Over the years, hundreds of talented poker players have come and gone, but only an elite few have developed a poker strategy that has survived at the very top and can be considered the best poker players to ever play the game.
While it is impossible to say with certainty who the best poker player in the world is, there is certainly a group of players who are well worth considering for the title.
We have looked at every metric possible to isolate the top ten best poker players out there, ranging from live cash game players to tournament pros and online crushers.
With numbers and statistics current as of March 2024, this is our list of the best poker players in the world.
#1 – Phil Ivey
- Age: 47
- Nickname: No Home Jerome
- Specialty: High-stakes cash games
- Live Tournament Winnings: $41 Million
Phil Ivey is an absolute legend of the game and is widely considered to be the best overall poker player in the world.
Dating back to the 1990s, Phil Ivey has been dominating poker in its various forms, ranging from cash games to tournaments and from No Limit Texas Hold’em to Limit Mixed Games.
Ivey has won 10 WSOP bracelets and accumulated over $40 million in tournament winnings, even while barely playing any tournaments for the better part of the last decade.
Away from the tournament tables, Phil is known as a proficient gambler who has won millions, finding an edge in every type of gambling there is.
Ivey is a regular in the biggest cash games in the world and a staple of the prestigious Triton Poker Tour, where he continues to win titles and big money on a regular basis.
No Home Jerome, as he is often called since his early days in poker, continues to battle it out with the best players in the world despite being considered an “old school player.”
Ivey’s game and approach have changed over the years, but his incredible charisma and talent for sniffing out what his opponents are thinking continue to make Phil Ivey one of the most feared poker players on the planet.
If you want to talk about the best poker players in the world, no conversation can be had without “Tiger Woods of Poker” being mentioned.
#2 – Daniel Negreanu
- Age: 49
- Nickname: Kid Poker
- Specialty: Live poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $52 Million
Canadian poker player of Romanian descent, Daniel Negreanu, is widely recognized as one of the best poker players in the world by his peers and fans alike.
Daniel came up in poker even before the Poker Boom and was in the right place at the right time when the game exploded, making him an international superstar.
Negreanu has won six WSOP bracelets and two WPT titles, along with countless other poker tournaments, including the Super High Roller Bowl in 2022, while also coming second in the Big One for One Drop in 2014 for over $8 million.
His claim to glory comes from his longevity in the poker world, where he has been a household name for over three decades, seeing generations of players come and go along the way.
Daniel was one of the most dominant players in the world during the days of the Poker Boom and has remained near the top throughout the years.
While competition has gotten tougher, he was able to stay relevant by adopting new strategies and accepting that a new approach might be needed to beat the very best players of the new generation.
While he has adopted some GTO poker concepts into his game, Daniel remains one of the best at exploiting his opponents’ weaknesses and making the right read at the right time.
#3 – Andrew Robl
- Age: 37
- Nickname: good2cu
- Specialty: High-stakes cash games
- Live Tournament Winnings: $5.6 Million
Easily, one of the most underrated players in the world who deserves a place close to the very top of this list is Andrew Robl.
His limited success in tournament poker comes from the fact he has seldom played tournaments, with cash games being the primary focus of his poker career.
According to available data, Robl has won more than $5 million in his televised cash game appearances alone, good for an incredible $35,000 per hour of playtime.
What’s even more, the rumors have it that this number is a drop in the bucket for the American super-pro, who seems to frequent games with stakes much higher than those he plays on TV.
His aggressive style, ability to make any bluff for any amount of money, and willingness to look people up with slim holdings when he believes he is ahead have made him a feared opponent in any game.
Andrew may be one of the nicest guys you will meet at the poker table, but he plays poker viciously and relentlessly, running over competition time and time again.
While his overall results will forever remain a mystery thanks to the secretive nature of cash game poker, it is clear that Andrew Robl is one of the biggest cash game winners in the world, making him worthy of a place on this list.
#4 – Jason Koon
- Age: 39
- Nickname: NovaSky
- Specialty: High roller tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $55 Million
Jason Koon is one of the best tournament specialists in the world, although his prowess in deep stack cash games is also quite legendary.
Throughout his career, Koon has won more than $55 million playing some of the biggest and toughest poker tournaments around.
He’s won a record ten titles at the prestigious Triton Poker Series, where he constantly competes against the very best tournament players out there.
His achievements in the Series have allowed him to be named Triton Poker Ambassador, demonstrating his elite status in the poker community.
Koon’s consistency as one of the biggest winners on the tournament circuit has earned him a spot on our list of the best poker players in the world, with achievements spanning across different continents and game types.
#5 – Isaac Haxton
- Age: 39
- Nickname: Ike
- Specialty: High-stakes poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $47 Million
Isaac Haxton is a player whose success on the tournament circuit puts him in the poker elite circles despite his lack of high numbers of WSOP and WPT titles.
