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Pennsylvania Online Poker
Best Poker Players Of All Time
| Poker Site | Online | Cash | 24 H Peak | 7 Day avg | Last Week | Play Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PokerStars PA | 294 | 770 | 400 | 690 |
Last Updated: November 28, 2019
PA Online Poker Launch Update
Online poker is officially live in Pennsylvania! After a two-day soft launch for testing, PokerStars PA (in partnership with Mount Airy Casino) went live to the public on Nov. 6, 2019.
Early returns have already been impressive with peak 24 hour traffic of 895 players and a 7-day average of almost 500 players.
Tournament guarantees have already superseded New Jersey. The combined prize pools for the five Sunday Majors (Warm-Up, Storm, Special, High Roller, Supersonic) have hit $67,500 with just $440 total in entry fees.
The inaugural PACOOP Series is Pennsylvania’s first 50-tournament online series and guarantees $1 million in total. It runs Nov. 30-Dec. 6.
Online Poker in PA
As most know now, online poker in Pennsylvania did not launch on July 15. Operators limited their debuts to the online casino portion of interactive play.
The hold-up was not on the regulatory side of things. Rather, it was simply a matter of operators readying themselves to offer online poker.
In terms of which operators could join PokerStars, there are six other casinos in the state that have submitted applications for and been approved to offer online poker to Pennsylvania residents. They are:
- Harrah’s Philadelphia
- Hollywood Casino at Penn National
- Parx Casino
- Sands Bethlehem (for Wind Creek’s benefit)
- SugarHouse Casino
- Valley Forge Casino
MGM has also submitted an application for online poker through its Borgata property in New Jersey.
Online poker in PA history
2018 was a landmark time for gaming company partnerships. It seemed that no week passed without another announcement about a new corporate alliance. One year later, things can still change rapidly about which companies have access to the licenses in the Keystone State.
Nevertheless, we can assume which companies will establish a presence in Pennsylvania. There are several frontrunners right now, due to their connections both within and outside the state. Here they are, along with their most relevant corporate ties:
- Pokerstars – Now Live in PA
- #1 poker operator in the world
- Has an official partnership with Mount Airy
- 888 Poker/WSOP.com
- Has links to both Mount Airy and Harrah’s, though the Mount Airy links are stronger
- Owns interstate poker network in Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware that could allow PA tie-in
- GVC/Partypoker.com
- A signed business deal with MGM, which translates to access with Boyd Gaming properties
- Expanding American reach through partnerships
- Rush Street Interactive
- Both casinos applied for online gaming licenses
- Rumored to have developed own poker software
Two other companies are not quite as good a bet to come to the table. The primary reason that they’re behind the other four companies is the lack of a physical connection in Pennsylvania.
However, their combination of expertise and proprietary software means that existing casinos may look to them in the future. They are:
- IGT
- Has submitted an application to operate online gambling in Pennsylvania
- Owns a poker platform that is ready to go
- Pala
- Owns proprietary casino and poker platform
- Has found success in online New Jersey market
It’s important to keep in mind, also, that Pennsylvania is expected to join with Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware to share player pools. If and when that happens, there may be other companies that make a move toward the Keystone State.
What is or is not legal in Pennsylvania online poker?
Once any online poker site gets licensed and up and running, the site and players are required to adhere to specific online poker regulations set by PGCB:
- Players must be 21 or older.
- Sites must verify identification.
- Players must be inside state lines to play for real money.
- Sites must verify player location using geolocation software.
- Operators must pay a 16 percent online gambling tax on gross revenue.
Pennsylvania online poker laws
The gambling expansion bill signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf on October 30, 2017, is officially known as H 271. It ultimately governs online poker in the state.
The new law tasked the PGCB with promulgating online poker regulations. It also tasked the board with handing out online poker licenses to qualified applicants.
The board began distributing licenses in August 2018. So far, seven Pennsylvania properties have applied and received approval to offer online gaming (including poker) in the state.
