Sam Grafton

Main Information

His career started with playing in local snooker halls. In just 4-5 years Grafton developed into a top-class player, becoming a worthy opponent for the world’s stars – Phil Ivey, Jason Kuhn and Linus Loelige. In 2022, the poker player won $5.5 million at the Coin Rivet Invitational, which was one of the highlights of his career.

• Nickname: Sam Grafton, TheSquid, SquidPoker;
• Nationality: British;
• Residence: Leamington Spa, England;
• Born: 1981;
• Age: 43;
• Last Results: 2nd place in the €50,000 No-Limit Hold’em Diamond High Roller at WSOP Europe (November 10, 2022) for $465,852, 2nd place in the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the Triton Mediterranean Poker Party (September 7, 2022) for $994,500, 4th place in the tournament high roller at EPT Cyprus (October 2023) for $155,800.

Sam Grafton Biography

Grafton was born in 1981 in London, UK. He grew up in a typical British family and from childhood was characterized by sociability and bright charisma. His childhood was spent in one of the central districts of the city. He was always attracted to games for attention and logic, but an interest in poker arose thanks to his younger brothers. They used to visit local pool halls and snooker rooms together, taking part in £10 buy-in tournaments.

After graduating from high school, Sam went to university to study philology. But he became increasingly attracted to strategic games, especially poker. He quickly realized that he had an analytical mind and the ability to “read” his opponents.

By the end of the 2000s, the guy completely focused on card games, dropping out of university. At the same time, he started playing online games under the pseudonym SamSquid, which quickly became known in poker circles.

Poker Career

During his career, the Englishman has gone from small tournaments in London to participating in prestigious international events with high buy-ins. His successes have been in both live and online tournaments.

Playing on PokerStars under the nickname “SamSquid”, he has earned over $4.5 million of his total online winnings of $12 million. In April 2021, Sam became a member of the PokerStars Pro team.

His first significant live tournament win came in 2009 in London. In 2010, he finished fourth at the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) in Manchester, a major milestone in the Englishman’s career.

In 2011, he made his first appearance at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, finishing runner-up in a Limit Hold’em event. Winning the GUKPT London Main Event in 2012 brought in over £100,000, cementing Grafton’s status as an up-and-coming international player.

In 2017, he had victories at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne and PokerStars Festival in Bucharest for a total of nearly €260,000. At the 2019 WSOP, Sam competed in high roller events with big prizes and took home more than $270,000, and at EPT Barcelona that year, he finished second in the Super High Roller for more than €1.3 million.

Top Five Career Cashes

The poker player from the UK has achieved impressive success, especially in high buy-in tournaments. His ability to calculate his opponents’ moves and take risks at the crucial moment has brought not only victories but also big cash prizes:

Sam Grafton Socials

The Briton uses socials to share news from his life and thoughts on professional poker events with his fans. His profile has thousands of fans from all over the world. Sam describes effective betting strategies, comments on major tournaments and communicates with his followers, keeping in close contact with his audience.