Poker culture

Famous Poker Players: Legends, the “King of Poker” and Today’s Stars

Every game has its legends, and poker has more colourful ones than most: Texas road gamblers, a gin rummy prodigy, a self-styled “Poker Brat”, an accountant with the perfect surname and a new generation of high rollers who learned the game online. Here are the players everyone in poker knows — with only the achievements we are sure about.

Updated: 20 October 2026

Key takeaways

Doyle Brunson (“Texas Dolly”) won the WSOP Main Event twice and 10 WSOP bracelets; he is often called the godfather of poker.
Phil Hellmuth (“Poker Brat”) has won more WSOP bracelets than anyone — 17 as of 2024.
Stu Ungar won the Main Event three times (1980, 1981, 1997) — a record he shares with Johnny Moss.
Modern stars: Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey and high rollers Fedor Holz, Justin Bonomo and Bryn Kenney.
There is no official “king of poker” — the nickname goes to different legends depending on who you ask.

17WSOP bracelets — Phil Hellmuth’s record (as of 2024)

10bracelets each for Brunson, Chan and Ivey

3Main Event titles — Ungar and Moss

1970the first World Series of Poker

What makes a poker player famous

Millions of people play poker — at home, in casinos and in apps. Most do it as a hobby; a small number turn it into a profession. A few become famous, usually for one of four things:

WSOP braceletsEvery World Series of Poker event winner gets a gold bracelet. The number of bracelets is the classic measure of a tournament career.

The Main EventThe $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em championship. Winning it once makes you a world champion for life.

Career earningsTotal live tournament winnings. In the high roller era these numbers grew enormously, so they are hard to compare across decades.

Poker Hall of FameFounded in 1979. Inductees are chosen for consistent play against top competition over many years.

Step 1Home gamesor a phone app

Step 2Onlinethousands of hands

Step 3Live eventstournaments and cash

Step 4BraceletsWSOP titles

Step 5Hall of Famea career at the top

The typical path of a modern poker star

Who is the “King of Poker”?

There is no official title. Different players get the nickname depending on what you value most:

Doyle Brunson — “Texas Dolly”. Usually called the godfather of poker: two Main Event titles, 10 bracelets and the book Super/System, which taught a generation how to play No-Limit Hold’em.
Phil Hellmuth — “Poker Brat”. The bracelet record holder. He openly calls himself the best tournament player in history, and his loud reactions at the table are as famous as his results.
Johnny Moss — “The Grand Old Man of Poker”. The first WSOP champion (1970) and a three-time Main Event winner.
Phil Ivey. For many players he is the best all-round player of his generation: 10 bracelets and success in many different games.

In card terms the king is simply the K — the second-highest card. Two kings (KK) is the second-best starting hand in Hold’em after a pair of aces.

The legends: Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan

Johnny Moss

A Texas road gambler of the old school. Moss was voted the first champion of the World Series of Poker in 1970, then won the Main Event as a tournament in 1971 and again in 1974. He was one of the first inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.

Doyle Brunson — “Texas Dolly”

Brunson won the Main Event in 1976 and 1977 — both times with ten-deuce in his final hand, so 10-2 is still called the “Doyle Brunson hand”. Over his career he won 10 WSOP bracelets. His 1979 book Super/System became the first serious strategy manual for No-Limit Hold’em. Brunson died in 2023 at the age of 89; he played at the highest level for decades.

Johnny Chan — “Orient Express”

Born in China, Chan won the Main Event in 1987 and 1988 and finished second in 1989. The final hand of 1988 against Erik Seidel appears in the movie Rounders — see our list of poker movies. Chan has 10 WSOP bracelets and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002.

Stu Ungar: maybe the greatest talent ever

Stu Ungar was a gin rummy prodigy from New York who was so good that people stopped playing gin with him — so he switched to poker. He won the Main Event in 1980 and 1981, and then, after years of problems, came back to win it again in 1997. Three Main Event titles is the record, shared with Johnny Moss.