Instead of those, Ike has been a consistent winner in the biggest buyin tournaments in the world, even conquering the legendary Super High Roller Bowl two times, winning more than six million dollars in those two events alone.
Along with those victories, Haxton has come away as the champion in countless other high-roller events, solidifying his spot as one of the best tournament players around.
Isaac is a part of the new generation of players who base their game on GTO strategies and solver outputs, and he has taken this approach to a new level.
His analytical skills, combined with his ability to pull the trigger in any spot, have made Isaac Haxton one of the most feared players at the tournament felt.
#6 – Tom Dwan
- Age: 38
- Nickname: durrrr
- Specialty: High-stakes cash games
- Live Tournament Winnings: $6 Million
Another player whose tournament results don’t quite reflect his poker skillset is Tom “durrrr” Dwan, whose renown in the poker world comes almost exclusively from his cash game exploits.
The biggest winner in televised cash game history, Tom came up as a young online phenom during the days of the Poker Boom and has remained relevant to this day.
A regular in the Triton Poker Series and the highest cash games in the world, Tom has won millions of dollars playing against both seasoned pros and wealthy businessmen in the Far East and Las Vegas alike.
Tom’s TV appearances are a thing of legend, as he has continually put up a show for his fans and played some incredible hands of poker with millions on the line on live TV.
These days, Tom only plays in games that he believes are good value for him, which is why you won’t see him playing tournaments or random cash games with “low stakes.”
Dwan’s ability to survive the swings and keep playing the biggest cash games around demonstrates his incredible skillset that makes him one of the best poker players who have ever lived.
#7 – Patrik Antonius
- Age: 43
- Nickname: PA
- Specialty: High-stakes cash games
- Live Tournament Winnings: $17 Million
Yet another player who has achieved most of his poker success in cash games, Patrik Antonius, is a somewhat mysterious character and one of the most-liked players in the poker community.
A consistent winner in cash games at the highest stakes, Patrik has made a career out of being a likable character who gains access to the best games around and crushes the souls of his opponents with a smile on his face.
A master of hiding emotions and keeping a poker face, the Finn has an incredible talent for always keeping his opponents guessing and tiptoeing around him.
Much like Dwan and Robl, Patrik has earned a spot on our list of the best poker players with his ability to stay relevant for decades and beat the biggest games in town over extended periods and through downswings and upswings alike.
#8 – Erik Seidel
- Age: 64
- Nickname: Seiborg
- Specialty: High-stakes poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $45 Million
A part of poker’s “old guard,” Erik Seidel remains one of the few players from his generation who is still able to compete with the young guns.
A ten-time WSOP champion, Seidel has made 51 final tables at the Series and even came second in the Main Event back in 1988.
Since then, Erik has been able to compete at the highest level of tournament poker without any breaks, regularly winning events across different stakes, including high-roller tournaments.
His tenth WSOP bracelet was won as recently as 2023, as he showed everyone he still has what it takes to compete with anyone in the world.
Much like the late Doyle Brunson, Erik seems to be intent on playing poker as long as he possibly can and is showing no signs of slowing down with age.
The Poker Hall of Famer has earned his spot on the list of poker’s best players both with his wins and his longevity, and will likely be remembered as one of the best for decades to come.
#9 – Bryn Kenney
- Age: 37
- Nickname: Bryn
- Specialty: High-stakes poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $65 Million
Holding the title of the biggest winner in live poker tournaments ever, Bryn Kenney must be considered one of the best poker players in the world despite the controversy that has arisen surrounding his potential involvement in an online poker cheating scheme.
Whether or not those allegations are true, Kenney has proven time and time again that he is one of the best No Limit Hold’em tournament players in the world.
Having won more than $65 million in live poker tournaments over his career, Bryn still has decades left to prove his worth and truly put his name in the poker history books.
While Kenney’s NLH skills are undisputable, he will need to prove himself in other poker games if he is to truly earn the title of the best player in the world at some point in his career.
#10 – Phil Hellmuth
- Age: 59
- Nickname: The Poker Brat
- Specialty: Poker tournaments
- Live Tournament Winnings: $30 Million
If you asked Hellmuth who the best poker player in the world was, he would no doubt say it was him! While this may not be entirely true, he certainly deserves a mention as one of the best poker players out there.
A holder of countless records in poker, including the one for most WSOP bracelets won (with 17), Hellmuth has managed to beat tournament poker with incredible consistency for decades.
Phil has won close to $30 million in tournament poker over the years, despite playing fewer high-stakes events than many of his peers.
While his appearances in televised cash games have not been as successful as he often likes to portray, Phil Hellmuth’s ability to outplay his opponents in tournaments, which he refers to as “white magic,” easily gives him a spot on any list of the best poker players in the world, including this one.
If you want to keep exploring this topic, take a look at our list of the best female poker players.
