Poker is one of the most famous casino games and its popularity has boomed over the past couple of decades.
Widespread television coverage has increased the game’s appeal, while the relaxing of New Jersey poker laws and others is expected to spark a massive spike in the number of people playing the game online.
TV broadcasts have made household names of many of the world’s top players, with people enthralled by the different characters and their styles of play. Read on as we look at 10 of the world’s best players.
Daniel Negreanu
The Canadian has spent a considerable amount of time at the top of the all-time money list, winning more than $35 million during his career. He has won six World Series of Poker bracelets and his uncanny ability to read his opponents has made him extremely popular with fans of the game.
Negreanu was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2014 and is rightly considered to be one of the best poker players in history.
John Juanda
Juanda started playing tournament poker in 1997 and has since won five WSOP bracelets. The highlight of his career came during 2017 when he scooped $2.9 million at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Main Event.
The 47-year-old is an excellent manager of his finances, investing his money in enterprises like Java Spice, an Indonesian-themed restaurant he opened in Los Angeles. He is also generous with his winnings and has put his girlfriend and sister through college at UCLA.
Phil Ivey
Ivey is a master in all forms of poker in cash games and tournaments. He came to prominence in the 2000 WSOP, cashing three times and winning a bracelet.
Reports of his online cash-game results have estimated Ivey’s winnings from 2007 to 2010 at around $18 million. His studious nature at the table is a style many up-and-coming players aspire to.
Antonio Esfandiari
One of the most successful players on the tournament circuit, Esfandiari bagged his first World Poker Tour title and a WSOP bracelet back in 2004.
Known as “The Magician,” he is famed for the amazing chip tricks he performs while at the table, keeping opponents and fans entertained.
Dan Smith
Smith has been steadily going about his business over the past few years and is edging his way up the all-time money list.
He has won major tournaments in Australia and Monte Carlo and placed third in the 2018 WSOP Big One-for-One Drop for $4 million.
Justin Bonomo
Bonomo started his poker career online, but quickly transferred his skills to live tournaments. He was the first teenager to make the televised final table at the French Open, pocketing €31,500 for finishing fourth.
His earnings have skyrocketed since then and the three-time WSOP bracelet winner is the highest-earning player in the world.
Fedor Holz
The German enjoyed an epic ride during 2016 and 2017, winning $21 million during that period with some of the finest play seen on the circuit.
He has continued to impress since then and finished in second place behind Bonomo in the 2018 WSOP $1 million Big One for One Drop, taking home $6 million.
Bryn Kenney
Kenney won a WSOP bracelet in 2014, has made seven final tables and finished inside the top 30 in the 2010 Main Event.
His largest single win of nearly $2 million came at the PokerStars Championship in Barcelona back in 2017 and he has had numerous top-five finishes around the world over the past couple of years.
Erik Seidel
A poker veteran, Seidel is an eight-time WSOP bracelet winner who has made more than 30 final tables and finished second in the 1988 Main Event behind Johnny Chan.
He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2010 and went on to win almost $2.5 million at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship the next year.
Phil Hellmuth
The self-styled “poker brat” is one of the most famous professional poker stars in the world and considered by many to be the best live tournament player of all-time.
The 54-year-old is ranked inside the top 20 in the all-time money list and has won an amazing 15 WSOP bracelets during his glittering career.
