Eric Afriat is a Canadian businessman and poker player with over $4.9 million in live poker tournament earnings. Afriat is best known for winning a trio of World Poker Tour (WPT) events in the United States.
Afriat discovered poker at an early age, first playing Five Card Draw and Seven Card Stud in high school. Afriat considers himself a recreational player who splits his time between developing real estate and building stacks at the poker table.
Afriat's first eight in-the-money finishes between December 2008 and January were all final table appearances, including a sixth-place finish in the $10,300 WPT Bellagio Cup in Las Vegas in July 2010 worth $118,950.
In July 2012, Afriat recorded his first tournament victory, getting his hands on $110,128 and the title of $5,180 Bellagio Cup VIII champion. That win would prove to be the first of many Afriat enjoyed.
Fast forward to April 2014, and Afriat came out on top in the $3,500 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown. The victory came with $1,081,184 in prize money, which remains his largest single haul to this day.
Afriat became a two-time WPT champion in January 2018, outlasting 1,243 opponents on his way to clinching the $3,500 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship title and its $651,928 top prize. WPT title number three came in February 2020 in the C$5,000 WPT Fallsview in Afriat's native Canada. The win awarded him C$508,021 ($383,539) in prize money.
Afriat also competes during the World Series of Poker (WSOP), although a bracelet has eluded him so far. A fifth-place finish in the $1,500 NLHE The Closer in 2018 is the closest Afriat has come to striking poker gold.
More recently, in February 2024, Afriat finished sixth in the record-breaking PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris Main Event, banking €261,650 in the process.
Eric Afriat's Top 5 Live Poker Tournament Results
| Date | Event | Rank | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2014 | $3,500 WPT Seminole | 1st | $1,081,184 |
| Jan 2018 | $3,500 WPT Borgata | 1st | $651,928 |
| Apr 2019 | $3,500 WPT Seminole | 2nd | $465,120 |
| Feb 2020 | C$3,500 WPT Fallsview | 1st | C$508,021 ($383,539) |
| May 2022 | $3,000 The Lodge Championship | 2nd | $320,000 |
