Name: Well, that’s the question now, isn’t it?
Age: Let’s say around 200 years old. Even in the very first poker game ever played, someone had to be the best player.
Appearance: Lots of chips in front of them, plenty of experience behind them, and no doubt an excellent poker face.
Isn’t this what the World Series of Poker is for? Who won the Main Event this year? That would be Michael Mizrachi, who also won the WSOP Poker Players Championship for an unprecedented double victory. While his accomplishments certainly put his name in the conversation for best-ever, winning the Main Event isn’t the be-all-and-end-all.
I guess that way there would be a new GOAT every year? Exactly, and one tournament is nowhere near enough of a sample size to truly answer this question. Besides, not every player enters the WSOP, and many more don’t even play tournaments.
So, how do we decide? There are all kinds of ways, and that’s the problem. If you go by who has won the most money in tournaments, it would be New York’s Bryn Kenney, currently top of The Hendon Mob’s All-Time Money List with over $78.7 million in recorded winnings.
And what’s wrong with that criteria? Nothing, if you’re looking for the best tournament player, but remember it’s possible to win absolutely huge amounts in just one tourney if you can afford to play high enough. Kenney’s single biggest score to date is over $20M, and that’s from a tournament he didn’t even win. His top five scores alone would place him in the top 25.
What other accomplishments are worth considering? How about WSOP victories? Phil Hellmuth’s record of 17 bracelet wins is so far ahead of the rest of the pack, it’s debatable whether anyone will ever catch him. That definitely makes him one of the best ever — he told me himself.
Hellmuth certainly has been playing a long time. That’s true. His WSOP Main Event win, and his first bracelet, came back in 1989, but even that long career pales in comparison with someone like ‘The Godfather of Poker’, Doyle Brunson. He was already in his late 30s — and an accomplished player — when the WSOP first began, went on to win the Main Event twice, and played high stakes right into his late 80s. He also wrote one of the key texts in the world of poker strategy, the book Super/System.
This list is getting longer… And we’re not even close to finished. Daniel Negreanu is a favorite among many poker fans for the way he’s continually in action, promoting the game and seemingly never taking a break, either online or live. If you were to ask people with no knowledge of poker to name the world’s best player, I bet his name would come up more than most.
How about just pure, natural talent? Though he sadly passed away over 25 years ago, Stu Ungar is a legendary figure in the game who was said to possess an uncanny ability to read opponents and even learn (and master) new games on-the-fly. He’s certainly regarded as one of the most naturally gifted players of all time, and won the WSOP Main Event three times between 1980 and 1997.
Wow, has anyone else done that? Not really. Johnny Moss also won the Big One three times, but one of those was down to a vote, and all came in the first five years of the WSOP, when the fields were, shall we say, somewhat smaller.
How small? The largest Main Event field Moss beat had 16 players. On the other side of the scale, online players these days have many, many thousands of players to beat to claim victory, which arguably puts the likes of Niklas Astedt in the mix. Astedt has recorded online tournament winnings of over $47M.
So it seems there isn’t really a way to decide who the Greatest of All Time actually is? Comparisons are difficult. Just like the Lebron James vs Michael Jordan debate in basketball, poker players belong to different eras and face different opposition, but unlike in basketball they also play different games. When it comes to pot-limit Omaha cash games, Phil Galfond is widely accepted to be one of the best ever, while the discipline of heads-up poker will see names like Doug Polk and Dan 'Jungleman' Cates enter the mix.
Okay, if there are so many different criteria to consider, who is the best all-round player? There’s no way to say for sure, but Phil Ivey is a popular choice. He’s been around for decades, plays high stakes, has more WSOP bracelets than anyone bar Hellmuth, has natural talent to burn, and is capable of making creative plays that few others would consider.
You couldn’t have said that from the start? You’re missing the point; the debate’s the fun part!
Do say: “Deciding the GOAT of anything is a conversation that never ends.”
Don’t say: “Now, who’s the worst poker player of all time?”
