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Who Are The Top 10 Poker Players?

Poker players love healthy competition. Be it about prize money and winning titles or topping the popularity chart. There’s never a dull moment when poker players get into a slug fest on the felts (live or online). But today we aren’t looking into who did better in terms of registering wins or who grabbed the fattest pay cheque in recent times. 

We will dive into the most popular players of all time. Yes folks, this is what we will be looking into today given the curiosity people have in knowing about poker players and their massive fan following. So let us get started with our article on the most popular players of all time. 

1. Daniel Negreanu

Our beloved Daniel Negreanu (DNegs) is number one spot and we are not surprised at all. The Canadian pro has ruled the poker felts unabashedly. ‘KidPoker’ is number three on Hendon Mob’s All Time Money List and the fact he holds the numero uno spot on our list of most popular players of all time is just what we and the world would expect. Negreanu made a splash last year when he took down Super High Roller Bowl VII for a fantastic sum of $3.3 Million. With this spectacular win, DNegs broke his two-year long cold and painful not-winning streak and also silenced his haters. Who haters? Well, there are enough people on social media who are just waiting for something to happen which leads to them taking pot shots at Negreanu. This happened when the six-time WSOP bracelet winner threw his camera and tripod at the wall after being hit by a brutal bad beat at the hands of David Peters at WSOP 2022.

It is understandable that at a coveted series like the WSOP, emotions are running sky high and Negreanu is only human to express his disappointment. But nobody was hurt and Negreanu did admit to losing his cool on his social media handle. One player who got offended terribly by DNegs’ behaviour was Justin Bonomo. The number one player on the All Time Money List shared a tweet bashing Negreanu and proving why the GGPoker ambassador is a threat to female players on the table. DNegs shot back and gave a befitting reply to shut him up. But do we not know of Bonomo and Negreanu’s old rivalry? Of course we do. Bonomo suddenly turns into a social media ninja when it comes to thrashing Negreanu everytime he seems fit. 

Negreanu’s spats with Doug Polk are also world renowned. They reportedly buried the hatchet but we know what happens when Polk finds an opportunity to pick up the moral compass and take digs at other pros including Negreanu. When it comes to fan following, DNegs has a massive fan following. He boasts of having 534.9K followers on Twitter and another 366K on Instagram. Well, these are just numbers. The pro’s popularity is vast and defies boundaries. As per Hendon Mob, Daniel Negreanu has 1,241,143 unique hits which puts him on the number 1 spot of the most popular players of all time.

2. Phil Ivey

The poker world calls Phil Ivey G.O.A.T (greatest of all time) for a very solid reason. He is a poker legend, as stated by many over the years. The pro who’s currently 10th on the All Time Money List has 10 WSOP bracelets to his credit and 79 cashes to thank for the $9,229,105 he made just from WSOP events. When it comes to his live poker stats, Ivey has $38,281,867 in total live earnings (as of January 2023). Ivey’s highest cash grab came from A$ 250,000 No Limit Hold’em – $250,000 Challenge at the 2014 Aussie Millions Poker Championship, Melbourne when he secured the first place in Feb 2014. 

Ivey again made headlines when he won the $30,000 No Limit Short Deck Hold’em – Ante Only Event #10 for $387,000 at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Cyprus, Kyrenia. And before this he was placed second at the $100,000 No Limit Hold’em – High Roller 8-Handed (Event #42). The Riverside-born pro added $1,172,659 for his runner-up finish. There are numerous other cashes and wins Ivey has to his credit and we can only hope to see more coming his way. The highly revered poker pro was also named as World Poker Tour (WPT) ambassador. 

3. Fedor Holz

The German pro Fedor Holz is also the founder and coach at Pokercode. The Saarbrücken-born player is 11th on the All Time Money List (Hendon Mob) with $36,303,289 in total live earnings (as of January 2023). Holz’ largest cash came in the form of $6,000,000 at the $1,000,000 No Limit Hold’em – The Big One for One Drop (Event #78) at WSOP 2018 in Las Vegas. The pro who also runs a fashion studio finished 4th in the $200,000 No Limit Hold’em – Coin Rivet Invitational (Event #6) at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Cyprus in Kyrenia for a payday of $2,100,000. 

Holz, who now resides in Austria, has played live poker across the globe. He has registered cashes in series hosted at locations like Madrid (Triton Poker Series), Vienna (WPT-partypoker), Macau (Triton Poker Super High Roller Series), Prague (European Poker Tour), Melbourne, Barcelona (European Poker Tour), Monte Carlo (PokerStars Championship), Berlin (World Series of Poker Europe), Paradise Island (PokerStars Caribbean Adventure) among others. When it comes to being popular, Holz has quite the number of fans and admirers in the international poker circuit. 

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ALSO READ: Top 10 Richest Poker Players By Net Worth 2023

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4. Phil Hellmuth

What do we have here? Well, we have a 16-time WSOP bracelet winner (the most won by any player in the world). Phil Hellmuth is just the guy who makes things happen and is relentless in his search for his next bracelet and bigger cash. Do we blame him for being hungry for more? Of course we don’t. The pro is notorious for indulging in all kinds of trashy table talk. Only Eric Persson has come close to being a match at crap talk while grinding. We have seen Hellmuth blow up, throw cuss words at his rivals among other erratic things. But all of this makes Hellmuth’s personality unique (yes we know it’s also called eccentric).