Pennsylvania Live Poker
Where can I play poker live in Pennsylvania?
Live poker is a big draw in Pennsylvania. According to PGCB, ten of the 12 PA casinos have poker rooms. Between them, there are 225 tables operating.
Only Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin and Valley Forge Casino Resort do not have poker rooms.
Here’s a list of the ten poker rooms currently operating across PA:
- Parx Casino – Brand new 48-table poker room replaced the highest-grossing poker room in the state in January 2018.
- Harrah’s Philadelphia – World Series of Poker-branded poker room with 28 tables.
- Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course – 16-table poker room open 24 hours year-round.
- Mohegan Sun Pocono – 18-table poker room with a wide range of limits, cash games, and tournaments.
- Mount Airy Casino Resort – The Poker Parlor at the Mount Airy Casino Resort features action on nine tables.
- Sands Bethlehem – 30-table poker room with cash games and regular tournament schedule.
- SugarHouse Casino – The Poker Night in America Poker Room at SugarHouse Casino features action on 28 tables.
- Rivers Casino – The Rivers Casino Poker Room at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh features non-stop poker action on 30 tables.
- The Meadows Racetrack & Casino – The Meadows Poker Room at the Meadows Racetrack & Casino features 14 tables with an open view of the live racing action on the track.
- Presque Isle Downs – State-of-the-art poker room with seven tables.
History of online poker in Pennsylvania
A massive online poker boom kicked off in the US in 2003. That’s when a Tennessee accountant appropriately named Chris Moneymaker earned his way into the WSOP Main Event through an online satellite and went on to win it all.
Poker’s popularity soared, particularly on TV, where cheap poker programming filled with commercials for online poker sites suddenly became a staple of cable network programming.
US Congress tried to gain some control by stuffing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the Safe Ports Act in 2006. The legislation ensured US banks would stop processing transactions for the many offshore online poker operators accepting US customers. A number of those operators left the US market, but others found creative ways around the new laws and online poker still flourished.
Online poker’s Black Friday
Five years later, on April 15, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice put a stop to it. The top executives at major online poker operators including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet were all charged with various money laundering and illegal gambling charges. The US-facing domains were seized and the sites immediately stopped accepting US customers The door to online poker in America was suddenly closed.
However, signs it could be opening again began to surface by the end of the year.
In December 2011, the DOJ released a legal opinion that the Federal Wire Act only applies to sports betting. It was supposed to clarify things for the state’s interested conducting in online lottery sales. However, it also paved the way for states to begin to consider licensing and regulating online poker and casino sites.
Over the next two years Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey all passed different forms of online gambling legislation and opened up fenced-in online poker markets.
Nevada and Delaware signed an agreement to share players pools in 2014 and started doing so in early 2015. New Jersey signed on to that same agreement in October 2017.
Legal and regulated online poker in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania lawmakers started kicking the tires on online gambling legislation back in 2013. Rep. Tina Davis introduced legalization that would legalize online casino games and online poker. It was modeled on online gambling bills passed in New Jersey. However, it was never really more than the start of the conversation.
The year ended with the PA Senate commissioning a study on the issue.
The Senate got what looked like positive results for online gambling from the study in 2014. Online gambling bills were then introduced in both the House and the Senate. By the end of the year, the Senate Committee on Community, Economic and Recreational Development held an online gambling hearing and Pennsylvania was suddenly seriously considering online gambling.
The legislature appeared more serious about online gambling in 2015, and it ended up in and out of the budget several times during deliberations. It end up out.
Every time lawmakers looked close to passing online gambling legislation in 2016, efforts were derailed by the consideration of even more gambling expansions across the state.
The online gambling budget balance
Finally, in 2017, faced with a massive budget deficit and few answers on how to erase it, PA lawmakers turned to online gambling.
In May, the Senate passed an online gambling bill. In June, the House fixed a number of issue with it, including tax rates, then added further gambling expansion initiatives including video gaming terminals.
