Poker is often seen as a very glitzy way for a person to make money, with people often picturing scenes of lavish casino rooms full of green tables on roped off plinths, surrounded by men in tuxedos and women in cocktail dresses; with winners throwing up tornados of cash and chips into the air.
But what if I told you that there is also lots of money to be made online, as well? It may not be as glamourous, sat around in your dressing gown playing poker with faceless entities from around the world, but you can – with the right amount of skill – earn yourself life changing amounts, especially on sites like Betsafe.com which are proving popular the world over, from Norway to Peru. If you don’t believe me, take a look below at the five highest earning online poker players in the world.
5. Daniel Cates – $7.3m
And yes, in case you were wondering that ‘m’ does stand for million … So yes, it is possible to earn millions of dollars playing online poker. Who would-a thought!? Also known as ‘Jungleman’, Cates is also making a name for himself in the Live world of poker, although his earnings there are a far less impressive $500k, which I still wouldn’t turn my nose up at, by the way. If only I were any good at poker; I’m so bad at bluffing that even the people on the other end of the computer can tell.
4. Di Dang – $7.4m
We now jump up by more than two million dollars to one half of the famous Dang poker playing brothers. Di originally learned how to play poker whilst still in college. He learned along side his brother who he then shared a bankroll with as they made their way to poker fame and glory. Whilst he rarely plays at live events, Di can be found in North Virginia at the restaurant business he owns.
3. Phil Galfond – $10m
Phil Galfond is a big name in the online poker world, not only as a player himself with a $10 million bank account, but also as a trainer and entrepreneur, starting up extremely successful ventures such as Blue Fire Poker and Runit Once. Now, although his appearance on the live circuit is very rare indeed, Galfond has earned himself over a million dollars playing in the flesh, which is more than I’ll ever earn writing these articles … sooo …
2. Patrik Antonius – $11.3m
Moving away from American stars for a moment, we head over to one of Finland’s greatest exports, Patrik Antonius. Not only is he the second highest earning online poker star, but he also holds the record for the biggest single win in online history. Back in 2009 he won $1,356,947 against Lord of the Rings fan (presumably), Isildur1. Unlike the previous three players on this list, Antonius is also a relatively big name on the live circuit as well, netting himself nearly $6m so far in profits.
1. Phil Ivey – $19.2m
Phil Ivey is one of the greatest poker players the world has ever seen, with a whopping $19.2m in earnings online alone, plus a further $17.6m in live tournaments. This man is a legend in the poker universe, and is also a dab hand at Baccarat, having cleaned out at the Mayfair in London, with an $11.5m prize after only just too sessions. Phil Ivey will probably remain the greatest online poker player for many decades to come.