Also known as the ‘Poker Brat’ in the poker universe, Hellmuth sits at the 19th position on the All Time Money List (Hendon Mob). His total live earnings from poker stand at $28,430,994 (as of January 2023). The Palo Alto resident nailed his biggest cash of $2,645,333     at the $1,000,000 The Big One for One Drop (Event #55) in WSOP 2012. Hellmuth, who also wrote poker books, is determined at spreading positivity wherever he goes. He also shows up from time to time at the High Stakes Duel. In December 2022, Jason Koon defeated Hellmuth in High Stakes Duel 3. Well, now we are waiting to see how the ‘Poker Brat’ does. We know he’s not the one to take it down, but what he does next will surely be interesting.

5. Justin Bonomo

Daniel Negreanu is Justin Bonomo’s biggest fan! Huh? We are only joking! There isn’t a rivalry like the one shared by Bonomo and DNegs. What we do know is that the Fairfax-born pro is a rich man and sits on the number one position of the All Time Money List. What do we love about Bonomo (apart from him having boatloads of money), he’s a good player and is often seen grinding in popular events. He’s also quite active on his Twitter handle and Negreanu has burnt many times thanks to this habit of Bonomo.

This pro has also been accused of cheating in the poker industry and many have thrown his nickname ‘ZeeJustin’ in the poker cheating ring. But even now, Bonomo looks unfazed by the accusations made against him. His live stats are proof. Bonomo has $59,558,052 in total live earnings and has grabbed his biggest cash at the $1,000,000 No Limit Hold’em – The Big One for One Drop (Event #78) in WSOP 2018. He earned $10,000,000 for his first place finish. The Vancouver resident has three WSOP bracelets and is fearlessly chasing his fourth.

6. Bryn Kenney

This pro too has been accused of committing a fraud in online poker and has been reportedly termed a ‘cheater’ for his illicit activities. Did this affect his status at the All Time Money List? Doesn’t look like it. Bryn Kenney is placed second in the Hendon Mob’s All Time Money List. He has $57,221,861 in total live earnings and made his largest cash in the Triton Million for Charity (Event #2) of the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London (August 2019). The Long Beach-born pro finished runner-up for $20,563,324. Kenney made headlines when his Aces were cracked by the lovely Negreanu with his Treys (DNegs hit four of a kind and Kenney’s full house lost). That must have hurt but it’s a game and you win some while you lose some. Kenney is quite the persona and his net worth is ample proof. What is it? Click here to know.

7. Erik Seidel

He is the man with nine WSOP bracelets to his credit and is looking to up the tally to match Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson. Are you thinking whether he is rich or not? Well, he is. Erik Seidel is 5th on All Time Money List with $42,448,294 as his total live tournament earnings. His highest cash grab? That came when he won $2,472,555 in prize money at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship, Melbourne in 2011. The tournament was A$ 250,000 Super High Roller No Limit Hold’em where Seidel got his career-best live cash.

8. Bertrand Grospellier

You don’t know of him? But you do know of ElkY right? It is the same person. Bertrand Grospellier is popularly known as ElkY in the poker world. The 41-year-old is 59th in the All Time Money List while taking the first spot on the France All Time Money List. The French player has $14,851,208 in total live earnings as of January 2023. And Grospellier received his career-best live cash of $2,278,657 at WSOP 2017 in the $111,111 No Limit Hold’em – High Roller for One Drop (Event #6). ElkY was also seen grinding at the Japan Open Poker Tour (JOPT). On a personal note, this GGPoker ambassador is expecting a baby with Jenny No and shared stunning pictures of them on his Twitter handle.  

9. Daniel Colman

You know of him as the player who shipped the  $1,000,000 No Limit Hold’em – The Big One for One Drop (Event #57) in WSOP 2014. Daniel Colman was placed first in the tournament and for that he took his highest prize money ever won—$ 15,306,668. He is 18th on the All Time Money List with total live earnings worth $28,925,058. This player got riddled in a controversy which Daniel Negreanu came forth to clarify. When he won the One Drop event, his heads-up rival was DNegs. After his win Colman came up to ‘KidPoker’ to say that he doesn’t want to promote poker and hence wants to skip the post-win interviews.

Negreanu in his blog mentioned that he understands Colman’s point of view as not every player in the circuit goes on to become a superstar. But he also mentions that Colman is lucky to have found a solid ground in his life thanks to the mindsport and he should be grateful for it. DNegs still played a supportive role in his incident, many others called out Colman for not promoting poker despite his massive victory.  

10. Antonio Esfandiari

He’s the quintessential magician! What now? Yes, Antonio Esfandiari was a professional magician before taking up poker on a full-time basis. The pro who’s 20th on the All Time Money List has three WSOP bracelets to his credit. The Tehran-born poker pro was once the face of UltimatePoker.com which is now defunct. Esfandiari boasts of total live earnings worth $27,810,802 (as of January 2023) while his biggest cash prize stands at $18,346,673. Esfandiari career-best live cash came from WSOP 2012 when he shipped the $1,000,000 The Big One for One Drop (Event #55). His net worth is also quite impressive. Want to know how much ‘The Magician’ is worth? Click HERE to find out.

Image Credit: Joe Giron / Triton Poker, PokerNews, PokerGo

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