Poker Players: WSOP Legends

"I never want to be called a 'good loser'. Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser," said Stu Ungar. Stuey “The Kid” Ungar is undoubtedly one of the greatest poker tournament players who ever lived - his cunning and aggression at the table were legendary and he dominated his opponents like no one else. The son of an illiterate underground New York bookie he was originally a champion gin player and though he is better known for his poker accomplishments, Ungar regarded himself as a better gin rummy player. "Some day, I suppose it's possible for someone to be a better no limit holdem player than me. I doubt it, but it could happen. But, I swear to you, I don't see how anyone could [more]

"The other day, somebody said to me, ‘You've lost 10% of your game'. I said, 'Well yeah, but fortunately I was 30% ahead of everybody else to start with'." So says Doyle 'Texas Dolly' Brunson who is often heralded as the best poker player of all time. He started off his poker career back in the 1950s when, with 'Amarillo Slim' Preston and 'Sailor' Roberts, he was the very definition of a rounder, travelling around Texas looking for gambling action. His quest for action ultimately took him to Vegas, of course, and he has divided his time between the home of gambling and a bolthole in Montana for several decades. Brunson was the first player to win $1million in a poker tournament and [more]

"Not too many players try to bluff me. If there’s any bluffing or stealing, I’m going to be the one doing it," says Johnny Chan. He is a legend in the poker world for winning 10 World Series of Poker gold bracelets, a haul he shares in joint second with Doyle Brunson. Most impressively, he won two of these bracelets from back to back victories in the World Series of Poker main event (in 1987 and 1988). The second of these is remembered because Chan lost the biggest pot in the history of the tournament, then came back to take the title. Amazingly he almost won in 1989 too, but finished second to Phil Hellmuth. He was immortalised in the famous poker movie 'Rounders' in which he makes a cameo [more]

"If there weren't luck involved, I guess I'd win every one," says Phil Hellmuth, with the modesty for which he is famous. Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth is one of the most recognizable figures in poker and many fans have strong opinions of him, both negative and positive. His accomplishments are highly respected in the poker world and he has won more than 50 tournaments, including winning an amazing 11 World Series of Poker bracelets. One of these bracelets was for winning the main event in 1989 when he was only 24-years-old, making him the youngest World Champion in history. However, his notoriety is more likely due to his perceived inability to gracefully handle adversity and defeat. He is [more]

The iconic Annette_15 is possibly our favourite global poker player. She represents all that we love about the modern poker game. Fearless, aggressive, strategic and super-smart this self-taught teenager from a small town in Norway has risen, in the space of just 3 years, to the heights of fame and achievement that even the very best of the other female players in the world can not compete with. She started playing online at age 15 and never made a serious deposit. Parlaying freeroll-earned dollars up she was soon building her bankroll via MTT success and cementing her reputation. By 2006 she had risen to the top of the MTT rakings with multiple major outright victories to her name. Still [more]