Unveiling the Best Poker Players: Historical Poker Titans
Explore the best poker players of all time from the old school legends to the new school wiz kids. Discover who’s who in the world of poker — and maybe even get inspired to cement your own place in its history. Are you destined to join the list of top poker players?
Old School Best — Top Poker Players in History
These legends dominated the game long before it was cool, back when casino comps didn’t come from credit cards, and online poker didn’t exist. They sharpened their skills in dark, smoky card rooms — unafraid to face a different kind of risk.
Johnny Moss
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Texas legend Johnny Moss — undoubtedly among the best poker players of all time — had a movie-worthy life. For starters, the poker icon was taught by a group of cheaters. But in a blockbuster turn of events, he was hired by a local saloon to watch over games, making sure they were played fairly. It was here while upholding game integrity and rooting out cheaters that Moss began mastering the strategies which would define his career.
Johnny Moss was the first-ever World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner in 1970. Believe it or not, the winner was actually chosen through a vote by the players themselves. Johnny was unanimously selected as the best poker player by his peers. He is the first player to ever claim the prestigious title three times. Over his lifetime, Moss won 9 WSOP bracelets.
He is also famous for his iconic battle against “Nick the Greek” — a five-month heads-up spell orchestrated by mob boss Benny Binion. Nick The Greek is thought to have lost between 2 and 4 million dollars… in 1949. He allegedly conceded with the famous line, “Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.”
Stu Ungar
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Stu Ungar is the only player aside from Johnny Moss to have won the Main Event three times.
Stu Ungar was notable for his ultra-aggressive style and fearless ability to bluff back when poker was played conservatively. “When the cards are dealt, I just want to destroy people,” he said.
The man lived hard and died young — succumbing to drug addiction before fully realizing his full potential as the greatest poker player in the world. He reportedly made over 30 million dollars in his gambling career but died stone broke at age 45.
Doyle Brunson
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“The Godfather of Poker” and everyone’s favorite poker cowboy, Doyle Brunson will always be remembered as one of the best poker players in the world. He published How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker (title changed to Super System) in 1978 back when a dozen eggs cost $0.82.
He introduced the world to Texas Hold ‘Em and demonstrated how to hold a poker face on TV. “Show me your eyes and you may as well show me your cards,” said Brunson.
According to famed poker player Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson was “the bridge between history and today.” Many will always think of Doyle as the greatest poker player in the world for his influence that spanned generations.
The Next Wave of Top Poker Players — The “High Stakes Poker” stars
After poker emerged out of the shadows and into the spotlight, the world saw a new generation of top poker players — battling it out for the title of greatest poker player in the world on television. This is the “High Stakes Poker” crew. They showed audiences everywhere how to play poker from a glamorous TV set.
Daniel Negreanu
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The always talkative and ever-chipper Daniel Negreanu — aka “Kid Poker” — has been one of the best poker players in the world for decades. He has won an impressive six WSOP bracelets and two World Poker Tour titles in his long tournament career, but is probably best known for being a regular fixture in high stakes cash games such as High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark.
He remains friendly and approachable, frequently responding to comments from fans while streaming and sharing strategy on his YouTube channel.
His results and longevity in the game make him a strong contender for best poker in the world right now — as does his popularity and charm. He is what they call in the industry “good for the game.”
Phil Ivey
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Known for his steely demeanor and ice-cold poker face, Phil Ivey, the “Tiger Woods of poker,” is often cited among his peers as being the best poker player of all time. Ivey has been a dominant, intimidating force in every arena he’s played in: live tournaments, both online and live cash games, and glamorous televised poker shows.
He has won an amazing 11 WSOP bracelets, adding his latest piece of hardware just this year when he took down the 2024 $10K 2-7 Triple Draw Championship. This WSOP bracelet win catapulted him to 2nd in the all time bracelet winner list, behind only Phil Hellmuth.
With $46,428,491 in live tournament earnings along with crushing the live and online cash games at the highest stakes for over two decades, Ivey makes a very strong case to be considered the greatest poker player of all time.
Phil Hellmuth
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No conversation about the best poker player in the world would be complete without the addition of Phil Hellmuth to this list.
The self confessed “poker brat” has always been vocal in his claims to be the greatest — and his credentials in live tournaments certainly support this claim. Having won his first bracelet in the 1989 WSOP Main Event at the age of 24, Hellmuth has gone on to win a total of 17 WSOP bracelets.
With $30,231,386 in live earnings, Hellmuth has won the most WSOP bracelets of all time. Don’t let his TV tantrums and angry antics fool you — Hellmuth knows what he’s doing.
