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Who is the Best Poker Player in the World?

When looking at who the best poker player in the world is, you have to consider multiple categories. This list will look at the best poker players across all formats and categories.

These lists will asses the skill level of all living and dead players.

The Top 5 Overall Poker Players

1. Stu Ungar
2. Phil Hellmuth
3. Chip Reese
4. Johnny Chan
5. Phil Ivey

stu ungar Best Poker Player

The list combines all facets of poker and attempts to create a fair list of the best poker players to ever live. Two players on the list has passed away, but their legendary status continues to live on.

Stu Ungar tops this list hands down. His incredible play in the 1980s and 1990s set the tone for his success. The rest of the list is pretty self-explanatory as everyone is a legend of the game.

The Top 5 Live Tournament Poker Players

1. Phil Hellmuth
2. Daniel Negreanu
3. Stu Ungar
4. Johnny Chan
5. Doyle Brunson

phil hellmuth Best Poker Player

WSOP bracelets talk in this list. It’s very hard to look past someone like Hellmuth who has 14 bracelets and 54 final tables. The more you look into this record, the more incredible it becomes. Negreanu has the most tournament cashes, Ungar is simply the best player to ever play the game, and Chan and Brunson have 20 WSOP bracelets between them.

The Top 5 Online Tournament Players

1. Ben ‘Sauce123’ Sulsky
2. Shaun ‘shaundeeb’ Deeb
3. Calvin ‘cal42688’ Anderson
4. James ‘Andy McLEOD’ Obst
5. Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom

Ben 'Sauce123' Sulsky best poker player

This list is a combination of money make from online poker tournaments, plus high-stakes tournament success. It’s hard to look past the raw numbers, but some of these players are known for amazing online strike rates rather than raw cashes.

There is a huge number of WCOOP and SCOOP titles in this list.

The Top 5 Live Cash Game Poker Players

1. Chip Reese
2. Chau Giang
3. Phil Ivey
4. Patrik Antonius
5. Jason Mercier

chip reese best poker player

This list is the most ‘unknown’ list. Most big-time cash game players stick solely to high stakes games which are generally more private. There isn’t much visibility on cash game success, but these players are highly regarded by their peers.

The Top 5 Online Cash Game Poker Players

1. Patrik Antonius
2. Phil Galfond
3. Daniel ‘jungleman12’ Cates
4. Jason Mercier
5. Ben ‘Sauce123’ Sulsky

Patrik Antonius best poker player

Online poker tracking websites make it easy to find out which players make the most from online games. This list is a combination of success and general respect at the highest stakes.

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