The poker industry is full of extravagant and charismatic characters. There are quite a few fascinating individuals with amazing stories. This makes sense as poker usually attracts people that enjoy taking risks while also having a calculated cold-blood approach to the problem. Poker is a game of great highs and lows, therefore, players that manage to make it big in the industry will usually be awarded huge amounts of money. In the following article, we have decided to compile a top 10 list of the richest poker players as of the end of 2021. Let’s jump right into it without any further delay.
10. Patrik Antonious
Patrik Antonious is a prodigy of a popular poker expert Marcel Lüske. This Finnish poker pro had achieved great results throughout his poker career. His first notable victory was the European Poker Tour title. However, after this amazing result, Patrik Antonious was unable to win the world poker title. Nevertheless, Antonious has found a great deal of success playing online poker. Moreover, he is considered by many to be one of the best online poker players ever, as he has managed to win one of the largest online poker prizes of all time in 2009. During that tournament, he has managed to outplay Viktor Blom and take hope for an impressive prize of $1,356,946. Currently, he has around $11,000,000 in career earnings.
9. Antonio Esfandiari
Antonio Esfandiari is a former professional magician, hence he has got the nickname “The Magician”. However, he has also managed to make his mark in the poker world. Esfandiari has managed to win 2 World Poker Tour championships and 3 World Series of Poker bracelets. Accomplishments like this make him truly stand out from the crowd. The Iranian poker pro has grabbed his first large cash win in 2004. During that year, Esfandiari won around $1,400,000 for his first-place finish at the World Poker Tour championship at the L.A Poker Classic. Currently, he has around $27,000,000 in career earnings and his largest payday was over $18,000,000.
8. Tony G
Antanas Guoga is a Lithuanian politician, philanthropist, and entrepreneur with a total net worth of around $36,000,000. Tony G is an extravagant character on and off the poker table. Some of his most notable career achievements are fifth-place at the World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris 2003, second place at the Intercontinental Poker Championship in 2006, and a first-place finish at the Asian Poker Tour in 2006 as well. Even though not all of his earnings can from playing poker, he has won some serious cash playing this game. His largest payday was around $400,000 during the €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the WSOP Europe in 2018.
7. Justin Bonomo
Justin Bonomo is a world-class American high roller. One interesting fact is that Bonomo is a former Magic the Gathering competitor, which is a fantasy card game. He has decided to translate his talents from one card game to another, the one that is more commonly found in casinos. Bonomo has managed to achieve some serious cash wins in a wide variety of tournaments. He is a 3 time Super High Roller Bowls titleholder with multiple $4,000,000 cash wins and his career-high payday was $10,000,000. Currently, Justin Bonomo sits on the first spot on the all-time money poker list with over $57,000,000 in career earnings.
6. Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu is one of the most decorated poker players in the world right now. With over $45,000,000 in career earnings, the GGPoker ambassador currently sits on the third spot on the all-time money poker list. The Canadian-born Negreanu has managed to win a staggering 6 WSOP bracelets and 2 World Poker Tour titles. He is considered by many to be one of the best poker players in the history of the game, and this statement definitely has a place to be. Negreanu’s largest cash win was $8,200,000 at the 2014 WSOP where he came in second place. On top of that, Daniel Negreanu has around $18,000,000 in WSOP earnings alone. GGPoker players have a chance to play with this legend at the same table and enjoy his live streams.
5. Bryn Kenney
Similar to Justin Bonomo, Bryn Kenney used to be a competitive Magic the Gathering player as well, who later transferred his talents to poker. His debut live cash win was at the East Coast Poker Championships all the way back in 2007. Kenney has also managed to win a WSOP bracelet in 2014 for around $150,000 in cash. He was recently surpassed by Justin Bonomo in the all-time money poker list and currently sits on the second spot with around $57,000,000 in career earnings. Kenney’s largest cash win was at the £1,050,000 No-Limit Hold’em during the Triton Million for Charity Event, where he came in 2nd place. However, he has bargained a deal with the winner Aaron Zang, therefore, he went hop with the top prize of over $20,000,000.
4. Doyle Brunson
Doyle Brunson aka “Texas Dolly” is a true living legend in the world of poker. He is so iconic, that they even had a hand named specifically after him. The 10-2 became the luckiest hand in the World Series of Poker history, as this typically weak combination has famously won both of his main events. The 88-year-old Texas-born has been playing professional poker for 50 years and earning a fortune at around $75,000,000. On top of that, Brunson was the first player in history to win a million dollars in a single poker tournament. There is even a documentary film in production about this two-time WSOP champion and Poker Hall of Fame member.
3. Chris Ferguson
Christopher Philip Ferguson is nicknamed “Jesus” due to his long hairstyle reminiscent of the one of the messiah. Ferguson is a high-stakes professional poker player, who got into the game at the age of just 10. Since that time, he has started playing poker regularly and improved his skills during college. As a result, Chris Ferguson has managed to win 6 WSOP titles, with the first one for $150,000 and the second one for $1,500,000. Ferguson’s live career winnings are currently calculated at $8,900,000 and his net worth is around $80,000,000.
2. Phil Ivey
Phil Ivey is one of the best poker players in the entire history of the game. This is evident from his staggering 10 WSOP titles in his career. Ivey has participated in 31 final tables. For that reason, he was nicknamed the “Tiger Woods of poker”. Currently, he has over $32,000,000 in live career earnings and his net worth is calculated to be over $125,000,000. He has also been caught in the middle of a controversy, as some casino owners in the past have claimed that Phil Ivey has won money illegitimately in their businesses. This resulted in a $15,000,000 lawsuit.
1. Dan Bilzerian
Dan Bilzerian is probably one of the most famous poker players in the world right now. He is quite a controversial figure and frequently shows off his lavish lifestyle on his Instagram. For that reason, Dan Bilzerian was nicknamed the “King of Instagram”. His total net worth is estimated to be around $200,000,000. However, Dan Bilzerian’s official poker career earnings are calculated to be at just $36,000. Therefore, it is fair to assume that most of his funds came from playing underground private poker games. Dan Bilzerian has recently become one of GGPoker’s ambassadors and promotes its Battle Royale cash game. He is also apparently going to play an insane high-roller heads-up game against an American businessman, Alec Gores for a staggering amount of $100,000,000.