Only this time the gambling expansion initiatives didn’t derail the bill. Lawmakers went into the summer of 2017 still debating the details of what had turned into a comprehensive gambling expansion bill.
When they got back to work in the fall, they worked out all the kinks and a bill, which included a plan to legalize and regulate online poker in PA, was passed.
The bill authorized the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) to put together regulations governing online poker in the state. It also asked the board to begin a licensing application process for potential operators.
As a result, Pennsylvania became the fourth state in US history to legalize online poker. Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey were the first three. All three of those states have since signed an agreement to share player pools. Language in the Pennsylvania online poker legislation will allow it to enter such an agreement in the future.
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Defining the world’s top poker players is hard because there are so many variables that go into the matter.
First off, most poker pros specialize in either live cash games, online cash games, live tournaments, or online tourneys.
You also have to look beyond just earnings because some players can climb the all-time winnings list with a few big scores.
Then there’s the matter of whether somebody is still actively playing and improving their game.
But while a lot of factors go into deciding the best poker players, some pros stand out above others no matter what games or format they play.
That being said, here’s a look at the 33 best all-around poker players in the world today.
Not even 25 years old, Fedor Holz has rapidly ascended to the top of the poker world thanks to a flurry of big tournament finishes.
The German began a torrid pace in May 2015, when he final tabled two EPT Grand Final high rollers for a total of €667,300.
The same year, he would go on to finish third in the $10k NL Hold’em 6 Handed Championship $268,463, 25th in the WSOP Main Event $262,574, and first in the $100k WPT Alpha8 High Roller $1.59m.
Holz kicked 2016 off by winning the $200k WPTN Triton Super High Roller along with $3,463,500, then finishing runner up in the $300k Super High Roller Bowl $3.5m.
Not finished yet, Holz won the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop and $4,981,775. Just two months later, he won the €50k EPT Barcelona High Roller along with €1,300,300.
It’s difficult to weigh high rollers over a long, steady stream of poker results. But given Holz’s impressive results at such a young age, it’s hard to deny his talent and $20.3 million in livewinnings.
Dan Cates is a great example of perseverance in poker.
Working at McDonald’s and playing online poker on the side, he busted his bankroll several times before making a breakthrough. This breakthrough came in the form of a $5 million profit in 2009.
Since then, Cates has remained a consistent winner in high stakes online cash games, proving both his longevity and ability to keep up with the competition.
Playing under the name ‘w00ki3z,’ Cates led everybody with over $2.8 million in online cash game winnings in 2014. He has $11.5 million in career online winnings at the time of this writing.
A regular in the top 5 of the Global Poker Index GPI rankings, Dan Smith is a top 5 player on my list too.
What helps Smith consistently stay among the GPI’s top players is his mix of outstanding regular and high roller tournament results.
Regarding the latter, Smith has finished: first in the 2012 Aussie Millions $100k High Roller $1m, first in the 2012 EPT Barcelona €100k High Roller €962,925, second in the 2013 Aussie Millions$25k Challenge $243,567, third in the 2015 WSOP $10k PLO Championship $269,564, first in the 2016 Aria High Roller $285,200, third in the 2016 WSOP $25k PLO High Roller $487,361, and second inthe 2016 WSOP $111,111 One Drop High Roller $3.1m.
In all, Smith has $15.1 million in live winnings at the time of this writing.
Daniel Negreanu has plenty of pursuits outside of poker, namely being the face of PokerStars. Nevertheless, he still finds time to hit the felt and rack up cashes.
Negreanu is the biggest tournament winner of all time with over $32.6 million in earnings.
One reason why the Canadian tops the live tournament winnings list is because he’s consistently earned cashes since 1997.
Some of Negreanu’s biggest recent scores include: third in the 2015 WPT Alpha8 $100k High Roller $640,103, 11th in the 2015 WSOP Main Event $526,788, first in Shark Cage Season 2 $966,000, andsecond in the 2014 WSOP $1 million Big One for One Drop $8.3m.
