There is a lot of money to be made playing poker. Many of the game’s best players have
climbed the9️⃣ ladder and made millions on the live and virtual felt in the world of poker
tournaments.
Let’s take a look at9️⃣ the top ten best poker players of all time, based on
tournament earnings.
Honorable mentions
First, a shout-out to numbers 11–20!
20. Phil
9️⃣ Hellmuth, Jr. (US):R$24.8 million
19. Christoph Vogelsang (US):R$25 million
18. John
Juanda (Indonesia):R$25.2 million
17. Jake Schindler (US):R$26 million
16. Isaac Haxton
(US):R$27.6 million
15.9️⃣ Antonio Esfandiari (US):R$27.8 million
14. Mikita Bodziakouski
(Belarus):R$28.5 million
13. Daniel Colman (US):R$29 million
12. Steve O’Dwyer
(US):R$30.4 million
11. Cary Katz (US):R$31.3 million
Note:9️⃣ Want 10 quick tips that
will help you win at poker? Get this free guide if you want to come9️⃣ out on top.
Note:
Are you here just to learn how to play poker...or do you want to know how to9️⃣ win too?
Get this free guide with 10 quick poker strategy tips if you want to come out on
top.
And9️⃣ now, the top ten best poker players of all time (so far)
10. Jason Koon
(US):R$31.4 million
The Triton Poker ambassador Jason9️⃣ Koon has had himself quite a year
in 2024, adding more thanR$6 million in tournament winnings to his already impressive
9️⃣ resume.
A fixture on the Triton high roller tournament scene, Koon’s two biggest career
cashes came in a pair of short9️⃣ deck events on the Triton circuit. Koon won both events,
cashing for more thanR$6.4 million in just those two tournaments9️⃣ alone.
Koon’s latest
big score came at the 2024 U.S. Poker Open. The Triton Poker ambassador took a
third-place finish in9️⃣ theR$50,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for aR$336,000 payday.
9. Phil
Ivey (US):R$31.7 million
A player that needs no introduction to even casual poker9️⃣ fans,
Phil Ivey’s poker accomplishments span across both tournaments and cash games on the
high-stakes circuit.
While Ivey’s presence is synonymous9️⃣ wth the “poker boom” era of
the mid-2000s, four of his top ten biggest tournament scores have come since 2024.
9️⃣ Interestingly enough, Ivey’s three top cashes all came in A$ 250,000 buy-in events at
the Aussie Millions, in three different9️⃣ years.
Modern-era Phil Ivey frequently appears
in the high roller tournaments and cash games presented by Triton Poker. Ivey’s Hendon
Mob9️⃣ resume includes nine cashes of seven figures, including a seventh-place finish in
the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event9️⃣ ($1,404,014).
8. Fedor Holz (Germany):R$32.5
million
25-year-old Fedor Holz is, indeed, one of the best poker players in history.
During 2024 and9️⃣ 2024 seasons Holz had one of the sickest runs ever, winningR$21 million
during this short span. Most recently, Holz finished9️⃣ in 2nd place behind Justin Bonomo
in the 2024 WSOPR$1 million Big One for One Drop, taking home the heftyR$69️⃣ million
consolation prize.
7. David Peters (US):R$34.5 million
Always a fixture on the high
roller circuit, as well as a threat to9️⃣ win any tournament, David Peters has kept a
steady climb up the all-time money list throughout the last few years.
Peters9️⃣ first
cash came in 2007, when he was playing at much more modest stakes than the five, six
and seven-figure9️⃣ plus buy-ins he plays now. He added two more seven-figure cashes to
the resume in 2024.
COVID-19 forced a hiatus for9️⃣ the high-roller tournament circuit for
most of 2024, but Peters is right back to his winning ways in 2024. Peters9️⃣ won three
events at the 2024 U.S. Poker Open, winning the player of the series award for the
second straight9️⃣ time.
6. Stephen Chidwick (England):R$35.6 million
Stephen Chidwick is
considered, even among his peers on the high roller tournament scene, to be9️⃣ quite
possibly the best tournament poker player in the world.
The Englishman has spent
considerable time at the top of the9️⃣ Global Poker Index player rankings, and broke
through for his first World Series of Poker bracelet this summer at the9️⃣ 2024
WSOP.
Chidwick owns seven career cashes that top theR$1 million mark. The biggest of
those came at the £1,050,000 Triton9️⃣ Poker Million for Charity event, where Chidwick
finished 4th forR$5,368,947.
