It’s not easy to put together a list of the best poker players in the world that
everyone would agree💲 on.
What criteria do we base it on? What game are we even talking
about, as there are so many different💲 variants of the game of poker. Texas Hold’em may
be the most popular of the nowadays, but Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo,💲 Seven Card Stud, Razz and
Irish are just a few of the many variants still being played.
There is also a
💲 distinction between cash game poker players and tournament poker players to consider.
And of course, it’s not always live players💲 we are talking about, as many of the
world’s best poker players are predominantly online geniuses. All these distinctions
are💲 blurred, as many players participate in several different forms of poker.
Some of
the top cash game players are also great💲 tournament poker players; some online whizz
kids are also very successful live; some dominating mixed game players are also pretty
💲 good at Texas Hold’em, and so on. While there are very few complete all-rounders when
it comes to poker, many💲 of the best players in the world have transferable skills and
are feared competitors at any poker table, be it💲 a , Hold’em or Omaha, live or at
online .
All the players on our list have performed at the highest💲 levels in recent
years, but only some have stood the test of time, with many of today’s most successful
players💲 just rising to the top in the last few years. There are several big poker names
that you might have💲 expected to see on this list, such as old-timers like Phil
Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan, who💲 haven’t made the grade
this time round.
There are also many famous poker players who missed out, but who
deserved a💲 place on this list, such is the great depth of poker talent today. But we
will probably never know who💲 the actual best poker player in the world is. Apart from
being very hard to compare poker players across different💲 disciplines, the most
skillful cash game players like to keep very quiet about their successes.
This is the
Gambling list of💲 12 of the best poker players in the world today, in no particular
order:
1. Phil Ivey
Phil is a very famous💲 poker player who is considered by many to be
the best poker player ever. He was the most successful player💲 of his generation during
the 2000s, becoming the face of Full Tilt Poker and claiming ten WSOP bracelets,
remarkably none💲 of them for No Limit Texas Hold’em.
Phil had been relatively absent
from the tables for a number of years, but💲 a victory in the Poker Go Heads Up
Championship in 2024 sparked a return to regular competition. His impressive string💲 of
recent results proves that he is still one of the best players around. Ivey cashed for
nearlyR$6m in 2024💲 alone, including a Triton event victory and several final tables of
super high roller events.
In addition to his considerable tournament💲 success, Ivey is a
feared cash game player, having possibly won more from cash games than theR$38m he has
won💲 from tournaments. Away from the poker tables, Ivey is a high-stakes gambler and has
made headlines with court cases against💲 various casinos that had refused to pay him
millions in Baccarat winnings.
These winnings were achieved using a controversial
technique known💲 as edge-sorting. Ivey and an associate requested (and were granted)
favorable playing conditions that enabled them to successfully identify card💲 values
when face down. He lost two court cases against casinos who sued him, claiming the
technique amounted to cheating.
2.💲 Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates
After dropping out of
college to become a professional poker player, Daniel “Jungleman” Cates became a big
winner💲 online, amassingR$11m in online poker winnings by 2011.
Despite some huge losses
to Isildur1 in 2009, which caused him to drop💲 stakes, through good Cates was able to
rebuild his bankroll. In 2010 he famously accepted the ‘Durrrr Challenge’, taking on
💲 Tom 'Durrrr’ Dwan in high-stakes online cash games.
20,000 hands into the 50,000-hand
challenge Cates wasR$1.1 million ahead with the promise💲 of aR$1.5 million win if he
remained ahead even byR$1 after the 50,000 hands were completed. Durrrr stopped playing
and💲 the challenge remains incomplete to this day, although Dwan is said to be paying
off the debt in irregular installments.
In💲 recent years Cates has transferred his
skills to the live environment, winning both his WSOP bracelets in the WSOPR$50,000
Players💲 Championship event, with back-to-back victories in 2024 and 2024. In total
Cates has overR$11m in live tournament cashes to his💲 name.
3. Benny Glaser
Englishman
Benny Glaser may not be a household name to all fans of poker, but this is because💲 he
is predominantly a mixed game specialist, rarely taking part in No Limit Hold’em
.