While Jens Kyllönen kicked his poker career off with a win in the 2009 EPT Copenhagen Main Event $1.12m, he’s become much more famous for his online exploits.
The Finnish pro has nearly $5.4 million in online cash game winnings at the time of this writing.
The bulk of his profits came in 2011, when he earned over $3 million. But ‘Jeans89” continues to win, earning over $1.2 million in 2015 and ’16 combined.
Former stock broker Erik Seidel is a true poker legend, starting his poker career in the 1980s at New York City’s Mayfair Club.
Seidel’s first major tournament was the 1988 WSOP Main Event, where he finished second place to Johnny Chan and scooped $280,000. The final hand of this tourney appears as a scene in the 1998movie Rounders.
Seidel hasn’t slowed down since then, earning 8 WSOP gold bracelets and over $30 million in live tourney winnings — second only to Negreanu.
Seidel’s career winnings have been accelerated by big years in 2011 $6.5m, 2015 $5.1m, and 2016 $5.1m.
Ben Sulsky learned poker on a spring break trip to Mexico, reading books and playing online hands during his downtime.
The man known as ‘Sauce123’ has since become one of the biggest winners in online poker history with $4.4 million in profits.
One thing that makes Sulsky impressive is that he continues winning against the world’s toughest players.
A poker pro’s pro; Ike Haxton has earned success in both the live and online poker realms. He has $2.4 million in online cash profits and over $12 million in live tournament winnings.
Haxton’s live career started off very well when he finished second in the 2007 PCA Main Event $861,789. He expanded his bankroll by finishing second in the 2009 WSOP 40th Anniversary tournament$1.17m.
Other big finishes for Haxton include taking fifth in the 2013 GuangDong Asia Millions $1.31m, second in the 2014 Aussie Millions $250k High Roller $2.53m, and second in the 2014 Aria Super HighRoller $813,394.
Earning his first tournament cash in 2010, Tom Marchese has quickly become one of the biggest ever tournament winners with $15.5 million.
What’s amazing about Marchese is his consistency in high rollers, notching 10 six figure cashes in 2016 alone.
The biggest finishes of Marchese’s career include: second in the 2014 WPT Alpha8 $1.57m, first in the 2014 Aria $100k Super High Roller $1.31m, and third in the 2014 Summer High Roller I $1.47m.
If Phil Hellmuth sees this list, he’d quickly argue that he should be No. 1.
Perhaps Hellmuth is underrated because he draws so much flack for his incessant whining, blowups, and self-aggrandizing nature.
But through it all, Hellmuth’s poker talent shines with a record 14 WSOP gold bracelets and $21 million in tournament winnings.
One of the most recognizable faces of the Poker Boom, Patrik Antonius continues to be relevant in the online scene.
The former High Stakes Poker regular has won more money than anybody in online poker history with $15.9 million.
He earned $3.4 million in 2013/14 and continues to test his skills against the top online grinders.
After starting his poker career off with a win in the 2008 EPT Sanremo Main Event €869,000, Jason Mercier continues adding big cashes and wins to his resume.
Some of the Florida based poker pro’s most notable accomplishments include: second in the 2014 Super High Roller $1.62m, first in the 2013 EPT Grand Final $1.46m, and first in the 2011 FiveDiamond World Classic $707,767.
Mercier doesn’t show any signs of slowing down since he won two gold bracelets and cashed 11 times at the 2016 WSOP.
While Brian Rast has always been a good poker pro, he entered a new stratosphere in 2016.
Not only did he take down the WSOP $50k Poker Players Championship $1.3m, but he also won the $500k Super High Roller Bowl and $7,525,000.
These are just a couple highlights from a career that also includes the following finishes: first in the 2011 WSOP $50k Poker Players Championship $1.77m, sixth in the 2012 WSOP $1 million BigOne for One Drop $1.61m, first in the 2013 Five Diamond World Classic $1.08m, and third in the 2014 WPT Alpha8 $755,370.
Dan Colman will always be remembered for two things: 1 his anti-poker rant, and 2 a magical year in 2014.
