Sam Kiki Rumored To Have Made $5M This Season Against High Stakes Poker Pros

Sam Kiki built a quick profile in televised high-stakes poker over the past year after first appearing in Season 15 of High Stakes Poker.

He drew immediate attention by winning seven-figure sessions against Alan Keating and Rick Solomon. Since then, his name has been a regular presence in elite games watched by poker fans.

Kiki spent much of the past year playing in high-stakes lineups in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. He also travelled to Estonia and Cyprus for big private games with experienced pros.

He is seen on his social media battling old school pros like Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan and Phil Hellmuth but also mixing it up against new gen talent like Kevin Paque and Teun Mulder.

His results showed major wins and major losses. Kiki said the swings were part of life in the biggest games and spoke about skills he learned over time. Kiki often spoke about poker’s struggle to grow its audience. He argued that the game lost viewers over the last decade due to uninteresting personalities.

He pointed to Monkeytilt, his online gaming and entertainment business, as a project aimed at bringing renewed attention to poker. Through his social media presence, he said the game needs champions who elevate its visibility.

Observers in poker circles began referring to Kiki as the game’s new standout personality. His fashion choices and blunt talk at the table added to his visibility. Kiki also appeared close with leadership connected to the World Poker Tour. During a livestream, he hinted that collaborative work might be underway that could produce a new angle in poker entertainment.

“I want to build characters and story lines and take the fans behind the scenes. Similar to what drive to survive has done for formula 1 I’d like to do for poker," he said.

Kiki stayed careful not to reveal details from High Stakes Poker due to contractual rules. Still, sequences already public showed him winning multimillion-dollar pots against Alan Keating and Andrew Robl.

He also confirmed that he and Kevin Hart faced each other in an intense filmed session.

“I can’t say much as the Pokergo team are in conversations to sell the show but what I can say is Kevin Hart and I battled at a level we have never before and there were many multi million dollar pots to show for it," he added.

People associated with the taping suggested that Kiki finished the week up around $5 million.