5. Dan Smith (US):R$37 million
Dan Smith isn’t a vocal
player, but9️⃣ he has been slowly and surely moving up the All-Time Money List. 2012
marked a turning point in Smith’s career,9️⃣ beginning with a victory in the Aussie
Millions Poker ChampionshipR$100,000 NHLE event for a very respectableR$1.04 million.
Smith also did9️⃣ particularly well at the 2012 EPT-8 in Monte Carlo, where he won three
NLHE events over a span of four9️⃣ days.
Most recently, Smith placed 3rd in the 2024 WSOP
Big One for One Drop forR$4 million and scored his biggest9️⃣ career cash with a 3rd place
finish forR$8,765,628 at the Triton Million.
Take a look at Smith playing the 2024
WSOPR$111,1119️⃣ for One Drop. He ultimately finished in 2nd place, winningR$3,078,974:
4.
Erik Seidel (US):R$37.8 million
The “old man” on this list, 61-year-old9️⃣ Erik Seidel is
one of the original players from New York City’s Mayfair Clu0b, which includes the
likes of Stu9️⃣ Ungar, Dan Harrington, and Howard Lederer. Seidel is an eight-time WSOP
bracelet winner who has made an impressive 35 final9️⃣ tables and whopping 92 cashes,
including his 2nd-place finish in the 1988 Main Event behind Johnny Chan.
Seidel won
his largest9️⃣ cash payout of almostR$2.5 million at the 2011 Aussie Millions Poker
ChampionshipR$250,000 Super High Roller NLHE event. In 2010, he9️⃣ was inducted into the
Poker Hall of Fame.
3. Daniel Negreanu (Canada):R$42.2 million
Daniel “Kid Poker”
Negreanu spent considerable time atop the9️⃣ all-time money list until the 2024 WSOP. But
Negreanu’s career isn’t anything to scoff at. He has six WSOP bracelets,9️⃣ made 38 final
tables, and has cashed 108 times, including as 11th place finish at both the 2001 and
20249️⃣ WSOP Main Events. Negreanu was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in
2014.
Negreanu’s uncanny ability to read his opponents9️⃣ with incredible accuracy has
undoubtedly contributed to his impressive success and well-deserved place among the
best poker players of all9️⃣ time.
2. Justin Bonomo (US):R$53.2 million
Justin Bonomo took
over the top spot with his win in the 2024 WSOPR$1 million Big9️⃣ One for One Drop.
TheR$10 million prize swiftly propelled him to #1 on the All-Time Money List. Bonomo
now sits9️⃣ at #2 on this list, but he’s always a threat to retake the top spot.
The
35-year-old Bonomo had a crazy9️⃣ run in 2024, amassing wins seemingly wherever he played.
This three-time WSOP bracelet winner managed an impressive ten wins in9️⃣ various
high-roller events across the world that year, including the May Aria Super High Roller
BowlR$300,000 NLHE event where he9️⃣ wonR$5 million and the Macau Super High Roller
BowlR$HK 3 million NLHE event where he pocketed anotherR$4.8 million (HKR$37.8
million).9️⃣ Bonomo certainly shows no signs of slowing down.
Note: Want 10 quick tips
that will help you win at poker? Get9️⃣ this free guide if you want to come out on
top.
Note: Are you here just to learn how to play9️⃣ poker...or do you want to know how to
win too? Get this free guide with 10 quick poker strategy tips9️⃣ if you want to come out
on top.
1. Bryn Kenney (US):R$56.4 million
Bryn Kenney’s incredible 2024 run has
vaulted him to9️⃣ the top of this list, with his biggest career cash coming in August at
the Triton Million. Kenney finished 3rd9️⃣ in that event forR$20,563,324.
Kenney’s first
live tournament cash was in 2007. Since then he has steadily added to his impressive
9️⃣ winnings. Kenney won a WSOP bracelet in 2014 at theR$1,500 10-Game Mix 6-Handed event,
and, in total, he has made9️⃣ seven final WSOP tables and cashed 32 times, including a
28th place in the 2010 Main Event. His largest single9️⃣ cash of nearlyR$2 million came
back in April 2024, at the PokerStars Championship €100,000 NLHE Super High Roller
8-Max in9️⃣ Barcelona. Since then, Kenney has had many top-five finishes across the
globe.
Here’s Kenney with a tremendous bluff at the 20249️⃣ PCA Main Event.
Learn more
about Bryn and his rise to the top here.
Top Five Cash Game Players
While the Hendon
Mob9️⃣ database stands as a definitive, comprehensive record of poker tournaments played
around the world, nailing down the top five cash9️⃣ game players of all time presents a
more difficult task.