Both things coincided at the 2014 WSOP $1 million Big One for One Drop, which Colman won along with $15,306,668. Afterward, he said that poker is a “dark game” that he doesn’t owe anything to.
Surely this isn’t the case, though, because Colman has collected over $26 million in live tournaments.
Some of his other big cashes include: first in the 2014 EPT Grand Final €100k High Roller €1.54m, second in the 2014 EPT Barcelona €100k High Roller €843,066, first in the 2014 SHRPO Main Event$1.45m, first in the WPT Alpha8 London £600,000, and third in the 2015 WSOP $111,111 High Roller for One Drop $1.54m.
Doug Polk is a triple threat, known as a great coach, live tournament player, and online cash grinder.
He has almost $700,000 in online cash profits along with $5.07 million in live tournament winnings. Polk’s largest tourney cashes include: fourth in the 2014 Aussie Millions $100k High Roller$770,237, first in the 2014 Super High Roller $1.65m, third in the 2015 Aussie Millions $250k High Roller $807,709, and second in the 2015 WSOP $10k Six Handed NL Hold’em Championship $406,261.
Polk relies on his successful resume when coaching other players and releasing training videos. He’s also an avid YouTuber and Twitch streamer.
Known as “The Grinder” because he never gives up in a tournament, Michael Mizrachi’s never quit attitude has earned him over $15.3 million in live tourneys.
His first big score came in the 2005 WPT L.A. Poker Classic Main Event, where he finished first and collected $1,859,909. Mizrachi quickly added another WPT title in the 2006 Borgata Winter Open$1.17m.
Other big cashes for Mizrachi include: first in the 2010 WSOP $50k Players Championship $1.56m, fifth in the 2010 WSOP Main Event $2.33m, and fifth in the 2012 WSOP $50k Players Championship$1.45m.
Scott Seiver is another tournament player who consistently finds his way to the GPI’s top ranks. He kicked off his successful career by winning a 2008 WSOP $5k NL hold’em event along with$755,891.
Other impressive cashes by Seiver include: first in the 2011 Five Star World Poker Classic $1.62m, first in the 2012 PartyPoker Premier League V $500,000, first in the 2013 PCA $100k Super HighRoller $2m, second in the 2013 WPT Alpha8 London £509,600, and second in the 2014 EPT Grand Final €25k High Roller €509,600.
At the time of this writing, Seiver ranks sixth all time with over $21.7 million in live cashes.
Having accumulated over $11.83 million in live winnings, Vanessa Selbst is regarded as the best female poker player of all time.
She’s one of the top poker players period and has many notable cashes to back this up.
Some of Selbst’s career highlights include: winning a 2008 WSOP $1.5k PLO event $227,933, taking first in a 2010 NAPT Mohegan Sun tourney $750,000, first in the 2010 Partouche Poker Tour MainEvent €1.3m, first in the 2011 NAPT Mohegan Sun $450,000, first in a 2012 WSOP Six Handed 10 Game tourney $244,259, first in a 2013 PCA High Roller $1.41m, and first in a 2015 Super High RollerCelebrity Shootout $1m.
In addition to her poker acumen, Selbst is also a civil rights lawyer and graduate of the Yale School of Law.
Although he’s been a successful poker player for a while, David Peters has really come on recently, earning $2.93 million in 2014 and $6.85 million in 2015.
Some of the Toronto’s big recent scores include: first in the 2015 EPT Malta €10k High Roller €597,000, fifth in the 2015 $500k Super High Roller Bowl $1.5m, second in the 2016 WPTN Philippines$200k High Roller $2.3m, and first in the 2016 Asia Championships of Poker High Roller $629,868.
Once regarded as the best all-around poker player in the world, Phil Ivey’s image has taken a hit in recent years.
The reason why Ivey’s reputation dropped is because he’s lost $8.7 million in online poker since Black Friday Apr 15, 2011. But Ivey was such a big winner before this that he still has $10.4million in overall online profits.
