The most famous poker players are now very much poker celebrities and household names if you know anything about poker and gambling. If you ever wondered who the most popular player is, who has won the most WSOP bracelets, and who has had the biggest ever cashout in a tournament, then this page will tell you all that and more, as well as show you some players to follow to help you learn poker strategy.
Top 15 List of Famous Poker Players
Daniel Negreanu – Has over a million social media followers
Bryn Kenny – More live tournament winnings than any other player
Phil Ivey – A living legend of the poker world
Jason Koon – Live tournament winnings north of $66 million
Stephen Chidwick – Highest-earning British poker player
Justin Bonomo – World-famous poker player once cashed for $10 million
Mikita Bodyakovsky – Landed $7.1 million in one hand in 2023
Adrian Mateos – One of the youngest-ever WSOP bracelet winners
Isaac Haxton – Cashed $861,789 in his very first live tournament
Dan Smith – Finished in the money in 23 WSOP events
Vanessa Selbst – Almost $12 million in tournament winnings
Kristen Foxen – First female player to win a fourth WSOP bracelet
Kathy Liebert – Women in Poker Hall of Famer from 2010
Maria Ho – Stunning record of 80 cashes at WSOP events
Annie Duke – Over $4 million in live tournament winnings
Top 15 Most Famous Poker Players of All Time
Here’s our top 15 list of the most famous poker players out there. Poker has been largely dominated by male players, but there are also some very famous female top-ranked poker players. Our list is split into the top 10 males and the top 5 females who play live poker and at the best poker sites online.
Top 10 Most Famous Poker Players – Men’s Category
Here are our top male professional poker players based on popularity, not just a list of the most famous poker players of all time or those based on lifetime poker earnings.
1. Bryn Kenney – BKD
Nationality: American
Date of Birth: November 1, 1986
WSOP Bracelets: 1
Social Media Followers: 54k+
Biggest Cash: $20,563,324
New York-born Bryn Kenney won his first WSOP bracelet in 2014 when he landed the $1,500 10-Game Mix Six-Handed event, pocketing $153,220. In 2019, Kenney, the bald poker player, took out the largest single payout in live tournament poker history despite finishing second to Aaron Zang in the Triton Million for Charity Event. Kenney agreed to a prize-splitting deal with Zang when the pair entered the heads-up stage, at which point Kenney held a 5:1 chip lead.
Kenney currently sits first in the 2025 Hendon Mob All-Time Money List with tournament winnings of over $77 million.
Watch Bryn Kenney take a High Stakes Hand Against Tom Dwan
Bryn Kenney and Tom Dwan square off in a big pot on Season 9 of High Stakes Poker inside the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas.
2. Stephen Chidwick – stevie444 or TylersDad64
Nationality: England
Date of Birth: May 10, 1989
WSOP Bracelets: 1
Social Media Followers: N/A
Biggest Cash: $5,368,947
Stephen Chidwick is a British-born poker player with a WSOP bracelet and a US Open title on his CV. Chidwick has amassed over $68 million in winnings (second in Hendon Mob all-time money list at time of writing) since his first major cash in 2008.
His biggest cash came in 2019 when a fourth-placed finish in the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in London earned him a monster $5,368,947, making him one of the top ten poker players in the world.
Stephen Chidwick Poker Strategy – Poker Master Class at 2023 Poker Masters!
Watch Stephen close out against some of the best in Las Vegas.
3. Jason Koon – JAKoon1985
Nationality: USA
Date of Birth: August 14, 1985
WSOP Bracelets: 2
Social Media Followers: 85,000
Biggest Cash: $3,579,836
Jason Koon is one of the most celebrated high‑stakes poker professionals in the world.
Koons’ live tournament earnings exceed $66 million, placing him in the top 3 on the all‑time money list. He’s a multiple WSOP bracelet winner, including $25K Heads-Up (2021) and $50K High Roller (2025).
Koon is renowned for his analytical, game-theory approach, and he often shares breakdowns of his thought process in high-pressure situations.
He has served as an Ambassador for Triton Poker, GGPoker Integrity, and, more recently, as a Team PokerStars Pro.
Jason Koon Plays Poker on a Different Level!
Jason Koon shows why he is one of the best tournament players in the world with this great read at the 2018 U.S. Poker Open in Las Vegas.
4. Justin Bonomo – ZeeJustin
Nationality: American
Date of Birth: September 30, 1985
WSOP Bracelets: 3
Social Media Followers: 65k+
Biggest Cash: $10,000,000
Justin Bonomo ranks second on the all-time poker money list with over $64 million in tournament earnings. In 2005, a 9-year-old Bonomo became the youngest player to feature at the final table of the Magic: The Gathering.