Ungar died in 1998 at the age of 45. His story is told in the film High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story and remains the most famous warning in poker: talent alone is not enough without discipline and health.

Phil Hellmuth: the most WSOP bracelets

Phil Hellmuth won the Main Event in 1989 at the age of 24 — at the time the youngest champion in history — beating Johnny Chan heads-up. Since then he has collected more WSOP bracelets than any other player: 17 as of 2024. Most of them come from No-Limit Hold’em.

His nickname “Poker Brat” comes from his emotional outbursts at the table. Love him or not, he is one of the best-known faces in poker and has been in the Hall of Fame since 2007.

Modern stars: Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey

Daniel Negreanu — “Kid Poker”

A Canadian pro famous for talking through his reads at the table and guessing opponents’ cards out loud. Negreanu has several WSOP bracelets, World Poker Tour titles and is among the biggest live tournament earners in history. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014 and is one of the most recognisable ambassadors of the game.

Phil Ivey

An American player known for his calm, intimidating stare and for winning in almost every form of poker — Hold’em, Omaha, stud and mixed games, cash and tournaments. Ivey has 10 WSOP bracelets and joined the Hall of Fame in 2017. Many professionals call him the best player of his generation.

The high roller era: Fedor Holz, Justin Bonomo, Bryn Kenney

In the 2010s a new type of star appeared: young players who learned online, studied with software and play tournaments with buy-ins from $25,000 to $1 million.

Fedor HolzA German player who rose from online poker. In 2016 he won a WSOP bracelet in the One Drop High Roller and had one of the most successful years any tournament player has ever had.

Justin BonomoAn American pro. In 2018 he won the Big One for One Drop with a $1 million buy-in and a $10 million first prize — at that point he topped the all-time live earnings list.

Bryn KenneyAn American high roller. In 2019 he received more than $20 million for a single result at the Triton Million in London and moved to the top of the all-time earnings list at that time.

Big earnings are not the same as big profit: high roller players often sell shares of their action, and buy-ins are huge. Lists of “all-time earnings” show winnings, not what the player kept.

Chris Moneymaker: the amateur who changed poker

In 2003 Chris Moneymaker, an accountant from Tennessee, qualified for the WSOP Main Event through an online satellite and won it — $2.5 million against a field of 839 players. He was not the strongest player of his era, but he became one of the most important: his win started the poker boom. We tell the whole story in our history of poker.

Russian-speaking poker players

Players from Russia and other Russian-speaking countries became part of the world elite in the 2000s, mostly by learning online and then moving to live events. A few names worth knowing:

Alexander Kravchenko — in 2007 became the first Russian player to win a WSOP bracelet and the same year finished 4th in the Main Event.
Ivan Demidov — runner-up in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, one of the best results ever for a Russian player.
Igor Kurganov — born in Moscow, a well-known high roller and co-founder of the charity initiative Raising for Effective Giving.
Anatoly Filatov — a strong online and high-stakes tournament player, one of the best-known Russian pros of the 2010s.
Vladimir Troyanovskiy, Nikita Bodyakovskiy, Andrey Pateychuk and Leonid Bilokur — tournament professionals known from major live series and online high-stakes games.

Many Russian-speaking players started exactly the same way as you can today — online, at low stakes. If you are just beginning, see how to learn poker step by step.

Women in poker: Vanessa Selbst, Liv Boeree, Kristen Foxen

Vanessa SelbstAn American pro with three WSOP bracelets, for years the most successful woman in tournament poker by earnings. She retired from professional poker in 2018 to work in finance.

Liv BoereeA British player with a degree in astrophysics. She won the European Poker Tour event in San Remo in 2010 and later became known as a science communicator and co-founder of Raising for Effective Giving.

Kristen Foxen (Bicknell)A Canadian pro, one of the most successful women in modern tournament poker. She plays the biggest tournament series alongside the best players in the world, and her results put her near the top of the women’s all-time earnings rankings.

