Poker is one of the most popular games in the world and over the last two decades it has become a global phenomenon with thousands of recreational and professional players playing massive tournaments around the world. Top poker professionals have inspired many young people to start up a career in the game and start playing it as more than just a hobby.

Have you ever wondered who the best poker players in the world are and how they became so successful? Have you always wanted  to know what it takes to be a poker champion like Phil

Hellmuth or Daniel Negreanu. To answer all your questions, we are bringing you the stories of the most successful poker players of all time including their rise to stardom and their private life stories.

In this article you will discover:

• What makes the best poker players
• How top poker players rose to their current positions
• What kind of obstacles they faced on their path
• What you should do to join the ranks of elite poker players

We take a look at the lives and careers of the biggest names in the game of poker, starting with their early private and professional lives and moving into the more recent years and their accolades. Keep reading and find out how the top champions of poker made their name.

1. Phil Ivey

Born: 1977
Nationality: USA
WSOP Bracelets: 10
Tournament Cashes: $26.000.000
Nickname: Tiger Woods of Poker

Often regarded as the best overall poker player in the entire world, Phil Ivey is one of the most recognizable names in the poker community. Phil Ivey’s name is known to professionals and amateurs alike and seeing this man sit across the table from you will likely put the fear of God into you.

Born in 1977, Phil first started playing the game in New Jersey in the 90s. It did not take long for the natural talent of Phil Ivey to take him to Atlantic City where he played while still under the age of 21 with a fake ID which gave him the nickname “No Home Jerome”.

In 2002, Phil broke onto the big stage after winning his first World Series of Poker bracelet. From there, Phil’s career kept going uphill and over the following decade and a half he won 9 more WSOP bracelets and numerous other accolades and titles, amassing a huge $26.000.000 in live tournament earnings.

However, speculations have it that “The Tiger Woods of Poker” has made many times more than that playing in the high stakes cash games against rich billionaires both in Las Vegas and in Macau and other popular gambling locations around the world.

While his position as the best poker player in the world is not a thing of fact because the game is so volatile and hard to estimate, most of his peers agree that Ivey’s natural talent and dedication to the game make him the best overall poker player on the planet.

• Widely regarded as the best poker player in the world
• 10 Time WSOP champion and winner of numerous major poker titles
• High stakes cash game player involved in the biggest games on the planet

2. Phil Hellmuth

Born: 1964
Nationality: USA
WSOP Bracelets: 16
Tournament Cashes: $23.000.000
Nickname: The Poker Brat

Phil Helmuth is possibly the most recognizable name in poker. Known as “The Poker Brat”, Hellmuth has made a career on a mixture of fantastic poker play and a huge personality which creates mixed feelings in the public and brings him an incredible amount of exposure.

Hellmuth was born in 1964 in Madison, Wisconsin and started his poker career in the 1980s. Phil won the Main Event at the WSOP in 1989 and repeated his success in 2012, winning the WSOPE Main Event.

Other than these two major events, Phil holds the record as the player with most WSOP bracelets, currently standing at 15 and has won nearly $23.000.000 in live poker tournaments. Despite all of these and many other great results, Helmuth has often been challenged by his peers for making very questionable plays and acting out at the poker table, which earned him his nickname.

Helmuth’s talents as a tournament poker player can hardly be questioned and he has been especially successful in No Limit Hold’em tournaments over the decades. Yet, he is not regarded as one of the best overall poker players simply because his interest in cash games does not appear to be very big which is why he never really made a name among the top cash game players.

Whether you love him or hate him, “The Poker Brat” is a name that will go down in poker history as one of the biggest of all time. On top of that, Hellmuth is still very much active in the poker world and there is no telling how many titles and accolades he will finish his career with.

• Known as The Poker Brat for his table antics and barrating of other players
• Major poker tournament champion with massive Hold’em success
• Author of “Play Poker Like The Pros”

3. Daniel Negreanu

Born: 1974
Nationality: Canadian
WSOP Bracelets: 6
Tournament Cashes: $39.000.000
Nickname: Kid Poker

Daniel Negreanu is known as one of the most playful and entertaining poker players in the world, but this is certainly not his only quality. At the age of 44, Daniel is an extremely successful poker player and entrepreneur and the main ambassador for the world famous Pokerstars brand.

