Rising star experiences incredible summer poker craze, aiming for "top Dwan" status.

British player Jamie Dwan had a surprising summer in 2026, winning the WSOP $50,000 High Roller title and his first gold bracelet, and reaching the final table multiple times at the EPT Barcelona. He transitioned from politics to poker and now aims to become "Top Dwan".

Seven weeks can change a lot in the world of poker. At the start of this summer, Jamie Dwan had never played a $50,000 poker tournament. Now, the British pro is a WSOP bracelet winner with over $4 million in live tournament winnings and is competing in $50K and $100K high roller events.

Of these career prizes, more than $3.5 million will be earned in just one year, 2026, and nine of Dwan’s top ten career prize records are from this year.

"I'm still on the wave," Dwan told PokerNews in PokerStars EPT Barcelona. "It all feels unreal, and there hasn't really been much time for it to settle down."

The biggest prize in this incredible journey came from the World Series of Poker, where Dwan won the $50,000 High Roller event on his first $50,000 buy-in, winning $2,276,691 and his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu appeared at the final table alongside Dwan, which also included lifetime money leaders Bryn Kenney and Kristen Foxen, while another Hall of Famer, Erik Seidel, was eliminated in 11th place.

Dwan has hardly slowed down since then. He finished 14th out of 936 players in the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, before returning to the UK to win the £2,000 Super High Roller in Goliath for £47,200.

His hot streak continues at EPT Barcelona, where he has made the money six times and reached the final table five times. These results include winning the €25,000 High Roller event (€134,096) and finishing fourth in another €25,000 event (€107,700).

Dwan even moved up to the €100,000 EPT Super High Roller and finished third, winning €472,000 (approximately $551,273) – a prize that will easily be the biggest achievement of his career before this summer.

"I've basically achieved my poker dream, and somehow I'm still achieving it," he said. "I really don't want the music to stop, so I keep playing, and I'm really enjoying it."

Dwan said his gold bracelet victory feels like it happened years ago, not weeks ago, partly because he had little time to process what followed.

"I haven't actually been home since then, not really back to my house," he said. "I've been on the road, going to Cyprus and then coming here."

"I enjoy the feeling that it's still a bit like a dream, that everything still feels unreal."

Dwan finds his footing in high-stakes tournaments.

Winning your first $50,000 tournament will undoubtedly help you feel more comfortable in the next one.

Dwan admits that having that victory as a source of confidence has made a difference, but he is also surprised at how quickly he has adapted to playing regularly against some of the world's best tournament players.

"(I felt) more like home than I expected," he said. "Obviously, what helped was that I won my first real high-stakes tournament—for 50K—so you already have that confidence."

One of the biggest surprises was the atmosphere. Dwan said the $50,000 and $100,000 tournaments actually felt more relaxed than the $2K, $3K, and $5K events he was more used to playing in the past.

Many players at that level know each other well and compete against each other for most of the year. The atmosphere changes once the game gets serious, but between games, Dwan says it feels more like a family game.

"I played a €50K event here a few days ago, and honestly, the atmosphere at the table felt like you were playing a half-cash game," he said.

"Then sometimes you have to remind yourself, 'Oh wait, we're actually playing for very high stakes, not just playing a 1/3 game with friends.'"

Dwan also enjoys the opportunity to watch some high roller tournament regulars play when he's not participating in the games.

He recalled watching players like Fedor Holz battle against other top players at the table in Cyprus and Barcelona, describing some of the scenes as "a kind of art."

"Sometimes you just sit there and think, I'm so lucky to be able to play at these levels, feel comfortable, and sit in the front row watching the top players compete against each other."

"And being able to participate in it is an incredible honor in itself."

Jamie Dwan's biggest live poker win

Dwan's recent results have completely changed his live tournament record. Nine of his top ten career prize money records are from 2026, with only his fourth-place finish at the EPT Malta in October 2025 being the only result from another year.

His hot streak actually began before the WSOP – Dwan won the €3,500 WSOP Circuit Super High Roller (Aix-en-Provence) in April, earning €50,000 and a WSOP Circuit ring.

Las Vegas still outperforms Coventry and Barcelona

Dwan has now won high roller events in France, Las Vegas, Coventry and Barcelona in just a few months.

"That Coventry match was very interesting, I must say," he said. "I went there for a little victory pilgrimage, and I thoroughly enjoyed that match. I've never felt so confident."

Barcelona is no less impressive. Dwan says it's his favorite place to play poker outside of Las Vegas, his favorite city in Europe, and he's always been a fan of the EPT.

"I love Barcelona, I love EPT, and Barcelona is my favorite city in Europe," he said. "It's fantastic here as far as poker goes. I love it here."

But when PokerNews asked him where he liked best, he only had one answer.

“It has to be Las Vegas,” Dwan said. “That’s a poker dream, right? Go to Las Vegas, play your first $50K, and win it, win a gold bracelet in Las Vegas. There’s nothing better than that.”

From politics to poker

Poker wasn't always part of Dwan's plan; he had aspired to work in a completely different field.

He entered politics at the age of 16, later working for a Member of Parliament before running for Parliament himself. Dwan said he became one of the youngest parliamentary candidates in British history, running in 2019, and had also worked for the European Parliament.

Brexit finally ended that job, and then COVID soon arrived, leaving Dwan with a considerable amount of free time.

"I work in politics, and Brexit happened. I work for the European Parliament, and we all lost our jobs because of Brexit. COVID came quickly, and then I started getting into poker."

"I used to play a little, but then I really didn't have much else to do, so I thought, 'I'll give poker a try.'"

Dwan estimates that he only started seriously honing his skills in the game about four years ago, as the shift from politics to poker initially required "some explanations to his parents."

And there was another peculiar reason that led him to initially learn about poker.

"The only reason I discovered or learned about poker is because of my last name."

The competition to become a "top Dwan"

Two years ago in Las Vegas, Jamie Dwan finally met the man who made this surname famous in the poker world—Tom Dwan.

I walked up to Tom and said to him, 'I'm a Dwan too.'

The two began to talk, and Jamie believed they might be distantly related. Dwan was an uncommon surname; Jamie's family was from Manchester, while Tom was from New Jersey.

“I’ve never met a Dwan who isn’t related to me, and I don’t think he is either,” Jamie said. “There’s definitely some connection, one hundred percent.”

Whether they will actually find the connection remains to be seen, but Jamie has already gained an advantage over "durrrr".

"I have more gold bracelets than Tom now, which is hilarious."

His incredible 2026 also brings another goal within reach. Jamie says he's currently about $1.5 million behind Tom on the lifetime earnings list.

"That's the next goal," he said. "To become the top Dwan."

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