Darren Elias (born November 18, 1986) is an American professional
poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
player who holds the record for most
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ...
titles, with four.
Early life and online poker
Elias was born in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and now lives in
Medford, New Jersey
Medford is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 24,497, an increase of 1,464 (+6.4%) from the 2010 census count of 23,033,"What it takes to film World Poker Tour at Borgata" ''
The Press of Atlantic City
''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The newspaper designated market runs from Ware ...
'', September 25, 2015. Accessed January 2, 2018. "Darren Elias, 28, of Cherry Hill, found that out last year when he was named the winner at the World Poker Tour stop at Borgata and won $843,000." He was an ocean lifeguard in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina before he became a professional poker player. Elias attended the University of Redlands in Redlands, California where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Creative Writing in 2008.
In addition to his successes in live poker, he has also done well in online poker, winning over $8 million online. He played under the username "darrenelias" on Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker, where he won two World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) titles and an FTOPS title.
Live poker tournaments
As of 2022, Elias has live tournament winnings of over $10,700,000. His cashes on the World Poker Tour make up over $4,600,000 of his total winnings.