Why Tony ‘Ren’ Lin is a Must-Back Player at the High Stakes Felt
Every new player that joins PokerStake is a crusher and the latest is no different. Tony Lin, commonly known as Ren Lin, has been winning at poker for many years and is one of the most consistent players on the circuit. Selling to the forthcoming $51,000-entry Onyx Championship event, the talented Chinese player could be one of the stars of the series set in Northern Cyprus.
We’ve taken a deeper look at Ren’s results and a pattern of success in just this sort of event has emerged.
A High Roller Powerhouse
With an incredible $15.49 million in live tournament results, Ren Lin sits in 93rd place on the All-Time Money List on The Hendon Mob, a great gauge for the history of this live poker specialist. In fact, Ren is a player in form in the location he hopes to win the Onyx Championship in, taking the title in last week’s $3,300-entry NLHE Joker Mystery Bounty 7-Max event.
Winning the trophy and $88,000 in the Dolce Vota Series in Kyrenia, Ren once again showed that he is a man on top as he prepares for the Onyx Championship, which will take place from the August 17 at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. ‘In form’ might be an understatement.
At the recent 56th annual WSOP, Ren cashed in an impressive 11 tournaments, for results worth a collective $510,000. The biggest of these was the third place Ren enjoyed in the $3,000-entry NLHE Event #68, where only an inspired Yilong Wang denied him the gold bracelet, Ren’s cash worth $406,016 in Las Vegas.
A Career of Opportunites Taken
In a vast career spanning less than a decade, Ren’s prowess is such that he has reached heads-up poker in ranking tournaments an amazing 25 times. Of those final clashes, he’s won 12 of them, so he’ll look to draw that record level in Northern Cyprus next week in the Onyx Championship.
What makes Ren’s total of over $15 million in tournament winnings all the more remarkable is the sheer consistency he’s had to display to amass those winnings. Of his many cashes, only one was worth seven figures, the $1.04 million he won by taking down the WPT Alpha8 WPT event in December of 2023. In that event, he beat Jason Koon heads-up and toppled Martin Kabrhel in third place at a final table that also included Seth Davies and Biao Ding.
Watch this amazing bluff from Ren Lin on the stone money bubble of a WSOP Europe event against none other than home country hero and Czech master Martin Kabrhel.
The £50,000 High Roller in Las Vegas in 2021 offered Ren the chance to win his first-ever bracelet but although he cashed for $903,610, he missed out to fellow crusher Mikita Badziakouski as the Belarussian got the better of him heads-up. Once again, Ren outlasted genuine poker royalty such as Daniel Negreanu (3rd), Jason Koon (4th), and Stephen Chidwick (5th) at the final table.
The Surest of Bets
While no bet can be guaranteed to win, Ren Lin has shown an immense ability to win under pressure in recent years. Consistently making the latter stages of the $10,300-entry GGMillion$ with finals on Tuesday nights, Ren is just as adept online, winning big on GGPoker over many years too.
A bona fide travelling poker talent, Ren has won big in The Bahamas and South Korea in recent years, with a PCA High Roller runner-up result worth $619,200 and a fifth-placed score of $611,000 in Jeju on the Triton Poker Series in 2024. Anywhere he plays, Ren is top quality, as evidenced by the $468,000 he won in Monte Carlo in 2023 as the Triton Poker Series GGMillion$ Live took place, with only the Malaysians Chin Lim and Hing Chow finishing ahead of him.
You can back Tony ‘Ren’ Lin right here on PokerStake on his personal selling page. Right now, Ren is selling to the $51,000-entry Onyx Championship with no markup at all. With his many results and powerful presence at the live poker felt, there is surely only so long that will last.