EPT Monte Carlo: Jason Wheeler always carries a piece of PokerStars history
PokerStars celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2026, and a year ago, at EPT Monte Carlo, we spoke to Jason Wheeler about the piece of PokerStars history he never leaves home without.
This article was originally published in April 2025.
At 11:59 am, while most tables were locked with tension seconds away from cards hitting the air on Day 1B of the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event, one table stood out. Four players and a dealer were chuckling, and in the centre of it all was Jason Wheeler, grinning as he passed something around the felt. “You ever seen one lower than that?” he challenged the dealer. Curiosity got the better of us.
It wasn’t a photo or video on his phone that Wheeler was passing around (though there was a photo of him on it). It was actually his PokerStars Live ID card – something every player once needed to register for live tournaments – and Wheeler has one of the very first cards ever issued to players.
His ID number ‘0000 0000 0000 0106’ means he was among the first players to receive one back in 2011 (he points out that his number would be even lower if test accounts weren’t included), and over the years, the battered card has become one of his most cherished possessions.
Every crease and crack is a reminder of how far he’s come, and despite no longer needing it (the system has since moved online with the PokerStars Live app), he still never heads to an event without it.
“0000 0000 0000 0106” is the magic number
SIGN ME UP
Wheeler, 49, has been playing online on PokerStars for his entire career, and hit the European live circuit in the late 2000s. He played at a couple of EPT festivals before the card was assigned to him in 2011.
“It was in San Remo when they used to run the EPT there,” he says. “They’d switched to a new system, and that event was where they introduced it, so every player had to re-sign up.”
At one point, a mix-up in the system meant that Wheeler’s profile was duplicated. PokerStars suggested he move to the newer profile and therefore a new card, but Wheeler fought his case.
“They wanted to move me over to the new number because it was much cleaner, and I literally went to management and said: “No, please, you can’t! I’ve had this number for life, and I’ve run very good, I’m still around, so please don’t take this number from me.”
His protest worked, and thus, the card remains. It’s remarkable he’s been able to hold on to it all these years, what with poker players’ proclivity to lose and forget things while on the road. And Wheeler has moved around a lot (originally from Chicago, he’s now based in Prague).
“I keep it safe and take it everywhere, so it gets beat up just like everything else,” he says. “I have this thing where I like to keep things from the very beginning of my career. After one of my first big scores in 2009, I went and bought a brand new car — a 2009 Nissan Ultima. I still have that car today because after Black Friday I had to move to Mexico to play, so I didn’t drive it much. I’ve had the car 16 years and it has 50,000 miles on it, so like, nothing. I leave it in Las Vegas, and I still have it to this day.
“So much like this card, which I will keep until it’s destroyed, I will drive that car until it cannot drive anymore.”
Jason Wheeler: Too bad the car wasn’t in Monaco too
AN EPT ALL-TIMER
Wheeler is firmly in the all-time top 10 of players who have cashed in the most major PokerStars events. It’s esteemed company, alongside the likes of Steve O’Dwyer and Adrian Mateos.
“I grew up playing with all these guys and I made a decision to prioritise family the past few years, so I’ve pulled back on buy-ins and swallowed a little bit of pride and ego in that regard,” says Wheeler. “And I wouldn’t change anything. But I still want to win an EPT Main Event.”
This is now Wheeler’s 12th EPT Monte Carlo, and he still looks forward to it. He’s come close to winning an EPT before, finishing second at EPT Prague (then called the PokerStars Championship) in 2017 for a career-best €570,000. But he also has memories from Monte Carlo in 2012 that haunt him. “I was chip leader here with 20 players left, back when it was the Grand Finale and it was a big €10K,” he says.
If he’s honest, Wheeler admits he wasn’t ready for how big a moment that was. “It was early in my career, and I was a bit naive and blew a big moment, y’know? But it prepares you so that if I get in that spot again, I know how to execute the way I need to.”
2026 is Wheeler’s 13th EPT Monte Carlo
That’s what he’s hoping for this week, and he’s as excited as he’s ever been to play the big one. “I was here for hand one, I arrived early and listened to music out on the balcony,” he says. “Once you can’t keep the excitement and happiness and love for poker, you should go do something else. I think if you’re going to be successful, you have to keep that.”
That, and your Player ID card.
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