There are a large number of poker players from the US who have made it big and shone bright on the biggest stages of them all, including the World Series of Poker.
There have been some who have promised much but failed to follow through as much on delivery. There are others who have steadily chipped away at the game hoping to make a mark in time. And then there are those few who have exploded on to the US poker scene and made it their own.
Today we will take a look at some of the top US poker players over the years. The criteria for the names that make it to this list are that they are from the USA and have made a phenomenal name for themselves in the world of poker.
1. Erik Seidel
Erik Seidel is considered one of the top US poker players today. This 57-year old poker professional from Las Vegas was born in New York City and had a chequered career, starting off as a young backgammon player, moving on to become a trader at the NY Stock Exchange, and finally becoming a professional poker player. He is considered one of the players who were part of the Mayfair Club.
In a stellar career he has won 8 World Series of Poker bracelets and also a title at the World Poker Tour. By 2010, he had found himself inducted into the WSOP Poker Hall of Fame. He has career winnings from poker amounting to a mammoth $33.1 million, with the biggest single win being $2.48 million at the $250,000 Super High Roller in January 2011 at the 2011 Aussie Millions. The numbers that are part of his poker resume are awe-inspiring, at the very least:
World Series of Poker: Winnings of $5.18 million, 98 Cashes, 8 bracelets, and 38 final tables
World Poker Tour: Winnings of $4.16 million, 24 Cashes, 2 championships, and 11 final tables
European Poker Tour: Winnings of $497,352, 3 Cashes, and 2 final tables
2. Phil Ivey
Phil Ivey, or Phillip Dennis Ivey, is a top-notch professional poker player out of Las Vegas, Nevada, in the USA. He started playing poker early, pitting himself against co-workers at the telemarketing firm where he worked in New Jersey towards the latter half of the 1990s. Over the years he has built up a fortune and a formidable reputation as possibly the best all-round poker player in the whole world. He reached the pinnacle of poker glory when he found himself in the Poker Hall of Fame in 2017.
Ivey’s career winnings speak for itself. He has won 10 WSOP bracelets and one WSOP title, besides making it to 9 WSOP final tables. His career winnings from poker add up to a cool $23.46 million, with his biggest win of $3.57 million coming on 10th February 2014 at the AUD$250,000 No-Limit Hold’em event of the 2014 APPT 8 Aussie Millions. The following are some more statistics related to Ivey and his poker career:
World Series of Poker: Winnings of $6.16 million, 56 Cashes, 10 bracelets, 1 title, and 31 final tables
World Poker Tour: Winnings of $4.02 million, 14 Cashes, 1 championships, and 10 final tables
European Poker Tour: Winnings of $514,003, 3 Cashes, and 1 final table
3. Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth (Phillip Jerome Hellmuth) is a 53-year old poker player from the USA who has a reputation that is unmatched, be it in terms of his showing at the WSOP or his ‘poker brat’ persona. He was born in Madison, Wisconsin, but has been living in Palo Alto, California, since 1992. He was the youngest player to win the Main Event of the WSOP in 1989 when he beat Johnny Chan, the 2-time defending champion. That record is of course no longer his; it was broken by Peter Eastgate in 2008 when he became the champion at the age of 22 years.
Hellmuth has won a record 14 WSOP bracelets, besides winning the WSOP Main Event in 1989 and the Main Event of the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) in 2012. IN 2007, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame of the WSOP. He has over $21.45 million in career winnings, with his single biggest win of $2.64 million coming on 3rd July, 2012, at Event 55 – the $1,000,000 No-Limit Hold’em: The Big One for One Drop at the 43rd Annual WSOP. The following are some more numbers from his career as a poker player:
World Series of Poker: Winnings of almost $14 million, 125 Cashes, 14 bracelets, and 57 final tables
World Poker Tour: Winnings of $1.45 million, 13 Cashes, and 7 final tables
4. Jason Mercier
Jason Mercier is a 31-year old poker professional from Hollywood, Florida. He has an impressive resume as a poker pro and a number of high profile wins and massive career earnings to back that resume up. A member of Team PokerStars Pro, he was the Bluff Magazine Player of the Year in 2009, and also the WSOP Player of the Year in 2016. He has also been ranked #1 by the Global Poker Index (GPI) and ESPN; in fact he holds the record for spending the most number of weeks as GPI #1 – 84 weeks.
Jason Mercier has won a total of 5 WSOP bracelets and has career earnings of over $18.2 million. Among his resume of wins and earnings is a European Poker Tour title as well. The following is a listing of some of performance as a poker pro:
World Series of Poker: Winnings of $4.68 million, 67 Cashes, 5 bracelets, and 20 final tables
World Poker Tour: Winnings of $1.8 million, 13 Cashes, 2 championships, and 3 final tables
European Poker Tour: Winnings of $2.26 million, 13 Cashes, 2 championships, and 6 final tables
5. Michael Mizrachi
There are a number of top-notch American poker professionals and one of the few names that stand out is Michael Mizrachi. This 36-year old professional poker player residing in Hollywood, Florida, is a very well-known name in the poker circuit. His twin brother Eric and younger brother Robert are also poker players; Robert actually has a number of WSOP and WPT finishes to his name.
Michael has total career winnings of close to $15.5 million. He is the winner of 2 WSOP $50,000 Championships, one in 2010 and the other in 2012. He also has to his name 2 World Poker Tour titles. He was awarded CardPlayer Magazine’s Player of the Year award in 2006. The following is a summary of his achievements as a poker professional:
World Series of Poker: Winnings of $7.43 million, 53 Cashes, 3 bracelets, and 14 final tables
World Poker Tour: Winnings of $5.03 million, 16 Cashes, 2 championships, and 8 final tables
