Best Poker Player Ever?!

atlantafalcons0

atlantafalcons0

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Who do you think is the best ever?

Stu Ungar? Doyle Brunson? Phil Ivey? Phil Hellmuth?

What's your choice?

I think it would be Stu Ungar.
 
BiliousBetil

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One advantage that poker has over other sports is the overlap of top players. Johnny Moss played with Doyle Brunson, who played with Phil Ivey, etc. That said, from what his contemporaries have said about him, and this includes Brunson and Ivey, I would suspect the best ever was the late David "Chip" Reese.

From his Wikipedia entry: Upon learning of Reese's death, Doyle Brunson stated, "He's certainly the best poker player that ever lived." world series of poker commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said upon his death that many consider Chip "the greatest cash game player who ever lived, but he was also a World Series of Poker legend."


Cheers!
 
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Suited Frenzy

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One advantage that poker has over other sports is the overlap of top players. Johnny Moss played with Doyle Brunson, who played with Phil Ivey, etc. That said, from what his contemporaries have said about him, and this includes Brunson and Ivey, I would suspect the best ever was the late David "Chip" Reese.

Cheers!

Yes, indeed! He was the greatest all-around player to ever play the game. He wasn't just great @ one game, he was great @ almost all of them.

I used to watch as much of his play as I could. I've learned a lot from him.

R.I.P. Chip! I miss watching you play, man! Chip Reese WiKi
 
theRaven68

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Phil Ivey and Stu Ungar
During the 1992 World Series of Poker, Ungar faced Mansour Matloubi in a series of $50,000 buy-in no limit hold'em heads-up freezeout events. On the final hand of the game, Matloubi tried to bluff Ungar all-in for $32,000 on the river with a board of 3-3-7-K-Q. Ungar, who held 10-9, thought for a few seconds and said "You have 4-5 or 5-6 so I'm gonna call you with this" and flipped over his 10-high to win the pot and bust Matloubi, who in fact held exactly what Ungar said he did
 
horizon12

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This is very difficult to answer because in different periods of time were different styles and knowledge about the game .. Example now Doyle Brunson not beat today's best players...So one player can not be called the best, it will be possible to immediately identify the 20 best players...
 
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hffjd2000

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I dont believe though there is such best poker player "ever" with reasons below:

-Nature of Poker is a game of incomplete info.
-I consider poker a game of skill but there is still the element of luck.
 
Frontiere

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Phil Hellmuth - NO WAY . Stu and Doyle for sure , but best player ever cant be choosen , its personal opinion .
 
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I don't know if he is the best ever, but I think Daniel Negraneau not only is a great player, he is a class act. I love his enthusiasm for the game, and find him fun to watch. He has always been my favorite poker player.
 
PershingSt

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Stuey ! Phil Ivey is the best now but if you took everyone at their peaks , no one could touch Stuey !
 
army-ninja

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I got to go with Stu Unger as well, but Dan Negraneau is one of my favorites to watch. He makes you want to hang out with him!
 
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Zin

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Lots of good players but no such thing as greatest player ever in any sport.
 
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bleibso

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pius heinz, he win the greatest tournament .
 
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Wickedestjr

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Stu Ungar - three time world champion

Phil Ivey - one of the top bracelet winners, won all his bracelets in the 21st century with the big competitive fields
 
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I believe that all good professionals in their field. And not to say that some of them better. Each good in their own way. Someone like Doyle Brunson, someone Phil Hellmuth, but I like playing Phil Ivey. Perhaps because its the game I've seen much more than the game other professionals.
 
starting_at_the_bottom

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Another vote for Ungar, and Dwan is the best in recent times imo.
 
rodrigoudf

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Doyle Brunson revolutionized the poker
 
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MPaz_87

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For me the best by far, is Daniel Negreanu, he's amazing, the way he plays, the way he reads you, the way he bluff!! It's like he could see through your own eyes.
There're great player, but for me, he's the best.
 
atlantafalcons0

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For me the best by far, is Daniel Negreanu, he's amazing, the way he plays, the way he reads you, the way he bluff!! It's like he could see through your own eyes.
There're great player, but for me, he's the best.

Have you ever seen the video where he pushed that guy into the water. It was funny.
 
Gothams Son

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Lots of good players but no such thing as greatest player ever in any sport.
Wow. I like this.
For your answer though I think that you would get different answers based on tourney/ring games.
 
A2345Razz

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Best cash game player ever is probably Chip Reese; considering he ran the game and got it (big game at Bellagio) from 600/1200 all the way to 4k/8k at the peak of the boom and was supposedly consistently profitable through the whole time playing highest stakes from the mid 70s to late 2000s. Obviously Doyle has to be in the team picture as well. Ike Haxton, Patrick, Chan, Johnny Moss, etc. etc. all deserve nods. Jungleman, if he can maintain this level for 2-3 more yrs also deserves consideration. Longevity is key to me.

Best tournament player is probably Ivey or Negreanu. I'd give it to Ivey bc of his success at the series which he usually is playing along with late night cash games, which is crazy. Seidel, Chan.....all deserve consideration.

Best overall is almost certainly Ivey bc he is so damn good in all the games and in both tournament/Cash game formats. Johnny Chan is sort of somebody who has retired so people forget, but apparently annihilated high stakes cash games for awhile and everyone knows about his ME prowess.
Doyle.....ya.....has to be in the picture.

Honorable mentions you might not of thought about for overall best players of all time:

Scott Seiver(sicko in everything...online, live, ME, High Rollers, cash, HU)
Ike Haxton (Probably the best online poker player of his generation/WPT #2/more donkament success than people recall)
Michael Mizrachi (plays a lot of high stakes live cash in Fl. and does very well for himself)
Bobby Baldwin (retired early, but many people think he was the player of the 70s and he only left for an even more lucrative career in hospitality)
 
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Wow. I like this.
For your answer though I think that you would get different answers based on tourney/ring games.

Lol I've never seeing it before until you told me.I've just watched it , OMG that waas soo funny , thanks for the tip.
 
atlantafalcons0

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Lol I've never seeing it before until you told me.I've just watched it , OMG that waas soo funny , thanks for the tip.

I think you quoted the wrong post and this was a response to the Daniel negreanu video. I have never seen him that mad lol
 
dexon303

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Definitely my numero uno is:
 

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Poker Orifice

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Phil Ivey


Not sure how you can pick Negreanu when it's pretty clear he can't compete with HS Cash players online (not even close).
 
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