Poker is one of the few competitions where men and women play at the same tables in the same events. Women-only events exist, but the players above made their names mostly in open fields.

Famous poker players in one table

Player	Country	Nickname	Best known for	Hall of Fame
Johnny Moss	USA	The Grand Old Man	First WSOP champion, 3 Main Events	1979
Doyle Brunson	USA	Texas Dolly	Main Events 1976–77, 10 bracelets, Super/System	1988
Stu Ungar	USA	The Kid	Main Events 1980, 1981, 1997	2001
Johnny Chan	USA (born in China)	Orient Express	Main Events 1987–88, 10 bracelets	2002
Phil Hellmuth	USA	Poker Brat	Most WSOP bracelets, Main Event 1989	2007
Daniel Negreanu	Canada	Kid Poker	One of the biggest live earners	2014
Phil Ivey	USA	—	10 bracelets, strong in every game	2017
Chris Moneymaker	USA	—	Main Event 2003, the poker boom	—
Justin Bonomo	USA	—	Big One for One Drop 2018	—
Fedor Holz	Germany	—	High roller results in 2016	—
Vanessa Selbst	USA	—	Three WSOP bracelets	—
Liv Boeree	UK	—	EPT San Remo 2010	—

What you can learn from the greats

Discipline beats talent. Stu Ungar had more natural talent than anyone, and it still was not enough.
Keep learning. Brunson wrote a book that changed the game; today’s stars study with software. The game never stops evolving.
Play many games. Ivey and Negreanu are dangerous in Hold’em, Omaha, stud and mixed games — see the types of poker.
Tournaments are a marathon. Every bracelet is the result of thousands of hands — read our poker tournaments guide.
Everyone starts small. Moneymaker’s whole story began with a cheap online satellite.

Start with the rules of Texas Hold’em — the game where almost all these legends made their names — and see where today’s players gather in our guide to poker online.

Inspired? Try playing yourself

None of these players started as legends — they started by sitting down at a table. Club apps let you play Hold’em and Omaha with real opponents at stakes that suit you. Here are top ClubGG clubs from our catalog, ranked by player reviews:

RatePokerClub catalogTop ClubGG clubs by player reviews

All clubs

MOJO 24.51 reviewRakeback 50%Union: Massive Poker UnionOpen club #2

MOJO 1No reviews yetRakeback 50%Union: AllinUnionOpen club #3

Mr Pink PantherNo reviews yetRakeback 40%Open club #4

ZerakeNo reviews yetRakeback Zero RakeOpen club #5

POKER VIBE UANo reviews yetRakeback 40%Open club

FAQ

01Who is the most famous poker player?

There is no single answer, but the names everyone knows are Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey. For the poker boom, Chris Moneymaker is just as important.

02Who is called the king of poker?

It is not an official title. Doyle Brunson is most often called the godfather of poker, Phil Hellmuth holds the bracelet record, and many professionals consider Phil Ivey the best all-round player.

03Who has the most WSOP bracelets?

Phil Hellmuth — 17 as of 2024, more than anyone else. Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey have 10 each.

04Who has won the WSOP Main Event the most times?

Stu Ungar (1980, 1981, 1997) and Johnny Moss (1970, 1971, 1974) — three times each. Moss’s first title in 1970 was decided by a vote of the players.

05Why is Doyle Brunson called Texas Dolly?

Brunson was a Texan, and “Texas Dolly” was his long-time nickname in the poker world. He won the Main Event in 1976 and 1977 and wrote Super/System.

06Who are the best-known Russian poker players?

Among them are Alexander Kravchenko (the first Russian WSOP bracelet in 2007), Ivan Demidov (second in the 2008 Main Event), Igor Kurganov and Anatoly Filatov.

07Who is the best female poker player?

Vanessa Selbst, with three WSOP bracelets, is often named first. Liv Boeree and Kristen Foxen are also among the most successful women in tournament poker.