Tom Dwan
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For audiences watching High Stakes Poker, Tom Dwan was a legend. He was calm and quiet at the table — but his bluffs got everyone’s attention. He dropped out of Boston University to play online poker starting with a deposit of $50. He ran that up to more than 5 million dollars.
His online poker exploits featured some of the most legendary battles in online poker history, competing for some of the biggest pots of all time under his familiar username “durrrr.”
Never afraid to put his money where his mouth is, Tom Dwan’s career has faced some wild swings.
Tom Dwan was so confident in his online poker game that back in 2009 he issued “The Durrrr Challenge” where he threw down the gauntlet to anyone (except his close friend Phil Galfond) to play a 50,000 hand heads-up match against him online.
He offered 3-1 odds on this: if his opponent won, Dwan would owe $1.5 million, but if Dwan won, he’d only receive $500,000. Top professionals took up the Durrrr Challenge as the 3-1 odds seemed irresistible. Poker icon Patrick Antonious played and quit after 40,000 hands.
But he also hit major downswings. He reportedly lost $2 million to Phil Ivey, and $4-5 million to online poker wizard Viktor “Isildur1” Blom.
After years of going off the radar, Tom Dwan is back and can be seen playing high stakes “nosebleed” games on live streams and is a rumored regular in Macau.
Modern Favorites — 2020s and Beyond
Today’s top poker players are a blend of high-stakes pros and content creators. While the list isn’t exhaustive, these players are among the biggest names in the game, inspiring others through their success at the tables and their online presence.
These are the famous faces teaching people how to transition from free video poker to live dealer poker — with the goal of competing for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Doug Polk
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Doug Polk began his poker career online as “WCGRider” and developed into one of the very best heads-up no-limit players to ever play the game. After becoming so dominant in heads-up, Doug struggled to find players willing to play against him.
He then transitioned to high stakes tournaments. In 2017, he won the $111,111 buy-in One Drop for $3.6 million at the WSOP. Now he has over $10 million in live tournament earnings and three WSOP bracelets to his name.
But he perhaps even more well-known for his online persona. Doug Polk has a training website and is a part-owner in a Texas card club “The Lodge” — which all started through his YouTube channel.
Through his free training videos, Doug Polk taught everyone who would listen how to play poker like a pro, and how to think about the game on an elite level. His clear explanations and dad jokes made advanced poker theory friendly and accessible.
Mariano Grandoli
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Mariano is perhaps the best poker cash game player among the YouTube vlogger community. He impressively went from borrowing money to play poker and playing $1/3 live no limit Hold’em games to currently playing on the high stakes streams — and filmed every step of the way.
To this day, he still vlogs and talks fans through every decision of his. Except now instead of $100 decisions, these are $100,000 decisions.
Mariano has inspired a new generation of poker players and poker vloggers by charting his own journey from Pizza Hut employee to winning well over a million dollars in Hustler Casino Live streams alone.
Alex & Kristen Foxen
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Part of the new age of high stakes live tournaments crushers is Alex Foxen who, at the age of just 33, has already amassed $33,267,576 in live tournament earnings. He is a consistent winner in the absolute toughest stakes.
The other half of poker’s biggest power couple, Kristen Foxen, is like her husband Alex — a tournament phenom. Starting by playing poker online, Kristen transitioned into live high stakes tournaments and has now cashed for $8,407,009 and earned four WSOP bracelets to date.
Just this year Foxen made another incredible deep run in the WSOP Main Event, finishing in the 13th place — a few spots away from poker’s most coveted final table.
These two are a force to be reckoned with, and their consistent success in the most cutthroat stakes proves that they are in a league of their own. More big things to come.
Honorable Mentions
These two poker pros don’t fit neatly into any single category but are noteworthy for their exceptional achievements.
Fedor Holz
German player Fedor Holz is among the world’s best, with $41.7 million in tournament winnings. A two-time WSOP bracelet winner, he captured the 2016 WSOP High Roller for One Drop for $4.98 million and the 2020 WSOP Online bracelet for $1.08 million on GGpoker.
Holz, a popular GGpoker ambassador, has also claimed two EPT titles, two WPT High Roller titles, and a Triton High Roller title, cementing his status as a top player. The cool and collected German pro has been mostly retired from poker since his mid-twenties. He is now 31.
Bryn Kenney
Bryn Kenney holds the top spot on poker’s all-time money list, with over $65 million in live earnings. His career highlights include a $20.56 million payday for finishing second in the Triton Million for Charity event.
Kenney has two WSOP bracelets, winning his first in 2014’s $1,500 10-Game Mix and his second in 2024’s $2,100 Bounty NLH Championship at the WSOP Online. Known for his hyper-aggressive style and disregard for bankroll management, his unmatched earnings make him one of the greatest tournament players of all time.
