Who is the best?

Sky_Dave

Part shameless self promotion (for my blog, not as the all-time greatest poker player), part classic poker question, who do YOU think is the best poker player of all time?

My thoughts can be found in full here, and I'd be interested to see who else you'd put into the mix.

My verdict: got to be Stu Ungar overall, but Phil Ivey is getting pretty close. Richard Orford would be about eighth.

acebarry10

Hi Dave

Enjoyed your interview with that Broughton fellow in "Poker in the Park" , I picked "Texas Dolly" because he has been around a long time, and still wins at poker.

Maybe see you on the tables again sometime, enjoyed our last chat.

Take care m8

Sky_Dave

Hi Barry,

Thanks! I actually haven't seen it and I was recovering from a string of seriously late nights so amazed I didn't look like death.

As I say in the blog, I think the poker world owes a huge amount to Doyle and there's no qualms with people who believe he's the all-time best. Great player, awesome ambassador.

Am sure to see you at the tables - until then, stay lucky!
Dave

tallboy

In Response to Who is the best?:

Part shameless self promotion (for my blog, not as the all-time greatest poker player), part classic poker question, who do YOU think is the best poker player of all time? My thoughts can be found in full here , and I'd be interested to see who else you'd put into the mix. My verdict: got to be Stu Ungar overall, but Phil Ivey is getting pretty close. Richard Orford would be about eighth.
Posted by Sky_Dave

Has to be Doyle Brunson for me on of the "Road players in the60's" when poker was illegal in all states except Nevada and California. He then became part of a group that called themselves"The Corporation" they played high stake's fixed limit, and heads up cash games at the Dunes club which is now the Bellagio in the 70's.
He can still hold his own against any player in the world,  true poker legend and the best of all time in my opinion.

Sky_Dave

Yep, looks like Doyle is going to be a popular shout in this one. OK, playing devil's advocate (and remember, I am a big fan of Doyle and DO think he's very good), how well do you think he compares to some of the new guys on the block, like Ivey and Antonius? Doyle has years of experience on his side, but do you think poker is a game which improves with generations (like sprinters get faster or chess players get stronger), or is he every part as good as those guys technically?

Should be interesting to see what we get here.

lucky77777

whos the best me

zxghostxz

sorry lucky777  but im the best  u the second best     lololo

tallboy

The internet has had a massive influence on how we all play today not just the pro's but novice players like myself. The volume of hands we play today far out way the amount Brunson would have played, plus his physical condition means he cant play the 10/12 hour stretches like he used to.

Im sure Dolly made some great reads and some even better lay downs over the years but without TV coverage those great moments are lost forever. If he was in his 30 to 40's now im comfident he would be up along side Ivey and Antonius.

OMahonyO

Has to be stu ungar.  I read his biography a few yrs ago `man behind the shades`. Such a degen tho

JingleMa

Hey Dave, great debate and like most great debates, there's clearly no "right" answer.

Overall, I would probably agree with you and was initially going to vote for Ungar, a complete legend.

However, the Brunson debate got me thinking, the reason I initially ruled him out is because his "greatest" successes were in a completely different era where, as you alluded to above, the overall standard of his opposition would have been lower than today's.

And following that line of thinking, if we're being completely fair, I think we'd have to say that Ungar's success also came in a completely different era to today, before the internet boom.

So I finally took a more holistic view of the term "best", and on the basis that all of those players are great and could beat each other on any given day, the "best" player for me would be the one who brings the biggest and most positive personality and attitude for others to aspire to.

So I went with Negreanu.

I would also like to put in a word for Jamie Gold, who I know isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I saw him recently at the Poker in the park event in Leic Sq. and he was a great speaker and seems to have turned himself into a great ambassador for the game, especially with the charitable foundation he is trying to build and support.

Grimstar30

In Response to Re: Who is the best?:

Hey Dave, great debate and like most great debates, there's clearly no "right" answer. Overall, I would probably agree with you and was initially going to vote for Ungar, a complete legend. However, the Brunson debate got me thinking, the reason I initially ruled him out is because his "greatest" successes were in a completely different era where, as you alluded to above, the overall standard of his opposition would have been lower than today's. And following that line of thinking, if we're being completely fair, I think we'd have to say that Ungar's success also came in a completely different era to today, before the internet boom. So I finally took a more holistic view of the term "best", and on the basis that all of those players are great and could beat each other on any given day, the "best" player for me would be the one who brings the biggest and most positive personality and attitude for others to aspire to. So I went with Negreanu. I would also like to put in a word for Jamie Gold, who I know isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I saw him recently at the Poker in the park event in Leic Sq. and he was a great speaker and seems to have turned himself into a great ambassador for the game, especially with the charitable foundation he is trying to build and support.
Posted by JingleMa

Yes tell that to the fella that had to threaten to take him to court to get his 50% stake from Gold when he won the WSOP. Naughty man.

Grimstar30

Personally it has to be Ivey. Reading this month's article in Inside Poker the majority of the top pros rate him as the King, and a final table dealer at the WSOP says that in 13 years no one comes close to what he brings to the table. Respect from his peers, respect from the poker community, winning massive amounts of money, being a born gambler and incredibly focused - playing the WSOP main event then going to Bobby's room through the night.  He isn't the most media savvy, but that doesn't make you a great player.

scotty77

Doyle for changing the whole poker worlds attitude for the game.

Chan also very high up there for back to back wins with reasonably deep fields.

I'm gonna go for Antonius out of that list tho, with Phil Ivey a very very close second.

Durrr will however go down as the best ever in 10/15 years tho.  Sadly I doubt he will be able to claim major WSOP success like Hellmuth due to the super deep fields now but he will continue to destroy all cash games which is a far tougher discipline to master.

RICHORFORD

Aha!

You joked about me going on the list Dave, but you couldn't quite pull the trigger could you? I think it was fear that I might actually win it.

Because, even accounting for ironic votes (which would be 100% of them), my name on the 'Best Ever' list would surely bring the site into disrepute!
Lol!

Good poll btw and I've stuck in my ha'penny's worth in your blog comments.