Phil Ivey Voted Best Player Ever in Doug Polk’s Poll

Phil Ivey has topped Doug Polk’s poll for the top 20 poker players ever. After asking his Twitter followers to help build a shortlist of 100 players, Polk whittled that down to 20 with a vote and then asked the fans to vote again with the new list.

How do we feel about this list? Anyone that should not be here, or any snubs that need to be added?

(Note: we are only ranking top 20, so only suggest people if you think they should be top 20)

These are not in a ranked order just numbered to count, put screenames if important pic.twitter.com/01IiLaXrdK

— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) February 20, 2022

Doyle Brunson was the poll runner-up with Daniel Negreanu just piping 16-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth for third place.

These polls are extremely subjective with many voters supporting their favourite players rather than really thinking about who deserves to top the list. But even if the order of the top 20 players ever is debatable, the players included probably all deserve to be on the list.

Phil Ivey topping the list is certainly no surprise but for sure there will be many shouting that Doyle Brunson’s longevity in the game has him deserving the top spot. Also, the fact that most people who play poker today started after the poker boom means that Stuey Ungar’s legend status is not as appreciated as much as when he was still alive.

Poll Results for Top 20 Poker Players Ever

1. Phil Ivey – 4,691 votes
   
2. Doyle Brunson – 4,178 votes
   
3. Daniel Negreanu – 4,112 votes
   
4. Phil Hellmuth – 4,015 votes
   
5. Erik Seidel – 3,822 votes
   
6. Stu Ungar – 3,781 votes
   
7. Phil Galfond – 3,696 votes
   
8. Tom Dwan – 3,670 votes
   
9. Dan Cates – 3,629 votes
   
10. Patrik Antonius – 3,579 votes
    
11. Fedor Holz – 3,356 votes
    
12. Justin Bonomo – 3,285 votes
    
13. Issac Haxton – 3,259 votes
    
14. Doug Polk – 3,210 votes
    
15. Viktor Blom – 3,144 votes
    
16. Stephen Chidwick – 3,144 votes
    
17. Linus Loeliger – 3,128 votes
    
18. Chip Reese – 3,102 votes
    
19. Jason Koon – 3,101 votes
    
20. Johnny Chan – 3,056 votes