Ole Schemion turns 34 today, Saturday, September 12, 2026, and the numbers that define his career at this point are worth sitting with for a moment: $22,250,264 in recorded live tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob, 63rd on the All-Time money list with a career-best rank of 26th, fifth on the Germany All-Time list, 210 live cashes, two WSOP bracelets, one WPT title, 10 SCOOP titles, and a PLO game that, in 2026, is as sharp as anything he has ever played. A very happy 34th birthday to the poker artist, otherwise known as “wizowizo,” who is still very much in the poker conversation as the game continues to evolve.
Berlin, Borrowed Accounts, and a Game Learned Too Young
Ole Schemion was born in Berlin, Germany, on September 12, 1992, and grew up in the German capital before eventually relocating to Vienna, Austria, where he has lived for most of his adult life. He played online before he was legally allowed to, after encountering poker during his school years. This is not unusual for his generation, but what was unusual was how quickly the game stopped being a hobby and started being a career plan.
German law prohibits players under 18 from opening online poker accounts. Schemion has acknowledged in interviews that he played on the accounts of older friends before he was of legal age, something he was not alone in doing in his generation, but that is worth stating plainly: it was not a permitted route. By the time he was old enough to create his own account, he had already built the foundations of a game that would, within a few years, take him to the top of the Global Poker Index. His online alias, “wizowizo,” became one of the more recognizable handles in European high-stakes poker, a name that appeared at final tables and on leaderboards long before most players his age had played their first live hand.
April 8, 2011: An 18-Year-Old Wins at EPT Berlin
Schemion’s first recorded live cash was also his first live win. On April 8, 2011, at the European Poker Tour stop in his hometown of Berlin, he won the €1,100 No Limit Hold’em event for €54,200. He was 18 years old, still months away from his 19th birthday. It was, in hindsight, one of the more significant wins in recent German poker history, not because of the prize amount but because of what it announced: here was a player who had figured out a substantial portion of what he needed to know before most professionals his age had played their first serious live tournament.
He returned to EPT Berlin the following year and won the same event again, this time for €68,900. Two editions of the same festival, two victories. The Berlin results gave him a platform, but 2012 was the year that transformed him from a talented young German player into a name that the entire European circuit knew.
2012: Three Major Wins in Eight Months
The 2012 calendar produced three separate major titles, each one bigger than the last. In September, Schemion won the Partouche Poker Tour Grand Final Main Event in Cannes for €1,172,850. At the time, it was one of the largest prizes ever won by a German player. In November, he followed it up with the Master Classics of Poker Main Event in Amsterdam for €286,200. That same year, he also reached the final table of the EPT Barcelona Main Event.
Three titles. Three countries. A combined haul of well over €1.5 million. He was 19 for the Cannes win, 20 for Amsterdam. The poker world had paid attention for a year. After 2012, it did not look away.
The Climb to Number One: 2013 to 2015
The three-year period from 2013 to 2015 was the stretch that cemented Schemion’s reputation as one of the best tournament players in the world, full stop. He was not just winning in Europe. He reached final tables across every major tour, adapted to every format, and accumulated GPI points at a rate that eventually put him at the top of the rankings.
In 2013, he won four events across different formats and countries: the EPT Monte Carlo 6-Max Turbo (€101,500), the EPT Monte Carlo Win the Button (€11,700), the EPT Monte Carlo PLO (€59,200), and the Lebanese Poker Tour Championship in Cyprus ($201,206). He reached the final table of the EPT Prague Main Event in fifth place (€218,300), and made deep runs at PCA and EPT Barcelona. It was one of the most consistent single years any young player had put together on the European circuit.
In April 2014, he won the EPT Sanremo €10,300 High Roller for €265,000. In July, he won the Aria $100,000 Super High Roller in Las Vegas for $1,062,785, his first seven-figure live score. In January 2015, he finished second in the Aussie Millions A$100,000 Challenge in Melbourne for A$1,350,000 ($1,066,688). By that point, he had been accumulating GPI points for two full seasons at a level almost no one else could match, and in January 2015 it showed: Schemion reached the number one position on the Global Poker Index with 4,083.21 points, the highest-ranked player in open tournaments in the world. He held that position for 18 consecutive weeks, from December 2014 through April 2015. He was 22 years old.
He was also named Player of the Year at the European Poker Awards in 2014, a recognition of what the circuit already understood: that, in terms of consistency, adaptability, and results across formats and buy-ins, no one in Europe was doing it at a higher level.
