Who was the best professional poker player in 2022? The players on this list have been able to have one of, if not their best year in 2022 and a few of them can be regarded as some of the all time greats.
On this list are players that are highly regarded and well respected in the Poker World.
The level that these players have achieved is reserved only for a few players in the world. We take a look at those that have dominated poker tournaments, walked away with huge tournament winnings and are well and truly some of the best poker players in the world.
A look 10 of the best participants in online poker tournaments
Justin Bonomo, Virginia
Net Worth
$ 60,222,954
Justin Bonomo currently stands at the top of the all time money rankings.
ZeeJustin as he is popularly known, had a fantastic 2022 and the highlight of that year probably came in October where he racked up impressive winnings in prize money from tournaments.
He won a total of 1,093,992 across five poker competitions in that month which included a $ 720,000 live cash at the PokerGO Tour – Super High Roller Bowl VII (SHRB), Las Vegas as well as earning $ 229,500 at the World Poker Tour – WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
A fixture of the super high roller tournaments and high roller circuit for a number of years, Bonomo has come a long way since he participated in his first World Poker Tour event, which was hosted in Aruba. He didn’t last past the first day, but he learned from the experience and got better before attempting again. He competed in his second poker tournament, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, in 2006, placing 30th overall and earning $15,600.
He won his first WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed main event with earnings of $449,980. He has since won three WSOP bracelets and is one of the best poker players in the world.
Bryn Kenney, New York
Net Worth
$55,748,855
One of the most popular poker players around, also known as Mega Crusher, is arguably one of the greatest poker players of all time.
In 2022, Kenney returned to the top of poker’s all-time money list as tracked by The Hendon Mob Database. Kenney’s third-place result in Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2022 PokerGO Cup for $96,000 saw him move to $57,204,865 in career live tournament earnings last February. This pushed him back to the number 1 spot in earnings.
Kenney, who was previously a Magic: The Gathering player, switched to playing Poker in 2007 and won his very first live cash in the same year at the 2007 East Coast Poker Championships.
He won his first World Series Of Poker bracelet by 2014. The New York poker player topped a field of 445 players in the $1,500 buy-in Ten-Game Mix Six-Handed main event and collected first-place prize money totaling $286,976 and his first WSOP gold bracelet. In total, he has made seven final WSOP tables and cashed 32 times.
Bryn Kenney also holds the record for the largest single payout in live poker tournament history of $20,563,324. He did this after reaching the final table and finishing second to Aaron Zang in the £1,050,000 No-Limit Hold’em – Triton Million for Charity Event.
Daniel Negreanu, Toronto
Net Worth
$ 50,116,498
2022 for Kid Poker was a significant year as Daniel Negreanu was able to snap a two year cold streak when he managed to defeat Nick Petrangelo heads-up in the 2022 $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl for $3.3 million.
Kid Poker would be the first to admit that the last two years of his career have not been the greatest but he was able to end that run on a high.
Negreanu’s decorated 30 year career has seen him win six WSOP bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles.
In 2014, he was recognized by independent poker ranking service Global Poker Index as the player of the decade between 2004 and 2013. He was inducted into the poker hall of fame the following year.
Stephen Chidwick
Hometown: Deal
Net Worth
$ 44,665,132
2022 was a brilliant year for Chidwick. He made 25 qualifying final tables in the past year and won five poker tournaments in that time.
He won over $6.2 million in total POY earnings along the way and ended the year with 6,499 total points, ending the year as the highest among professional poker players on the 2022 POY ranking list.
His best win in 2022 came in the €100,000 buy-in short deck main event of the 2022 Triton Series Madrid, where he defeated a field of 60 other poker players.
Chidwick earned $1,890,000 for the victory, which ranks second in his career behind the over $5.4 million he received as the fourth-place finisher in the Triton Million charity invitational with a £1,050,000 buy-in back in 2019.
He became the first British player in poker history to win the card player of the year award in 2019 and he has successfully repeated this feat four years later.
Erik Seidel
Hometown: New York
Net Worth
$ 42,469,394
March was probably the highlight of Seidel’s 2022 where he won Event #9: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2022 U.S. Poker Open. A 63-entry field was reduced to poker Hall Of Famer Phil Hellmuth with Seidel winning in Heads-up play.
Along with beating Phil Hellmuth, Seidel went home with $472,500 in tournament winnings.
Erik Seidel has won nine World Series of Poker bracelets in his prestigious career, behind only Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan. He also has nearly 120 WSOP cashes, putting him fifth on that historic list, with nearly 50 of those cashes counted as “top 10” finishes.
His status as one of the greatest to ever play poker as well as an ideal mentor for young players around the world was cemented when he was inducted into the Poker Hall Of Fame in 2010.
Jason Koon
Hometown: West Virginia
Net Worth
2022 was a great year for Jason Koon in terms of tournament wins as he not only enjoyed victories in America but overseas as well.
