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Top 10 poker players who changed the game

29 April 2024

The game of poker has seen generations of players come and go, each bringing something unique to the table.

From the era of old-school poker hustlers like Puggy Pearson and Doyle Brunson, to the modern age of poker we live in today, the game has changed almost beyond recognition. And while so many have played poker along the way, only a handful of people can be truly attributed with changing the game in a meaningful way.

This is a list of the top 10 players who changed the game of poker in an essential way and made it what it is today, one step at a time.

10. Brad Owen
A name you will not find on too many lists of this kind, Brad Owen can be attributed with changing the game of poker forever as he was one of the people who sparked a new revolution in the poker world with his unique content.

Like so many others, Brad was playing low-stakes poker games and trying to make a living just a few years ago, and he realized that there may be people out there who would like to follow him on his journey. What started off as a small personal project blew up into a massive business, as Brad Owen managed to create a YouTube channel that is now nearing 750,000 followers.



Owen is on his way to having a million poker fans follow his poker story, and his success with the platform has triggered many others to follow in his footsteps and share the word about poker even further.

An entire niche of YouTube Vlogs about poker exists today thanks to the efforts of Brad Owen, Andrew Neeme, and a handful of others, and these might just be the best advertising tools for poker today.

Vanessa Selbst

Vanessa Selbst

9. Vanessa Selbst
Poker is generally considered a men’s game, and less than 5% of the playing field at the World Series of Poker is made up of women even today. Yet, one young lady came along in 2006 and showed the world that being a man had nothing to do with being a great poker player.

Vanessa Selbst grinded her way to $11,000,000 in tournament earnings in the years before the massive high rollers were invented and left a lasting mark on the poker world.

In fact, Selbst was the only woman to ever reach the number one position on the Global Poker Index ratings before deciding to retire from poker to pursue other passions.

Vanessa’s achievements showed us all that discriminating against poker players based on their gender was nonsense and that the ladies had every chance to compete with the men.

Her success story likely brought more women into poker than any other single event, earning Vanessa Selbst a place on this list of the top 10 poker players who changed the game.

8. Gus Hansen
Born in 1974, the same year as Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen is a Danish poker player who rose to planetary stardom in the years of the Poker Boom.

In 2002, before Chris Moneymaker won his WSOP Main Event champion title, Gus won the WPT Five Diamond Poker Classic and introduced the poker world to a new style of play. Over the next decade, Hansen demonstrated his hyper-aggressive playing style in tournaments across WPT, WSOP, EPT, and other tours and dominated with it.

Older players could not quite figure out how this guy, who was playing so many hands, was coming out on top in the end.

While Hansen didn't end up becoming one of the biggest winners in tournament poker over the long run, he sparked a new way of thinking about poker that numerous players since have perfected.

In some ways, Hansen was a pioneer of the game, playing an aggressive style of poker at a time when all the pros were going the route of Phil Hellmuth and his advice about the “top ten hands in poker.”

7. Tom Dwan
The Poker Boom certainly gave birth to a whole new generation of poker players who grew up playing the game online and learned at a much quicker pace than their predecessors. The poster child for this generation is Tom Dwan, who used to go by his Full Tilt Poker screen name “durrrr,” and whose exploits in online poker games are a thing of legend.

Tom Dwan started playing poker shortly after the Moneymaker Boom and deposited just $50 into his new Full Tilt account. Unlike many players who went broke multiple times, Tom never looked back as he grinded his $50 into a massive online bankroll.

During the peak days of online poker, Tom played the biggest games around, battling the likes of Phil Ivey, Hansen, Illari Sahamies, and Victor Blom in legendary poker matches that were viewed by thousands of railbirds at once. Much like the likes of Phil Hellmuth or Hansen before him, Tom showed a whole new generation of poker players what could be done in this game with perseverance and willingness to learn.

Along with many others, Dwan was one of the driving forces behind the Poker Boom and remains one of the most feared cash game poker players in the world today.

6. Phil Ivey
A 2017 Poker Hall of Fame inductee, Phil Ivey is widely considered to be the best poker player in the world, both in tournaments and in cash games.

While no one can pinpoint the exact reason Ivey is so good at poker, his results certainly speak volumes, and those who have played with him can testify that there is just something different about this New Jersey native.

Ivey started playing poker around the same time as the likes of Gus Hansen and Daniel Negreanu and grew up battling these guys in the trenches. Now, several decades later, the consensus is that Phil Ivey has done better than any of them and that he is the undisputed king of the poker world.

Unlike Negreanu or Hellmuth, Ivey has always remained somewhat private and mysterious, not eager to do interviews or other things that help grow the game.

Yet, in his own way, Phil Ivey has done just as much for poker as them. His presence in the games, his intensity, and his undeniable results have made millions of fans around the world fall in love with the game.

In fact, many of today’s best poker players first got into the game simply wanting to be like Phil Ivey, fearless, terrifying, and nearly unbeatable.

Daniel Negreanu

Daniel Negreanu

5. Daniel Negreanu
Perhaps the most popular active poker player in the world, Daniel Negreanu, has had more impact on poker than most other poker players. The Canadian poker player of Romanian descent started his poker career at a young age, leaving Toronto and traveling out to Las Vegas in the 1990s.

