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.
He has an impressive tournament record. Danile has won four WSOP bracelets, and over $10,000,000 in prize money. He has a pleasant demeanor at the tables, very talkative and cheerful.
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.
Annie Duke has proven that women can compete with the men at the tables. She gained notoriety in the WSOP Main Event in 2000 when she narrowly missed the final table, going out 10th. What made this so noticable was that she was 8 months pregnant during the event.
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 the winningest player in WSOP history. He has won 11 WSOP bracelets, including the 1989 WSOP Main Event. At age 24 Phil still stands today (2008) as the youngest player to win the 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”.