Who made it onto our list of the top poker players ever? We’ve crunched numbers and eliminated the bogus players to create the most comprehensive poker player rankings on the internet.
Our extensive list incorporates the total earnings of all time and significant titles. We have also looked at the legacy of the player and its influence on the world of poker.
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Phil Hellmuth (USA)
Employment Earnings $23 million
Principal Titles 15 bracelets from WSOP 1 WPT title
Phil Hellmuth is simply one of the most well-known poker players in the world. He was also, perhaps the best Texas Hold’em, Poker player, for a long time.
In contrast to some of his fellow players, He has shown incredible regularity throughout his professional career. He has a habit of cashing in major tournaments and has racked up 10 final tables during the 2020 World Series of Poker Online.
Hellmuth made his debut in 1989, winning his first World Series of Poker main event. He denied second-place Johnny Chan a third successive victory.
Since then, he’s won over $23 million worth of total career winnings, appeared in many shows on television, including Poker After Dark, and has been the persona for UltimateBet as well as ARIA. Although Hellmuth’s notorious meltdowns are mostly gone his legacy is still there.
Mike Sexton (USA)
Employment Earnings $6.7 million
Big Titles 1 . WSOP Bracelet 2006. Tournament of Champions
Mike Sexton died in September 2020, aged 72. It’s safe to say there are very few players who have helped shape his game as Mike Sexton…
Sexton was among the first pioneers of televised poker Sexton was a pioneer of televised poker, playing as an anchor on the fledgling World Poker Tour in 2002. Sexton’s time with WPT ran for 15 seasons. Sexton also played a role in the creation of partypoker, a poker site continued to work with until the time of his death.
At the tables, Sexton was a mean Mixed game and Hold’em player. Sexton took home one WSOP bracelet and won in the tournament in 2006. Tournament of Champions at a final table packed with legends such as Daniel Negreanu and Mike Matusow.
Although his work with Partypoker and the WPT was the main focus of his time, however, he continued to earn cash into his 70s.
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (Sweden)
Employment Earnings $2.9 million
Principal Titles Poker Live MILLIONS from PartyPoker Germany
Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom is just one of the most successful poker players on the planet in the field of playing online. He was the first star in”nosebleed” stakes “nosebleed” stakes, competing in high-stakes cash games online against legendary players like Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan.
After he opened the Full Tilt account, Blom made online wins of more than $6 million. He was a part of the most significant cash game online hands ever.
It’s not like “Isildur1” had it all in his manner. Through the years he was in the red by a lot in losses ranging from around $2 million to $3 million on a single day in the face of nasal bleeding players Patrik Antonius, and Brian Hastings. In 2009, on one particular day, “Isildur1” lost $4.2 million to Hastings an unrecorded record that stands.
Following the collapse of Full Tilt and the loss of a lot of online high-stakes poker games, Blom emerged into the live poker scene. Blom was a part of Team PokerStars Pro in 2010 after his identity was discovered.
Then, Blom took down the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS jackpot in 2018, for $1.1 million. This is his highest live win.
Phil Ivey (USA)
Employment Earnings $30.3 million
Big Titles 10 bracelets from the WSOP 1 WPT title
The most famous poker player? Phil Ivey is one of the most fearless professionals ever, and also one of the best cash game players. He has a record of 10 WSOP titles and has won live tournaments that exceed $30 million.
Ivey is among the very few best poker players who have successfully merged his formidable live skills with online success. He was among the first poker players who played the cash game with a nosebleed at Full Tilt during the early 2000s and was one of the most prominent pro-pros that they have sponsored.
Recently, Ivey has been a frequent participant in cash games across Asia and also had a high stakes cardroom named after him in ARIA. ARIA at Las Vegas.
In the year 2020 Ivey continued to take big wins, usually in the high-roller circuit. In just one week the player was able to win nearly $2 million in the partypoker LIVE MILLIONStournament, taking home the prize of $50,000 in the No Limit short-deck hold ’em tournament in Sochi for an impressive $856,050.
Daniel Negreanu (Canada)
Job Earnings $42 million
Principal Titles six WSOP bracelets 2 WPT titles
Six times winner of WSOP bracelets as well as one of the winners of over $42million in cash prizes live, Daniel Negreanu is easily one of the most successful poker players of all time.
The Canadian pro came onto the scene during the beginning of the boom in the world of poker in the late 2000s. He won two consecutive WPTs, earning him an interest in the international poker community.
Negreanu was a frequent participant on shows such as Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker as he earned an image of his ability to read about his rivals at the table.
The Canadian was among the most long-serving PokerStars Team Pros, leaving the site in the year. The Canadian signed a deal with the Asian poker website GG Poker later that year.
Negreanu continues to show his skills live and on the internet. In the very inaugural online WSOP in the year 2020, Negreanu cashed a staggering 31 times, securing one of the biggest scores for the $20,000 Heads Up Championship in the process.
Justin Bonomo (USA)
Employment Earnings $49.1 million
Principal Titles Three WSOP bracelets Super High Roller Bowl, Triton Poker Series
Justin Bonomo has had something of a turbulent career since his appearance as a player in the mid-2000’s. He was discovered to be multi-accounting in 2006 and then banned from several websites. However “ZeeJustin” has emerged from the scandal to be a ferocious live-streaming player.
