The biggest winners of the poker history

What most players can only dream of is the reality for these legends.

Poker is a game of anyone, whether you're a plumber, a waiter, a carpenter or a CEO, you can fall in love with the game and become a true fan forever. However, there are people, who took it onto a level, many can only dream of. Winning a decent amount of money playing cards against your friends in a home game or at a low-limit table in your local casino feels great, and provides many great stories.

However, the legends on this list can't only brag about a single winning night, which bought them a few extra drinks or a trip, these players have been crushing the games for tens of millions! They are the regular participants of the biggest poker tournaments around the world and they manage to come out on top against fellow high-roller casino professionals. It would be nice to know how they do it, but for now, let's just walk through the list of the biggest winners of live tournaments.

5. Fedor Holz - $32,556,379

The "young prince", the German wunderkind or CrownUpGuy aka Fedor Holz is the fifth biggest winner in poker history, which is a huge accomplishment by itself, but considering Fedor achieved this at the young age of 25 this number is just obscene. As funny as it sounds, Holz has already announced retiring from poker and focusing on other things in life. We hope he'll become interested in curing all decease one day!

4. David Peters - $32,711,031

Unlike Fedor, US-pro David Peters is still going strong, playing high-roller tournaments with buy-ins ranging between $25,000 and $1,000,000 at the most exotic venues in the world. And David has all the reason to do it, as his winnings from the last few years have been ridiculously steady. He cashed for $2,935,899 in 2015, for $7,955,398 in 2016, for $3,541,517 in 2017, for $10,785,013 in 2018 and already has $3,145,109 in 2019.

Peters has a great shot to become the biggest winner of all time, but the following three will have a thing or two to say about that for sure.

3. Erik Seidel - $34,799,930

The 59-year-old US pro is the oldest on the list and it's just insane how long he manages to stay on the top. His first recorded prize comes from 1988, where he became 2nd to Johnny Chan in the WSOP Main Event for $280,000. Since then, Erik raised countless trophies which brought him more than $34 million together.

Even though he could be the father of most of his peers, Erik keeps crushing the games and still plays the biggest tournaments, much to the delight of his fans.

2. Daniel Negreanu - $39,830,194

Probably the most popular poker player amongst fans is long-time Canadian pro, Daniel Negreanu. Negreanu managed to stay on the top for a long time, only until the current 1st overtook him recently. While according to Daniel, he doesn't care that much about the All-Time Money List anymore, he still grinds the tournaments in Las Vegas and awaits the upcoming WSOP with a massive schedule.

1. Justin Bonomo - $44,626,823

The most winningest poker player in history is none other than Justin Bonomo. The 33-year-old American had an unbelievable 2018 when he amassed more than $25 million playing live tournaments and managed to take down the biggest events in the world. He came out on top in the Super High Roller Bowl China for $4.8 million, won the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl for $5,000,000, then took down the Big One for One Drop for $10,000,000.

While last year was insane for Justin, which many believe is due to a hot run, considering he amassed an additional $19 million during the past ten years, it's safe to say he's not only lucky but knows a thing or two about playing poker as well.