Daniel is a Canadian citizen who currently lives in Las Vegas and his career has been one for the textbooks. Over his years at the poker tables, Daniel has accumulated almost $40.000.000 in live tournament earnings, won WSOP bracelets on three different continents, won the WSOP player of the year award in 2004 and 2013 and been named the player of the decade by the GPI in 2014.

Away from tournament tables, Daniel is also known as a limit poker specialist, beating the highest stakes cash games in mixed games in Las Vegas and abroad. Unlike many other live players, Daniel Negreanu also made appearances in the online poker circles and he has not made as big of an impact in this arena, he did win two separate online titles in 2013 and 2016.

Daniel’s success in poker has also translated to his personal life and in the more recent years he was involved in a great number of charity related events. Daniel continues to promote his ideas of how to be a successful player and a better man on his social media channels and while this has brought him into conflict with some fans and enemies, Negreanu is certainly an exemplar poker player in every way imaginable.

• Known as Kid Poker, Daniel started his career as a pool halls hustler
• Two time WSOP player of the year
• A member of poker’s Hall of Fame

4. Doyle Brunson

Born: 1933
Nationality: USA
WSOP Bracelets: 10
Tournament Cashes: $6.000.000
Nickname: Texas Dolly

Born in Longworth, Texas in 1933, Doyle Brunson is a true living legend of poker. Known as “The Godfather of Poker” and “Texas Dolly”, Brunson has had the longest poker career of any known player. Officially, Doyle has been playing poker for over 50 years. He was the first poker player to win $1.000.000 in tournaments and has won the Main Event of the WSOP twice.

In total, Doyle has won 10 WSOP bracelets and just over $6.000.000 in live poker tournaments.

While this may seem relatively little compared to his younger peers, the main reason behind it is the fact that Doyle does not really play that many tournaments and his focus is mainly on cash games.

At his late age, Brunson continues to be one of the best mixed game players in the world and can be frequently seen playing the highest stakes in live cash games in Bobby’s Room, the most elite poker room in Las Vegas.

Doyle is the author of what many consider to be the Bible of poker, as his “Supersystem” was the first poker book to really get read by thousands of players. During his numerous television appearances, Doyle has told numerous stories from his youth and his early days as a poker player when the games were played in illegal backrooms and cheating and robbery were common and many of these stories have become legends told among younger poker players over and over again.

• Known as the Godfather of Poker and Texas Dolly
• Author of “Supersystem” and “Supersystem 2”
• The oldest poker pro alive
• One of the most iconic characters of the poker world

5. Antonio Esfandiari

Born: 1978
Nationality: USA
WSOP Bracelets: 10
Tournament Cashes: $28.000.000
Nickname: The Magician

The story of Antonio Esfandiari is one very much representative of the American Dream idea. Antonio was born in Teheran, Iran in 1978 and his family moved to California when he was just nine years old. He had a troubled youth, being arrested for selling marijuana and briefly imprisoned at a very young age.

Antonio’s life picked up for the better when he took on a career as a magician, which is what lead him to Las Vegas. There, he gradually took on the game of poker and started dealing cards in poker games as well as playing the game himself.

It did not take long for “The Magician” to break out as a real poker player, primarily focusing on cash games and grinding out a bankroll. Antonio’s tournament poker career is also a notable one, as he has won 3 WSOP bracelets and nearly $28.000.000 in live tournament prizes.

More than half of this money was won by Esfandiari in a single event, the inaugural Big One for One Drop event which was held during the 2012 World Series. Antonio beat the biggest buying poker tournament of all time which had a $1.000.000 buyin and walked away with $18.000.000 in prize money.

Apart from these successes, Antonio also won two World Poker Tour events and reportedly won millions in live poker cash games which are not as easy to track. Whatever his winnings at the poker tables may be, Antonio’s talent and impressive poker moves have made him one of the biggest names in the world of poker.

• The Magician came to the USA from Iran when he was a kid
• Won the first ever $1.000.000 poker tournament
• Successful cash game poker pro and enterprenuer
  

6. Michael Mizrachi

Born: 1982
Nationality: USA
WSOP Bracelets: 4
Tournament Cashes: $17.000.000
Nickname: The Grinder

Michael Mizrachi is another one of the relatively younger poker players who have already left a significant impact on the world of poker. Born in 1981, Michael dropped out of college to pursue the career as a professional poker player after working as a part time poker dealer for some time. Mizrachi quickly became a proficient poker player and started relentlessly playing long cash game sessions, earning him his nickname “The Grinder”.

