Who Are the Most Influential Players in Poker History

Chris Moneymaker — The Reason of Poker Growth

It wasn’t a shock for us to see that Chris Moneymaker is mentioned among the most influential players more often than any other famous gamblers.

The main reason, of course, is the start of the Poker Boom because of his victory in the WSOP 2003 Main Event.

Without Moneymaker, poker, as we know it today probably wouldn’t exist. After all, Moneymaker was just a regular accountant when he became the first ever player to qualify to the most prestigious poker event via a PokerStars online satellite and then win the entire thing. No other WSOP champion affected poker like this for the next 20+ years — that’s how powerful the Moneymaker effect was at the time.

What also makes Moneymaker a true legend is that even 20 years after he started the Poker Boom, he continued to be an active contributor to the poker community with his own MoneyMaker Tour series, partnership with ACR Poker, charitable work, war against PayPal’s arbitrariness, etc.

For all the things he has done for poker, Moneymaker became eligible for the Poker Hall of Fame and was inducted in 2019 .

Doyle Brunson — The Face of Old-School Poker

The Godfather of Poker aka Texas Dolly aka Poker’s Living Legend was (not-so-shockingly) picked by a lot of players as the most famous old-school player to have ever walked the Earth.

Doyle Brunson built a 60+ year long career in poker and played the game regularly until his death on May 14th, 2023. 

He won 10 WSOP bracelets and $3,050,958 in the World Series of Poker alone.

He was an author of the “Super/System”, one of the most breakthrough poker books, while also co-writing “Poker Wisdom of a Champion”,  “How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker”, “Superstar Poker Strategy: The World’s Greatest Players Reveal Their Winning Secrets”, etc.

He even made the T2 hand so popular that it was literally named after him.

For his contribution to the poker industry and devotion to the game Doyle was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2009 and even years after his death a lot of players remember and recognize him, but more importantly — associate his face and style with “classic” poker as it was before the growth of online venues.

Daniel Negreanu — The Most Recognizable Poker Persona

Charismatic, chatty, funny and showing a little psychic abilities when it comes to reading his opponents’ hands, KidPoker aka DNEGS is the third most mentioned player of the highest influence in the industry.

If you ever see a poker promo with someone’s face on it — there’s a huge chance it was Daniel Negreanu, since he’s been literally everywhere for more than 20 years.

The first reason is his easy and magnetic personality that made him perfect for any broadcast, interview or photoshoot.

Dan is so good in public relationships that even some unpleasant things like the meme “More rake is better” associated with him don’t actually harm his image. People know him, love him and and take his opinion into account even when it comes to politics which is a rare thing in poker.

The second reason is his wit when it comes to choosing partnerships. He was the face of the long-time poker room number #1 PokerStars from 2007 to 2019 but when GGPoker stormed the industry — he switched teams to represent the new biggest poker company for the next 5+ years.

Negreanu’s recognition went so far beyond poker that he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame five years earlier than Chris Moneymaker who is only a year and half younger than Dan.

Phil Ivey — The Imbodement of Poker Face

Having a perfect unreadable face is a common dream among poker players but only one human mastered it to become his signature — we are talking about Tiger Woods of Poker, more known for his real name Phil Ivey.

One of the star professionals in the early 2000s, Ivey stopped regularly playing poker ten years later but continued to appear on broadcast games and attract viewers with his unique play style and infamous facial expression.

The only stand-alone poker room to ever hire Ivey as a poker pro was FullTilt Poker, which he left during the backlash of 2011 Black Friday.

In 2020, he briefly became the face an Asian app called Poker King but in 2022 was already an ambassador of the World Poker Tour brand.

During his more than 30 year long career, Ivey has done enough poker to have him inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2017.

Phil Hellmuth — The Beloved Poker Character

Everyone knows the Poker Brat: he is big, loud, fun when raging (for the most part) but most importantly he won the most WSOP bracelets & events as of 2025.

Phil Hellmuth is known not only as the GOAT when it comes to WSOP (and his own opinion about himself) but also as one of the most entertaining players to watch.

The best example is how he made WSOP extra-entertaining with his annual signature Grand Entrance into the Main Event with a little bragging and self-trolling about amounts of his bracelets.

One year he was Julius Ceasar, another — the Great Showman accompanied by Dan Cates dressed as a lion. His costumes can be breathtaking as well as a little cringe but people love them anyway because Hellmuth uses them to lighten the mood and show the general public that poker can be just a little funny. 

Phil Hellmuth was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2007 but that was just the start for him. For almost 40 years, Hellmuth has inspired countless people to try poker themselves: some — in the hope to meet him, others — to beat him, and a few ones — to become the next him.