 |
WPT Poker looks through the first seven seasons of the World Poker Tour to list the men and women who have earned top honors over the years.
The World Poker Tour has brought poker to a global audience and with it, the game’s new celebrities. While the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer were well known within poker circles long before the birth of televised poker, the extra exposure garnered through making their respective final tables meant that poker enthusiasts around the world became familiar with the stars of the new phenomenon.
With the sheer number of stars born and huge prizes won, it seems fitting at the end of Season VII to take a look at those who have graced our screens and determine who the top 50 WPT players of all time are.
1 Daniel Negreanu $5,555,935
Cashes: 17 out of 80 (21.25%) Final Tables: 7 Titles: 2
2 Gus Hansen $4,051,782—500 words
Cashes: 9/45 (20%) Final Tables: 7 Titles: 3
It’s hard not to be jealous of Gus Hansen. A brilliant backgammon mind and former junior tennis champion who learned English by listening to Pink Floyd, Hansen has the looks too, once heralded as one of the 50 sexiest men in the world. That obviously wasn’t enough for the competitive Hansen, and he soon turned his attention to poker. In 2004, he switched his attentions to tournament poker and entered the very first episode of the World Poker Tour, the Five Diamond Poker Classic at the Bellagio. That drew our attention to “The Great Dane.” Beating a player field of146, and earning $556,460, Hansen, after his trademark celebration, arrived on the international scene.
Season I very much remained the story of the European king who came to the WPT and dominated with his swashbuckling brand of poker. No two cards were impossible to the Dane’s mind, although others might have thought he was just running his luck. Freddy Deeb said after his departure from the Five Diamond Classic that he would like to play poker with Hansen every day of his life and that Gus played “very bad.” He might have reconsidered that opinion in the past few years.
Winning his way through a final table that included Scotty Nguyen, John Juanda, John Hennigan, Chris Bigler and the somewhat unimpressed Deeb, Hansen pulled his now patented celebration move, flexing his right arm in tribute to Swedish tennis player Mats Wilander. It was a move we were to see again at the 2003 LA Poker Classic, this time besting a final line-up that included future Full Tilt pro Andy Bloch and David “The Dragon” Pham. That completed a win-double in the opening season for Hansen—victories which earned the Dane a staggering $1,063,650.
If the opening season shot Hansen to stardom, Season II consolidated his earlier successes with two more final table appearances. A third place at the Five Diamond Classic meant he wouldn’t successfully defend his title, but he struck again in the Caribbean, outlasting John D’Agostino, Hoyt Corkins and Daniel Negreanu to win his third WPT title in two years.
Recent times have proved tougher for Hansen, but burgeoning field sizes make that hardly surprising. There’s been three more final table appearances, most recently finishing runner up to David Chiu at the Season VI WPT World Championship event. With his cavalier brand of poker, we’re sure to see Gus at another WPT final table before too long.
3 Carlos Mortensen $5,260,360
Cashes: 12/48 (25%) Final Tables: 3 Titles: 2
Twelve cashes, three final tables and two of those converted into WPT titles—Carlos Mortensen has a habit of being at the business end of tournaments. His record on the World Poker Tour is far more exceptional than the numbers alone, too.
Seasons I and II started in relatively sedate fashion, considering what later offerings would bring. A 10th at the LA Poker Classic at the Commerce in Season I was El Matador’s only cash on the tour, while Season II offered a little more, with one final table at the Borgata Poker Open.
It was not until Season III that Mortensen broke through, but he did so with a vengeance, winning $1,000,000 for his 1st-place prize at the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic. The win was hardly a walk in the park either, with WPT evergreens John Juanda and David Pham joined by Erik Seidel and Hung La. But none could stop the 2001 World Series Main Event winner from winning his first WPT title.
The best was still to come though. A quick Season IV lull was followed by a resplendent Season V, with two cashes and a win at the biggest event of them all, the WPT World Championship for $3,970,415, winning an epic heads-up battle with Kirk Morrison.