For years, Mizrachi was known as the most relentless and persistent poker player in Las Vegas and his persistence has paid off time and time again. Over the years, The Grinder accumulated nearly $17.000.000 in live tournament earnings and won 4 WSOP bracelets, three of which came in the prestigious $50.000 Players Championship events.

Mizrachi also came close to winning poker’s biggest prize, the Main Event of the WSOP in 2010 when he finished fifth. This did not stop The Grinder in any way, as the proficient poker master kept on grinding it out and winning millions in cash games and tournaments all over the world.

While Mizrachi is not a name known to too many amateur poker players, his career is one that manifests what being a poker player is all about. The main trait of his game has always been patience and the ability to keep playing through the bad times and downswings until things turn around. Michael’s brother Robert Mizrachi is also a successful poker player at the highest stakes and the two have admitted to sharing a lot and being there for one another in the best and worst of times.

• Known as The Grinder for his incredible work ethics
• Won the $50.000 Players Championship three times
• A master of mixed games such as HORSE and 8 Game

7. Erik Seidel

Born: 1959
Nationality: USA
WSOP Bracelets: 8
Tournament Cashes: $35.000.000
Nickname: None

Another extremely well known name in the world of poker is Erik Seidel. Erik was born in 1959 in New York and worked on the New York Stock Exchange for some time. Erik was a passionate backgammon player before he turned to poker. He was a part of a group of New York grinders who later made big names for themselves in Las Vegas which includes other great names such as Howard Lederer, Steve Zolotow, Dan Harrington and Stu Ungar.

Erik’s poker career has been a very successful one. During his time on the scene, he has won 8 WSOP bracelets as well as single WPT and EPT events. In 1988, Seidel came second to Johnny Chan at the WSOP Main Event, a final table which saw the light of popular culture shine upon it as it was shown in the popular Hollywood blockbuster “The Rounders”.

Erik continued to be very successful at the highest stakes in his later years as well, while much of “the old guard” stopped playing or stopped producing results. Erik kept up with the game and was successful in many high roller events in the recent years, putting him on the third place of the all-time money list at nearly $35.000.000 in tournament winnings.

Seidel is clearly an extremely intelligent person who was able to make the transition between backgammon, poker and stock exchange and always keep up with whatever game he was in. His ability to compete with the young mathematics geniuses in the modern poker era is yet another manifestation of his incredible talents, intelligence and persistence.

• A legend of the tournament poker circuit
• Made an appearance in the iconic movie “The Rounders”
• Played poker since the very inception of poker tournaments in Las Vegas casinos

8. Justin Bonomo

Born: 1985
Nationality: USA
WSOP Bracelets: 3
Tournament Cashes: $44.000.000
Nickname: ZeeJustin

Born in 1985, Justin Bonomo is usually considered to be one of the “new guard” of poker players. Justin got his start on the internet and learned the game differently than many of his more experienced peers. When he was just 19 years old, Justin made it to the final table of an EPT event in France, getting fourth place and announcing himself to the poker world.

At the age of just 33, Bonomo has managed to win three WSOP bracelets and more importantly he has managed to climb the ranks of tournament poker players and make himself the number one on the all-time money list with nearly $44.000.000 in live tournament earnings.

Justin’s results are numerous, but his impressive tournament earnings are made in a big part of high roller events winnings. For instance, Justin won the 2018 Big One for One Drop for $10.000.000 as well as the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl for an additional $5.000.000. However, he has plenty of results in smaller buyin and larger field events as well and his online record is equally impressive. For instance, his first WSOP bracelet was won in 2014 when he managed to win almost half a million dollars in a $1.500 WSOP event.

Going by the name of ZeeJustin online, Bonomo has done well for himself in terms of tournaments but has never quite excelled at cash games, which were never his primary game. Bonomo continues to dominate the poker circuit in 2019 and as a young player he has many years in front of him to continue to show his skills and talents.

