50 Greatest Players Of All Time

Everyone loves a list, whether it's the best films ever made or the world's richest people. Naturally, the rankings are often subjective, but whether you agree with them or not, it's safe to say they always make for great debates down the pub. However, when it comes to the poker world - and trying to figure out who are the best players to ever grace the baize - it gets a little tricky. After all, how can you compare a mixed game cash specialist with a no-limit Hold'em tournamentlegend? Apples and oranges and all that...

Then we thought, what if we put players into ten different categories and get a top pro from each field to name their top five? Surely then, we'll have a comprehensive list of 50 players who have all risen to the top and become the most respected and successful players ever to have picked up a pair of hole cards. Ten of the world's best pros have done exactly that - compiling an incredible list of poker talent - with some enlightening reasons for why they've been selected. There are always omissions, of course, and one or two surprises, but hopefully you'll agree that these guys are the best of the best.

British and Irish Players, Chosen by: Neil Channing

Channing is currently the pride of British poker, having set up Black Belt Poker - the new social networking and staking site designed While he was a terrible cash game player in the late 1990s, in tournaments he was terrifying. He played so well compared to the average person. Even now he still does brilliantly in tournaments.

2. JEFF DUVALL

Jeff is one of the biggest winning guys in live cash poker in the UK He's final-tabled at the WSOP a few times and was second at the London GUKPT this year. Jeff plays all the games, plays super well and nobody ever mentions him as one of the UK's best. I've learnt as much from Jeff I have from anybody.

3. MARTY SMYTH

Marty is an unbelievable player. He's another one who's under the radar but how the f*** can he be?! The Poker Million is the UK's highest-profile tournament and he made the final in three consecutive years, finally winning it in 2008! He's

4. DAVE COLCLOUGH

Dave Colclough has a phenomenal poker brain. I talk to him a lot and I'm in awe of him. For years, I was terrified to play against him and would be embarrassed at how badly I played whenever I was on his table. I really craved his respect because he's a super-talented genius.

5. RAM VASWANI

For a long time Ram Vaswani was the UK's best tournament player. It's fair to say all the members of The Hendon Mob have qualities, but at his best

Online Nosebleeders, Chosen by: Andrew 'Good2cu' Robl

PokerPlayer columnist, good friend of durrrr, and one of the most successful online high stakes cash players of his generation, Robl is more than qualified to give his opinions on who the best 'nosebleeders' are - after all, he's in the same game as them most nights of the week...

1. PATRIK ANTONIUS

Nosebleed players online come and go, but Patrik is one of the only guys who has consistently taken on all-comers and beaten them. He's made more money playing internet poker than anyone else. He's smart enough to have never gone broke and I never hear anyone talking about Patrik tilting.

2. TOM DWAN

The thing about Tom is that he plays completely different to everyone else - you feel he can have anything. He puts you in situations you've never seen before and is by far the most creative player. Tom's one of the few high stakes players that other people are afraid to play pots against. Any pot you win against him feels like a victory.

3. PHIL GALFOND

Out of all the top high stakes players, Phil Galfond OMGClayAiken is the most passive. That's because he's not afraid to put himself in hard situations where he has to figure out what his opponent has. Other people don't like to check-call - because it provides little information - but he does it more than the others. It keeps opponents from getting information on him, and Phil exploits that very adeptly.

4. THE DANG BROTHERS

Di and Hac Dang (Urindanger and trex313) are Asian-American brothers who came up eight-tabling $10/$20 no-limit on PartyPoker. They were the biggest winners then, and, compared to everyone else at nosebleed stakes, they now play the most fundamentally sound games.

5. SAMI KELOPURO

Kelopuro AKA Lars Luzak plays mostly heads-up and can be very tricky. When he first came on the American sites, he looked like a fish. But by the time you realised he was a good player, you'd already be stuck so much. There used to be people waiting in line to play him - now he can't get a game!

Mixed Game Players, Chosen by: Barry Greenstein

Greenstein got into poker before Hold'em had even truly taken off, sitting down in the big Stud games with Doyle and Chip. Since then he's mastered almost every mixed game, winning big year after year. Here he puts together a list

1. DOYLE BRUNSON

Doyle has been playing in the biggest game for 40 years, so you have to give him credit. His game may not be where it was when he was younger - as we age, none of us think as quickly or see as well as we used to - but, considering how good Doyle is now, that tells you how well he played 25 years ago.

2. PHIL IVEY

During the first couple of years that Phil played in the Big Game, people would wait for him. He gave a lot of action and he got a lot of action. Then, one day, Phil showed patience because it was warranted, he began changing gears very quickly and he tortured everybody. Phil made people play badly against him, and, to this day, that hasn't stopped.

3. DAVID OPPENHEIM

Initially, David was just a Hold'em player. Then he became a Stud player in the Larry Flynt game. Now he's a guy that you don't want to see at the mixed games table. He spent a lot of time talking shop with John Hennigan and learned poker the way everyone should: by watching the best players and developing ideas.

4. DAVID BENYAMINE

When David is playing well, he's a force to be reckoned with. I think he's the best pot-limit Omaha player in the game. While he's not as fundamentally strong at Stud, with David it's more than just the technical skills. He knows what's going on at all times and he has a degree of poker sense that allows him to override any disadvantages.

5. JOHN HENNIGAN

The guys who are challenging at the highest levels tend to have the most aggression. If you're a good player, though, you get used to handling speed. The toughest ones are those who change up on you and stay ahead of you. That's John. He's a chameleon who can appear a little out of control or a little too tight.

Women, Chosen by: Annie Duke

With an incredible 35 World Series of Poker cashes, including a bracelet at Omaha Hi/Lo and a $2m Tournament of Champions victory, Duke is arguably the best female tournament player in the world, and has been at the peak

1. KATHY LIEBERT

Kathy has an amazing tournament record and she's consistent. Her lifetime winnings total more than $5.5m. Some people have amazing months or amazing years, and then they flame out. Kathy has been doing this for more than a decade.

2. JENNIFER HARMAN

Jennifer is not a one-trick pony. She plays all the games, she plays She may not have the tournament record of Kathy or myself, but she really excels at cash.

3. ANNIE DUKE
I've been doing this for 15 years, and I'm an all-round player. Until I decided to move on and raise my family, I was beating the biggest cash games. In terms of tournaments, I have more cashes and more final tables than any other woman on the list.

4. VANESSA ROUSSO

While Vanessa doesn't have I believe she's the real deal. She came through the toughest draw to make the final of the recent NBC Heads-Up Championship and just won the High Roller event in Monte Carlo.

5. CYNDI VIOLETTE

Cyndy's been around longer than anyone on this list. She has a WSOP bracelet and is a steady performer in cash games. You can say her results haven't been wow, but she's consistent. Cyndy may be a tortoise, but I bet on slow and steady to win the race.

Under-21s, Chosen by: Annette Obrestad

Annette_15 made her name by crushing the online game for a few years, before heading to the WSOPE in London and beating the world's best to