4 Tuan Le $4,514,063
Cashes: 7/82 (8.5%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 2
Young, fearless and incredibly sharp, Tuan Le is every poker player’s worst nightmare. His style of play is brutally aggressive, which sees chips move around the table at pace—not always in his direction, but then that’s the nature of that particular beast. What it does allow Le to do is win tournaments, and he’s won big.
Le burst onto the scene in Season III, winning not one but two WPT titles. The $1,549,588 he collected at the World Poker Finals might have seen many younger pros sit back and enjoy their newfound wealth, but this wasn’t enough for the LA-based pro.
Weeks later, Le was at another final table, this time at the season-closing WPT World Championship. The line-up there was stronger than his previous win at the World Poker Finals; to secure this title he had to negotiate his way around pros Rob Hollink and Hasan Habib as well as Phil Ivey, the man many considered to be the best in the world. With Ivey unable to win key races when it mattered, it left Le to win his second title and collect a huge $2,856,150.
5 Alan Goehring $3,955,787
Cashes: 16/65 (24.61%) Final Tables: 3 Titles: 2
Gender accusations aside, “Always the bridesmaid, never the bride” was an accusation that could have been leveled at Alan Goehring in his early poker career. Not that coming second in the WSOP Main Event is anything to sneeze at, but for a man who retired at 37 on the back of a successful run as a junk bond analyst, Goehring wasn’t used to failing. And it was in Season I of the World Poker Tour where he won the very first WPT World Championship event, defeating Kiril Georgiev heads-up for the $1,036,886.
The victory set Goehring on a series of cashes through the next few seasons, but without a repeat visit to the lights of the WPT final tables—for that he had to wait until a trip abroad for the WPT Grand Prix de Paris. A sixth-place finish there wasn’t what Goehring was gunning for though, and so when he arrived at his next final table at the LA Poker Classic, he made sure to wrap up his second title. The $2,391,550 was good enough, but you feel it was the repeat champion title that made this former trader happier.
6 Phil Ivey $2,994,402
Cashes: 11/76 (14.47%) Final Tables: 8 Titles: 1
Phil Ivey hardly needs introduction. Seven visits to WPT final tables and no title was a surprise for the legions of fans who felt—as many of his peers do—that Ivey is the best all-round player in the world. With the various bad beats and races lost in key hands, even the most devout had to wonder if the mighty Ivey would ever get his way.
The monkey finally leaped off his back in Season VI when Ivey won the LA Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino. Overcoming a final table that included two of the APT Poker Pack (Quinn Do and Nam Le), as well as another top pro who was seeking his first WPT title—Phil Hellmuth—Ivey eventually eliminated Do heads-up after Ivey showed him the nuts on a As-8s-6s-Ac board, his Ah-8d crushing Do’s 9h-8h.
The win was just shy of $1.6 million—a life-changing amount of money for virtually anyone. You feel in Phil’s case that—just for once—the title was sweeter than the cash.
7 Michael Mizrachi $4,168,766
Cashes: 10/60 (16.66%) Final Tables: 4 Titles: 2
Michael Mizrachi has won more on the WPT than his brothers. Not the most exceptional claim, you might think, but when you realize that Eric and Robert Mizrachi have won over $3 million between them, you might appreciate just how tough that particular home game is.
While his siblings are yet to win on the World Poker Tour, The Grinder has notched two wins as well as eight other cashes on the circuit. Following his debut on the final tables at Season III’s World Poker Open, it was only a few weeks before that Mizrachi was once again involved under the lights of the WPT final table set, this time at the LA Poker Classic. There he came up against Erick Lindgren, Hung La, Haralabos Voulgaris, Harley Hall and Ted Forrest. But one by one they fell, leaving Mizrachi to go toe to toe with Voulgaris. Eventually, Voulgaris’ aggression bit him after he shoved for the last time with 10-3o against Mizrachi’s A-9.
