In the 19th century, in North America poker was all the rage. The Americans derived the name and game from the French game Poque, as this is the closest European predecessor noted in history. It became immensely popular, and today, millions of people worldwide play it as a fun pastime.
However, poker is more than just a pastime game. Many have gained professional careers from the game. Over the years, legendary figures have graced the poker world. They took the game to new heights with exceptional skills, achievements, and personalities.
Here are the best 5 poker players of all time.
1. Bryn Kenney
The Long Beach, New York born Bryn Kenney is a well-known professional poker player. He transitioned to poker from a gaming career on Magic: The Gathering Arena. Kenney made his first major live cash debut in 2007 at the East Coast Poker Championships.
In the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Bryn recorded a major cash win in the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em – Six Handed event, finishing 8th for $141,168. He followed that milestone with a 28th-place finish in the Main Event, bagging $255,242.
The following year, Bryn recorded a massive cash win at the time, making a 3rd place finish. It was the $100,000 No Limit Hold’em – Super High Roller Event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure with a pool of $643,000.
In 2016, Bryn defeated Joe McKeehen, the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event champion. Besides being an active player, he has been involved in making poker games accessible online by launching an online poker gaming platform.
2. Justin Bonomo
Known as ZeeJustin, Justin Bonomo is a high-stakes professional poker player who bagged an outstanding achievement early in his career. Like Bryn Kenney, Justin Bonomo transitioned from a gaming career on Magic: The Gathering Arena.
At 19 years old, Justin was the youngest poker player to feature in a televised final table On February 19, 2005. This historic achievement occurred at the inaugural European Poker Tour (EPT) French Open in Deauville, France, where he secured a fourth-place finish.
Since then, he has continued to improve his strategy and gameplay. Today, he has more than $63,000,000 of live tournament earnings. This places him among the highest-earning live tournament players of all time.
Justin’s record at the WSOP is 55 cashes, nineteen final tables, three bracelets, and one circuit ring for $14,292,554 in winnings.
3. Stephen Chidwick
Born on 10 May 1989, Stephen James Chadwick is an English poker player from Deal Kent. He became popular by topping the Global Poker Index (GPI) from 18 April to 9 October 2018.
Chadwick’s professional career kicked off in 2008 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where he secured his first major cash win of $88,760 in a $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. In 2009, he finished runner-up in the Full Tilt FTOPS Event #17 winning $142,155.30.
The player made his debut in 2010 with three successful cash winnings in $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em events. Since then, Stephen Chidwick has recorded other incredible milestones. He won two tournaments at the US Poker Open: $216,000 at the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em event and $351,000 at the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event.
4. Jason Koon
Jason is renowned for his achievements in online and live poker tournaments. He started playing poker in 2006 while in college. He played poker games under the screen name NovaSky on Full Tilt Poker and JAKoon1985, online poker games are the starting point for many of today’s top stars due to the user having a bit more time to think, and develop a strategy to build confidence.
He has actively participated in live poker tournaments since 2008. In April 2009, Jason won a tournament in the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) which earned him over $300,000. He also played his first WSOP where he cashed twice in the same year.
With the confidence from his first WSOP, he finished 4th in the World Poker Tour main event at the Bellagio winning $225,000 in 2010. Jason has been consistent in his poker game career and has recorded several milestones. As of March 2024, his total live poker tournament earnings are over $56,000,000.
5. Mikita Bodyakovsky
Born on 6 February 1992, Mikita Bodyakovsky is a Belarusian professional poker player. He’s known worldwide for his accomplishments in live poker tournaments. Bodyakovsky’s live poker journey began in 2010 when he was 18.
He plays online poker with the username HelicopterBen82 on Full Tilt Poker and fish2013 on PokerStars respectively. Mikita chose the number 13 in his username because that was the year he turned 21 and became eligible to participate in the WSOP title in America.
Mikita won the Triton Super High Roller Series Montenegro festival in 2018. In August he won the 2018 EPT Barcelona €100,000 Super High Roller, his fourth title of the year, winning $1,930,851.
After winning the short deck hold ’em event at King’s Casino Rozvadov in October 2018, Badziakouski was nicknamed the “Short Deck Poker king”. He now has made over $2,200,000 in PokerStars playing high-stakes cash games.
Conclusion
Poker is a fun card game renowned since the early 19th century and has been a favourite game for any worldwide, creating renowned professional players. These five players covered are legends within his industry and have taken the game to new dimensions.