Who Are The Best Poker Players of The Last Five Years?

With a lot of people judging poker success based on all-time earnings, players need to keep grafting to stay near the top. Phil Ivey may be considered the greatest all-around player of all time by many, but he is only ninth in the all-time money list. Newer players are emerging that are upsetting the general hierarchy as well. Here are five of the best players of the last five years, based on earnings and popularity.

Bryn Kenney

Bryn Kenney is a relative newcomer to the poker scene. Starting in 2007, he has since gone from strength to strength. In 2014, Kenney won the $1500 10-Game Mix Six-Handed event at the World Series of Poker. That win kicked him off on an incredible run over the last five years.

Kenney now tops the pile in the all-time money list with earnings of more than $56 million. In addition to winning the biggest single pay-out in live poker tournament history with $20 million, the New York-born player has six money finishes at the World Poker Tour and five at the European Poker Tour.

Daniel Negreanu

Daniel Negreanu has been one of the best in the business for some time and is probably the most recognisable face in poker. The Canadian realised that to stay near the top he needed to continue to play prolifically, and he has done exactly that.

Kid Poker is currently in the midst of a long-running grudge match with online poker legend Doug Polk. The two players decided to find out which one of them was the best heads-up player once and for all by playing 25,000 hands over several months. The feud started when Polk made a video that called out Negreanu for some comments he made in 2016.

Adrian Mateos

Adrian Mateos was recently voted the third-most-popular poker player on the planet, behind Kenney and Negreanu. The Spanish player is one of the youngest pros on the scene but has already racked up more than $20 million in live earnings. He won the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for $1 million in 2013 at the tender age of 19, and in 2015 managed to top the pile in the European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Mateos is definitely a rising star and someone to watch out for in the future.

Justin Bonomo

Justin Bonomo is another big name to watch out for. The American has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top in recent years, helped on by his winning two events at the 2018 WSOP. The first was the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’Em Championship, and he followed this up with an enormous win of $10 million in the $1,000,000 One Drop for $10,000,000. This win took Bonomo to the top of the all-time money list temporarily, but he was later overtaken by Kenney. To date, the 35-year-old has made $49 million in poker winnings.

Vivek Rajkumar

Vivek Rajkumar is one of the best-known Indian players out there, and his rise to the top of the game has helped make poker more popular in his native country. Indeed, Texas Hold’em has become so popular in the country that players now need comparison sites to find the best poker sites in India. This helps them to find out where the best bonuses are, along with the games they are interested in playing. Naturally, those new to poker will be looking for secure websites, which this website details. And you don't need to be bound to a PC either, as many sites will offer compatibility with smartphones.

Rajkumar has been a bit quiet over the last year since his highest ITM World Series of Poker win in 2015, but he still ranks at 133rd in the all-time money list. Rajkumar is intelligent and likeable at the felt, and he serves as a great inspiration to budding Indian poker players.

The hierarchy in the poker world seems to be shifting faster than ever, and this could be down to tournament prizes rising in value. Players who want to stay near the top of the rankings need to play a vast number of games to keep their cash piles mounting up. Being in televised tournaments is also a great way to gain more popularity.