Online poker is a phenomenon that keeps on growing. Recent statistics suggest there are over 100 million people around the world who enjoy playing poker online. These range from those who play for pennies and those that invest huge sums of money to enter tournaments with life-changing prizes on offer.

Poker is one of many games that has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity due to becoming available as an online activity. More people have begun to access poker websites now they can play from anywhere at any time. In the past, people who wanted a game of poker had to organise a group of people to get together. Today, they can simply switch on their laptop, desktop, tablet or mobile phone and immediately access their favourite poker website.

Many of the world’s top poker players have gravitated towards online play over the past decade or more. There are hundreds of prestigious global poker tournaments held online, bringing the advantage of being able to play from home to make them accessible to players around the globe.

1: Chris Moorman

Chris Moorman is known for being one of the highest earning online poker players in the world. As of mid-2017, Moorman boasted career winnings of almost $20 million from playing poker online and in card rooms at brick-and-mortar casinos. Moorman first started playing poker during his years in college, where he was studying economics. By playing online every day, he earned enough to pay off all his student loans and leave university with around £50,000 in the bank/ Today, Chris Moorman makes his living from his poker winnings and flies around the world to attend tournaments as well as playing online.

2: Ben Sulsky

Ben Sulsky is perhaps not as well known as many other top poker players outside of the circuit. The main reason for this is he is a cash game player rather than a tournament player. Laying under the handle “Sauce123”, Sulsky has racked up over $6 million in poker winnings throughout his career at the tables, despite never really transitioning to tournament play. He has also released a series of training videos to advise other aspiring career players. Sulsky claims to have utilised online freeroll play to build a bankroll of $3,000 to kick-start his poker career.

3: Ben Tollerene

 Ben Tollerene plays a mixture of cash games and tournaments both online and in live play. Throughout his career he is rumoured to have won at least $3.5 million from online poker tournaments, with perhaps even more from cash game winnings. He currently spends a lot of time playing online from Canada, as well as travelling the world to attend live tournament events. Tollerene has been playing for many years, turning an original $500 online deposit into career winnings estimated to be well over $10 million.

4: Viktor Blom

 Viktor Blom has become a legend in the online poker world, having played for years behind the handle “Isildur1” before revealing his true identity. The Swedish superstar is thought to have won millions throughout his career. Blom has taken home at least $3 million from live events and played in some of the biggest online poker tournaments in the world. He originally began playing as a teenager and managed to build up a bankroll of more than quarter of a million dollars by the age of 15. His career records include winning $1.7 million playing online poker over just two weeks. 

5: Tom Dwan

Tom Dwan has become one of the online poker players that other players fear to face. Playing at high-stakes tables against some of the most famous names in the business, Dwan has regularly taken home huge winnings from both online and live play. His lifetime live tournament winnings exceed $3 million, and he is rumoured to have won much more from cash games and multi-table online play. Known online as “durrrr”, Dwan is still an active player, although today he mainly focuses on play in Southeast Asia.

6: Martin Jacobson

Martin Jacobson is best known for netting a cool $10 million in 2014 after being victorious in the WSOP main event in Las Vegas. While this is certainly his biggest career win, Jacobson is thought to have racked up closer to $17 million in total career winnings. He began his career playing online qualifiers to gain access to the bigger tournaments and has spent hours studying poker theory and strategy as well as playing poker online.

7: Maria Konnikova

Maria Konnikova took up playing online poker during a time of financial hardship, studying the game to learn how to increase her chances of winning. While she has not yet reached seven-figure winnings, Konnikova quickly went from someone who had rarely played poker to a regular winner or five and six-figure prizes. Her highest single win to date was $84,600 in a live cash game.

8: Di Dang

Di Dang is mainly known as a cash game player, although he has won several hundred thousand dollars in tournament play. Dang started playing during his university days with a $200 deposit – this was quickly lost, and another $200 deposited. From there, he has never looked back, and today boasts career winnings of more than $8 million form online play.

9: Phil Galfond

Phil Galfond has made a name for himself on the poker circuit in recent years through throwing down the “Galfond Challenge” –playing some of the word’s top poker stars in heads-up Pot Limit Omaha. He has made more than $10 million from online poker play throughout his life and earned even more from utilising his skills to develop his own poker training website. He has also won over $3 million in live tournament events, including three gold bracelets from the WSOP.

10: Patrik Antonius

Patrik Antonius is frequently seen on televised poker shows and events, making a name for himself as one of the most successful players of all time. The Finnish superstar has made more than $12 million from playing poker and reached the final table at the World Poker Tour on three separate occasions.