Top 5 WSOP poker players

Top 5 WSOP poker players of all time

As you can probably imagine, being a professional poker writer is not exactly a risk-free endeavor. I would venture to say that the life of Floyd Manning is even more precarious and filled with a nonstop barrage of threats than you would ever conjure in your wildest dreams. When you stop to think for a moment, it only makes sense.

Imagine you are simply an average poker writer of small renown in either Vegas for Atlantic City. Being in such a situation would naturally expose you to certain seedy and undesirable elements of society. Both those cities are well populated with bottom feeders of every stripe, all of them looking for a cheap piece of the action.

Now, take that same scenario and amplify the risk factor by a few million times. Once a clear picture starts to form in your hand, you’ll have some understanding of what it's like to be Floyd, gambling writer par excellance whose work is recognized worldwide by millions of ravenous fans. You don’t get to be this well-established without gathering quite a few enemies, I can promise you that. Hence, the danger I was referring to at the top of this article.

But there are other, less tangible dangers associated with my profession. For example, sometimes I get asked a question which is virtually impossible to answer due to the wide range of potentially correct responses. Like this one: “Hey Floyd, can you please name the five greatest World Series of Poker players of of all time?"

Obviously, the WSOP has generated so many memorable players that listing only five could easily amount of to little more than an exercise in futility. Nonetheless, I will once again put my neck on the line and try to come up with an adequate reply. Please note that the following five individuals are not listed in any particular order.

Stu “The Kid” Ungar certainly qualifies as one of the great champs of all time. The fact that he battled so many personal demons to win multiple WSOP titles is a testament to his inner fortitude and character. Sadly, Stu ultimately succumbed to the raging forces which prevented piece of mind from ever being his own.

Jack “Treetop” Straus also qualifies as one of my favorite WSOP players. Straus earned notoriety when he came back from an unbelievable deficit - with only a single $500 chip to his name - to go on and win the WSOP in 1982. It's a feat that has never been matched.

Chris Moneymaker deserves a special place in any overview of the championship, as he was the first amateur player to arrive at the big game by virtue of winning a satellite.

Layne Flack is another legendary player, and one who like Ungar had to work his way through many personal struggles before emerging victorious at the World Series of Poker. The fact that he had to fight so hard for the glory makes his story even more memorable.

Finally, no list of World Series of Poker champs would be complete without mentioning the great Johnny Chan. This guy is a class act, and he provides a solid role model for anyone wishing to take up professional poker as a vocation.