Mizrachi added a second title to his poker résumé when he won the Season IV Borgata Poker Open for another $1.1 million payday and became one of a handful of players to have more than one WPT title.
8 JC Tran $3,103,298
Cashes: 11/65 (16.92%). Final Tables: 5. Titles: 1.
JC Tran had to exert the patience of a saint while waiting for his first WPT title. Having got to four previous final tables only to be dealt with harshly by Lady Luck, JC Tran finally caught his break at his third final table of Season V, the WPT World Poker Challenge.
Just weeks before he finished second in the LA Poker Classic, earning $1.1 million, dwarfing the $708,973 he collected for his success at the World Poker Open. He also came sixth earlier in the year, cashing for $142,810 at the World Poker Open. Season V quickly became JC’s year, securing the WPT Player of the Year title for his efforts.
9 Barry Greenstein $2,411,308
Cashes: 19/92 (20.65%) Final Tables: 8 Titles: 2
Mixing poker with philanthropy might sound like an unusual cocktail, but that’s precisely what Barry Greenstein did. By donating his $1,278,370 first prize when he won his first WPT title at Season II’s World Poker Challenge, the public were shown in startling fashion just how generous Greenstein and his fellow professionals can be for a good cause.
While the gesture did so much for the image of poker, it shouldn’t detract from Greenstein’s undeniable poker skills. A regular in Bobby’s Room, Greenstein is respected by peers and fans alike for his ability to adapt to the game around him and at the same time retain his dignity. Such talent has lead The Robin Hood of Poker to cash more times on the World Poker Tour than any other player, and for that achievement alone he deserves his top 10 place in any list.
10 Erick Lindgren $2,423,847
Cashes: 18/63 (28.57%) Final Tables: 5 Titles: 2
Erick Lindgren could be the most competitive man on the poker circuit. No matter if he’s trying to excel on the basketball court, golf course or poker table, Lindgren’s intensity and focus have led to results. A 5th-place finish at the Aviation Club de France in Paris wasn’t good enough by E-Dog’s standards, with the result spurring Lindgren onto two titles (Ultimate Poker Classic and PartyPoker Million) and the Player of the Year title for Season II.
11 Jonathan Little $3,404,916
Cashes: 8/33 (24.24%) Final Tables: 4 Titles: 2
Few online legends have made the transition from the virtual felt to the live arena as seamlessly as Jonathan “Fiery Justice” Little. Part of the Ship It Holla Ballas crew, the affable Floridian bagged himself the WPT Player of the Year award in 2007 and recently added a second tour title to his growing résumé.
12 David Pham $2,212,962
Cashes: 14/83 (16.87%) Final Tables: 7 Titles: 0
Being a multiple WSOP bracelet winner, David Pham is no stranger to tournament success. However, for all of his cashes on the World Poker Tour, The Dragon has never managed to convert one of his seven final tables into a prestigious title. Even so, $2.2 million isn’t a bad return for a WPT “nearly man.”
13 Kathy Liebert $1,716,693
Cashes: 14/87 (16.09%) Final Tables: 6 Titles: 0
Far and away the most successful woman in WPT history, Kathy Liebert has been a pinnacle of consistency on the tour since her debut cash in 2003. Though she’s never won a Championship event, just last season, Liebert enjoyed third- and second-place finishes at WPT events to net nearly £1 million.
14 Scotty Nguyen $2,151,879
Cashes: 13/62 (20.96%) Final Tables: 7 Titles: 1
One of the tour’s most recognizable champions, Prince of Poker Scotty Nguyen secured his one and only WPT title against Michael Mizrachi at the 2006 World Poker Open. In the first hand of heads-up play, Nguyen found ace-queen while Mizrachi held ace-jack. Nguyen shoved, Mizrachi called and it was all over, baby.
