Poker Player Bio - Harmen, Hellmuth, Ivey, Etc

For a lot of people poker isn’t about the money. It’s a hobby. A game to play with friends, to watch on TV and to argue about in forums. Kind of like traditional sports, such as basketball, baseball or football.

And like sports, people have a fascination with the top players. Celebrity players, if you will. They want to watch them play and learn more about them. Sometimes they want to model their playing style after them.

So with that in mind, what you’ll find on this page are the biographies for poker’s top players and personalities. We thought it would be interesting to know more about these players, including how they grew up, their accomplishments and what they’re up to today. Read on to get a little bit closer to your favorite player(s).

Chris Moneymaker – Chris Moneymaker is known for the poker ‘boom’ that happened following his 2003 Main Event win. He showed the world that an amateur poker player – an accountant – can take down a field of poker pros and the worlds most prestigious event. Not only did he take down the main event, but he earned his seat by winning two satellites.

Daniel Negreanu – Negreanu is known as Kid Poker, a nickname he earned when we was a fresh nosed kid just getting his start in Las Vegas. His specialty is tournaments. He has 5 WSOP bracelets, 2 WPT wins and more than $18 million in cashes overall, placing him at 3rd on the All Time Money List.

Doyle Brunson – Brunson is the grandfather of poker. He’s been playing for more than 50 years. He’s one of your old school players, where he dealt with muggings, criminals and illegal underground games as he came up. He’s won the WSOP Main Event twice, and managed to win them back-to-back. He has 10 bracelets, second to only Phil Hellmuth’s 13. His life is interesting and definitely worth reading about.

Greg Raymer – Greg Raymer won the World Series of Poker Main Event the year after Chris Moneymaker did. But instead of having to play through 800 or so players, he had to play through around 2,5000, thanks to the popularity of holdem at that time. Raymer ended up taking home $5 million for his win, before paying back his investors. He’s done quite well since, most recently winning 4 HPT tournaments in one season – the first time that’s ever happened.

Howard Lederer– Lederer is well-known, although not for all the right reasons. Before 2011, he was known as The Professor, a competent poker player, brother to Annie Duke and 2-time bracelet winner. He’s earned more than $6 million playing tournaments. Lederer is also known for being co-owner and operator of Full Tilt Poker, which was indicted by the DOJ. It was later found out that Howard, along with other FTP alum, took players money and didn’t keep any on hand to pay them back. His punishment was on the weaker side. We think you’ll agree.

Jennifer Harman – Jennifer Harman is one of the best female poker players of all time. But if you ask her peers she’s easily one of the best poker players of all time. She’s won 2 bracelets, both in open events, and her total tournament winnings exceed $2 million. She’s known more so for her cash game skills, though, where she’s played as high as 4k/8k in The Big Game and 25k/50k to 50k/100k against Billionaire Andy Beal.

Phil Hellmuth – Phil Hellmuth is one of the best tournament poker players. He’s the record holder for winning the most WSOP bracelets, the most cashes and final tables. Even though some of his peers have said that he’s not good enough for today’s games, let alone any game other than holdem, Phil has proven them wrong though. Read on to learn how.

Phil Ivey – Ivey is regarded as the best all around poker today, and possibly of all time. He’s won 9 bracelets, with at least one bracelet for every variation. He’s earned more than $17 million in tournaments, and considerably much more than that in cash games. He’s currently ranked 4th on the all time money list and tied for 3rd for total bracelets. Ask his peers and they’ll tell you that they expect him to one day overtake Phil Hellmuth for total bracelets won.

Vanessa Selbst – Vanessa Selbst is considered to be the best female poker player today, although she more than handles her own against men, too. Along with Harman, she’s one of very few women to earn a bracelet in multiple open events. She’s won more than any women, too, having earned more than $7 million from tournaments alone. She’s the leader for the women’s all time money list, and 44th on the all time money list for both men and women.