By his admission, Daniel went broke several times before finally making it but make it he did. Today, he may just be the biggest name in all of poker! Daniel won his first major poker event in 1998 and has since dominated the world of tournament poker while also building his personal brand along the way.

While many players of his generation have won multiple WSOP, EPT, or WPT events, none have done as well in creating their poker persona as Daniel.

Over the years, Negreanu has been the ambassador for major poker brands like PokerStars and GGPoker and has been involved in hundreds of projects that have brought poker to wider audiences.

Today, Negreanu continues to spread the game of poker at every venue he can, while also still competing at the highest level against the sharpest minds in the game.

4. Mike Sexton
Born in 1947, Mike Sexton remains one of the most legendary people in poker, and most poker fans know him from his role with the World Poker Tour.

Over the years, Mike Sexton became known among the general poker audience as a great poker player and an even better commentator, but that was far from his only contribution to poker.

In fact, Mike Sexton was one of the pivotal figures in partypoker, one of the first online poker sites out there, as well as the founding and growth of WPT as the world’s biggest poker tour at the time.

Sexton’s success at the tables also translated to success in other forms of gambling, as he was a legendary figure throughout Las Vegas and beyond.

Mike’s passing in 2020 left a void in the poker world that none could fill, and his impact on the game will never be forgotten.

3. Chris Moneymaker
While his poker resume is hardly as stellar as those of Doyle Brunson or Phil Hellmuth, it can be argued that Chris Moneymaker changed the game of poker more than any other single person out there.

The reason, of course, lies in the fact that Chris Moneymaker was not a professional poker player in 2003 when he went out to the World Series of Poker and won it all. By winning the 2003 WSOP Main Event, the Atlanta-born accountant showed the world that just about anyone could win at the big table if they took a chance.

This win, which was aired on TV, triggered what is now known as “The Moneymaker Boom” or simply “The Poker Boom,” which saw hundreds of thousands of people around the world get into the game.

The early 2000s were a time of a true revolution in poker, and although many people and companies had their hand in it, it was one man who triggered it, and his name is Chris Moneymaker.

Phil Hellmuth

Phil Hellmuth

2. Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth was born in 1964, and few could foresee the great future this Wisconsin-born youngster would have. Like so many others, Hellmuth dropped out of college to pursue a career in poker, but he did it at a time when few dared try it.

Hellmuth won his first WSOP bracelet at the 1989 World Championship, and he never looked back, dominating tournament poker for nearly four decades. Over the years, Phil has not only impressed with his tournament results but also created one of the most recognizable personas in poker.

Known as “The Poker Brat,” Hellmuth has created a brand out of moaning about bad beats and trying to teach everyone at the table a lesson.

While other players can’t get away with such things, Hellmuth certainly can, as his results speak for themselves and paint a picture of a true poker great.

Many have questioned Hellmuth’s ability to compete in the modern age, but he has proven them all wrong by still winning major events as recently as 2023.

Love him or hate him, Phil Hellmuth is an iconic poker name and one of the people who have helped grow pokers in ways most others could only dream of.

1. Doyle Brunson
Born in 1933, Doyle Brunson is the greatest legend of the game of poker, and his passing in 2023 was one of the most somber moments the poker world has ever experienced.

Doyle started his poker career as a grinder, going from one place to another and playing the game with the likes of Amarillo Slim and Sailor Roberts. Brunson and his partners played illegal games at the time, and while they would win more often than not, the life they led came with plenty of dangers.

According to his stories, Doyle played in games that were both robbed by criminals and raided by police officers many times before poker became a semblance of what it is today.

When poker finally came to Las Vegas and the World Series was formed, Doyle Brunson was one of the biggest names in the game, and he was quick to win a number of WSOP bracelets.

The Godfather of Poker, as he would later come to be known, was a poker professional before such a thing existed, and he paved the way for generations of poker players who came after him.

Not only did Brunson pave the way, but he also remained a relevant part of the poker world well into his old age, still playing the biggest cash games in the world past his 85th birthday.

Texas Dolly will forever be remembered as one of the “founders” of the modern game of poker and a legend whose status few could ever hope to match.
Top 10 poker players who changed the game is republished from Online.CasinoCity.com.
Tadas Peckaitis

Tadas Peckaitis has been a professional poker player, coach and author for almost a decade. He is a manager and head coach at mypokercoaching.com where he shares his experience, and poker strategy tips.
Tadas plays poker, mostly online, but also manages to play live events while travelling through Europe and the U.S.
He is a big fan of personal effectiveness and always trying to do more. Tadas regularly shares his knowledge about both of these topics with his students, and deeply enjoys it.
Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, or visit www.mypokercoaching.com
Tadas Peckaitis
Tadas Peckaitis has been a professional poker player, coach and author for almost a decade. He is a manager and head coach at mypokercoaching.com where he shares his experience, and poker strategy tips.
Tadas plays poker, mostly online, but also manages to play live events while travelling through Europe and the U.S.
He is a big fan of personal effectiveness and always trying to do more. Tadas regularly shares his knowledge about both of these topics with his students, and deeply enjoys it.
Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, or visit www.mypokercoaching.com