Top Ten Male Poker Magicians, Part II.

We continue on our mission to gather the top ten best poker player in the world. Five more to go…

For the second part of the list, I continue with my objective, highly scientific selection process. In addition to poker-related information, learning about their private lives and philanthropic activities are a must.

• Temperamental players or family men
• Strings of poker success
• Earnings that blow through the roof,

The achievements of these fellows are exceptional, but it is hard to select only ten, since there are so many great poker players – and winners out there. Nevertheless, challenge accepted. Let’s carry on with the roster.

Sam Trickett aka. Tricky

UK-born Sam was a real sports person: for a while, he played professional football. His poker career started ten years ago, when he suffered a knee injury and had to stop playing football and started playing on English poker sites
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He loved playing on online poker sites in England so much, that he started attending poker tournaments in Sheffield. Soon, he participated in more famous events and he became most known for being beaten by Antonio Esfandiari at the final table at Big One for One Drop, taking home a USD 10 million cash prize. Coming second at this world-class tournament made him the UK’s most successful player of all-time.

Phil Hellmuth aka. The Poker Brat

He definitely holds the record in most WSOP bracelets won: thirteen in total. Thirteen!Why the name, you might wonder. Well, he is well-known for his temperamental behavior: once, he walked off set due to a fellow player playfully teasing him. 

He participated in the creation of the software for Ultimate Bet and starred in many tutorials. He put his life on playing poker when he dropped out of the University of Winsconsin-Madison. In 1989, he became the youngest player to ever win the WSOP. His total winnings amount to approximately USD 16 million and he holds the record for most WSOP final tables.

Martin Jacobson

One of the most recent favorites of the world, golden boy, animal-lover Jacobson won the 2014 WSOP Main Event, taking home USD 10 million. A part of which he gave to Raising for Effective Giving, a charity preferred by poker players. Its main goal is to provide practical solutions to the world’s problems.

A big part of Jacobson’s donation, for example, was used to save more than 300,000 animals from factory farms. He made it to four final tables in total and his prize winnings are around USD 15 million. He enjoys sport and mobile betting sites. Born in Stockholm, now living with his girlfriend in London, he is an extremely private person.

Michael Mizrachi aka. The Grinder

He has three WSOP bracelets in his possession and made it to 13 final tables. Born in Florida, his childhood dream was to become a doctor, but realized that he has a knack for poker, so he dropped out and started playing.

He became first in 20 poker tournaments. All of his poker earnings amount to USD 14 million. A real family man, he bought a mobile home to be able to take his family with him on tournaments. In 2006, he was named CardPlayer Magazine’s Player of the Year. In his interview with Pokerlizard.com, he said, “I love tournaments. The do-or-die situation then sudden death of tournaments is the greatest feeling..”

John Juanda aka. JJ/ Luckbox

With five WSOP bracelets in his pocket (or on his wrist,) he is also an MBA graduate from Seattle University. His total poker winnings at more than USD 15 million, he is seventh on the list of most money earned be playing poker professionally. 

A star of US poker rooms, he also used to be a runner in high school, with great results, too. In an interview with bluff.com, I found out that he owns a restaurant in Los Angeles and loves spending time there, “And to be honest, that is the one thing I most look forward to these days: coming back to L.A. where it all started (for me), and just meeting and talking to people.”