The Iron Maiden Of Poker

Liv Boeree is one of the most top poker players in the business. She is not only a successful professional poker player but a TV presenter, journalist, model, and skilled guitarist. 

 

Originally from Kent in England, Liv Boeree is one of the most successful female poker players of all time, with close to $2,000,000 in live tournament earnings. She previously studied at the University of Manchester, achieving a first-class degree in Astrophysics, before going on to find fame as a model and TV presenter on a range of different shows.

She was first introduced to poker when she was selected as one of five contestants for the reality show, "Ultimatepoker.com Showdown" in 2005. During the show, she was coached by some of the top poker pros in the industry including Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke and Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott. It was during that time she fell in love with the game and began studying it intensely.

The Duchess Of Poker: Annie Duke

When it comes to women making money in the game of poker, Annie Duke is one of the best in the business. Having grown up in a card-playing household in New Hampshire, Duke learned to play poker with her family and followed her brother Howard Lederer into a pro poker career after giving up her doctorate research at the University of Pennsylvania to get married and move to Montana.

Pretty, smart and popular, Annie Duke completed a major in English and Psychology at Columbia University intending to follow in the footsteps of her parents and becoming a teacher. Instead, she enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania for Cognitive Psychology.

The Great Dane Of Poker

Poker pro Gus Hansen, or “The Great Dane”, as he has been nicknamed by his poker fans, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1974, as Gustav Hansen. He was an all-round sportsman, with his main talent being in tennis, and started his professional career as a backgammon player. He quickly became one of the best backgammon players in the world, and moved to New York to try and make his living there.

Due to limited opportunities in his field he quit and discovered poker as an exchange student at the University of California in 1993, with Texas Holdem being his specialty. It didn't take him long to master the game and discover his own unique approach to playing it, and he became widely known for his wild method of betting.

Daniel Negreanu: The Kid Poker In History

Daniel Negreanu is one of the most recognized famous poker players in the world, despite his youth. Nicknamed “KidPoker” Daniel has managed to become one of the best poker players in the world.

Born on July 26, 1974 in Toronto, Canada, Daniel Negreanu discovered that he had some very good poker skills, and thanks to his parents, immigrants from Romania, who encouraged him to chase his dreams, he decided that he could become a professional poker player.

At the age of 18, Daniel Negreanu had dropped out of high school - one credit short of graduation - to focus on poker. He started supplementing his play at illegal games around town with trips to charity casinos. Ever charming, he met and started dating a local dealer by the name of Evelyn Ng. For a more traditional lifestyle, he tried one day as a telemarketer and a month working at a Subway, but his path clearly led elsewhere.

WPT Title Grabs By The Magician

One of poker's most interesting top poker players, Antonio Esfandiari, formerly a profession magician, is a bona fide superstar in the card-playing community. Poker pro Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari was able to comeback from a short-stack to beat out a tough field of poker pros at the final table and win the coveted title – his second WPT win.

The Magician entered the final day in fifth out of 6^th place with nearly a third of the chips possessed by chip-leader Vanessa Rousso. However, Esfandiari was able to regain the form that had him near the top of the leader-board since Day 1 of the tournament, before nearly being eliminated with about 10 players remaining.

The final table for the WPT Five Diamonds will likely go down as one of the strongest in poker history featuring six talented professional players. In the end it was Esfandiari who would hold his hands up in victory, and pocket the $870,000 that was awarded to the winner of the tournament.

The Notorious Poker Brat: Phil Hellmuth Jr.

Phil Hellmuth joined Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson in 2006 as one of only three best poker players in history with 10 WSOP bracelets to their names. But what separates Phil Hellmuth from even this legendary pack is that all of his WSOP wins have come in Texas Hold'em events - that and a record 11^th bracelet in No-Limit Hold'em won by the poker brat himself at the 2007 WSOP.

Phil Hellmuth also holds the distinction of being the youngest poker player to win the WSOP Main Event after beating two-time defending champion Johnny Chan in 1989 at just 24 years old. He learned the game of poker while he was a student at the University of Wisconsin, moving up from cash games at the student union to higher stakes poker with the professors and eventually dropping out of school to play professionally, much to the chagrin of his academic father.