15 John Juanda $1,223,774
Cashes: 16/86 (18.60%) Final Tables 6 Titles: 0
Another member of poker’s elite who has never tasted WPT glory is John Juanda. The Indonesian-born American has remarkably finished second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth at tour events, but the one final-table spot that Juanda has so far been unable to fill is the one that everyone remembers—first.
16 Freddy Deeb $1,790,774
Cashes: 10/68 (14.71%) Final Tables: 4 Titles: 2
Uncharacteristically for a man of his unerring consistency, Freddy Deeb had to wait until the fourth season of the WPT to get his first taste of title glory. There, at the UltimateBet Aruba Poker Classic, Fast Freddy got his hands on the first of his two tour titles and a cool $1 million pay-out.
17 Hoyt Corkins $2,604,031
Cashes: 12/58 (20.69%) Final Tables: 5 Titles: 1
A player who has certainly stood the test of time to bag WPT gold is Hoyt Corkins. The Stetson-clad pro disappeared from the game for 11 years due to personal problems, but when he returned, Corkins showed the world what he could do by taking down a then record-breaking $1,089,200 at the 2003 World Poker Finals.
18 David Chiu $3,642,141
Cashes: 10/39 (25.64%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 1
With a phenomenal conversion of appearances to cashes on the tour, David Chiu had been busy squirreling away hundreds of thousands of WPT dollars before he made his breakthrough in 2008. There, he captured his one and only tour title by defeating WPT legend Gus Hansen at World Poker Classic.
19 Lee Markholt $1,144,255
Cashes: 18/70 (25.71%) Final Tables: 1 Titles: 1
Having previously worked as a meat cutter for the family business, few could have envisioned the success Lee Markholt would have as a professional poker player. However, since his emergence on the WPT in 2004, he has cashed a phenomenal 18 times and converted his only final table appearance into a tour title.
20 Erik Seidel $1,796,548
Cashes: 17/90 (18.89%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 1
Having got thoroughly bored of plundering the World Series year-in, year-out, poker stalwart Erik Seidel turned his attentions to adding a WPT title to his mantelpiece and duly won the Foxwoods Poker Classic in 2008. To date, the Full Tilt pro has made a whopping 90 appearances on the tour, cashing 17 times.
21 Nam Le $3,094,622
Cashes: 14/63 (22.22%) Final Tables: 5 Titles: 1
Part of the all-conquering Poker Pack fraternity, Californian Nam Le bagged the only major title of his career to date with victory at the WPT Bay 101 event in 2006 and the pro has gone from strength to strength ever since.
22 Roland de Wolfe $1,741,775
Cashes: 4/13 (30.77%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 1
Roland de Wolfe recently completed poker’s triple crown with a bracelet at the WSOP, but it was back in 2005 when the British star picked up the first part of his coveted treble with victory at the WPT’s Grand Prix de Paris.
23 Hasan Habib $2,461,447
Cashes: 7/42 (16.67%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 0
Journeyman Hasan Habib exploded onto the WPT circuit with a runner-up finish in the 2004 World Poker Classic, with the $1.3 million pay-out still representing the veteran pro’s biggest tournament win to date.
24 Ted Forrest $2,375,360
Cashes: 11/57 (19.30%) Final Tables: 5 Titles: 1
Life has all been about fives for Ted Forrest. It took the five-time WSOP bracelet winner five final tables before he won a WPT title at Season 5’s Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament. His winning hand? Pocket sevens. Sorry.
25 John Hennigan $1,794,474
Cashes: 6/47 (12.77%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 1
Though he may not be the biggest name ever to take part in the tour, John Hennigan carved himself out a nice little niche in WPT history by winning the 2007 Borgata Winter Open and cashing at the same event a year later.
26 Doyle Brunson $2,010,872
Cashes: 6/36 (16.67%) Final Tables: 3 Titles: 1
What? Texas Dolly only halfway up the list? Seems shocking we know, but the Poker Hall of Famer’s only WPT success came in the 2004 Legends of Poker tournament at the second of his three championship final tables.