Monaco, 2016: The Best Week of His Career
If there is a single week that captures what Schemion is capable of at his best, it is the 2016 EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final. On April 28, he won the €100,000 Super High Roller for €1,597,800, which, at $1,807,078, remains his best live cash. Three days later, on May 1, he finished second in the €50,000 Super High Roller for €857,241. Two Super High Rollers, back to back, in the same festival: a combined €2,455,041 in five days. For the first time in his career, his total live earnings crossed the $10 million mark. He was 23 years old.
That week in Monaco also clarified what kind of player Schemion had become. He was not just a multi-format all-rounder who could navigate any structure. He was one of the very best Super High Roller specialists in Europe, a player who could sit across from any field at any buy-in and be the favorite to navigate it. The Monte Carlo results were not a fluke. They were what the GPI rankings had been signaling for two years.
wizowizo Dominates Online
Schemion’s live results are the ones with the large numbers attached, but his online career under the “wizowizo” alias represents a parallel track of sustained excellence that few players at his level have matched. A full picture of his online results isn’t readily available, but what PokerNews and Wikipedia have confirmed is considerable.
He has won 10 SCOOP titles on PokerStars, spread across seven years: two in 2018, two in 2020, three in 2022, one in 2023, one in 2024, and one in 2025. The buy-ins range from $320 to $10,300, the formats from PLO 6-Max to Fixed-Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, and the fields from 52 to 1,042 entries. Ten titles across that range of formats is not a streak of variance. It consistently demonstrates adaptability across the full breadth of what online poker offers.
He has also won two WCOOP titles on PokerStars, per the same PokerNews source: a 2018 NLHE 6-Max for $112,236, and a 2022 Progressive KO for $240,029. On October 13, 2019, he won two PokerStars major tournaments on the same evening: the Sunday Supersonic and the Sunday Warm-Up. In January 2025, he won the PokerStars New Year Series Main Event-H for $224,424, defeating a field of 230 entries. The online game has never been a side note to the live results. It is its own sustained body of work.
The WPT Title, the First Bracelet, and Continuing to Win
In January 2018, Schemion won the World Poker Tour European Championship in Berlin for €218,435, claiming the title in his home country. It remains one of the most meaningful wins of his career, not just for the hardware but for the geography: a WPT title in Berlin, the city where he won his first live tournament seven years earlier.
2019 brought more results across the circuit: victory in the PCA National for $148,220, the Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions for $440,395, a sixth-place finish in the WSOP Europe €100,000 Diamond High Roller for €341,510, and a final-table appearance at the Master Classics of Poker. The pace of cashing and winning had not slowed from the years when he was ranked number one.
The first WSOP bracelet arrived on November 17, 2021, in Las Vegas. Schemion won Event #79 at the World Series of Poker, the $1,979 No Limit Hold’em Poker Hall of Fame Bounty, for $172,499. It was the result he had been searching for across multiple WSOP appearances, and it came with a quote that captured the feeling exactly.
“It’s not too often in live tournaments that you come in first place,” Schemion told PokerNews after the win. “It’s what we all try to do, but it feels very good to run through a good field and win one.”
In September 2021, he added a WPT title online, winning the WPT World Online Championships $25,500 Super High Roller Championship for $388,709, defeating Jason Koon heads-up. Less than two months after the WSOP bracelet, he ran second in the WSOP Europe €2,000 8-Game Mix for €20,960, narrowly missing a second piece of hardware in the same season.
Triton, EPT Malta, and a Return to the Top: 2023 to 2025
The years between 2022 and 2025 produced a run of results that reinforced everything the early career had established. In July 2023, Schemion won the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London $50,000 8-Handed event for $1,350,000, his third seven-figure live score. Three months later at Triton Monte Carlo, he finished third in the $30,000 NLH 7-Handed for $457,000. In December 2023, he won the EPT Prague €25,000 NLH for €246,370.
In April 2024, at EPT Monte Carlo, he finished third in the €50,000 Super High Roller Second Chance for €497,400, another near-miss at a massive score in Monaco. In October 2025, he won the EPT Malta €5,150 NLH 6-Handed for €75,600, then the following day finished fourth in the Diamond Poker Series Malta €10,300 PLO Championship for €161,700. Two deep runs at the same venue in two consecutive days, in two different disciplines. This is the kind of output that doesn’t happen by accident.
2026: The Second Bracelet and a PLO Game at Its Peak
In February 2026, Schemion won the Casinos Austria Poker Tour Seefeld Main Event for €100,000. In late February, he finished sixth in the EPT Paris €2,700 Open High Roller for €96,680. He was cashing at a rate that signaled the 2026 calendar was going to produce something significant. It did.
