10 Greatest Performers at the World Series of Poker in History
There really isn't any point in hiding the top spot on this list of 10 top performers in World Series of Poker (WSOP) history. Everyone knows it's Phil Hellmuth, for obvious reasons that will be further discussed later. But who are the other poker legends who fill in the remaining nine spots? We're going to make you read on for the answer.
We'll give you some hints about who you can expect to see on this list. Seven of them are Poker Hall of Famers, one will be soon, and one would have been inducted years ago if not for being involved in one of poker's most notorious scandals.
The criteria is, as with any Top x-list, a bit subjective, and we certainly welcome your thoughts. Feel free to agree or disagree with the Top 10. But the players were all judged based on number of bracelets won, cashes, final tables, the events they've won (the Main Event holding more weight than, say, a random $1k, for example), and we gave extra credit for those who've won WSOP Player of the Year.
The 2025 World Series of Poker Paradise (WSOPP) series is getting underway in the Bahamas. So, what better time than now to honor those who've most dominated the WSOP since its inception in 1970?
1. Phil Hellmuth
The only "duh" on this list is Hellmuth, who is considered by just about any poker expert to be the greatest performer in WSOP history. He doesn't just hold the record for most bracelets at 17 — there isn't even a close second. Hellmuth has won WSOP gold in a record five decades, his latest one coming in 2023, 34 years after his first.
No one else has won more than 11 bracelets. But it isn't just the number of wins that have the "Poker Brat" firmly supplanted atop this list. He's also a world champion, having won the 1989 Main Event, and he's tied with Jeremy Ausmus for the most final table appearances (7) in a single-series. Not only that, but he has more cashes (197) at the WSOP than anyone else. There really isn't even a close competitor at Number 1, and likely won't be for quite some time.
2. Phil Ivey
If anyone is a slam dunk at Number 2, it would be Phil Ivey. The poker legend once dubbed "No Home Jerome" won his 11th bracelet in 2024, putting him alone in second place all time. All 11 of those bracelets have come this century, tied for most in the game with Hellmuth since 2000.
Ivey has arguably been the most consistent performer at the WSOP since he burst onto the scene in 2000 at age 23, save for a five-year period in which he was mostly non-existent at the series. Ivey has 95 cashes at the WSOP, but what has him ranked second is how dominant he was for over a decade from 2003-2014, and he's still putting up some impressive results 11 years later.
3. Michael Mizrachi
Michael Mizrachi, your reigning world champion, wouldn't have even cracked the Top 10 five months ago. But he pulled off the most improbable run in poker history this past summer, and it was so impressive that he skyrocketed from the "Honorable Mention" list to third place.
"The Grinder" won the prestigious $50,000 Poker Players Championship for a record fourth time in June, and then won the WSOP Main Event for $10 million a few weeks later. Mizrachi is the only player ever to reach the Main Event final table in the same year as the PPC, and he's done it twice (2010, fifth place). He has seven WSOP bracelets overall and is the top performer ever in the biggest events. Mizrachi's 2025 WSOP run was so legendary that he immediately earned a special induction to the Poker Hall of Fame.
4. Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu is not only arguably the most popular player in the game. He's also one of the best ever on the felt at the World Series of Poker. "Kid Poker" ended an 11-year drought by winning his seventh bracelet in 2024, and he did it in the second most prestigious event ($50,000 Poker Players Championship).
Negreanu is a two-time WSOP Player of the Year (2004 and 2013), and he's consistently been in contention for the award for decades. The GGPoker ambassador has 195 bracelet event cashes, trailing only Hellmuth. His resume compares heavily to the next player on the list, but the PPC win and longevity (for now) puts him just a bit ahead.
5. Shaun Deeb
Shaun Deeb has been one of a few players consistently competing against Negreanu for WSOP Player of the Year the past decade. Like Negreanu, Deeb has won the award twice — the first in 2018 and the second this past summer.
The New York poker star is closing in on Hellmuth for most cashes at the WSOP, as he's already hit 183 at age 39, and there's a solid chance the record will be his within five years. He'll be eligible for the Poker Hall of Fame this summer since he turns 40 in March. If he can extend his tally of eight bracelets before the voting takes place next summer, there's a reasonable chance he'll be inducted next year.
6. Chris Ferguson
Chris Ferguson was a popular poker superstar before he took heat for his alleged role in the 2011 "Black Friday" scandal that crushed the poker industry so hard that it hasn't fully recovered 14 years later. But this list isn't Top 10 Most Respected Players. From a results standpoint at the WSOP, "Jesus" is indisputably one of the best ever.
Ferguson, the former Full Tilt Poker pro, is a six-time bracelet winner, won the 2000 WSOP Main Event, was the 2017 WSOP Player of the Year, and has 41 final table appearances and 138 cashes at the WSOP. We may never see him at the series ever again, or anywhere in poker, as he's been M.I.A. from the live poker scene since COVID. But he's already done enough to rank high on the list.
7. Johnny Chan
Johnny Chan, who famously had an iconic cameo in the hit poker flick Rounders, is tied with Doyle Brunson and Erik Seidel for third all time with 10 WSOP bracelets. The Poker Hall of Famer posted one of the greatest runs in WSOP history when he won the 1987 and 1988 Main Event before finishing runner-up to Hellmuth in 1989.
Many younger poker fans might not realize just how dominant Chan has been at the WSOP because he hasn't won a bracelet since 2005, and hasn't reached a final table since 2009. But a two-time Main Event champion with 10 bracelets is a lock for a high ranking, any way you slice it, especially considering Chan has 29 final table appearances.
8. Erik Seidel
Erik Seidel is one of the most respected players in the game, and also one of the top performers on the felt at the WSOP. He's one of five to hit the 10-bracelet mark, and if not for ill-timed aggression with top pair against Chan at the 1988 Main Event, he just might have a world championship on his resume.
Even though he didn't win that heads-up match versus Chan, he's put together a resume that would make any poker player envious. Seidel has 10 bracelets, 145 cashes, and 54 final table appearances. He's recorded a WSOP cash every year since 1992, except for 2017.
9. Brian Rast
Brian Rast, a 2023 Poker Hall of Fame inductee, is one of a handful of players on this list who are also known to be cash game crushers. But the Stanford educated crypto enthusiast has dominated the World Series of Poker for more than a decade, and he's done it in some of the toughest events.
Rast won his seventh bracelet this summer, this one in the $10,000 Razz Championship. He's among the Top 10 due to winning the Poker Players Championship three times (2011, 2016, and 2023), but also for having 94 cashes and 23 final table appearances with over $12.3 million in WSOP earnings.
10. Doyle Brunson
It was a close call between the late Doyle Brunson and the late Stu Ungar for the 10th spot. But we ended up giving it to the former on the basis that he's one of just five players ever to reach the double-digit bracelet plateau. Ungar is a three-time Main Event champion (1980, 1981, and 1997), compared to Brunson's two world titles (1976 and 1977).
But what puts "Texas Dolly" just a bit ahead of the iconic poker superstar he faced many times in the 1980s and 1990s is the bracelets won (10 to five). Brunson reached 26 final tables compared to Ungar's 12. Both grinders are considered among the top 10 all time poker players, not just at the WSOP.
Honorable Mention
There have been more talented performers at the World Series of Poker over the years than we can count. But there are some others we haven't mentioned who deserve special recognition. That list includes Ungar (okay, he's already been mentioned), John Hennigan, Josh Arieh, Ted Forrest, Scott Seiver, and Benny Glaser. These poker legends have a combined 39 bracelets, and most either are already in the Poker Hall of Fame or will be before long.
