Stu “The Kid” Ungar
Born in New York in 1953, Stu “The Kid” Ungar was only 10 years old when he won his first poker tournament. As early as 1974, Ungar was considered one of the best players in New York. Because no one would play against him he moved to Las Vegas and won so many tournaments some casinos would no longer let him play.
Ungar won the World Series of Poker main events in 1980 and 1981. Unfortunately, his success was wasted on drugs, sports betting and horse racing. In 1997 Unger was deeply in debt but managed to come up with the $10k needed to enter the World Series of Poker main event and won his third WSOP tournament. In his short lifetime, he went from penniless to becoming a millionaire four times.
Then in November of 1998 Ungar was found dead in his motel room at the Oasis in Las Vegas. Regarded by many poker pros as one of the greatest ‘pure talent’ ever to play the game; he has been estimated to have won over $30 million playing poker. He is the only player to have won 3 World Series Of Poker main event tournaments.
Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson
Born in 1933 in Longhorn, Texas, Brunson started playing poker after a knee injury ended his dream of becoming a professional athlete. Brunson got his start traveling the Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma circuit.
Interestingly, he won the 1976 and 1977 WSOP with the exact same poker hand, a full house of tens full of deuces, now called a Doyle Brunson. He was also the first player to earn $1,000,000 in poker tournaments.
Brunson penned Super/System, a comprehensive book on poker in 1978. Considered one of the most respected guides in the world of poker, it gave poker players a chance to learn about the secrets of professional players.
As of 2010 Brunson’s total winnings have exceeded nearly $5,900,000. He continues to play in some of the biggest poker games in the world. Brunson currently holds 10 WSOP gold bracelets tying with poker legend Johnny Chan.
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth became the youngest player to ever win the WSOP main event when he defeated two-time defending champion, Johnny Chan. After dropping out of Wisconsin-Madison to play poker professionally, he became known as the “poker brat” due to his attitude towards other players at the table.
Hellmuth could easily be considered the world’s best living Texas Hold’em player and is the only player to hold 11 WSOP bracelets, having won the last bracelet in 2007. It is rumored that Hellmuth has given away every WSOP gold bracelet to family members, but has always kept his first bracelet for himself. Perceived in the poker community as a player who is unable to lose graciously, he still has many fans, and as of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $18,000,000 USD.
Johnny Chan
Born in China in 1962, Johnny moved with his family to Arizona and then finally to Texas where his family owned several restaurants. At the tender age of 16 he went to Las Vegas and also ended up dropping out of college to move to Vegas and play cards full time professionally. Chan credits his success to the fact that most players didn’t have any experience playing against an Asian poker player and they were unable ‘read’ him.
In the late 1980’s Chan became a poker star after winning two consecutive championship WSOP events in ’87 and ’88, a feat that has yet to be repeated. He failed to achieve a third consecutive win when he was defeated in ’89 by a very young and unknown poker player by the name of Phil Hellmuth.
In 2005, Chan won his tenth World Series of Poker title and is tied with Doyle Brunson at having won 10 World Series of Poker gold bracelets. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002.
Great Players in Poker History 