Koon’s first win in 2022 was in Spain when he earned $1,837,500 million in prize money at the Triton Poker Series in Madrid. The 36-year-old emerged victorious from a field of 34 entries in the €150,000 buy-in short deck event at the series, earning $1,837,500 for the win.
Koon was also the winner of Event #10: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2022 Poker Masters where he overcame 37 other entries to win $666,000. He then ended 2022 strongly by winning $500,000 at the PokerGO Tour Championship in December. He was undoubtedly one of the best poker players in 2022.
Jason Koon started his career in poker as an online Poker player in 2006 with the screen name JAKoon1985 on PokerStars. Three years later he won $302,000 in the $2,150 NLHE SCOOP event.
Koon, who has more than 60 money finishes in his career, won his first WSOP bracelet in 2021 when he overcame a field of 57 entries in Event #11: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship, beating Gabor Szabo in the main event and winning $243,981.
Jason Koon is also an ambassador of GGPoker, one of the most popular poker sites around.
David Peters
Net Worth
$ 42,360,184
June 2022 saw David Peters win is fourth World Series Of Poker Bracelet as he won Event #2: $100,000 High Roller Bounty for $1,166,810.
In this tournament, the man who is also known as Silent Assassin, overcame the challenge of 40 other entrants which included Koray Aldemir, Phil Ivey and heads-up opponent Chance Kornuth. He did it in 26 hands, which is one of the fastest ever World Series Of Poker final tables.
Peters began playing poker after watching Chris Moneymaker win the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, like many other poker players at the time. Peters took a cue from Moneymaker, an amateur who defeated professionals at their game and became a world champion.
Peters began playing online poker in freeroll tournaments to get his start. His $600 freeroll victory served as the beginning of a title-filled career in which he has amassed more than $6.5 million in online poker tournament winnings and more than 42 million dollars in live tournament winnings.
Dan Smith
Home town: New Jersey (Now resides in Las Vegas)
Net Worth
$ 39,677,357
Cowboy Dan made history in 2022 by capturing his first ever WSOP bracelet. It took a superb effort by Dan Smith to beat Christoph Vogelsang at the end of the 2022 WSOP main Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship.
Cowboy Dan who, to that point, was known as the best Poker player to never wear a bracelet, was overcome with emotion after his victory. He also went home with $509,717 in the bank.
Dan Smith began his poker career at a very young age. At 16, he was not old enough to legally gamble and at 18, a young Cowboy Dan decided to quit school to chase his poker dreams.
His first poker victory followed not too long after as he won the Heartland Poker Tour Main Event at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in New York for $101,960. He is now a regular at high roller and super high roller events.
He is a one time WPT winner as well as an eight time European poker tour winner with over 50 money finishes to his name.
Phil Ivey, California
Net Worth
$ 38,281,866
Tiger Woods of Poker still had a decent year as he won three poker tournaments after not recording a live tournament cash since August 2021.
His first title came in April. At his third final-table appearance of the series, the 45-year-old won the $1,170,000 first-place prize by outlasting a field of 51 poker players in the $75,000 buy-in short deck tournament.
His second came six days later when he beat 32 other poker players in the 2022 Super High Roller Series Europe $50,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event. He defeated Ali Imsirovic heads-up to win the trophy and the top prize of $640,000.
His third win came in September, playing his favorite game, shortdeck poker. He outlasted 38 other poker players at the $ 30,000 No Limit Short Deck Hold’em – Ante Only (Event #10)
Triton Poker Super High Roller Series to win $387,000.
The Phenom did come close to winning his 11th Word Series Of Poker title when he finished second at Event #42: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller, losing to Latvian Aleksejs Ponakovs. The Poker Hall Of Fame inductee’s placement in that tournament saw him earn $1,172,659.
Fedor Holz
Hometown: Saarbrücken
Net Worth
$ 37,441,291
CrownUpGuy as he is popularly known, put together a solid year for himself. Although he didn’t win any titles, his biggest win in 2022 came in the Triton Mediterranean #5: $200,000 No-Limit Hold’em Invitational 2022 Triton Mediterranean Poker Party where he won $2.1 million and placed fourth.
His highest placement in 2022 came in May where he placed third in the €50,000 No-Limit Hold’em Seven Max, winning $646,800 in the process. This prodigious talent won his first live cash in 2012 when he placed second in the €500 No Limit Hold’em GPT II Deepstack Series Main Event for a total of €15,320.
Holz used the alias CrownUpGuy for online events. He earned $1.3 million by winning the World Championship of Online Poker in September 2014. In the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event, Holz placed 25th and earned $262,574 in winnings.
Nobody can forget Holz’s breakout year in 2016. At 23 years of age, he won first WSOP bracelet, a European Poker Tour high roller title and three victories in Aria Super/High Roller tourneys.