27 John Phan $2,100,228
Cashes: 11/72 (15.28%) Final Tables: 4 Titles: 1
John “The Razor” Phan enjoyed a mercurial year on the World Poker Tour in 2008, making back-to-back final tables and capturing his first WPT title before ultimately losing out to Bertrand Grospellier in the POTY rankings.
28 Gavin Smith $2,342,967
Cashes: 9/75 (12.00%) Final Tables: 4 Titles: 1
Gavin Smith has long been one of the most entertaining players on the World Poker Tour and with four final tables and WPT title under his belt, the Canadian has had more opportunity than most to show off his table talk.
29 Martin de Knijff $2,948,183
Cashes: 6/32 (18.75%) Final Tables: 1 Titles: 1
Imaginatively dubbed The Knife by his peers, Martin de Knijff has been slicing through fields at the WPT for some time now. No more was this evident than when he chopped down Hasan Habib to capture his only title at the 2004 World Poker Classic.
30 Nenad Medic $2,977,152
Cashes: 13/51 (25.49%) Final Tables: 4 Titles: 1
Despite only boasting one title, a better than 1-in-4 success rate in WPT events has ensured Canadian Nenad Medic remains to this day one the most consistent performers ever to have graced the tour.
31 Phil Hellmuth $836,489
Cashes: 11/60 (18.33%) Final Tables: 3 Titles: 0
It may come as a surprise to some, but for all his success at the World Series, Poker Brat Phil Hellmuth has never won a WPT title. Even so, the Midwestern menace has notched 11 cashes and three final tables in his time on the tour.
32 Humberto Brenes $1,732,400
Cashes: 8/34 (23.53%) Final Tables: 3 Titles: 0
Always a joy to watch at the table, Costa Rican Humberto Brenes is another familiar face that has never won a WPT title. The Shark has come mighty close on several occasions, however, especially in 2004 when he scored two seconds and a third.
33 Jennifer Harman $892,902
Cashes: 11/49 (22.45%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 0
A big-game player yet to fully realize her potential on the World Poker Tour is Jennifer Harman. Despite cashing 11 times and reaching two final tables, Harman has never better her third-place finish at the 2008 Bay 101 event.
34 Nick Schulman $3,225,936
Cashes: 6/41 (14.63%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 1
Kicking off his WPT career with victory in the 2005 World Poker Finals, Nick Schulman reinvested some of his $2.1 million prize on the tour and nearly won the same event two years later when he finished runner-up to Michael Vela.
35 Dan Harrington $2,444,081
Cashes: 8/46 (17.39%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 1
A true veteran of the game, Dan Harrington scored one for the old school by capturing a WPT title in the 2007 Legends of Poker tournament against David Phan. Unfortunately, Action Dan hasn’t cashed in a tour event since.
36 Joe Hachem $2,239,075
Cashes: 3/10 (30.00%) Final Tables: 1 Titles: 1
When Australian Joe Hachem won the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic in 2006, he became the first player ever to win a prize of over $2 million in two individual events. Not a bad return from your only final table on the tour.
37 Bertrand Grospellier $2,225,345
Cashes: 3/13 (23.08%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 1
After winning last season’s Player of the Year award by virtue of a WPT title and two other cashes, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier marked himself out as one to watch in future WPTs. Expect him to establish himself further on the tour next year.
38 Eugene Katchalov $2,655,521
Cashes: 4/24 (16.67%) Final Tables: 1 Titles: 1
When Eugene Katchalov won the 2007 Five Diamond World Poker Classic, the Brooklyn-born pro took down a life-changing $2.48 million. To this day, the sum represents the largest prize the New Yorker has ever won in a poker tournament.
39 Howard Lederer $703,783
Cashes: 7/47 (14.89%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 2
Howard Lederer has been winning WPT events since before a lot of the players on this list even started playing the game. And in 2002 and 2003, The Professor won two tour titles in the space of five months.
