1. Erik Seidel has to be the man. He has eight bracelets, four of them in the last six years. He has won over $7M in tournament play, plus his cash table earnings.
2. Allan Cunningham has five WSOP bracelets in the last six years, including three in a row. He has earned over $8.7M in tournament winnings.
3. Scotty Nguyen consistently cashes wherever he is. He cashed six times at the WSOP 2007, including an 11th-place finish in the main event.
4. Phil Ivey is one of the top players today. He has five WSOP bracelets in the last seven years, and two big wins in Monte Carlo in 2007.
5. Tom Schneider won two WSOP bracelets last year, one in Seven Card Stud Hi/Low 8 or Better, and also in Omaha/Seven Stud Hi/Low 8 or Better. He also made the final table of the $2500 HORSE event.
One of the most feared players on the professional tours is “The Tiger Woods of Poker”, Phil Ivey. Ivey has been one of the most consistent players for the last seven years, and has over 80 tournament cashes in that time period.
Ivey made his big splash in 2002 when he won three WSOP bracelets. He had one bracelet prior to ’02 and added another in ’05, bringing his total to five before he turned 30. Ivey has won over $7.5 million playing in tournaments, but the cash games he plays in are his real meat and potatoes.
You can expect to find Ivey in the biggest games in town, including the “Big Game” $4000/$8000 mixed cash game at the Bellagio. He is a member of the infamous Corporation which pooled money to play head-to-head $50,000/$100,000 limit hold’em against Texas billionaire Andy Beal. After the Corporation lost over $10 million to Beal, Ivey won it all back plus another $6 million in profit.
In 2005 he won $1 million in the Monte Carlo Millions, followed the very next day by a $600,000 win in the FullTiltPoker.net Invitational. He had a third-place finish and a second-place finish in the ’06 WSOP, winning over $800,000 in those two events. His latest win was the winner-take-all Poker After Dark first prize of $120,000 in January ’07. Phil can also be seen on the popular cash game show High Stakes Poker on GSN.
Ivey not only dominates the poker world, but he has been accepted as one of the best by the top pros. A large percentage of pros will mention his name as one of the players they respect most. He’s never an idiot and I’ve yet to see him tilt in any way. The meanest he ever got was when he made fun of Freddy Deeb’s shirt in the 2003 WSOP Main Event after Freddy sucked out on him.
Ivey is class and talent all the way, and he’s making money hand over fist. He will win many bracelets and championships in the future and will become one of the greatest the game has ever seen.
Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker is also worth watching. Season 2 is still looking for players…