Bonomo has 55 cashes to his name at the WSOP, three bracelets, and one circuit ring. His biggest payday came in 2018 when he collected $10,000,000 for winning the $1,000,000 One Drop event. It was a victory that, albeit only temporarily, catapulted him to number one in the all-time live tournament money list and cemented his position as one of the top professional poker players.
Justin Bonomo Poker Strategy – 2023 Poker Masters with $333,000 on the line
Justin Bonomo Faces All-In bluff from Daniel Rezaei
5. Mikita Bodyakovsky – fish2013
Nationality: Belarusian
Date of Birth: February 6, 1992
WSOP Bracelets: 1
Social Media Followers: 16,000
Biggest Cash: $7,114,500
Mikita Bodyakovsky is a Belarusian high-stakes poker player who has taken out one of the biggest-ever cash prizes when he took home $7.1 million in the $1M buy‑in WPT Big One for One Drop at Wynn Las Vegas in 2023.
At just 33 years of age, Bodyakovsky’s ascent through the poker ranks has been rapid, and he’s already amassed around $63 million in career earnings. Calm under pressure and armed with razor-sharp strategy, he’s not only Belarus’s top earner but also one of the globe’s most respected professionals.
Everything You Need to Know About Mikita Bodyakovsky and Highlights of His Best Poker Play Moments.
Take a look at some of Mikita’s career highlights!
6. Dan Smith – King Dan
Nationality: USA
Date of Birth: February 23, 1989
WSOP Bracelets: 1
Social Media Followers: 63,000
Biggest Cash: $8.5 million
Dan Smith’s largest ever live tournament cash came when he finished third at the £1,050,000 buy‑in Triton Million for Charity held in London in August 2019. He collected a staggering USD 8.5 million, more than double the $4 million he collected for filling the same spot in the 2018 WSOP $1 M Big One for One Drop.
New Jersey-born Smith was originally a chess prodigy before transitioning to poker full-time at 18. He (only) has one WSOP bracelet – so far – but he’s been in the money a remarkable 23 times, which is why his career earnings from live tournaments already exceed $60 million.
Watch Dan Smith in a series – The player who could not lose!
A great example of Dan Smith’s fearlessness at the table.
7. Daniel Negreanu – Kid Poker
Nationality: Canadian
Date of Birth: July 26, 1974
WSOP Bracelets: 7 (seven)
Social Media Followers: 1.3+ million
Biggest Cash: $8,288,001 (2014 WSOP)
With a prize money stash that currently sits north of $52 million, Daniel ‘Kid Poker’ Negreanu is one of the most successful poker players in poker history, and arguably the greatest poker player ever. He has seven WSOP Bracelets, two WPT championship titles, and a remarkable 271 cashes at the world’s biggest poker event, more than any other player.
While Negreanu’s net worth is reported to be in the region of $70 million, it might be much higher as he excels in high-stakes cash games and has always been sponsored by at least one poker company – he currently has an ambassadorial role at GG Poker.
Toronto-born Negreanu is also the only player ever to have been named WSOP Player of the Year more than once, and in 2014, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, putting him at the pinnacle of our list of famous poker players.
Daniel Negreanu – Greatest Poker Moments
Daniel Negreanu’s uncanny skill at reading poker minds.
8. Adrian Mateos – Amadi_17
Nationality: Spain
Date of Birth: July 1, 1994
WSOP Bracelets: 4
Social Media Followers: 80k+
Biggest Cash: $3,265,362
Adrian Mateos is one of the youngest-ever bracelet winners, having won the $1 million WSOP Main Event in 2013. That same year, he also won the Estrellas Poker Tour in Madrid.
Since then, the 30-year-old has amassed more than $48 million in live tournament winnings, ranking him 9th on the all-time live tournament money list. Mateos was regarded by many as the best poker player under the age of 30.
Adrian Mateos Poker Strategy – Exhibition stuff from Mateos in Cyprus
Mateos shows why he is one of the best at the 2024 Super High Roller Series.
9. Isaac Haxton – The Lizard King
Nationality: USA
Date of Birth: September 6, 1985
WSOP Bracelets: 1
Social Media Followers: Less than 1,000
Biggest Cash: $3,672,000
New York-born Isaac Haxton is widely regarded as one of the most formidable players in both live high-roller tournaments and online poker cash games.
Gifted as a youngster, Haxton studied Computer Science (later Philosophy) at Brown University, taking a break to pursue poker while maintaining academic support from his family.
In 2007, he cashed in his first tournament at the WPT Championship, finishing runner-up and picking up $861,789. Since then, he’s gone on to amass more than $50 million in career earnings, marking him down as one of the highest-earning players of all time – and he’s only 39!
Watch Isaac Haxton Strike in the Super High Roller
Haxton takes out a monster pot in Las Vegas.
