Which Professional Poker Players Have Won the Most Money?

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Revealed on this page are more than twenty famous professional poker players that have won the most money throughout their careers.

There will be some people on this list that many of you will already be familiar with by now, especially if you follow professional poker, and there are others on this list that you may not be so familiar with.

Which professional poker players have won the most money in their careers?

We can start by taking a look at 20 professional poker players that have earned more money than any other players. While most of these players come from the United States, several international players are also featured in the list.

For example, you can also find a few that have made it into the top 20 list of highest poker earners from various other parts of the world, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Belarus, Germany, Malaysia, and Ireland.

According to reliable sources, the top 20 most successful poker players in terms of how much money they have earned by winning some of today’s most notable poker tournaments are the following, starting with number 20:

#20 Alex Foxen – United States: $28,977,781
#19 Nick Petrangelo – United States: $29,613,408
#18 Timothy Adams – Canada: $30,965,398
#17 Sam Greenwood – Canada: $33,308,919
#16 Adrian Mateos – Spain: $33,667,134
#15 Jake Schindler – United States: $35,449,524
#14 Isaac Haxton – United States: $35,811,119
#13 Cary Katz – United States: $36,708,329
#12 Steve O’Dwyer – Ireland: $36,772,644
#11 Phil Ivey – United States: $38,300,866
#10 Fedor Holtz – Germany: $38,780,115
#09 Dan Smith – United States: $42,691,157
#08 David Peters – United States: $42,714,811
#07 Mikita Badziakouski – Belarus: $42,807,409
#06 Erik Seidel – United States: $42,939,400
#05 Jason Koon – United States: $47,719,359
#04 Stephen Chidwick – United Kingdom: $48,408,184
#03 Daniel Negreanu – Canada: $50,778,308
#02 Bryn Kenney – United States: $57,701,965
#01 Justin Bonono – United States: $61,254,204

As you can see from this list, there’s a relatively big gap between how much Justin Bonono (#1) and Alex Foxen (#20) have earned throughout their careers in poker prize money. However, when you compare some of these other players, there is hardly any difference in their earnings.

For example, America’s Dan Smith (#9), David Peters (#8), and Belarus’ Mikita Badziakouski (#7) have all earned pretty much the same – somewhere between $48,500,000 and $49,000,000.

You could say the same for Germany’s Fedor Holtz (#10) and the United States’ Phil Ivey, who have both earned between $38,000,000 and $39,000,000. When you consider how much these top 20 players have made combined, it’s an impressive achievement.


What’s the quickest way to learn the different winning poker hands so I can play poker at licensed casino sites?

One of the quickest ways to learn the different winning poker hands and their ranking order is to view the useful poker hand cheat sheet on the official Johnslots website. The cheat sheet can be referred to as often as you like until you get to grips with the different winning poker hands.

Don’t forget that no dedicated poker site in the world or online casino will stop you from using a cheat sheet when playing any of their real-money poker games.

Once you have learned the different winning hands, you should easily be able to play almost any poker variant out there, and you won’t need to use the cheat sheet anymore.  

A closer look at the different winning poker hands

We’ve all heard of the elusive Royal Flush, but what exactly is it, and how often are you likely to see a Royal Flush playing poker or watching professional players competing against each other in person or on television or YouTube?

In short, a Royal Flush is when your hand consists of a 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of the same suit (e.g., clubs, spades, diamonds, or hearts).

You couldn’t, for example, have a 10-J-Q-K of spades and an Ace of diamonds. This would simply be a straight. They MUST be of the same suit to form a Royal Flush.

