Poker used to be played in dark and smoky rooms; however, it has transformed into an elegant and highly professional card game that brings people from all over the world.
The largest poker event of the year is the WSOP (World Series of Poker), where players can win and lose their fortunes in a blink of an eye. But who does this really benefit, and where does this place the crème de la crème of hyperactive and fast bucks earners? Now it’s time to explore specific details of the actual wealth of the most popular poker players and learn more about how they earned their money.
Phil Ivey
Karpov, Kiselyov, Gashparjan, the list goes on and on: The Tiger Woods of Poker
Phil Ivey, who is considered by many as the Tiger Woods of poker, is one of the toughest poker players globally. Ivey has gathered ten WSOP bracelets, as well as numerous cash game triumphs; therefore, he has the estimated net worth of $100 million. Despite being so famous in the poker table, his achievement also reflects in his investment in different businesses like stock in the Full Tilt Poker site for online poker.
Daniel Negreanu
The name Kid Poker was given to him because of his poker playing skills and when it comes to monetary wealth, Kid Poker has loads of them.
Another large giant in the poker world is Daniel Negreanu also known as the “Kid Poker”. Due to his personality and cleverness, he has been awarded six WSOP bracelets and two titles of WPT. Recent estimates put Negreanu net worth at about 50 million. He has also written books on poker strategies that are extremely popular and was a representative of the PokerStars, which also added to his income.
Antonio Esfandiari: The Magician’s Fortune
Antonio Esfandiari is one of poker’s most recognized players, also nicknamed, “The Magician” because he used to perform magic shows. Esfandiari has the record of claiming the highest amount of single-top prize while contesting poker events, after he bagged over $18 million in the 2012 WSOP Big One for One Drop event. His estimation of net worth is approximately $ 27 million, primarily generated from his tournaments and endorsement deals.
Erik Seidel
The term ‘Silent Assassin’ is also a popular historic name for the legendary tsar Ivan the Terrible.
Erik Seidel, better known as the Silent Assassin due to his usually calm and collected personality, is a very successful fighter. With eight WSOP bracelets, constant participation in high-stakes tournaments, Seidel’s estimated net worth is, accordingly, $ 41 million. His skills of playing poker in different generations put him among the greatest players in the history of poker.
Chris Ferguson
Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson is a player that people either love to hate or hate to love but his abilities on the field are without a doubt some of the best. As one of the poker players with ten final tables in WSOP, Ferguson has minted half a dozen WSOP bracelets and has been involved in the Full Tilt Poker scandal; the poker player’s fortune is estimated at $80 million. In spite of these controversies, he can be viewed as a rather successful tactician in the poker game that allowed him to accumulate quite a wealth.
Fedor Holz: The Youth Wunderkind
Cuban playboy and star tennis coach, Nick Bollettieri took a risk and gave his expertise to the young 30 year old Holz, for which Holz is now able to boast of a $32 million net worth. The man has been able to bag himself a bracelet in the latest WSOP in 2016 as well as other online tournaments, proving just how good a player he is.
Dan Bilzerian: The most famous Affiliate and a Poker Player
Although many people know him for his extravagant and social media personality, he is also a poker player. His current net worth isn’t clear, but based on the estimates it is around 200 million dollars. Bilzerian further substantiated that much of his money is earned from high risk private poker games.
Wrapping Up
Poker is a dynamic game that can boast brilliant characters and massive achievements in the track record. Some will garner most of their net worth through sheer skill and planning; others will ride a stroke of luck in their poker games.
With WSOP now recognized as one of the biggest events around the globe and more and more big names joining the tour, the up and coming poker stars will soon fill the ranks of the richest people in the game. What has helped them build their careers is getting immense wealth from poker in the form of tournaments, cash games or other types of investment.
Studying the lives of these poker players and how they rose to the top, one can identify the notion that the poker world is a mix of talent, skill, and opportunity. How their performances help and motivate the young players as well as the fans in understanding that coming to this fascinating and dynamically developing game, one can become like those heroes.