Benny has had considerable success both💲 online and live and is the leading British
WSOP bracelet winner, with a record four such pieces of jewellery to💲 his name. His
first bracelet success came in 2024 when he landed a triple-draw lowball event
forR$136k.In 2024 he added💲 a further two bracelets within a few days of each other,
both in Omaha Hi-Lo tournaments. His fourth bracelet came💲 in 2024 when he won
theR$10,000 Razz Championship event forR$274k.
Glaser’s claim to be one of the best
poker players in💲 the world is backed up by his impressive online poker trophy cabinet,
with eight World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOOP)💲 titles and seven Spring
Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) titles to date. Four of his WCOOP titles were won
within💲 the space of a few weeks in 2024 on Poker Stars.
4. Stephen Chidwick
4th on the
all-time money list, Englishman Chidwick💲 is a player that often went under the radar,
consistently getting great finishes, but staying out of the limelight. Chidwick💲 has one
bracelet, 22 top ten finishes, and has been in the money a total of 64 times at the
💲 WSOP.
In recent years Stephen has excelled in the various high-stakes series run by
Triton and Poker Go, culminating in an💲 amazing run in May 2024 in Cyprus at the Triton
Poker Series. Within a space of 5 days, Chidwick finished💲 2nd, 3rd, and then 1st in
€75,000, €50,000, and €100,000 buy-in tournaments, cashing for a combined total of
€3,368,914. He💲 tops the Poker Go Leaderboard with overR$6m in winnings from the
televised high-stakes tour.
5. Jason Koon
Jason is a highly accomplished💲 American poker
player. He is in 6th place in the all-time money list, with overR$41m in winnings from
live poker.
Formerly💲 sponsored by Party Poker and now a GG Poker ambassador, Koon holds
just one WSOP bracelet but is one of💲 the most consistent performers in super high
roller events.
With a remarkable 18 cashes and almostR$8m in winnings in high roller
💲 events this year, Koon is 3rd on the 2024 money list. His most recent success came in
December 2024 when💲 he defeated Phil Hellmuth in Poker Go’s High Stakes Duel III
forR$1.6m. The Poker Brat had been the king of💲 the hill, undefeated for several matches
in a row before Koon dethroned him.
6. Adrian Mateos
In 2013, Adrian Mateos was only💲 19
years old when he won the €10,000 main event of the World Series of Poker Europe, for a
€1m💲 payday.
It was not even his first success, having taken down CNP and Estrellas
Poker Tour titles in his native Spain💲 as well as numerous final table finishes, before
securing his first bracelet. He went on to be the youngest player💲 to win three WSOP
bracelets, achieving the feat at the age of 23 when he won theR$10,000 Heads Up
Championship.
In💲 2024 he secured his 4th bracelet to date when winning the WSOPR$250k
Super High Roller for a career biggestR$3.2m cashout.💲 With career tournament earnings
of nearlyR$30m, Mateos is in 16th place on poker’s all-time money list.
7. Michael
Addamo
Australian Michael Adammo💲 is another top poker player of his generation, with
four world series bracelets and overR$20m in live poker earnings to💲 date. His two most
recent WSOP wins both came in 2024 when he secured theR$50k and theR$100k bracelet
events for💲 overR$3m in prize money.
Addamo has a knack for securing more than one win
in the same series, having done so💲 on four other occasions. The first time he achieved
this feat was at the Aria Summer Series in 2024, where💲 he won twoR$10K buy-in
tournaments. Next was at the Aussie Millions in January 2024, where Adamo won A$50k and
A$100k💲 buy-in events.
In 2024 he also won two events at the PokerGo Masters and in 2024
he secured double victory for💲 the 5th time when he won €20k and €75k buy-in events at
the Triton Series in Madrid. When you consider💲 that Addamo also won his first two
bracelets in 2024, albeit one in Vegas and one at the WSOPE in💲 Rozvadov, he really is
the two-time king of high-stakes tournament poker.
8. Dan Smith
8th on the all-time
money list with overR$39m💲 in live tournament poker winnings is American Dan Smith.
