“Who is the best poker player of all time?” is a question regularly debated amongst casino regulars and it is tough to reach a consensus on this as there are so many factors involved.
Some players specialise in tournaments, others in cash games whilst there are a spread of different poker games to consider.
Let’s take a look at some of the credentials of some of the contenders often touted as the best in the business.
Stu “The Kid” Ungar
Stu Ungar was a child prodigy with a genius IQ. Tremendously gifted at numbers and odds, with a phenomenal memory, he was a very successful gin player in his youth before graduating to poker.
His incredible facility for card games led him to win 5 WSOP bracelets, including 3 Main Event titles in the relatively short span of his poker career (one of only two men to achieve this feat).
Sadly Ungar’s career was cut short as he died from heart failure related to his drug addictions, never making it past 45. Had he managed to continue playing to an older age, most believe he would have gone on to win many more bracelets and add many more chapters to his legacy.
Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson
Doyle Brunson is one of the most iconic figures in poker. A former star athlete, injury curtailed his fledgling basketball career but inspired him to become a professional gambler.
Brunson’s achievements are many and varied. As well as penning the seminal poker strategy book Super System, Brunson has accumulated ten WSOP bracelets during his poker career, notching up over $6 million in tournament winnings in doing so.
Brunson has succeeded at poker throughout several eras, showing adaptability and versatility and has two WSOP Main Event titles to his name. Apart from his poker achievements, Brunson has also contracted and beaten off brain cancer.
Now 77, Brunson continues to play the highest stakes poker games and even has a poker hand named after him, ten-deuce, which is named the Brunson as it is the hand he won back-to-back Main Event titles with in 1976 and 1977.
Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth is a player who massively divides opinion. Another former Main Event winner, Hellmuth is almost as famous for his table histrionics as for the strength of his poker game.
Never one to go quietly into the night, media cameras are always focussed on Hellmuth when he is playing, waiting for one of his famous blow-ups as illustrated in this clip from the 2008 WSOP.
It’s easy to forget however that Hellmuth is not just an entertaining character, but has built up an impressive resume of tournament results, particularly at the WSOP, having won over $11.5 million in tournament winnings, as well as 11 WSOP bracelets – more than anyone in history.