Add in the fact that he’s currently sixth all time in live tournament winnings with $23.86 million, and it’s not hard to still see him among the top 20 players.
Nevertheless, with Ivey concentrating on business interests these days, his game has slipped from its once dominant form.
While John Juanda started playing live tournaments in the mid-1990s, he didn’t experience any big successes until the early 2000s.
One of his most notable wins includes taking down the 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event and earning £868,800.
Other big scores for Juanda include: second in the 2010 UKIPT London Main Event £545,000, third in the 2012 WPT World Championship $100k High Roller $526,320, fifth in the 2012 Macau High StakesChallenge $1.65m, second in the 2012 WSOP Europe €50k High Roller €600,000, and first in the 2015 EPT Barcelona Main Event €1m.
Aside from earning over $18.8 million in live tournaments, Juanda is also a very good cash player and has played everywhere from Vegas to Macau.
Playing under the screen names ‘Kanu7’ and ‘IReadYrSoul,’ England’s Alexander Millar is one of the biggest online poker winners ever with $4.5 million in profits.
Online Poker Player Lookup
Millar had an incredible run from 2011 to 2013, where he made over $4 million. His play has slowed since then, but Millar remains one of the most feared players in the online nosebleeds.
Another Brit on this list, Sam Trickett had a budding soccer football career before hurting his knee. With little to do because of his ailing knee, Trickett picked up poker and the rest ishistory.
In 2010, Trickett began playing rich businessmen in lucrative Macau based cash games. In an interview, he revealed that he won over £1 million in these games.
But this was nothing compared to what Trickett would do on the live tournament scene in 2011. His biggest 2011 scores include: first in the Aussie Millions $100k High Roller $1.51m, second in theAussie Millions $250k High Roller $1.38m, and first in the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event €1m.
Trickett would follow this up by taking second in the 2012 WSOP $1 million Big One for One Drop and earning $10,112,001. In all, he has almost $20.6 million in live tournament earnings.
Hailing from Toronto, Justin Bonomo quickly experienced online success in the mid-2000s. At one point, he was the youngest poker player to be featured at a final table, playing in the 2015 EPTDeauville finals at age 19.
Bonomo has stayed on top of his game ever since, tallying a number of big cashes on his way to over $12.8 million in live tournament winnings.
Bonomo’s biggest scores include: fifth in the 2009 WSOP $40k 40th Anniversary event $413,165, first in the 2012 EPT Grand Final €100k Super High Roller €1.64m, second in the 2013 SHRPO Main Event$1.16m, fourth in the 2015 Aussie Millions $100k High Roller $632,111, second in the 2016 Super High Roller 8 $558,782, and second in the 2016 WSOP $50k Poker Players Championship $801,048.
Chris Moorman is the best online poker tournament player in the world, amassing a record $13,751,801 at the time of this writing.
Moorman is also has 25 triple crowns, which involves winning three online multi table tournaments with at least a $10k prize pool in a seven day span.
While the Brit dedicates the bulk of his time towards online tourneys, Moorman has also experienced success in the live realm too. He finished second in the 2011 WSOP Europe Main Event €800,000,first in the 2014 L.A. Poker Classic $1m, and third in the 2016 ESPT Barcelona Main Event €241,300.
Steve O’Dwyer’s poker career started off modestly in the mid-2000s, but it’s really picked up over the last several years.
His first big time cash came when he took second in the 2011 UKIPT London Main Event £465,000. He also won the prestigious 2013 EPT Grand Final Main Event along with €1,224,000.
The top moment of O’Dwyer’s poker career came when he won the 2014 Asia Championship of Poker $1.81m in November 2014, followed by victory in the PCA $100k Super High Roller $1.87m in January2015.
Since 2013, O’Dwyer has earned between $2.4 million and $4.8 million every year on the tournament circuit. In all, he has $15.93 million in career winnings.
Phil Galfond is one of the original online poker greats, having battled against the likes of Ivey, Cates, Antonious, and Tom Dwan in high stakes action. Galfond has over $8 million in online cashgame profits throughout his career.
