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The 50 Greatest Poker Players of the Last 50 Years [3.]
If you follow us regularly you must have caught our articles about the formation of the ranking of the fifty best poker players over the past 50 years. The editors of Card Player, using a refined key and the votes of the public, formed a discussed ranking full of poker icons, of which we will present the next part today. Did you find your favorite in it?
![The 50 Best Poker Players in the Last 50 Years [Part 2]](/fileadmin/user_upload/staryweb_en/images/20220617235332_2cb656c9fe25dc857c6f6c13cc55bafc.jpg)
Phil Ivey
There is no format, stakes or variant in poker in which Phil would not be an excellent opponent. One of the most feared players in history started playing under a fake ID as a teenager, but already in 2000 he grabbed his first bracelet from the legendary Amarillo Slim. Currently, the 45-year-old legend has ten WSOP bracelets, $32 million in live tournaments and is still considered one of the biggest winners in online cash game circles.
John Juanda
A successful young man, John Juanda came to the US as an athletic star who received an MBA from Seattle University. It was here that he first found his way to poker, in which he gradually achieved success. He has cc on his account from various poker disciplines, including 2-7 lowball, PLO or Stud. In 2011, he became the champion of the WSOP Europe Main Event, he also has an EPT title to his credit and is doing well in the High Roller circles as well. Despite all this, he has one more important asset - for many years he has maintained the status of one of the greatest gentlemen in the game.
Sami Kelopuro
In recent years, several nosebleed phenomena have appeared in Europe, including such names as Jens Kyllonen, Niklas Heinecker and Matt Ashton, but we could place the name of Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro above them on the reputation list. The Finnish pro is second on the online PockerFives all-time list with $22 million in winnings, and at age 35, he still has a lot of things ahead of him.
Bryn Kenney
The current world number one on the all-time money list (they are constantly switching places with Justin Bonomo) started his career playing Magic: The Gathering. From there, he gradually switched to poker, in which he has only the highest ambitions, which he gradually succeeds to fulfill - his incredible poker resume includes countless achievements with a total value of more than 57 million dollars!
Jason Koon
Also, at first a successful athlete and representative of Wesleyan College in West Virginia, but an injury and a long convalescence opened the door to poker. In it, he first established himself in the online waters, from which he quickly made his way to the live circuit, where he became one of the best Short Deck players in the world. Last year, he finally won his first WSOP bracelet, adding to his collection of $35 million in live tournament winnings (8th place in ATML).
Timofey Kuznetsov
The same dilemma, as in the case of Sami Kelopura, could also arise when looking at nosebleed cashes, where names like Ben 'Bttech86' Tollerene, Linus 'LLinusLLove' Loeliger, Ben 'Sauce123' Sulsky or Wiktor 'limitless' Malinowski appear. Among this group is the Russian professional Timofey "Trueteller" Kuznetsov, a mathematical genius and one of the most outstanding winners of the last decade. After many years of playing anonymously, Kuznetsov finally moved to the live circuit, where he has already won almost 10 million dollars.
Adrian Mateos
Despite the fact that at 27 years old, he is among the youngest players on this list, he has already managed to prove to everyone that he is among the most respected tournament players. He started playing poker at the age of 16, and at the age of 19 he won the WSOPE Main Event, where he turned a €10,000 buy-in into a million dollar prize. Since then, he has won over $25 million, including three WSOP bracelets.
Jason Mercier
Although his poker activities have weakened considerably since starting a family, his name still resonates in poker circles. He already won the EPT San Remo in 2008, the year after that he won his first bracelet. Since then, he has won nearly $20 million, won five WSOP bracelets and was named WSOP Player of the Year in 2016.
Michael Mizrachi
Widely known for his hyper-aggressive play and enormous talent, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi rightfully deserves a place on this list. Together with his brother Robert, they are well-known names in the poker world, but their biographies are no worse. Michael won more than 17 million dollars, led by a 2.3 million bonus for 5th place in ME WSOP. But he is most famous for three-time win in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, a tournament that is considered the most demanding in the world.
Chris Moorman
Although today there are names like Niklas 'lena900' Astedt, Peter 'Belabacsi' Traply or Jon 'apestyles' Van Fleet before him, but just a few years ago everyone was looking at Moorman's back. In addition to approximately $20 million in online winnings, Moorman also has a WPT title, two WSOP bracelets (he missed out on a third in heads-up this year) and nearly $7 million in winnings. In addition to all this, he is also considered a talented author of quality poker literature.
Carlos Mortensen
A member of the older generation started playing poker back in the 90s in his homeland of Spain, but since there was a lack of action there, he moved to the USA. Here in 2001, he dominated the record Main Event and took home $1.5 million from a field of 613 players. He proved that he was not just a one-hit wonder by winning another bracelet two years later and subsequently by winning three WPT titles.
Johnny Moss
If Johnny Moss was still alive today, he would be 115 years old. An icon of the WSOP series and of poker in general, he was at the birth of the WSOP, and it was "The Grand Old Man of Poker" who became the first ever champion, even though it was a cashgame session at the end of which the players chose the winner among themselves. Until his death in 1995 (age 88), he won a total of 9 bracelets (including three in the Main Event), with the last one coming in 1988 at the age of 81.
Daniel Negreanu
No matter what circles you are in, if you ask about poker player, Kid Poker will automatically come to mind. Originally a snooker player, he got hooked on cards during high school and from that moment there was no going back. He dropped out of school, left Toronto for Vegas, and the rest is history. On his rich account, Daniel has more than 45 million dollars (for many years he was an ATML world number one), six WSOP bracelets and many Player of the Year awards. Despite the age of 47, he still works on his game and continues to successfully compete with the younger generation.