A comprehensive online cash game database doesn’t exist in the
poker9️⃣ world, and high-stakes cash game results from live poker rooms are impossible to
track.
A select group of cash game players9️⃣ are considered among their peers as the most
feared cash game players in the world. Let’s take a look at9️⃣ five names that being on
any “world’s best poker cash game players list:
Linus “LLinusLLove” Loeliger
While a
top-five cash game player9️⃣ rankings list is certainly a topic for debate, Linus
“LLinusLLove” Loeliger would likely be considered a consensus pick by his9️⃣ fellow
high-stakes opponents. Loeliger played in the 10NL online streets back in 2013, but
he’s reached the pinnacle of high-stakes9️⃣ online games in the past four years.
The
Statname database lists Loeliger withR$2.1 million in career cash games winning at
stakes9️⃣ of 50NL and up on PokerStars. The database includes hands played across No-Limit
Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha.
More thanR$2 million of9️⃣ that total comes from stakes of
2,000NL or higher for Loeliger. Those high stakes number likely represent just some of
9️⃣ Loeliger’s true winning, as the Swiss poker crusher plays on multiple online poker
sites.
“BERRI SWEET”
Statname lists Swedish player “BERRI SWEET”9️⃣ as the No. 1 all-time
online cash game winner at PokerStars. That resume includesR$4.5 million in earnings on
the world’s9️⃣ largest poker site.
The real-life identity of “BERRI SWEET” is unknown,
making it difficult to truly gauge how much money this9️⃣ player has won in poker cash
games. With a speciality of Pot-Limit Omaha, “BERRI SWEET” has wonR$2.4 million at
20,000NL9️⃣ stakes alone.
“BERRI SWEET” wonR$324,ooo in April 2024 on PokerStars according
to Statname, not a bad haul for the modern-day online9️⃣ cash game
economy.
“ActionFreak”
Another PLO specialist with an unknown real-life identity,
“ActionFreak” has earnedR$2.1 million in profit over their career on9️⃣ PokerStars. While
the real name is still unclear, the screen name is a known PLO-crushing
entity.
“ActionFreak” stepped up to take9️⃣ on Phil Galfond in the RunItOnce Galfond
Challenge in the early months of 2024. Galfond came away from the 15,000-hand9️⃣ match as
the winner, but Galfond’s victory has to be considered an upset against one of poker’s
top modern-era PLO9️⃣ players.
Timofey “Trueteller” Kuznetsov
Upswing Poker founder Doug
Polk produced a “Top 10 Cash Game Poker Players” video for his YouTube page9️⃣ in 2024. In
the video, Polk and one-time Upswing coach Andres “educa-p0ker” Artinano discuss who
they considered as the top9️⃣ ten cash game players at the time.
While that video is
already three years old, the No. 1 name chosen by9️⃣ Artinano has to make our top-five
cash game player list. Timofey “Truetller” Kuznetsov now appears somewhat regularly in
high-stakes live9️⃣ cash games, with appearances at the formerly-named Bobby’s Room at the
Bellagio Las Vegas, as well as Triton Poker cash9️⃣ games in the Asia-Pacific
region.
Highstakes DB tracked Kuznetsov’s high-stakes online hands from 2011-2024. From
that sample, “Trueteller” came away withR$3,095,1689️⃣ in profit.
Jonas “OtB_RedBaron”
Mols
The player known by the online screen name “OtB_RedBaron” is a certified online
poker legend. “OtB_RedBaron” was9️⃣ such a crusher that Andres “educa-p0ker” Artinano once
made an Upswing Poker course called “Crush the Baron,” which focused entirely9️⃣ on the
strategies employed and the database statistics put forth by “OtB_RedBaron.”
We now
know that “OtB_RedBaron” is the PokerStars online9️⃣ handle belonging to Belgian poker pro
Jonas Mols. According to Statname, Mols is upR$1.7 million at PokerStars over the
course9️⃣ of his career. Again though, that sample doesn’t represent all hands played by
Mols at all stakes across all poker9️⃣ sites.
There you have it, the best poker players in
history, to date!
Who is your favorite?
And who do you anticipate to9️⃣ make their way on
to this list? Comment below!
Until next time!
Note: Want 10 quick tips that will help
you win9️⃣ at poker? Get this free guide if you want to come out on top.
Note: Are you
here just to learn9️⃣ how to play poker...or do you want to know how to win too? Get this
free guide with 10 quick9️⃣ poker strategy tips if you want to come out on top.
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