Here we take a look at the top 10 poker players in terms of earnings.
10. Michael Mizrachi – $14 432 072
At just 33 years old, Mizrachi is one of the most successful poker players in Florida. Nicknamed ‘The Grinder’, Mizrachi has been grinding away for 10 years at tournaments all over the world, boasting six-figure scores on three continents. Mizrachi won first prizes of more than $1 million on four separate tournaments. The biggest single prize he has won was the $2.5 million he earned for a fifth place finish in the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event.
9. Jason Mercier – $15,062,017
Jason Mercier made his competitive poker debut in 2008 and has not looked back since. During his first year he claimed the top spot in the European Poker Tour Sanremo Main Event, winning almost $1.4 million. Since then, Mercier managed to achieve incredible levels of fame and earnings, on par with some of the biggest players in the world. At just 28 years old, Mercier has won multiple World Championship of Online Poker titles and also ranks well on the Global Poker Index. His most recent world series bracelet was the 2015 $5 000 No Limit Hold’em Tournament where he enjoyed a win of $633,357.
8. John Juanda – $15,567,974
John Juanda is one of the toughest poker players who everyone dreads having at their table. This Indonesian-born player has won a massive 35 cashes of $100 000 or more over the last 20 years. He is often seen playing at the prestigious casinos in Macau, where his biggest win was an incredible $1.6 million in 2012.
7. Jonathan Duhamel – $16,755,475
Hailing from Canada, poker pro Jonathan Duhamel is a WSOP Main Event champion, winning an incredible $8.9 million in 2010. Since then he has only gotten better – in 2012, he made the four final tables in one week at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where he won a combined amount of $1.2 million.
6. Phil Hellmuth Jr. – $18,803,620
Phil Hellmuth’s reputation certainly precedes him, and he is known for his talents as well as his arrogant attitude at poker tables. Hellmuth is the highest-placed WSOP Main Event Winner on this list with 13 bracelets. Hellmuth has more WSOP Cashes than any other player in history, winning up to $2.6 million when he finished fourth in The Big One for One Drop.
5. Sam Trickett – $20,533,080
Same Trickett hails from England, making him the only European on the list. More than half of Trickett’s earnings came from his second place win in The Big One for One Drop, where he earned a cool $10.1 million. The British player has had many other big scores, including a World Poker Tour final table in Venice.
4. Phil Ivey – $22,809,848
Ever since starting his poker playing career as ‘Jerome’, Phil Ivey has always been one of the best poker players around. At the age of 38 years old, ‘The Tiger Woods of Poker’, as he is affectionately called, won his first WSOP bracelet in 2000, and has since won a shocking eight more. In addition, his five separate million-dollar scores include a 7th place finish at the 2009 WSOP Main Event. Ivey took a step back from his competitive poker ways after Black Friday, but returned with a bang in January 2012 by claiming the first place spot in the Aussie Millions $250 000 Challenge for $2 million. Ivey also became the first two-time winner of the event, claiming a $3.5 million prize – the biggest of his career.
3. Erik Seidel – $25,391,761
Seidel began his poker career before the online gambling boom. He first made a name for himself in 1988 at the WSOP Main Event, with his knockout hand even being immortalised by Hollywood in the movie ‘Rounders.’ Since then he has continued to be a force to be reckoned with, with a career highlight coming in 2011 where he won million-dollar prizes on two continents made more than $6.5 million in just 12 months. Find out more about online poker at Casino Pros.
2. Antonio Esfandiari – $26,206,704
Antonio Esfandiari is one of the most popular players on the live tournament scene, having been in the professional poker game for more than a decade. His first million was scored at the LA Poker Classic ten years ago, and has earned six figures every year since 2004. The Iranian-born pro has won three WSOP bracelets and two World Poker Tour titles. His biggest achievement? The 2012 The Big One for One Drop where he beat a star-studded field to win poker’s biggest ever prize of more than $18.3 million.
1. Daniel Negreanu – $30,469,551
Daniel Negreanu was named the Global Poker Index player of the decade based on the consistency of his performances in the live arena. He has earned six separate cashes for $1 million or more, with his highest being $8.2 million, which he claimed for winning the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop at the WSOP. Negreanu is also the only player to have won World Series bracelets in Las Vegas, Australia and Europe.