On April 6, 2026, at the World Series of Poker Europe in Prague, Schemion won Event #9, the €5,300 PLO European Championship, for €395,000, defeating Santtu Leinonen heads-up to claim his second WSOP bracelet. The 379-entry field produced a €1,010,000 prize pool. He had come into the final day 16th in chips from 24 remaining players, with bracelet winners including David Coleman and Ari Engel sitting below him. He passed all of them, including Michael “Texas Mike” Moncek, who led the field into the final day and fell in third for €175,000.
“PLO has gone very well for me in recent months,” Schemion told reporters after the win. That was an understatement. The Prague win was his second title of 2026, his fourth cash, and pushed his career live earnings past $22 million.
For a player who spent years building his reputation in No Limit Hold’em Super High Rollers, the trajectory toward PLO that the last two years represent is worth noting. The Diamond Poker Series deep run in Malta, the EPT PLO final table appearances, and now the WSOP PLO bracelet: Schemion has added a second discipline at the same level he plays everything else.
Ole Schemion Poker Highlights at a Glance
| Date | Result | Event | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2011 | 1st | EPT Berlin €1,100 NLH | €54,200 |
| Apr 2012 | 1st | EPT Berlin €1,100 NLH | €68,900 |
| Sep 2012 | 1st | PPT Grand Final €8,500 ME, Cannes | €1,172,850 |
| Nov 2012 | 1st | Master Classics of Poker €5,250 ME, Amsterdam | €286,200 |
| May 2013 | 1st | EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 PLO | €59,200 |
| Apr 2013 | 1st | Lebanese Poker Tour $5,500 Championship, Cyprus | $201,206 |
| Apr 2014 | 1st | EPT Sanremo €10,300 High Roller | €265,000 |
| Jul 2014 | 1st | Aria $100,000 Super High Roller, Las Vegas | $1,062,785 |
| Jan 2015 | 2nd | Aussie Millions A$100,000 Challenge | A$1,350,000 |
| Apr 2016 | 1st | EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 Super High Roller | €1,597,800 |
| May 2016 | 2nd | EPT Monte Carlo €50,000 Super High Roller | €857,241 |
| Nov 2016 | 1st | Master Classics of Poker €25,250 Super High Roller, Amsterdam | €160,875 |
| Jan 2018 | 1st | WPT European Championship €3,300, Berlin | €218,435 |
| Jan 2019 | 1st | PCA National $1,100, Bahamas | $148,220 |
| Jun 2019 | 1st | Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions | $440,395 |
| Nov 2021 | 1st | WSOP Event #79 $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty | $172,499 |
| Sep 2021 | 1st | WPT World Online Championships $26,000 SHR | $388,709 |
| Jul 2023 | 1st | Triton London $53,000 NLH 8-Handed | $1,350,000 |
| Oct 2023 | 3rd | Triton Monte Carlo $31,800 NLH 7-Handed | $457,000 |
| Dec 2023 | 1st | EPT Prague €25,000 NLH | €246,370 |
| Apr 2024 | 3rd | EPT Monte Carlo €50,000 SHR Second Chance | €497,400 |
| Oct 2025 | 1st | EPT Malta €5,150 NLH 6-Handed | €75,600 |
| Oct 2025 | 4th | Diamond Poker Series Malta €10,300 PLO Championship | €161,700 |
| Feb 2026 | 1st | CAPT Seefeld €2,200 NLH Main Event | €100,000 |
| Apr 2026 | 1st | WSOPE Event #9 €5,300 PLO European Championship | €395,000 |
What the Numbers Say on His 34th Birthday
$22,250,264 in recorded live earnings. 63rd all-time globally, 26th at his career peak. 5th in Germany. 210 live cashes across 15 years of professional play. Two WSOP bracelets in two different disciplines. Ten SCOOP titles. A WPT title in his hometown. A GPI number one ranking held for 18 consecutive weeks. A best cash of $1,807,078 that came from one of the most dominant individual weeks any player has had in European poker history.
None of those numbers are finished. Schemion began this year with two wins in two months, added a second WSOP bracelet in April, and has shown no indication that 34 represents anything other than a continuation. The PLO game is peaking. The live results are coming. The Hendon Mob page is still being updated.
Happy birthday, wizowizo.
FAQ
- Sources: The Hendon Mob, PokerNews, Wikipedia
- Article originally produced at poker.pro.
