Martin Stausholm

Martin Stausholm has built one of the most enduring careers in Danish tournament poker. Born and raised in Hvidovre and later living in Nørrebro, he now resides in Vienna, Austria. By early 2025, the Dane had accumulated $3,200,774 in live tournament cashes, placing him sixth on Denmark's all-time money list. He has also been described as Denmark's highest-ranked player on the Global Poker Index and holds the record for the most tournament cashes by a Danish player. Despite flying somewhat under the radar, he has remained a fixture at the world's biggest poker stops.

Stausholm's first significant live results came at Kings Casino in Rozvadov. In 2011, he cashed twice in German Championship of Poker Main Events, finishing third and fifth. When the 2012 GCOP season opened in March, he added another strong result. The event drew 196 entries, featured a $1,435 buy-in and created a $263,379 prize pool. Jeno Halmai won his first-ever live tournament, taking home €49,000; Henrik Unverricht earned €30,280 for second; and Stausholm finished third for €20,080. The remainder of the top five paid out €14,208 for Karl Martzen and €10,706 for Pierre De Berry. Early on, the GCOP experience also produced one of his favourite road stories: before the casino built its hotel, players stayed in a creepy country house in the woods and were woken at six in the morning by horses outside the window.

Stausholm's career-best score came at EPT Paris in 2023, where he placed fourth in the €10,300 High Roller for €277,800, approximately $293,751. He has also made his mark in the United States, with a fourth-place finish for $98,940 in a 2023 tournament in Florida and a $138,145 result at the WPT Seminole Rock 'n' Roll Poker Open. Earlier, he won the 2015 Phamous Poker Series for $118,320. His American results include numerous World Series of Poker cashes, and he has added multiple cashes at Asian Poker Tour and WPT events in the Asia-Pacific region, including a biggest regional score of $31,910 and total Asia-Pacific earnings of $56,210.

In 2014, Stausholm left Denmark for Austria. The main reason was tax legislation: for someone planning to become a tournament professional and play the biggest tours, Denmark's rules made little sense. He also wanted to live with other young players who were serious about poker as a career. Interestingly, Vienna was not the original plan; he and his friends had booked flights and were ready to look at apartments in Lisbon when the Portuguese authorities changed their online poker regulations, so they redirected to Austria. Living in Vienna allowed Stausholm to be surrounded by a committed group of players while remaining close enough to the European circuit to travel easily.

Stausholm describes the WSOP in Las Vegas as a marathon and a six-week camp. A self-professed 'all-or-nothing person', he performs best when he has a fixed routine and knows exactly what lies ahead. During the series, he rents a house with a small, tight-knit group, and the group lives and breathes poker for the entire stay. This approach, he says, fits his personality perfectly and helps him sustain focus over the two-month grind.

The move into high roller events came with careful bankroll management. For a long time, Stausholm did not play Triton Poker Super High Roller events because he was not rolled for them. He has also struggled to understand players who enter such tournaments with only 1-5% of themselves, and he felt he was not prepared well enough. Still, in a March 2025 interview with Dansk Poker, he said it was 'definitely soon time' to play Triton events, signaling that another level of tournaments may soon be added to his schedule.

• Stausholm is one of Denmark's most durable live tournament players, ranking sixth on the country's all-time money list.
• He holds the record for the most tournament cashes by a Danish player.
• He is originally from Hvidovre but moved to Nørrebro at an early age, so both places feel like home.
• He is known for his calm demeanor and disciplined work ethic, often studying hands and reviewing sessions.
• He cites routine, discipline and a close group of peers as the key ingredients in his longevity.