• A member of poker’s “Young Guard”
• Tournament poker specialist with many major titles
• Won the 2018 “Big One for One Drop”

9. Tom Dwan

Born: 1986
Nationality: USA
WSOP Bracelets: 0
Tournament Cashes: $3.000.000
Nickname: durrr

Back in 2007, online poker was just booming and many young players were making their first appearances on the poker scene. Out of the thousands of players who started playing the game during the “poker boom”, few have made a mark as significant as Tom “durrr” Dwan.

Tom started his online poker career with a single $50 deposit on Full Tilt Poker, which was one of the biggest online poker platforms at the time. His bankroll quickly grew into hundreds of thousands and later millions of dollars as he quickly went up the stakes and took on the best players of the time, often beating them in heads up and 6 max Hold’em and Omaha games.

Tom became a symbol of a whole generation of players who were changing the game of poker forever. These young guns quickly left the old guard in the dust and took millions of the tables during the years of the poker boom.

Tom also made appearances on the tournament circuit, but has not had too much success there, mostly due to his impatience and unwillingness to play for what he perceives as small stakes. Tournaments were not too kind to Tom, but he still managed to amass over $3.000.000 in winnings, although his total buyins probably amounted for more than that.

Today, Tom is one of the highest stakes cash game players in the world, often butting heads with Chinese businessmen and other top professionals such as Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey in Macau and other locations all over the world. While not too much is known about these private games, more recently some events with the lineup including Tom Dwan were televised as a part of the Triton Poker Series and the stakes they were playing for were higher than anything played anywhere else in the world.

• Known as durrr, Tom was an online poker sensation during the Poker Boom
• Cash game specialist who plays high stakes cash games in Macau
• Made many TV appearances and played in some of the biggest TV pots

10. Patrik Antonius

Born: 1980
Nationality: Finnish
WSOP Bracelets: 0
Tournament Cashes: $3.000.000
Nickname: PA

Patrik was born in 1980 in Helsinki, Finland. Earlier in his life he was a professional tennis player and a model and he transitioned to poker during the poker boom. His first appearances on the tournament poker circuit happened in 2005 but he really made a name for himself during the golden Full Tilt Poker era when he played as a part of Team Full Tilt and played some massive pots against the likes of Viktor Blom, Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan.

While Patrik’s only major tournament title to this date remains his single EPT victory, his tremendous success at the cash game tables is well known among players and fans alike. Like durrr and Ivey, Patrik now spends a great part of his time playing against high rollers in China and on the Triton Poker Series while his permanent residence remains in Monte Carlo.

Patrik became known to the general audience through his appearances on TV poker shows such as “High Stakes Poker”, “Million Dollar Cash Game” and “Poker After Dark”. Those who live in Las Vegas also know him as a regular in Bellagio’s Big Game while online poker fans have seen him play a multitude of million dollar pots on Full Tilt Poker and other platforms. Still at a very young age, Patrik remains is considered one of the best and most threatening poker players on the face of Earth.

• One of the original big three of TV cash games
• Was part of Team Full Tilt back in poker’s glory days
• Plays high stakes cash games for millions of dollars

11. Gus Hansen

Born: 1974
Nationality: Danish
WSOP Bracelets: 1
Tournament Cashes: $10.000.000
Nickname: The Great Dane

Another representative of the Scandinavian school of poker, Gus Hansen is one of the most recognizable names in the poker world. Born in 1974, “The Great Dane” is one of the first players who brought the ultra-aggressive style of poker to the scene and this style worked incredibly well for him in his early years. His aggression brought him three WPT titles along with a WSOP bracelet and over $10.000.000 in live tournament earnings.

Gus was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and he made Monaco his permanent residence in 2003. His first appearances in the poker world happened in California in 1997, but before that he was also very competitive, playing backgammon and tennis at top levels.

Despite his reasonable success on the poker tournament scene, Gus would always tell you that he is primarily a cash game player. When it comes to cash games, Gus is a regular in the “Bobby’s Room” and other ultra-high cash game and a mixed game specialist.

Live cash game winnings information is very hard to come by, but Gus is notorious for having lost over $20.000.000 in cash games on Full Tilt Poker, which made him the biggest loser in online poker history. Still, in numerous interviews Gus said that these losses were well covered by his earnings from other games and judging by his lavish lifestyle it does appear that The Great Dane is doing quite well for himself.

• Cash game specialist and Backgammon master
• Lost over $20.000.000 playing at Full Tilt Poker
• Changed his permanent residence from Denmark to Monte Carlo