The best possible winning poker hands in ascending order of value, starting with the weakest hand, are the following:

High Card – you won’t often win with this hand, but it can occasionally win, especially if you’re holding an Ace high card and the hand is checked down to the last round. The next highest-valued high card is the King. You then have the Queen, the Jack, all the way down to the number 2 (lowest valued high card)
Pair – a pair is any two matching cards (e.g., 4-4, King-King, 8-8, etc.) and any other three cards
Two Pair – the same as above, but two pairs (e.g., 5-5- and Jack Jack), plus any other card (the highest community card)
Three-Of-A-Kind – this is three of the same cards (e.g., 7-7-7-, Q-Q-Q-, A-A-A). Plus, it also uses the two highest community cards
Straight – any five cards (of any suit) but they must be in a run/consecutive order (e.g., 5-6-7-8-9- off suit, 2-3-4-5-6 off suit, etc.)
Flush – any five cards of the SAME suit (e.g., 2-5-8-J-Q of spades, 3-4-9-10-K of clubs, and so on)
Full House – any pair and any three-of-a-kind (e.g., 10-10-J-J-J, 5-5-5-A-A, and so on)
Four-Of-A-Kind – all four cards of the same type and the highest valued community card (e.g., 4-4-4-4-A, 6-6-6-6-10, and so on.)
Straight Flush – in poker, this is the second best possible hand, which includes a run of five cards in consecutive order, MUST be the same suit (e.g., 4-5-6-7-8 of diamonds, 7-8-9-10-J of hearts, and so on)
Royal Flush – the best hand, must be the same suit (e.g., 10-J-Q-K-A of hearts, 10-J-Q-K-A of clubs, and so on)

Remember to use the cheat sheet when you next play poker and try to memorise the different hands and their ranking orders just in case you do ever play this game in person at a land-based poker tournament.

If you get caught using cheat sheets at actual events, you could be disqualified and ejected from the building, which is why you should take the time to learn the wins before playing a real poker tournament.

If it was a more laid-back event that didn’t mind you having the poker cheat sheet to hand, you would look like a novice, and the sharks would take you to the cleaners. In other words, take the time to learn it.

What are the best online casinos with a wide range of poker games I can play for real money?

In addition to the cheat sheet and other poker tips available at Johnslots, you can also find a list of highly recommended casino sites with a wide range of poker games available in the real money mode and free play demo mode.

Some of their highest-rated online casinos that are controlled by trusted iGaming operators with superb reputations are Verde Casino, Barz Casino, 20Bet Casino, VideoSlots Casino, and Vulkan Vegas Casino.

You can also find the latest honest reviews for several other top-rated online poker casinos, such as Zen Casino, Laz Vegas Casino, Winz.io, 21LuckyBet Casino, OhMyZino Casino, Dream Vegas Casino, and Bitcasino.io Casino.

You can find secure links to each casino’s official online registration form inside the reviews. More information about the latest new player welcome bonus is also available in the reviews.

What are the best poker games to keep an eye out for at these world-class sites?

Some of the most popular online poker games to keep an eye out for are DJ Wild Stud Poker by Scientific Games, Fortune Pai Gow Poker, which is also by Scientific Games, and All Aces Video Poker by Microgaming (online casino games from Microgaming are now brought to you by a company called Games Global).

If you want to take your online poker experience to the next level, then perhaps check out the Live Dealer Texas Hold’emBonus Poker game by Evolution Gaming.

Remember that the ‘regular’ online poker games (games where the outcomes/results are determined by Random Number Generators, or RNGs, for short) are usually available in the real money mode AND free-play demo mode.

However, live dealer games are very rarely accessible in the demo mode because it’s just too expensive to run them this way.

However, you don’t necessarily need to be super rich to play live dealer games because, in most games, you can spend anywhere from as little as $/€/£0.10 to $/€/£00.50 per round/hand/spin, depending on the game.

Other notable games to keep an eye out for if you want more online poker games are Evolution Gaming’s 2 Hand Casino Holdem game, NetEnt’s regular Casino Hold’em game, and a game called Three Card Hold’em by Felt Games.

Final note

When playing poker or any other online casino game for real money, one of the most important things to remember is never to chase your losses or spend more than you can afford.

Playing poker at online casinos shouldn’t be considered a way to make a living, so remember to have fun and don’t just play out of necessity. When you sign up to some online casinos today, you can set things like deposit limits.

This is a great way to have fun, and setting limits can also lead to you having a much safer and far more enjoyable experience.