Finding the best poker players of all time with notable titles and winnings in the world poker tour event is tricky. Poker is one of the most intriguing card games, although success can be challenging for some players.
Still, some poker fans disagree on who is the cream de la cream in poker history. The reason is that it is difficult to account for all top players' wins or net worth. Today, we will go through a list of seven established individuals to have graced world poker tour events and the online poker world landscape in the recent past. In no order, let's dive in.
Bryn Kenney
Bryn is a professional poker player from New York City, USA, who often plays real money online casinos. He has been playing poker since his school days, aged 16, but made the list of all-time best poker players in 2020. Bryn was born in 1986 and is also called Mega Crusher. He grew up playing Magic, a gathering card game, before transitioning to play his first-ever poker event in 2007.
In 2010, Bryn made his first-ever six-figure score in World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, bagging $255,242 and scooping the 28th position. Other notable scores followed for the next two years, where he won World Poker Tour (WPT) high rollers, Master Classics of Poker, European Poker Tour, and more.
Bryn is a regular poker player at the Aria High Roller scene and boasts an impressive record of big scores. His WSOP money finish position is 32, but he has also made it to the top five in many events across the globe.
- 2014: First WSOP bracelet in a 10-poker game event for $153,220;
- 2015: First runner-up finish in Las Vegas;
- 2016: First seven-figure score at the The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure(PCA);
- 2016: First position in the Triton Super High Roller;
- 2017: A pair of wins in Super High roller in Monaco.
Phil Ivey
Phil Ivey, often referred to as The Tiger Woods of Poker by peers, has been an incredible all-rounder player. He was the most feared opponent in his 2000s poker era, winning ten world series of poker. Most poker pros even regard him as the best all-rounder player.
In May 2000, he won his first-ever WSOP bracelet at 23 years. More wins followed; in 2002, he had three bracelets and the Hall of Fame. By 2007, the young champion had eight final appearances and a triumph of $1.6 million at the Las Vegas Poker Classic.
Ivey's maximum amounts of cash were at the Aussie Millions. 2018 saw him score big in four of the leading ten tournament events in the world. For three years, he came in $250,000 buy-in events. Even then, his success is beyond the medals as he is the first player to stake the highest amount in live cash games and win over $20 million on a Full Tilt.
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth, also called The Poker Brat, continues to dominate the World Series of Poker. He is the only poker player to have won a Poker Main Event in Las Vegas and Europe (1989 and 1993). The 1989 win was his breakthrough in the poker circuit after beating Johny in a head-to-head match.
Phil became the youngest gold bracelet winner at the World Series championship at 24 years, taking home an incredible $744,000. His tournament winnings are almost $23 million, and he has three poker bracelets. Interestingly, that's the highest win any poker player has ever made in online poker tournament amounts of cash. He has a record of 162 amounts and holds the 15th position in WSOP.
Phil Hellmuth also authorises several bestselling poker books and remains among the most demanding players. He has appeared in five table final appearances in the WPT, although he won none. In 2017, he finished runner-up at the Bicycle Casino in the Legends of Poker event.
Erik Seidel
Erik Seidel has had a long and successful poker career, his largest cash payout being about $2.5 million at the Super High Roller No-Limit Texas Hold'em (NLHE) championship. His first poker appearance was in 1988 at the WSOP.
Erik is 61 years old and one of the few poker players who won a WSOP bracelet eight times. He has made 92 flows of cash and an impressive 35 final tables. His total live winnings are over $42 million, earning a single best money of $2 million.
He also has a poker hall of fame membership that he got in 2010. In 1994, he won a fourth WSOP bracelet at the No Limits 2-7 Draw Games. With over $38 million in winnings in live event circuits, Erik ranks 4th for all-time best poker players and has been steady on the high-roller poker circuit. He holds the 22nd position in the global poker index ranking list.
Doyle Brunson
Also called Texas Dolly, Doyle Brunson is a professional poker player in casino culture from America aged 85 with a success of 10 bracelets. His live poker earnings amount to over $6 million.
Doyle is honoured as one of the most influential poker players in the world and has won the Main Event twice. He was the first to win $1 million in poker events. Thanks to his vast experience, most Poker players dubbed him 'The Godfather of Poker'.
In 1976, he won the first bracelet and $230,000 in a main event title and $340,000 the following year. He even authored a book in 1978 that many poker fans consider the Poker Bible.
Although Brunson is old, he still plays in big cash games despite never featuring in regular poker circuits. He returned to the WSOP in 2018 in the $10,000 2-7 lowball championship 2018 but finished sixth. The player retired from professional poker with a net worth of about $75 million. He even plays NBA in Las Vegas to date.
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu is a famous poker player from Canada aged 48. Also called the Kid Poker, he is one of the most successful and recognised poker players of the 20th century. He has won the World Poker Tour finals twice and has six poker bracelets.
He has also appeared in two WPT final tables and won the third all-time best in live tournament cash flows of over $42 million. In 2014, he was inducted into the poker hall of fame. It was until 2018 he got to the all-time WSOP money list.
His other poker achievements include
- 2004 WSOP: Player of the year honour;
- 2004 WPT: Player of the year honour;
- 2001: Highest WSOP Main event finish;
- 2015: Highest WSOP Main event finish.
Daniel Negreanu also innovated the small ball system in the 2000s that involved playing poker with small bets. With his success spanning over 20 years, the Canadian poker pro has cashed 108 times. He also holds 9th place in final table WPT events.
Stu Ungar
Although Stu Unger died in a hotel room on November 23, 1998, at age 45, his poker success continues. Stud's poker career began in late 1970. Even in the early day, he was one of the top poker players to win main poker events
It was until 1980 he won his first World Series of Poker. He got another win the following year but entered the hall of fame in 2001.
Most poker players call Stu 'The Comeback Kid' due to his young age and consider him the best Hold'em player in history. He and Johny Chan have won the WSOP Main Event thrice, but his WSOP money finish is 15. His career ended with a bang, profiting with $3.7 million and five bracelets.
Conclusion
Playing and winning poker is easy if you take the time to learn the basic. The success of notable poker players inspires many and is a clear sign that anyone can know and win world series of poker events. Although it is male-dominated, ladies also do well in various global championships. If you are wondering who is the best female poker player of all time, her name is Vanessa Selbst. Kathy Liebert closely follows her, although both are from the United States. Their combined total winnings are more than $15 million.
