WSOP Lounge

Nick Laurrell asked:


START pt 1

Luck ***** but it’s a part of the game.

Aces get cracked, flushes come on the river and sometimes the flop comes 7 2 2. The best hand when the money goes in is not always the hand with the money when it’s all said and done with.

There are more than 50 events at the World Series of Poker every year (54 to be exact) and most of them are won by people you’ve never heard of or ever will again. Most victories in the WSOP are claimed by players who do know enough to get comfortable at a table but who will never again stumble upon a lucky enough to claim a partner piece of jewelry for their other wrist. For most WSOP bracelet winners, their victory is their fifteen minutes of fame.

But there are a few exceptions. 110 different people own more than 1 World Series of Poker bracelet. 110 people have climbed through fields as small as 6 to as large as 8,770 and won multiple WSOP tournaments. Those 110 players represent by and large, the greatest 110 poker players of the past 38 years (the WSOP began in 1970.)

So in preparation for the May 30 start to the 2008 World Series of Poker, here are the ten greatest players in the history of the WSOP.

10. Phil Ivey – 5 Bracelets 26 Cashes

No player in the world today is more feared than Phil Ivey. He is aggressive, a defender and a master of a vast array of different games. He is a regular at the legendary Big Game and one of a handful of players to have won both a WSOP and WPT event. He is one of 4 players to have won 3 WSOP bracelets in a single year (Phil Hellmuth, Ted Forrest and Doyle Brunson are the other 3.) Since 2000, he has won 5 bracelets all in the few events not involving NL Hold’em held every year (which are notoriously studded with grizzled pros.) He owns victories in 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo, S.H.O.E. (Hold’em, Omaha, and Stud) and 2 in Pot Limit Omaha. His victories are:

2000 $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha for $195,000

2002 $2,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo for $118,440

2002 $2,000 S.H.O.E. for $107,540

2002 $1,500 Seven Card Stud for $132,000

2005 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha for $635,603

Maybe the only thing more impressive than the events he has won are the few he almost won. In the 2002 Main Event (631 players) he finished 23rd, in the 2003 Main Event (839 players) he finished 10th and in the 2005 Main Event (5,619 players) he finished 20th. The only other player with any sort of similar success in the recent history of the Main Event is Dan Harrington (who made it to the Final Table of both the 2003 and 2004 Main Events.) Ivey is also the only man to defeat the legendary gambler Amarillo Slim heads up (which he did en route to his first bracelet, the 2000 $2,500 PL Omaha.) And while it has nothing to do with the WSOP, Phil Ivey also won $16,000,000 over a 3-day heads up game with billionaire Andy Beal. Often referred to as “The Tiger Woods of Poker,” Phil Ivey is as unwelcome a face at any WSOP table as there is in the world today. Even scarier is that he doesn’t even focus on tournament play any longer – so his multiple victories have come out of much fewer buy-ins than the average 5-time bracelet winner.

9. Allen Cunningham – 5 Bracelets 33 Cashes

Who? You mean, that guy? Allen Cunningham is that most dangerous type of poker player – the one you never notice. He’s soft spoken, thin framed, blonde and possessed of a generally pleasant demeanor. He even has a dog named Muffin. But since 2001, when the then 24-year old first showed up on the WSOP scene, no other player in the world has won more bracelets. His 5 bracelets overall tie him with the likes of Phil Ivey and Stu Ungar, his 33 cashes put him in the top 20 of all time and he’s turning 31 just this year. Like Ivey, Allen has won his bracelets in 3 different games: 7 Card Stud (2001 $5,000 7 Card Stud,) Deuce to Seven Draw (2002 $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw) and Hold’em (2005 $1,500 NL Hold’em, 2006 $1,000 NL Hold’em with Rebuys and the 2007 $5,000 PL Hold’em.) His victories:

2001 $5,000 Seven Card Stud for $201,760

2002 $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw for $160,200

2005 $1,500 No Limit Hold’em for $725,405

2006 $1,000 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys for $625,830

2007 $5,000 Pot Limit Hold’m for $487,287

He is one of only 5 players in history to win a bracelet in 3 consecutive years (Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, Gary Berland and Erik Seidel are the others.) He also finished 4th in the 2006 Main Event which featured a record 8,773 buy-ins (and took home a nifty $3.5 million+ check for it.) In 2005, after making it to 4 different final tables, Allen was named the Player of the Year. While the casual fan may not recognize Allen Cunningham at a table, you can bet that his fellow poker pros do. In 2006, he was voted by his peers as the Best All Around Player under the age of 35. He is at the pinnacle of the poker world and looks likely to stay there for a long time to come.

8. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson 5 Bracelets 51 Cashes 1 Main Event Victory

Chris Ferguson is the most recognizable poker player on the planet. Between his long beard, his cowboy hat and his unflinching table persona – it’s like he emerged from a poker player’s nightmare. He is unreadable, he has a PhD in computer science from UCLA, he has either won or come in 2nd in 3 out of 4 National Heads-Up Tournaments ever held and most importantly, he can cut a banana by throwing a playing card at it. When it comes to poker, he’s Jesus. Chris owns five WSOP bracelets:

 2000 $2,500 Seven Card Stud for $151,000

 2000 Main Event for $1,500,000

 2001 $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo Split Eight or Better for $164,735

 2003 $2,000 Omaha Hi/Lo Split Eight or Better for $123,680

 2003 $2,000 Half Hold’em – Half 7 Card Stud for $66,220

He is also the only player in history to have won 3 WSOP circuit events. While the $1.5 million he received for winning the 2000 Main Event ranks as his biggest single payday, his 51 total cashes in the WSOP ranks fifth all-time (behind Phil Hellmuth, Men Nguyen, TJ Cloutier and Berry Johnston.) That’s a huge accomplishment for someone who has only been buying into the WSOP since 1995. In spite of his penchant for dispatching his opponents, he is widely regarded as one of the nicest guys in poker away from the table.

To see the rest of the top 10, read part 2 of The Ten Greatest Players in the History of the World Series of Poker.



Sarah