Over the past forty or so years there have been many individuals that have made their mark on the poker world. Poker started out as an underground card game that was outlawed by law abiding citizens and it was never that popular. It wasn’t until the early 1970’s that poker started becoming more popular amongst people and this was largely part to the World Series of Poker being established. The World Series of Poker continues to be the most recognized poker series in the world although there are now many other poker series throughout the year. We’re going to take a look at some of the famous poker players that helped make poker the game it is today.

* Johnny Moss isn’t known by that many people, but he is one of the best poker players to ever play the game. Moss won the very first World Series of Poker Main Event in 1970. He also won the WSOP Main Event in 1971 and 1974 which is very impressive. Back then the events were really small and nothing like today and that is part of the reason why nobody mentions Johnny Moss.

* Phil Hellmuth is arguably the most popular poker player in the world. You either love him or you hate him, but almost everyone that has played poker has heard of Hellmuth. He has managed to win 11 WSOP Bracelets throughout his career thus far and he continues to play in all of the major poker tournaments. A lot of people don’t agree with his behaviour and many poker players hate him, but it’s hard to deny that he is one of the better players in the world.

* Phil Ivey has been playing poker since he was a teenager and he has never had to hold a real job because of his skills on the poker tables. He loves to gamble on just about anything possible and he has once gambled $200K on a coin toss with another poker player. Ivey continues to prove he is one of the best poker players in the world and he will be looking to win a Main Event Bracelet in 2009 as he has made the final table.

* Doyle Brunson is another poker player that basically everyone has heard of before. Brunson has won 10 WSOP Bracelets in his career and he has been around since the very beginning of the WSOP. Before the WSOP, Doyle use to travel the USA looking for underground poker rooms where he could play. He continues to play poker despite his age and the game has basically become his life. He is one of the early ambassadors of the game and he deserves all the credit he receives. He also owns a poker room named Doyles Room which is pretty popular right now and a great place to play some online poker.

There is no shortage of famous poker players and there are new superstars appearing in the poker world every year. The game continues to grow in many parts of the world and despite some problems with the legalities of playing the game I suspect the game to keep growing. It’s a great game to learn how to play and once you become good it can be a great game to make some extra income from.