Popular Poker Players
With poker becoming very popular on TV, many of the top players have become celebrities. Poker has gone from the seedy back rooms, behind closed doors, to a made for TV production. Here are some of the people we never would have heard of if this change didn’t happen.
Daniel “kid poker” Negreanu is one of the bright stars in the world of poker. He seems to be in every game that gets air time. You also see him in Poker Stars commericials.
One of the things that makes Daniel so popular, with players and fans, is he good nature at the tables. Often he talks his strategy out loud, which let’s us into the mind of this great player. He has an uncanny knack for calling his opponents hand. This has been seen many times on televised games, amazing his opponent. Four WSOP bracelets, and over $10 million won shows you just how good Daniel is as a player.
Doyle Brunson is the the grandfather of poker. He has been there from the beginning. His two WSOP Main Events wins makes him one of only 4 players to win the Main Event more than once. He has 10 WSOP bracelets, tied for second all time with Johnny Chan. Only Phil Helmuth, with 11, has more.
He is regarded as possibly the best player ever, and has played world class poker for 1/2 a century. He has written what many pros consider the best book on poker, Poker System. Doyle has been followed into high stakes poker by his son Todd, who is also a world class player.
One of the big names from the women who play poker is Annie Duke. She became well known, and gained some celebrity status in the 2000 WSOP Main Event. She finished in 10th place, one spot short of the final table. What made this accomplishment so incredible was the fact that she was eight months pregnant.
Annie had a huge year in 2004. She finally won a WSOP bracelet. She followed that up with a $2 million win in the WSOP torunament of champions. Annie learned the game playing against he brother, Howard Lederer, also a top poker pro.
Phil Ivey is just a poker monster. Many consider him the best in the game. He is equally good in cash games and tournaments. He is a calm, focused. calculating, and an aggressive player at the tables. He also handles himself with a lot of class.
Phil exploded on the tournament scene when he won 3 events in the WSOP in 2002. He has two others win at the WSOP giving him 5 bracelets. His tournament earnings are over $9 million.
Phil Helmuth is a Texas holdem tournament specialst. He has turned that skill into being the winningest player at the WSOP. He has won 11 bracelets, most by any player, all playing Texas holdem. In 1989, at age 24, he became (and still is) the youngest player ever to win the WSOP Main Event.
It’s not just the titles that make the poker brat so well known. He is famous for his outbursts at the table. When he gets a bad break, he lets everyone hear about it. One of his more famous quotes, after laying down a hand when his opponent had pocket aces, was, “I can dodge bullets baby”.