Here is a list of poker players dominating the highest stakes of online cash games in 2015 (in alphabetical order). Did I miss a few names? Who do you think is the best cash game player out there? You can share your thoughts here.
Daniel “Jungleman12” Cates
25 years old Dan Cates doesn’t need any introduction; he ended up as the biggest online winner of 2014 with a profit of 3.437.039 dollars playing high stakes cash games on Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars. Since he accepted the ‘durrrr Challenge” in 2010 (Daniel is leading that challenge by 1.3 million dollars) he owns the high-stake scene. When facing the best in the game, Cates came out on top. He came up on top in epic heads-up battles versus big names like Patrick Antonius and Phil Ivey.
While he keeps winning at the tables, he also has some frustrating unsettled business going on, including the Durrrr Challenge (winning would give him 1,5 million extra), a “durrr challenge” side bet with David ‘Viffer’ Peat (never settled) and a bet with David ‘PerkyShmerky’ Lerner (1,9 million) he never got paid. Let’s hope the people involved pay Daniel Cates their outstanding debts fast and for Daniel some advice: sign a contract before starting a challenge ;).
Tom “durrrr” Dwan
Tom Dwan used to be the most feared player on the planet. But where the hell is this guy these days?? He kept a pretty low profile in the post-Full Tilt-debacle era. In May 2012 he did win the biggest pot in poker history collecting 3.8million dollars in a live cash game in Macau. So his situation can’t be that bd, you could say.
However he is also infamous for not finishing his DURRRR Challenge with Daniel Cates, and that’s why some insiders are questioning whether Tom is broke and they even call him a scammer!
That said… He can’t have lost all his poker talents and maybe Tom just needs a good coach to put him on the right track again! Hereby I invite Tom to join the Coaching For Profits program, we will make you a champion again, man!
Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond
Often seen on the nosebleed stakes on Full Tilt and Pokerstars. Over 10 million dollars in online cash game profits, mostly in NLHE and PLO.
Phil Galfond is the owner and lead instructor of poker training forum RunItOnce.com.
But why the hell did you pick the nickname “OMGClayAiken”? Apparently, Phil wants to unnerve his opponents. Taking the name of a homosexual singer/songwriter in combination with the girlish acronym OMG would give him an edge, since losing to such a non-alpha male player would mentally hurdle other players…
Ehhmm ok, Phil, with 10 million in profits – who am I to disagree!
Phil “Polarizing” Ivey
In the first 4 months of 2015, Ivey lost roughly 1.5 million dollar playing high stakes cash games online! Despite his overall losses in 2015 other high stakes poker players still consider him ‘the best cash game player in the world’. In May he already won back 500k!
Since Black Friday Ivey seems to run into a bit of trouble sometimes; problems with his divorce settlements, lawsuits for cheating in casinos and an attempt to overthrow the board at Full Tilt Poker maybe got his mind clouded. Let’s hope Phil can soon focus again on crushing the nosebleeds!
Doug “WCGRider” Polk
Back in 2008, he had all eyes on him because of a challenge to make 10k on 25NL in 1 month, a challenge which he gave up halfway. But he certainly didn’t give up poker, cause in a relatively short period of time, he has risen from the small stakes to the highest online cash games. He started out in 2007 playing 1/2 cents and then slowly building up his bankroll. He moved from 6-max and full ring games to become a heads-up specialist.
This year he was also part of a team of world-class poker players beating a computer in a “Brains vs. Artificial Intelligence” poker challenge.
Ben “sauce1234” Sulsky
Eatyourpeas’ favorite poker player “sauce1234” has been crushing the highest NL and PLO stakes for the last few years both heads-up and short-handed. Sauce (he got this name in the 6th grade playing on the basketball team, the captain couldn’t pronounce his last name so he called him “sauce”) started his online career playing 25NL with strict bankroll management (having 25-30 buy-ins at the smaller stakes and then roughly 50+ buy-ins at 1000NL and above). He climbed up to the highest stakes. Having won millions of dollars and beaten the best in the business, Sauce1234 is recognized by his peers as a top heads-up player in both Pot Limit Omaha and No limit Holdem.
Who takes the last spot in my top 7?
Is it 1 of our own students, or is it too early for that?
Our CFP students might not crush the nosebleeds yet, but we shouldn’t underestimate some of our own players. If we keep improving we will all get there; who is the next WCGRider? HansTheGreat, Imachampion, or our latest crusher Rylan?? I hope to see all of you guys make new steps forward again!
