19.
His introduction to the wider poker world was hardly subtle. In 2005, shortly after turning 21, Schulman won the WPT World Poker Finals at Foxwoods for $2,167,500. The result made him the youngest WPT event winner at the time and immediately gave him one of the biggest tournament scores of that era.
Two years later, Schulman came close to repeating the feat, finishing runner-up in the same World Poker Finals for $864,652. By then, the player known online as The Takeover had firmly established himself beyond the New York cash-game scene.
The WSOP eventually became another major part of his career. Schulman won his first bracelet in the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship in 2009 before winning the same championship again in 2012. Bracelet number three followed in 2019 in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship.
His bracelet count began climbing much more rapidly in the 2020s. Schulman won the $1,500 Seven Card Stud in 2023 before taking down the $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller in 2024 for $1,667,842. That victory was particularly notable because his previous bracelets had all come in mixed or non-hold'em disciplines.
Another bracelet followed at WSOP Paradise later in 2024, and Schulman added his seventh in 2025 by winning the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship for the third time in his career. That same summer, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Schulman's run continued in 2026. He collected bracelet number eight by winning the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event, becoming one of a small group of players to reach eight WSOP titles.
The biggest payday of his career came only a few months later at Triton Jeju II. Schulman defeated Bernhard Binder heads-up in the $100,000 Main Event after the final two players reached a deal, earning $3,854,888 and his second Triton title. The result finally surpassed the $2.16 million WPT victory that had remained his career-best cash for more than 20 years.
Away from the table, Schulman has developed a second career in poker broadcasting. He has worked on major PokerGO and WSOP coverage and became High Stakes Poker's color commentator in 2023, succeeding Gabe Kaplan. In 2026, that broadcasting work expanded further with a six-episode SiriusXM series titled Poker Weekly with Nick Schulman.
Trivia
Schulman's nickname, The Takeover, dates back to his early online poker career. Long before his live tournament résumé reached eight bracelets, the screen name was already associated with the young New York player making his way through online games.
His first major live victory came at just 21 years old. Winning the 2005 WPT World Poker Finals made Schulman the youngest WPT event winner at the time and earned him $2,167,500.
Few events have suited Schulman quite like the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship. He has won the tournament three times, in 2009, 2012 and 2025, with the victories coming across a 16-year span.
Schulman entered the Poker Hall of Fame in 2025, the first year he was eligible after reaching the minimum age of 40. The WSOP announced that he had been selected by the Hall's living members during that year's Poker Hall of Fame Bounty event.
His broadcasting career has run alongside, rather than after, his playing career. Schulman worked on the 2019 WSOP Main Event coverage for ESPN and PokerGO and later became a regular analyst alongside Ali Nejad and on High Stakes Poker.
In July 2026, he moved from poker television into radio with Poker Weekly with Nick Schulman on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio. The initial run consisted of six weekly episodes focusing on tournament poker, strategy and stories from Schulman's career.
September 2026 produced one of the strongest stretches of his career. Schulman first finished runner-up in Triton Jeju II's $50,000 7-Handed event for $810,279 before winning the $100,000 Main Event two days later for $3,854,888. The two results were worth more than $4.6 million combined.
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