10. Phil Ivey – Tiger Woods of Poker
Nationality: USA (California)
Date of Birth: Feb 1, 1977
WSOP Bracelets: 11
Social Media Followers: 620,000+
Biggest Cash: $16 million
Phil Ivey is one of Poker’s all-time legends. The ‘Tiger Woods of Poker’ has been one of the top 10 poker players for several decades and is famed for his iconic ice-cold stare.
Ivey, whose net worth is an estimated $125 million, has won 10 WSOP bracelets, which is bettered only by Phil Hellmuth. In 2017, Ivey was voted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
In 2006, Ivey famously won over $16,000,000 over three days, during a heads-up match with Texas billionaire Andy Beal at The Wynn Resort.
Phil Ivey Poker Strategy – The Big Bluff
Ivey Hits QUADS in the 2024, $2,500,000 Triton Poker High Stakes Final Table.
Top 5 Most Famous Poker Players – Women’s Category
Now, let’s look at the most famous female poker players based on popularity.
1. Vanessa Selbst – V.Selbst
Nationality: USA
Date of Birth: July 9, 1984
WSOP Bracelets: 3
Social Media Followers: N/A
Biggest Cash: $1.4 million
The biggest name in women’s poker is Vanessa Selbst, the only woman ever to be ranked number one in the Global Poker Index. Selbst is also the only woman to win three bracelets in open fields, and in 2022, she was inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame.
New York-born Selbst became the highest-earning female poker player in 2013 when she won the PCA high roller for $1.4 million. Her career tournament winnings stand at just under $12 million.
Vanessa Selbst Poker Strategy – Greatest Poker Moments
Watch Vanessa Selbst’s best moments at live tables.
2. Kristen Foxen – krissyb24 or krissy24
Nationality: Canada
Date of Birth: December 29, 1986
WSOP Bracelets: 5
Social Media Followers: 35k+
Biggest Cash: $600,000
Canadian-born Kristen Fox has been playing poker online since 2006, and in 2011, she hit Supernova Elite on PokerStars, a feat which earned her the nickname ‘Ultimate Grinder’, given she was required to play circa 2.5 million hands per year to reach that level. In 2016, she won $290,768 for winning a No-Limit hold ’em bounty event, and later that year, she signed with Partypoker.
In 2023, Fox became the first female player to win a fourth WSOP bracelet, and her live tournament winnings exceed $7 million.
Kristen Foxen Poker Strategy – Watch Foxen’s huge comeback run
Fox hits a hot streak at the 2024 PokerGO Cup in Las Vegas.
3. Kathy Leibert – PokerKat
Nationality: USA
Date of Birth: October 1, 1967
WSOP Bracelets: 1
Social Media Followers: N/A
Biggest Cash: $1 million
Tennessee-born Kat Liebert won her first Party Poker Million event in 2002, the first limit poker tournament with a $1 million bounty. Liebert’s sole bracelet win came in 2004 when she was one of three women to win an open event at that year’s WSOP. Her live tournament winnings sit at more than $6.5 million, and, having been inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in 2010, she was recently nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame.
Kathy Liebert Poker Strategy – Big hand at Shooting Star Final Table
Watch Kathy Liebert battle it out for a share of the $3,714,500 at the WPT Global.
4. Maria Ho – Femme on Felt
Nationality: Taiwan
Date of Birth: March 6, 1983
WSOP Bracelets: 0
Social Media Followers: 340k+
Biggest Cash: $540,020,000
Taiwanese-American Maria Ho is widely regarded as one of the best poker players in the world. A Women in Poker Hall of Famer, the 41-year-old has won more than $5 million playing live tournaments. Whilst she doesn’t have a bracelet to her name, she has a colossal record of 80 cashes at WSOP events as well as 8 WSOP final table appearances. Ho is now more recognized as a television host/commentator for CBS Sports, ESPN, and Amazon eSports. In 2019, she won the Global Poker Award for Broadcaster of the Year.
Maria Ho Poker Strategy – Ho owns Phil Hellmuth & Phil Laak
Ho hits QUAD fours in Las Vegas in 2015.
5. Annie Duke – The Duchess of Poker
Nationality: USA
Date of Birth: September 13, 1965
WSOP Bracelets: 1
Social Media Followers: 103k+
Biggest Cash: $300,000
Former professional poker player Annie Duke is also an author and speaker who received a National Science Foundation Fellowship and completed her PhD in 2023. On the table, Duke’s live tournament winnings top $4 million. Her 39 cashes at WSOP events earned her almost $1.16 million, and only three women sit above her in the list of women’s all-time live tournament winnings.
