Daniel Negreanu is a professional Canadian poker player who was born on July 26, 1974, in Toronto. He has won two World Poker Tour Championship titles and four World Series of Poker bracelets.

His unconventional lifestyle led him learn poker and at the age of 21, he came to Las Vegas to become a professional poker player. However, because of “The Strip” he has to go back to Toronto to build a strong bankroll.

His poker career started in 1997 when he won two events at the World Poker Finals and was given the title of best all-around player. Since then there has been no looking back for him. Besides poker, his other passion is NHL.

As of 2008, his total winnings are over $11,200,000.

Humberto Brenes, born on May 8, 1951, started his gambling career with baccarat. But soon his realized his interest in poker and started playing tournaments in 1974. By the end of 1988, he was a regular professional poker player.

He has two WSOP bracelets in his pocket. Additionally, he has been to the final table of the World Poker Tour three times and has cashed more than 40 times at the WSOP. The most interesting part of his life is that his two brothers Alex Brenes and Erick Brenes both are in the same profession.

At present, his total winnings are more than $5,300,000 and he is considered one of the most charismatic poker players.

Johhny Chan is a professional American poker player, a Chinese by birth. His family owned their own restaurants and he was to join the family business when he came to Las Vegas on a junket. He was studying hotel and restaurant management at the University of Houston, when at the age of 21 he decided to drop out.

He came to Las Vegas to become a professional poker player. His journey of fame started with his win of the championship event at the World Series of Poker, in 1987 and 1988. He has made a record four wins in his six appearances.

Besides playing poker, he owns a fast food franchise in Las Vegas and writes regularly in Trader Monthly, a bi-monthly magazine.

Philip D. Ivey was born on February 1, 1976 in California. He is an American poker player who has five WSOP bracelets and one World Poker Tour Title in his bag. He has set a record of making the final table at the WPT eight times.

He enhanced his poker playing skills with his colleagues at a telemarketing firm in New Jersey. He is called with the name of “the Tiger Woods of Poker”. Now he focuses more on the cash games rather than the tournaments.

Besides poker, Ivey loves to play video games and golf. He is a big fan of Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers. He finished in the third place at the inaugural World Series of Golf!. And you thought poker players are good at cards only!

An iconic American poker player, Doyle F. Brunson was born on August 10, 1933. He has been on the poker table for more than 50 years. He is not just a great poker player but also an author of many influential books talking about his favorite game.

He is the proud winner of ten bracelets of the World Series of Poker. He is one of the four players to have won the Main Event at the World Series of Poker numerous times. Moreover, his name comes amongst the only five players to have won both the World Poker Tour title and the WSOP Main Event.

He has been rated as the most ‘influential force in the world of poker’ by the Bluff Magazine in its January 2006 edition.

The well known American poker player Allen Cunnigham was born on March 28, 1977. Before he decided to start playing poker professionally, he was studying civil engineering at UCLA. He started playing poker in the Indian casinos at the age of 18.

In 2005, he won the title of ESPN/Toyota Player of the Year. He loves to play online po0ker exclusively with Full Tilt Poker. His fellow players also voted him as the best all-around player under 35.

He won his fifth bracelet in the year 2007. After this, there has been no looking back and he has won a huge amount of cash price and various other titles including the Mega Match. His total winnings, at present, are more than $10,200,000.

Phil Hellmuth is one of the three poker players who have won ten World Series of Poker bracelets. In 2007, he was inaugurated into the Poker Hall of Fame. He is one of the living legends who hold the record for most final tables cashes at the World Series of Poker.

He started learning poker while studying at the University of Wisconsin and eventually dropped out to play professionally. Phill Hellmuth was the youngest ever winner of the main event at the WSOP in 1984. Besides playing poker, he has also authored a book named “Play Poker Like the Pros”. It is a book for the beginners to learn how to play poker.

At present, his total winnings are more than $9 million.

Winning the World Series of Poker main event is the pinnacle in the
life of many a poker player. They say once you win the World Series of
Poker your life is changed forever. Although many of the older
champions are now household names, some of the newer winners were
complete unknowns before they won the Main Event. It remains to bee
seen if WSOP 2009 will be the time when a famous pro once again enters the throne, which hasn’t happened since Carlos Mortensen won in 2001.

2008 Champion Peter Eastgate

In November 2008, Eastgate was far from the odds-on favorite to become
world poker champion. He was one of the shorter stacks in chips, and
had less experience than players such as Ylon Schwartz and Chino Rheem.
Still, the 22 year-old from Odense, Denmark, battled fiercely, and
managed to get to heads-up action. Even then, facing young superstar
Ivan Demidov, Eastgate was the underdog, but when his A5 made a
straight on the turn to beat Demidov’s two pair, Eastgate
became poker’s newest -and youngest- champion.

2007 Champion Jerry Yang

Jerry Yang emerged in a tumultuous year for poker. U.S. restrictions on
Internet play had limited the number of Internet satellite qualifiers
and the main event experienced a dip in attendance for the first time
in history. On the plus side, America’s loss was the
world’s gain, as the final table was the most international
affair in the event’s history, and led to a surge in
international poker play as well as bingo online play. The amateur Yang, a therapist and social
worker for California, was welcomed as champion due to his good works
and kindhearted demeanor. It was hoped that he would serve as an
ambassador for poker moving forward, but he made very little impact on
the poker world in his year as champion.

2006 Champion Jamie Gold

Some say that Jamie Gold’s win is what necessitated a poker
ambassador. Gold, a show business agent and producer who befriended Johnny Chan during a show he was producing, was a force in the tournament, taking over the chip lead after day three and never
relinquishing it, generally implementing a successful strategy of
“strong means strong and weak means weak,” as
opposed to the traditional amateur “weak means
strong” strategy. However, Gold’s victory was mired
with controversy, as he was the victim of an extended lawsuit by an
associate who claimed that Gold promised him half of his win.

Phil Helmuth and his famous temper. Once again, the poker master blows up, this time he vents his frustration at Annie Duke.

Some of the best bluffs from the WSOP. These players are what seperate the pros from the donkeys.