40 Kirk Morrison $2,133,233
Cashes: 5/14 (35.71%) Final Tables: 1 Titles: 0
With five cashes from 14 appearances, Kirk Morrison boasts one of the best winning percentages in tour history and his career-best, runner-up finish in the 2007 World Poker Classic netted The Captain just over $2 million.
41 Men Nguyen $1,032,045
Cashes: 12/74 (16.22%) Final Tables: 4 Titles: 0
He may be a controversial character, but make no mistake about it—Men Nguyen was an integral component to the WPT’s early success. The pro’s boisterous persona earned him a cult following and four tour final tables proved he wasn’t bad at poker either.
42 Mike Matusow $1,558,759
Cashes: 9/67 (13.43%) Final Tables: 4 Titles: 0
Thankfully for poker fans, the ever-entertaining Mike Matusow has been afforded plenty of TV time on the WPT due to his four final tables. Unfortunately for The Mouth, however, he’s been unable to talk his way to victory in any of them.
43 Antonio Esfandiari $1,523,555
Cashes: 6/58 (10.34%) Final Tables: 3 Titles 1
Back in 2004, Antonio Esfandiari exploded onto the poker scene with victory at the 2004 LA Poker Classic. Though The Magician has failed to pull the rabbit out of the hat again, he remains a firm fan favorite on the WPT.
44 Roy Winston $1,741,537
Cashes: 7/25 (28.00%) Final Tables: 1 Titles: 1
With a World Series Main Event cash ahead of the 2007 Borgata Open, Roy Winston was in hot form when he took down the event to capture his first WPT title. The win netted him $1.57 million, which remains his biggest cash to date.
45 Ryan Daut $1,762,950
Cashes: 3/13 (23.08%) Final Tables: 2 Titles: 1
One half of one of the most incredible hands of poker the WPT has ever seen (against Isaac Haxton at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure), Daut managed to avenge being bluffed by three-high by winning the title and $1,535,255 to boot.
46 Michael Gracz $1,777,816
Cashes: 5/33 (15.15%) Final Tables: 1 Titles: 1
Polish-born Gracz first hit the big stage when he won the PartyPoker.com Million IV Cruise event. The limit hold’em event was one of the last of its kind on the tour, but Gracz’s undoubted talents were confirmed when he picked up a WSOP bracelet in a No Limit Hold’em event just months later.
47 Yevgeniy Timoshenko $2,149,960
Cashes: 1/9 (11.11%) Final Tables: 1 Titles: 1
You could say that the last 18 months has been spectacular for the 21-year-old American pro. Baby-faced he might be, but his APT win, final-table appearance at the WSOP Europe and then the crowning moment at Season VII’s WPT World Championship event suggest this is a young face we’ll see plenty more of in the future.
48 Victor Ramdin $1,770,033
Cashes: 12/67 (17.91%) Final Tables: 1 Titles: 1
If this were a list of the nicest people in poker, Victor Ramdin would be a whole lot higher than 48th. One of the most generous players on the tour, the Team PokerStars pro is heavily involved with charitable work in Guyana, donating 25 percent of his winnings to help those less fortunate than him and his peers.
49 Joseph Bartholdi $3,760,165
Cashes: 1/18 (5.56%) Final Tables: 1 Titles: 1
A hustler from a young age, Bartholdi went from rags to riches, then back to rags in his early poker career. However, his win at the WPT World Championship in Season 4 and the $3,760,165 he picked up should ensure he doesn’t go back to rags—we hope.
50 Mike Watson $1,735,380
Cashes: 2/12 (16.17%) Final Tables: 1 Titles: 1
Canadian Mike SirWatts Watson won the Bellagio Cup IV on a tricky final table that boasted John Phan and Ralph Perry. Not content with outlasting those, Watson beat David Benyamine heads-up to take the title, bracelet and $1,673,770. A veteran of final tables that can be filed under “tough,” SirWatts also came 3rd at the EPT High Rollers event in London last fall. |