Annie Duke Poker Strategy – Duke vs Negreanu at WSOP
Duke headlines the feature table on day 3 of the WSOP Main Event in 2006.
Who is the Greatest Poker Player of All Time?
A handful of players can lay claim to being the best poker player of all time, but the outstanding candidate is Phil Ivey. The legendary Ivey has proved himself capable of crushing different types of poker, including mixed games, super high-stakes cash games, and high-roller tournaments like no one else.
Ivey has 10 WSOP bracelets and has live tournament earnings of over $46 million, without mentioning the likely tens of millions of dollars playing the biggest cash games around.
Famous Old Poker Players?
We could not have a page about famous poker players without mentioning the man who is rightly revered as one of the greatest poker pros ever, and that man is Doyle Brunson.
Brunson paved the way for many in this sport, and was, and always will be, one of the best to ever grace the green baize of a poker table.
Born in Longworth, Texas, in 1933, Brunson passed away in 2023 at the ripe old age of 89. His final throw of the dice was when he finished 6th in a $10,000 WSOP tournament on the day he retired from the game on June 11th, 2018.
He was the very first player to reach $1,000,000 in poker tournament winnings. He was a two-time winner of the WSOP, and rightly so, was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Who are the Best Poker Players in the World Today by Earnings?
Below, we’ve broken down the key details of the top ten players in the world by earnings.
Poker Player
All Time Earnings
No. of Tournament Wins
WSOP Final Tables
WSOP Total Cashes
WSOP Largest Cash
Bryn Kenney
$77,359,286
34
10
50
$20,563,324
Stephen Chidwick
$68,003,696
47
20
80
$5,368,947
Jason Koon
$66,082,382
34
15
63
$3,579,836
Justin Bonomo
$65,611,097
36
18
71
$10,000,000
Mikita Bodyakovsky
$63,064,844
23
9
29
$7,114,500
Dan Smith
$60,421,589
32
15
75
$370,000
Daniel Negreanu
$56,580,433
49
58
263
$1,178,070
Adrian Mateos
$53,871,212
27
15
65
$3,265,362
Isaac Haxton
$53,348,627
19
12
47
$1,698,215
Phil Ivey
$51,306,484
36
51
158
$2,472,555
What are the Current World Poker Tour Rankings?
Here are the current 2025 WPT rankings, as of June 26, 2025.
Poker Player
WPT Earnings
No. of Cashes
No. of Titles
Art Peacock
$776,000
1
1
Mihai Niste
$515,000
1
0
Artem Vezhenkov
$390,650
1
1
Daniel Marcus
$380,000
1
0
Mike Vanier
$376,500
2
1
Conclusion
The rise in poker popularity has been fairly meteoric in the last couple of decades. There have never been so many tournaments, as much prize money, and as much TV coverage. For most, poker is a fun pastime, but it can also be lucrative if you are willing to learn from the world’s best poker players and poker streamers, many of whom have been mentioned above.
A great example of what is possible for budding poker players is the rise of Tony G (Antanas Guoga), a former politician in his native Lithuania. Since switching careers and now known as one of the best high-stakes poker players, Tony has won more than $11 million from playing in live tournaments while also building a poker network and platform at CoinPoker.
Poker Guides
If you want to try your hand at playing poker, then the guides below will help you learn all you need to know to get started.
There are stacks of online poker learning resources, but the ultimate avenue for learning the game is watching the world’s richest poker players. There are thousands of YouTube videos available.
Is it easy to qualify for the WSOP in Las Vegas?
Easy might be stretching it, but the simplest way is to try and qualify via one of the hundreds of satellite events on offer for as little as $1.
How much money does a poker player make from tournament winnings?
Players will have to pay expenses like entrance fees, hotel and travel costs, and also income tax on any winnings.
What is the richest and biggest poker tournament in the world?
In 2024, the most valuable poker tournament was the WSOP Main Event, with a prize pool of over $94 million.
Who is the best poker player in the United States?
In terms of tournament winnings, Bryn Kenney currently sits at the top of the pile, with earnings from live events alone of more than $67 million.
Responsible Gambling
Like any form of gambling, playing poker carries risk. With that in mind, it’s crucial that you play within your means and don’t chase losses. If you would like more information about what responsible gambling options are available in the US, then head to our responsible gambling page. You can also use the links below for further support.
The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the gambling and blockchain industries for major developments, new product and brand launches, game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to in-house staff writers with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.
Gavin is an expert gambling writer who works as one of the chief content producers for ReadWrite since 2024. He has been covering online gambling and sports betting for over 15 years, having written for the Racing Post, Oddschecker.com, Gambling.com and others. Now based in London, Gavin is a big sports fan, particularly when it comes to horse racing, soccer and cricket, and is also a keen frequenter of the Sheephaven Bay in Camden.
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