Top Texas Hold'em Players in the World

Texas Hold'em is arguably the most popular variation of poker and is thus unsurprisingly the favorite game of card enthusiasts. But more than just fun, skill, and strategy, Texas Hold'em can result in fame and fortune.

Here are a few of the most accomplished players of offline and online Texas Hold'em.

Stu Ungar

With more than $3 million in winnings over his professional gambling career, Stu Ungar is reputed to have been one of the greatest players of Texas Hold'em poker and gin rummy. He was a three-time winner of the Super Bowl of Poker and the World Series of Poker's Main Event. Ungar was also one of only four players to win WSOP Main Event titles consecutively.

Unfortunately, Ungar developed a drug problem and spent much of his prize money on his addiction. He died in 1998 because of a heart condition brought on by his long-term abuse of drugs. Ungar's highest tournament winnings include:

• $1 million at the 1997 WSOP No Limit Hold'em World Championship
• $375,000 at the 1981 WSOP No Limit Hold'em World Championship
• $365,000 at the 1980 WSOP No Limit Hold'em World Championship
• $275,000 in No Limit Hold'em at the 1984 Amarillo Slim's Superbowl of Poker
• $190,000 in No Limit Hold'em at the 1991 Queens Poker Classic

Jason Koon

American professional poker player Jason Koon was born in 1985 and learned how to play Texas Hold'em poker while recovering from an injury. It was then that he realized that he could make plenty of money from the game.

Koon proved that idea to be true, having won more than $31 million so far in his career as a professional gambler. He has won big in Texas Hold'em online and offline tournaments, and his top winnings include:

• $3,653,20 and $2,899,000 respectively in the HK$ 1,000,000 No-Limit Hold'em Short Deck Ante Only at the 2018 and 2019 Triton Super High Roller Series
• $2,100,000 in the $300,000 No-Limit Holden at the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl
• $1,650,300 at the $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em at the 2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas In June 2021 alone, Koon won $336,000 at the 2021 U.S. Poker Open.

Linus Loeliger

Born in the mid-1990s, Linus Loeliger is a professional poker player from Switzerland whose focus is on online No Limit Texas Hold'em (NLHE) cash games. He began playing low-stakes Texas Hold'em in 2013 and in 2016 he started playing high-stakes online poker under the alias "LLinusLLove" on PokerStars.

Loeliger has won nearly $2.5 million so far in career cash games, and his career as a professional gambler is still young. Among his biggest winnings are:

• $841,800 and $724,680 at the 2019 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London's £25,000 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo Six Max and £50,000 No-Limit Hold'em Eight Max, respectively
• $276,000 at the 2019/2020 WPT World Online Championships' $102,000 No-Limit Hold'em $3 Million GTD
• $250,000 at the 2020 Super High Roller Bowl Online's $102,000 No-Limit Hold'em

Viktor Blom

Originally from Gothenburg, Sweden, Viktor Blom was born on September 26, 1990. He learned how to play Texas Hold'em poker in 2004, when he was 14 years old. A year later, at the age of 15, he had won a total of more than $275,000 total at different online Texas Hold'em casinos.

Blom's total winnings as of July 2021 have reached upwards of $3.25 million. Two of his biggest cash prizes are:

• $1,254,400 at the 2012 PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure's Event 1 No-Limit Hold'em Super High Roller 8 Max
• $1,054,000 at the 2018 Partypoker Live Millions-Germany's €5,300 No-Limits Hold'em As of July 2021, Blom's latest big win was $320,625 at the $25,500 No-Limit Hold'em event during the 2020 Super High Roller Bowl Online.