Since his entry into this high-roller circuit, Bonomo is now among the top professional poker players around the world. His victories at Triton Poker Series and the Super High Roller Bowl have Super High Roller Bowl and Triton Poker Series have increased the bank account of Bonomo by ten times.
It is believed that the American poker pro also took home The Big One for One Drop at the 2018 WSOP with a bankroll of $10 million as a result. He’s now at third place on the record-setting top money-earners list, with $49 million in cash.
Erik Seidel (USA)
Payrolls for Careers $37.7 million
Principal Titles Eight WSOP titles 1 WPT title
The most successful poker players never go away. They keep at it and score big wins even when their opponents are losing their edge.
Erik Seidel is still perhaps most well-known for his second-place finish in his 1988 WSOP Main Event where he was eliminated by Johnny Chan. However, that was only the beginning of an entire career that spanned five decades.
The professional learned his trade within the very same New York cardrooms as pal Howard Lederer, Steve Zolotow, and Stu Ungar. Later, he moved towards Las Vegas, competing in and winning tournaments in Hold’em poker.
Seidel earned his first WSOP bracelet at the age of 1992. It was the first of the eight he would earn during his time playing poker. Seidel also became among the top well-known players from his Full Tilt brand.
The demise of Full Tilt did not hinder Seidel’s progression, however, and Seidel went on to win major prizes at the WSOP and, in particular, those of the Aussie Millions. Seidel continued to win Super High Roller events as recently as.
Fedor Holz (Germany)
Employment Earnings $32.5 million
Major Titles: 2016 High Roller for One Drop
Fedor Holz is currently ranked at number 8 on the total earnings list and is the sole German professional to be in the top 20. He’s also among the youngest players to make it into the top 20.
It’s been an amazing increase for the player over the last 10 years. As “CrownUpGuy,” he was named the top online tournament player for two consecutive years. He then went on winning his very first tournament live.
The High Roller for One Drop in 2016 netted Holz $4,981,775. He’s continued to back it up with wins in the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series and the ARIA Super High Roller Series. In September of 2020, he won his first People’s Choice event on GGPoker for $1,070,250.
In addition to being an excellent professional, Holz also has an excellent business sense. Holz has created the Poker code website for training along with Matthias Ebinger, offering over 90 courses and lectures for new pros.
Doyle Brunson (USA)
Payrolls for Careers $6.1 million
Big Titles Main Event at WSOP (1976 1977) 10 bracelets from the WSOP
Some poker players could be considered legends. However, Doyle “TexasDolly” Brunson easily is one of them. Because of his impact on the game by itself, Brunson deserves a place on our list of top poker players.
Brunson was among the very first professional poker players to take the game off the street in the casinos that are located in Las Vegas. And in 1970, he was among the pioneers of the World Series of Poker.
At the end of 1978, Brunson was the winner of six WSOP bracelets and two of them at two back-to-back Main Events. Brunson would then take home four additional gold bracelets, and amass millions of winnings from tournaments. He was admitted into the Poker Hall of Fame and even started his own poker space called Doyle’s Room in 2004.
Despite a break from the live-action, Brunson was still a regular participant in the high-stakes cash games in Las Vegas. Brunson even managed to record a WSOP Final Table in the year 2018 and placed at sixth place in the $100,000 no Limit 2-7 Lowball Championship.
Chip Reese (USA)
Employment Earnings $3.9 million
Principal Titles Three WSOP bracelets in 2006; HORSE World Championship
David “Chip” Reese is perhaps one of the most outstanding professional poker players of all time. His playing career lasted for 30 years and during that span of his career, he earned almost $4 million in prizes across a variety of different disciplines.
Reese’s abilities when it came to the mixed game were unmatched for many decades. He racked up cash across the board, from Hold’em to 2-7 up to Seven Card Stud and Omaha. In 2006 at the age of 55 years old, Reese was the winner of his first WSOP HORSE Championship. He beat rivals in poker variants such as Omaha Hold’em, Omaha, and Razz
Following his death in 2007 In 2007, his friend Doyle Brunson called Reese “the best poker player who ever lived.” He was also believed to be one of the most successful poker players in cash games ever.
Bryn Kenney (USA)
Employment Earnings $56.4 million
Main Titles WPT High Roller 1 title from WSOP.
Despite only winning one WSOP bracelet in 2014 Bryn Kenney has racked up enough money to propel him up the ranks of the list of all-time top earners.
The American poker player began as a Magic: The Gathering professional before finding he was skilled in playing poker too. His first cash game in poker was made in 2007 however the player has witnessed an increasing increase in fortunes since then.
Particularly, Kenney was able to achieve a great deal of success on the high-roller circuit. He was the winner of his first WPT High Roller in Nottingham, England in 2014 for $130,000 and also won millions at his participation in the ARIA High Roller events and PokerStars Championship Bahamas.
His largest-ever winnings, however, was his participation in the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in the year 2019. In a $1,000,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for the cause, Kenney finished second for less than $20 million.
The money lifted Kenney’s total earnings for the year to over the mark of $50 million and the company has continued to increase its profits throughout the years. Recently, he finished in fourth place in the 2020 Aussie Millions 100K Challenge for almost $400,000.