What makes Galfond special beyond his results is that he’s also one of the prominent instructors for training videos.
Galfond’s training videos at Blue Fire Poker offered some of the most innovative strategy that the poker world had ever seen. He eventually left Blue Fire and started his own trainingsite called Run It Once.
The only reason that Galfond isn’t higher on this list is because he doesn’t play as much anymore.
Along with Holz, Ole Schemion is one of several Germans who’ve experienced massive poker success thanks to a heavy mathematical approach.
Online Poker Player Rankings
Schemion’s knowledge of poker math and other strategy has helped him build over $11.4 million in live tournament winnings.
Schemion has won the 2012 Partouche Poker Tour Main Event €1.72m, 2014 Aria $100k Super High Roller $1.1m, and 2016 EPT Grand Final €100k High Roller €1.6m, while he’s taken second in the 2016EPT Grand Final €50k High Roller €857,241, and 2015 Aussie Millions $100k High Roller $1.1m.
Michael McDonald experienced poker success at a very young age, winning the 2008 EPT Dortmund Main Event €933,600 at age 18. The Canadian has proven that this wasn’t just a fluke either, earningover $13 million in his career.
The greatest stretch of McDonald’s career came when he took second in the 2014 PCA Main Event $1m, finished second in the 2014 Aussie Millions $100k Challenge $1.34m, and finished third in theAussie Millions $250k High Roller $1.7m — all within a two month span.
While Antonio Esfandiari is known for many things in the poker world, his biggest accomplishment includes winning the 2014 WSOP $1 million Big One for One Drop along with $18,346,673.
But as his $27.35 million in career winnings suggest, Esfandiari is more than just somebody who won big in a single event.
Other highlights for Esfandiari include: finishing first in the 2004 L.A. Poker Classic $1.4m, first in the 2010 Five Diamond World Poker Classic $870,124, fourth in the 2014 WSOP $111,111 HighRoller for One Drop $1.43m, and fourth in the 2014 PCA $100k High Roller $575,920.
Known as “The Magician,” Esfandiari has also made several mainstream TV appearances, including I Bet You, Entourage, Freelancers, and Underground Poker.
Jonathan Duhamel went from a little known grinder to a famous pro after winning the 2010 WSOP Main Event and $8,944,310. And unlike many players who got a jumpstart from the WSOP Main Event,Duhamel has shown longevity in poker.
Since winning the 2010 Main Event, Duhamel has managed the following notable cashes: second in the 2012 PCA $25k High Roller $634,550, first in the 2015 WSOP $111,111 High Roller for One Drop$4m, and first in the 2015 WSOP Europe €25k High Roller €554,395.
When Viktor Blom burst onto the internet high stakes scene in 2009, he baffled the world’s greatest players en route to over $5.5 million in profits.
Times have been tougher for Blom and he’s gone through a number of wild bankroll swings since then. Nevertheless, Blom has never stopped grinding against top online pros over his career.
Despite being a lifetime loser, I believe that all of the Swede’s upswings show he belongs among the world’s best players.
Starting her adult life as a model and lead singer in a rock / goth band, Liv Boeree switched gears when she was selected for the TV show UltimatePoker.com Showdown. She didn’t win theshow, but it kick started her love of poker.
In 2010, she won the EPT Sanremo Main Event and €1,250,000. Boeree also took third in the 2015 EPT Barcelona €25k High Roller €391,000.
Aside from her poker exploits, Boeree has also appeared on mainstream TV shows like Codex, Golden Balls, BBC Breakfast, Mind Control Freaks, and I Bet MyLife.
This list represents who I see as the world’s top poker players based on their results, current skills, and longevity.
But the poker world never stays still, and new players are always rising up to join the best.
The list that you see here will change greatly over the next 5 to 10 years, and it’ll be interesting to see the new faces.
Of course, we can also expect a number of the players featured here to continue their success while adding more winnings and accomplishments.