The best poker player ever?

[Mr Whatever]

look this hellmuth thing, getting old, like the aa thing

i dont care for the guys nonsense and im not a fan of his but to think this guy isnt an all time tourn great or to say hes still not competing with todays holdem players although hes got a better track record than almost everybody isnt right.

if u look at his track record in wsop tourns and the ppl ur trying to compare him isnt right because these ppl ur comparing to ph- havent done or won anything yet. u ppl can come up with numerous excuses and explainations, just face it the guy is good and plz stop hating, lolol. if u dont believe it just take ur example and compare their track records in wsop tourns.

phils plays in the wsop , the standard to judge the best tourn players in the world for the last 30+ yrs has been the wsop and phil has one of the best track records of the last 20yrs. i have no idea what u ppl are going on about besides just hating that guy.

 

[Mr Whatever]

phils a wsop tourn player, never really a cash game player,. . . . . . . orifice.

what player is better than ph in wsop holdem tourns since moneymaker?

 

[pulisimon]

Stuart Errol "Stu" Ungar (September 8, 1953 – November 22, 1998) was a professional poker and gin rummy player, widely regarded to have been the greatest Texas hold 'em and gin rummy player of all time.
He is one of only two people to have won the World Series of Poker Main Event three times (Johnny Moss also has three WSOP titles but his first was obtained by a vote of the players, not by winning a tournament). He is also the only person to win Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker three times, the world's second most prestigious poker title during its time.

He is inspiration to many pokers....!

 

[Extreme Fishing]

Dan Harrington must also be in with a shout. 4 final tables, 5 top 20 in ME.

 

[OzExorcist]

phil plays wsop. when it comes to big time tourns wpt is coming about but the standard in tourns is still the wsop.

ROFL - congratulations on completely missing the point.

Since you want to make a big deal out of the WSOP though, here's an exercise for you: go back and work out who's got the best average in WSOP tournaments. Bracelets divided by tournaments entered. Restrict it to players that have more than five to filter out all the one-hit wonders from recent years, but have a look at the numbers.

I've got no idea what the results are, but I'd lay good odds it won't be Hellmuth with the best average.

 

[dmorris68]

^^^ I doubt he'll do it Oz, because then that would shatter his infatuation with Hellmuth. Despite most of us as well as the professional poker community at large repeatedly saying different, and giving numerous examples as to why, he seems to really want to believe that Hellmuth is still one of the best players today.

I give up...

 

[SlySwagga]

i have to go w all around poker play and only phil ivey comes to mind

i'm a rookie however so my opinion might not be too valuable

 

[Poker Orifice]

look this hellmuth thing, getting old, like the aa thing

i dont care for the guys nonsense and im not a fan of his but to think this guy isnt an all time tourn great or to say hes still not competing with todays holdem players although hes got a better track record than almost everybody isnt right.

if u look at his track record in wsop tourns and the ppl ur trying to compare him isnt right because these ppl ur comparing to ph- havent done or won anything yet. u ppl can come up with numerous excuses and explainations, just face it the guy is good and plz stop hating, lolol. if u dont believe it just take ur example and compare their track records in wsop tourns.

phils plays in the wsop , the standard to judge the best tourn players in the world for the last 30+ yrs has been the wsop and phil has one of the best track records of the last 20yrs. i have no idea what u ppl are going on about besides just hating that guy.

"Nine-ball corner pocket!"

 

[onebourbon]

lol....8 ball 3 banks off the 9-ball double bank back in my corner pocket...kissing the 9 ball in.

 

[engman]

Because poker is so unpredictable at times, I think it is hard to come up with a definite number one player. The best you can do is come up with a top 10 list and make your best arguments for one player over another. I think a list should be made for each game and than overall. It should also be based by decades seeing as each player's prime years are different. I'd personally would pick Ivey (all around), hellmuth (hold em).

 

[SydTheCat]

Kind of hard to say 'Best player of all time'. The players of the past were the best of their times.
I think if you took the best of each generation and sat them down at a table to play, probally the more modern day player would be the best, such as Ivey.
Only because strategies have progressed. Lets say a modern day Phil Ivey sitting down with someone like a young Johnny Moss or Doyle would have an advantage because Ivey has much more tricks up his sleeve then they would. The best back then had an aggressive play. Today everyone plays like that. Poker has advanced so much since the early days.
It would be like bringing Babe Ruth to play in a modern day game. He probally would be average at best.
So if I had to pick one, yes it would be Ivey. In ten years we'll have someone new who will be better than Ivey.

 

[Poker Orifice]

^ Looking at him... obviously.

 

[MrPokerVerse]

^ Looking at him... obviously.

I'd say consistent would apply. Always seem to be there at the end.

 

[crabby4]

I'd have to say Stu Ungar. I mean yes the game has developed but if u looked at his bio, u can see that he was like a prodigy in all these card games. I'd say he wouldve been able to easily adapt to todays game as well as read ppl since he had like a GENIOUS IQ

 

[fstpmper]

It's hard to compare the players of yesteryear to those of today because the game is constantly evolving and the players of today have had the opportunity to learn from people like Ungar.

The overall quality of play online blows anything that was in the poker rooms back then away. It's like comparing an NFL player from 40 years ago to one today. The sports science, nutrition, etc.. has all taken an evolutionary leap.

If you want to discuss who was the most natural talent that might be easier but by no means easy.

 

[zjohnzzz]

stu unger

 

[Aldito]

Dmitri Nobles imo

 

[Clowntown]

Ask almost any old school pro or even most new school players and most of them will give you the same answer:

Stu Ungar was the best card player of all time, hands down.

 

[Rskeyyy]

Greg Raymer. he's not the best but my favorite one.

 

[gabethegimp]

I like durrs playstyle, personally wise i like laak, but overall play, you can't deny hellmuth and his record - it's hard to be that consistent in high stakes, he just gets sucked out more than most pros lol

 

[Clowntown]

Why Stu Ungar is the best of all time:

Stu was/is the only player to win the WSOP Main Event 3 times.
The only player to win the Super bowl of poker 3 times.
Never lost a heads up in the main event
Won Back-to-Back main event titles in both 1980 and 1981(Defeated Doyle Brunson HU for the title)
Finished 9th in the 1990 main event without even playing for the entire second day
Won a WSOP Seven card Stud bracelet
Won a WSOP Deuce to Seven Bracelet
The undebated best Gin Rummy player and won multiple Gin-Rummy Tournaments

In his short life, Stu Ungar accomplished more in the poker and cardplaying world than anyone has to this day. Sure the fields are bigger and the competition stiffer but one thing is for sure, Stu Ungar was a genius and had a completely unmatched career for how long he lived.

Because of his photographic memory, Stu was so good at counting cards that he was banned from playing blackjack in any casino in the country.

Sure he was a drug addict in his later years, but he was a great guy and loved his friends and family. He would actually give large amounts of money to people he barely knew just to help them out of a jam.

Checkout the Documentary "

" on Youtube, if you wanna know more about the greatest card player who ever lived.

 

[aqqr]

Undeniably I would have to say Stu Ungar, even though I'm not sure how developed he was in games other than hold'em. He's the only player to have won the main event 3 times... its really sad that he never got to even see the poker boom, I think he would have mopped the floor with the dead money, maybe even made enough at once that even he couldnt gamble/give it away...

Hey. I do not know how things are now, but once upon a time I watched the show "pokerstars The Big Game". Barry Greenstein played quite unpredictably. Also, probably Olivier Busquet is the best player in the HU SNG.