Poker is an enormously volatile sport, which makes it all the more hard to stay on top of the game for a very long time. There are always breakout players shaking the game, turning heads and staying in the spotlight for a short amount of time. However there are just a handful of poker players who have been consistent at winning high stake and prestigious poker events over the years.
These poker players have earned millions of dollars in carer prize money and have defied the odds to stay at the top of their game and the rankings for a long period of time. They have displayed enormous tenacity and consistency in their careers, and have proven that they will always be names to be reckoned with, in whatever tournament they take part in and in any part of the world.
Some of these poker pros are well known throughout the world for their accomplishments while other names might come as a surprise as they are not as popular as some of the other players featured on this list. Here are the top 10 players who have feature on the Hendon Mob’s All Time Money List.
In Part 1 – we take a look at the top 5 players.
Daniel Negreanu – Rank 1
Canadian pro Daniel Negreanu is a six-time WSOP bracelet owner, two-time WPT champion, multi-awarded Player of the Year, and a regular at main events and final tables. Kid Poker as he is nicknamed has been playing poker professionally since 1997. He sits at the top of the world’s all-time money list with $36,546,094 in live earnings after more than two decades of activity on the felt. His bankroll was recently boosted by $264,000 from his 3rd place at the US Poker Open Main Event in Las Vegas.
A fan of high-stakes tournaments and philanthropic causes, Negreanu’s biggest cash was a whopping $8,288,001 at the 1 Million The Big One for One Drop at the WSOP in 2014.
Erik Seidel – Rank 2
Currently ranked number one on the US’s all-time money list and number two on the global all-time money list is poker player Erik Seidel who has $33,538,037 in total live earnings. With eight WSOP bracelets and a WPT title to his name, Seidel has received recognition by being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame after almost three decades of playing poker professionally.
His most recent cashes come from placing 4th at the NLH High Roller during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) 2018 for $260,260, placing 2nd at the Poker Masters’ $50K NLH in September for $576,000, and bagging 3rd place at the €50K NLH event of the PokerStars Championship in April for $461,570.
Dan Colman – Rank 3
At only 27 years old, Dan Colman has already bankrolled his future after scoring his biggest and most popular victory at the Big One for One Drop event in 2014 when he defeated Negreanu to win a jaw-dropping $15,306,668.
Before Colman’s foray into the live circuit, he was popular in the online poker rooms as “mrGR33N13” and “riyyc225,” setting history in 2013 for being the first player to win $1,000,000 in hyper-turbo tournaments playing only 9 months in one calendar year. Since his shift to the live tournament scene, Colman has built $28,925,059 in total live earnings, boosted recently by a $200,000 first prize victory at the Poker Night in America King of the Hill in October and another $342,240 first placer at the Aria High Roller 53.
Antonio Esfandiari – Rank 4
Esfandiari is best known for winning the largest single payout in tournament poker history when he took down the The Big One for One Drop in July 2012 for $18,346,673. For years, he was at the top of the all-time money list before Negreanu unseated him with his One Drop second placer in 2014. At the time of this writing, he has $27,614,381 in total career prize money.
Esfandiari has been playing poker since 2002, earning two WPT championships and three WSOP bracelets. While The Magician is yet to cash out on any tournament this year, he has been seen boosting his bankroll in 2017 at the High Roller for One Drop with $257,072 for an 11^th place finish and at the MSOP Main Event with a $263,312 second prize.
Fedor Holz – Rank 5
At 24 years old, German poker pro Fedor Holz is the youngest poker player to feature on the top 10 all-time money list with $26,701,371 in total live earnings. He won his biggest live cash and first WSOP bracelet in 2016 during the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop, when he took home $4,981,775.
Holz only started playing professional poker from 2012 but he has steadily increased his bankroll year after year. He recently brought home another million-dollar victory after a second placer at the 2017 Triton Super High Roller Series Main Event in Macau for $2,100,086, and a back-to-back cash of $504,000 and $550,000 at the NLH events during the 2017 Poker Masters.
We take a look at the players ranked from 6 to 10 on Hendon Mob’s all-time money list in Part 2 of this article…