After the win at the 1989 WSOP, poker pro Phil Hellmuth spent the next decade and a half accumulating more tournament victories than any other professional poker player before him. In addition to the 10 WSOP bracelets, he has more than 50 poker tournament titles, 5 World Poker Tour top 10 finishes and has amassed tournament winnings over a whopping $8.8 million.

Isildur1 Signs Deal With PokerStars And Not With Full Tilt Poker

Despite setting Full Tilt Poker a buzz in late 2009 and early 2010, the celebrated poker maniac known as Isildur1 has now joined rival poker site PokerStars as one of their sponsored pros. Isildur1 originally gained notoriety as a player after appearing on Full Tilt almost from nowhere before then relieving Tom “Durrrr” Dwan and other top poker pros there of around $3 million of their bankrolls.

Isildur1 first came to notoriety in late 2009, when he began playing top professional players on Full Tilt Poker in games at nosebleed stakes. His swings soon became legendary, with weeks where the player won or lost millions of dollars seemingly becoming commonplace.

One of the most interesting facets of the Isildur1 story is the mystery of his identity. As it is known that Isildur1 is a Swedish player, much speculation has centered around poker pro Viktor Blom, a young player from Sweden who seems to have fit the profile of Isildur1. However, as of yet, there has been no confirmation that Viktor Blom is indeed the high-stakes player behind the screen name.

Phil Ivey: Top Poker Player In The World

Known as the “Tiger Woods of Poker” or “No Home Jerome”, Phil Ivey is lately hyped as the online poker industry’s best hope for legalization in the US. He began to play poker at the telemarketing company where he worked, mainly against his co-workers. 

As he began working as a telemarketing salesman, he took theory to practice and began exploring poker- and beat his comrades. In order to get into the Atlantic City casinos, he crafted a fake ID, a practice which eventually landed him another nickname: No Home Jerome.

If you sit down at a table with Phil Ivey, you are most likely going to notice his aggressive style. Most people will agree that it is very difficult to read Phil Ivey's face. He looks almost a bit sad even in jackpot situations and if you try to get to him, you may have to scream sometimes, as he sticks firmly to his iPod. Besides the Apple wear, he is a Los Angeles NBA fan, so don't be surprised if you see a team jersey on his body.

Poker Hall Of Fame: Tom “Durrrr” Dwan

Tom Dwan, online poker name “durrrr”, is deemed one of the best poker players. A college dropout originally from New Jersey who has become one of the biggest cash game players in a very short amount of time. 

He has said to have made over $2,000,000 playing high stakes poker online. He makes a session out of sitting down with the top poker pros such as Phil Ivey, Patrick Antonius, John Juanda and others at limits as high as $300/$600 NLH.

Tom Dwan got his start in online poker back when he was 17 years old, his first deposit was $50 and according to him he hasn't had to invest any additional money to poker after that initial first deposit. At first Durrrr was playing $5 Sit N Go tournaments, but soon he realized that he could make even more money from cash games poker. 

According to him he slowly grinded up from the small limits without getting much attention from the online poker community until he reached $10/$20 no limit games.

Patrik Antonius: Coach,Model And Poker Pro

Recognized as one of the top poker pros on the poker circuit - and not just for his poker skills - Patrik Antonius sets tongues wagging wherever he goes. His undeniable talent at the green felt combined with an enormous bankroll and millions in poker winnings would be enough to make any grown man weep. Combine this with a strong resemblance to Brad Pitt, a gorgeous Israeli fiancée, and a beautiful baby girl, and you've got trouble.

Patrik Antonius was born to a working-class family in the suburbs of Helsinki, Finland, on December 13, 1980. His father worked as a bread delivery man and his mother found work at a day-care center to help make ends meet. A rambunctious and competitive youth, Patrik Antonius played soccer, tennis and hockey, and worked hard to keep himself out of detention.

He was particularly gifted at tennis, and by the age of 13 had been singled out by his coaches as a child with Wimbledon potential. He dropped the other sports and began a tennis training regime, but suffered a serious setback a couple of years later when a bulging disc in his back forced him to stop training for a year and a half.