Who is the best poker player

What do you think who's best poker player

TT

Which person are you thinking of?

(https://stakecommunity.com/topic/179977-who-is-the-best-poker-player/#) (https://stakecommunity.com/?app=core&module=system&controller=content&do=find&content_class=forums_Topic&content_id=179977&content_commentid=3600044) On 7/7/2026 at 1:22 PM, Kingd00712 (https://stakecommunity.com/?app=core&module=members&controller=profile&id=240178) said:

Who do you have in mind

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Tony lin

Phil Ivey no debate fr, dude's a straight up monster at the table.

Phil Ivey is the greatest for real; no one else even comes close when it comes to reading people and making those unbelievable calls.

Phil Ivey is the clear choice, but to be fair Negreanu's table talk and ability to read players are on another level — the guy can detect a bluff from across the room.

Phil Ivey is the safe pick but I have to pick Negreanu — the way he names precise hands is just absurd.

Phil Ivey is a legend, but I have to say Negreanu’s knack for literally naming your cards before you turn them over is astonishing.

Phil Ivey is the clear GOAT, but truthfully, I think Negreanu’s talent for naming exact hands operates on a different level.

Ivey's the greatest when it comes to pure talent, but honestly Dneg predicting hands like he’s psychic is simply more entertaining to watch lol

Saw Ivey fold a king preflop one time — unbelievable read.

Cash games or tournaments, though?

Ivey once tanked for like five minutes against a massive bluff from Tom Dwan and somehow found the call with just bottom pair, no idea how he does it.

Honestly I’m inclined to pick Phil Ivey because his cold reads in high-stakes cash games are on another level — like that hand versus Dwan where he detected a bluff with almost nothing, which was wild. But if the discussion is about tournament longevity and adapting across decades, you can’t really dismiss Hellmuth’s bracelet tally, even if his table conduct sometimes irritates me.

I understand why people mention Ivey, but honestly his advantage was larger back in the Full Tilt era — these days the field has closed the gap somewhat.

Do you mean live readds or online crushers when you ask which is best?

Phil Ivey all day. The way he sniffed out that Dwan bluff wasnt even luck it was pure feel for the game. Imagine what the odds were on him making that call.

Ivey carries the legacy, but honestly when I watch Linus play online the math seems unbeatable now

I remember seeing Negreanu identify a player’s hole cards aloud on a stream once, accurately naming the exact cards before the flop even dealt. It came across less like poker and more like a sleight-of-hand performance.

unbeatable now

Ivey's Hendon Mob stats alone are wild but I think right now the sickest heads up grinders online are putting in way more volume so the real money skill gap shows different. For the best of all time it's always Ivey though, guy read souls.

It depends on whether you mean live reads or GTO solvers — they're essentially two different games now. Ivey possessed the instinct, but the online players like Linus simply don't commit the same exploitable errors.

OP said TT like pocket tens. Super ranom tilt hand maybe.

I once sat through an entire six-hour session of Ivey at a final table, and he jammed on the river with jack-high because he claimed the opponent's neck pulse was twitching — just insane stuff you can't teach. It drove home that the top player is the one who remains composed and reads people, not merely follows solver output.