Up
until recently, Dan was often referred to as one of the💲 best poker players in the world
never to have won a WSOP bracelet. But he corrected that omission on his
💲 not-inconsiderable poker resume when he won theR$25k No Limit Poker Championship at the
2024 WSOP.
Dan has been a highly successful💲 tournament pro for over a decade. His
breakthrough year came in 2012 when he won several EPT tournaments in addition💲 to a
A$100k event at the Aussie Millions. His biggest cash to date in 2024 was incredibly
not for actually💲 winning a tournament. He pocketed a hefty £7.2m for 3rd place at the
Triton Super High Roller Series in London.
9.💲 Robert Cowen
Wild card entry for this
list of the world’s best poker players goes to Welshman Robert Cowen.
Rob has been
💲 playing online and live poker since the mid-noughties when he was a regular on the UK
live poker circuit. In💲 his early days, his success was modest with a few minor cashes.
He then switched his attention to and for💲 several more years continued to notch up
several modest cashes every year, including a few WSOP cashes here and there.
Up💲 until
a year ago Cowen still hadn’t made much of a mark on the poker landscape, but then
things changed,💲 starting with a 39th-place finish in the WSOP main event forR$160k.
That was his 5th cash of the 2024 series💲 and his 6th came just a few days later when he
won his first bracelet in aR$3000 Pot Limit Omaha💲 event forR$280k.
If 2024 had ended
well for Rob, 2024 started off even better, with victory in the €10k No-Limit High
💲 Roller for €475k at the Prague EPT. His incredible journey was only just getting
started though as the best was💲 yet to come. In June 2024 he landed his second WSOP
bracelet for almostR$1.4m in theR$50k PL Omaha High Roller.
Narrowly💲 missing out on a
couple more bracelets later in the series, Cowen is one to watch, a late-blooming
rising star💲 of poker. Will he become one of the best poker players of all time?
10. Sam
Grafton
Poker Stars ambassador Sam Grafton💲 is another UK poker player to make this
list.
Like most of these players, Sam has also had an incredible year💲 at the poker
tables. In September 2024 he won a career-bestR$5.5m in the Coin Rivet Invitational,
aR$200k buy-in event in💲 Cyprus. Just three days before this he had won almostR$1m for
2nd place in aR$50k high roller event at the💲 same festival.
Grafton’s first title was
in 2012 when he won the GUKPT Grand Final in his hometown of London. Since💲 then, he has
notched up an impressive series of results, but it was not until 2024 that he scored
his💲 first seven-figure payday, when he finished second in the 100k super high roller at
EPT Barcelona.
A political activist who was💲 prepared to tie himself to trees and lie
down in front of bulldozers in protest against motorway expansion and such,💲 Grafton is
one of the more unlikely characters in the poker world. Very talkative and likable at
the poker table,💲 Sam is always willing to lend advice and give tips to new players
coming into the game.
11. Koray Aldemir
Usually, the💲 winner of the WSOP main event is a
relatively unheard-of player prior to their victory. This cannot be said about💲 German
2024 main event champ Koray Aldemir, who was already a successful high-stakes
tournament player before he became world champion.
The💲 Berliner started his poker
career playing online freerolls on Poker Stars and by 2024 he had recorded his first
in-the-money💲 finish in the WSOP main event, a feat he repeated a year later.
His 2024
victory forR$8m was not however his💲 first appearance on a WSOP main event final table,
as he had finished in 7th place at the WSOPE in💲 2024. In fact, 9 of his 15 cashes in
2024 were six-figure scores. Koray has not yet added a further💲 bracelet since his win
but did cash a remarkable 14 times at the 2024 WSOP, including going very deep in💲 the
main event once again, with a 75th-place finish.
12. Alex Foxen
High-stakes wizard Alex
Foxen has been playing live since 2012,💲 with his first recorded live result coming in
aR$355 WSOP Circuit event, which he won, forR$22k.
He had several minor cashes💲 for the
next few years but first really started to achieve great things in 2024, when he cashed
14 times💲 at WSOP in Las Vegas. This was just the start of great things for Alex and in
2024 he cashed💲 for overR$6m, saving the best for last when he pocketedR$2.16m for
second place in theR$300k Super High Roller Bowl.
At the💲 2024 WSOP he won his first
bracelet and overR$4.5m in prize money when talking down theR$250k Super High Roller.
2024💲 was a remarkable year for Foxen, cashing a huge 49 times, including 10 cashes at
the WSOP and 11 in💲 the online edition of the World Series, which takes place on GG
Poker.
