Just a few decades ago poker used to be associated with some kind of illegal activity. Today competitions in this discipline are media events of the global scale that are broadcast by the leading TV channels. Some players have received recognition similar to that of Hollywood stars. The Login Casino team decided to find out who the best poker player in the world is.
The best poker player according to various criteria
It is quite difficult to single out one best player since there are a lot of variations and formats of this gambling game. It can be either offline or online poker, correspondingly – face to face or via the Internet. The results of the tournaments, both offline and online, as a rule, are published on the web portals of certain competitions.
Interesting fact
The best female poker player is Vanessa Selbst, whose offline earnings amount to $11,851,382.
According to media resources, the world’s best poker player is Daniel Negreanu, who is the leading poker player in live tournaments with a total income of almost $40m. He is also among the most highly-demanded players due to his natural manner of playing and respect for his opponents. In the High Stakes Poker TV show, the Canadian lost $575,700, yet he remained calm till the end of the game, which proves his high level of professionalism.
Despite some losses, the gamer has managed to win six WSOP bracelets and 103 times took prize places. Besides, Negreanu used to be the PokerStars brand ambassador for quite a long time.
Ranking of the best poker players of all time
Surely, Negreanu is not the only one on the list of the best. Meet the rest of the company:
- Eric Seidel
Eric has been granted the title of the best due to the number of his victories in the history of poker. Despite his age, he remains a rather successful player and still manages to defeat younger opponents in poker tournaments. His total winnings amount to $34m, eight WSOP bracelets and numerous prize places. Besides, he is included in the Poker Hall of Fame. One of Eric’s most significant achievements for 2016 – third place in the Super High Roller Bowl ($2,4m), which allowed him to overcome the legendary Antonio Esfandiari.
- Phil Ivy
One more famous representative of the poker world is Phil Ivy. Many people think that it is he who deserves the title of the best poker player and there are reasons for that. There is not a single type of tournament, cash game or a live competition where Phil wouldn’t excel. The poker player is a regular guest of the Big Game, which takes place in Las Vegas in Bellagio casino with unbelievable blinds reaching $4000/$8000.
- Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth (nicknamed Poker Brat) is the owner of 14 WSOP bracelets. It is a record in terms of the number of bracelets among poker players. Moreover, at WSOP the player took prize places 128 times as well as received the title of the youngest WSOP winner (in 1989) at the age of 24. Today his assets amount to $22m, which Phil gained while participating in No-limit Hold’em live tournaments.
- Fedor Holz
The question “Who is the best poker player of all time?” is related not only to the US players. One of the most significant names belongs to a German player – Fedor Holz, who in 2016 alone managed to earn $17m with the help of poker. One of the young man’s main victories was in the High Roller for One Drop tournament. At that time he was lucky to pocket slightly less than $5m.
- Igor Kurganov
Igor Kurganov is in the list of the best players in Russia. Despite the fact that the player has achieved great results in tournaments in Germany and lives in England, he continues to play for his native country. In 2017 Igor joined the PokerStars team representing his motherland. Unlike the majority of experienced poker players, he started his career not from the online direction but from live tournaments. The professional activity started when Igor won $13,000 (Asian Poker Tour in Macau) in 2009. Today the player’s bankroll equals a figure with over six zeros. As a rule, Kurganov takes part in competitions for highrollers, which gives him an opportunity to sit at one table with famous poker pros.
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