Hi Pokeraddicts !

It’s time for the sequel of my Most Famous Poker Player top 100 list. I hope you were all waiting for it, because from now on I’m going directly to Number One and the players will only get bigger and greater. Smallball-poker is getting bigger and wildly spread with new viewers every day so I’m going to start right now with number fifty…

(50)   =>   DANIEL   ALAEI

> Daniel Christopher Alaei

> born in 1983, from Sante Fe Springs, California (USA)

> resides now in Los Angeles, California

> Nickname :  ‘ Daniel ‘

> won 2 Bracelets (’06 NL 2-7 Draw Lowball / ‘09 WC Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-better)

> plays online at PokerStars.

> won over $ 2,300,000 in Live Tournament Play (until 2009).

In spite of his two Bracelets and his 25th place in the WSOP Main Event in 2007, the year Jerry Yang won, Mister Alaei likes the big cash games even more. He enjoys the action which he showed in the first three seasons of High Stakes Poker. Daniel is someone who always behave properly at the table, a real gentleman who doesn’t like the theatrics around the table and the lack of poker etiquette of the young online wizards irritates him a lot.

(49)   =>   JOHNNY   MOSS

> born 14/05/1907 in Marshall, Texas (USA)

> died peacefully at 16/12/1995.

> Nickname :  ‘ The Grand Old Man of Poker ‘

> won 3 times the WSOP Main Event (’70, ‘71, ‘74), a record next to Stu Ungar.

> won 9 Bracelets in total (’71 Limit A-5 draw, ‘75 ‘76 ‘79 seven card stud, ‘81 seven card stud Hi-Lo, ‘88 A-5 draw)

> has WSOP Tournament Earnings of $ 850,000.

Johnny won the very first WSOP Main Event in 1970 and didn’t miss a single one until he died. He won in 1970 when his peers voted for him as the best player and he took the trophy back home without any prize money. Mister Moss became a member of the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979. Johnny learned the game when he was very young and soon he decided to cross the whole country and he became a road gambler. In that time, the years ‘30-’60, he always had a gun in his pocket because it was very dangerous with all the gambling and the unfair sharpers. Another very remarkable story about Johnny Moss appeared in 1951 when he met Benny Binion. He arranged a marathon heads-up pokergame between Johnny Moss and Nick The Greek Dandalos that lasted for five months ! Johnny won around $4 million (which is now worth around $50 million) before Nick The Greek said the following famous words: ‘ Mr.Moss, I have to let you go’. The Texas Hold’em starting hand A10 is nicknamed ‘The Johnny Moss’.

(48)   =>   TODD   BRUNSON

> Todd Alan Brunson

> born 07/08/1969, El Paso, Texas (USA)

> resides now in Las Vegas, Nevada.

> Nickname :  ‘  Darkhorse ‘

> won 1 Bracelet (’05 Omaha Hi-Lo Split)

> became 13th at the WSOP Main Event in 1992

> plays online at Doylesroom and PokerStars

> has Live Tournament Winnings over $ 3,300,000 (until 2009).

In spite of his famous father Doyle ‘TexasDolly’ Brunson , Todd learned the game of poker on his own when he studied Law at Texas Tech University. Todd is very well-known as a big cash game player, playing regurlarly in the big games at the Bellagio or in the famous televised pokershow High Stakes Poker. Although he’s focussing more on the tournaments the last years, which he showed when he won the Poker Superstars 3 Grand Final after beating Antonio Esfandiari heads-up. Todd also wrote the chapter about 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or better in his fathers book ‘ Super System 2‘.

(47)   =>   ANDY   BLOCH

> Andrew Elliot Bloch

> born 01/06/1969 in New Haven, Connecticut (USA)

> resides now in Tacoma Park, California.

> Nickname : ‘ The Rock ‘

> was the second season winner of the Ultimate Poker Challenge

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker as a member of TeamFullTilt

> won over $ 4,200,000 in Live Tournament Play (until 2009)

Andy made two final tables at the World Poker Tour in his first season playing, which was very exceptional. He also played in the longest recorded heads-up beattle in the WSOP history when he lost the H.O.R.S.E. event in 2006 against Chip Reese after playing 286 hands. Bloch was also the runner-up to Chris Ferguson in the 2008 NBC’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Andy prefers the mathematical vision when he plays poker, probably because of his education and his 2 electrical engineering degrees from the Harvard Law School. He’s a good, wise man because he donates all his online winnings to various charities around the world. Before playing poker, Bloch was a member of the MIT Blackjack Team , being a good player calculating the cards. He also wrote a book about blackjack and he was a former world champion in ‘ Paper-Scissors-Stone ‘.

(46)   =>   CHRIS   MONEYMAKER

> Christopher Bryan Moneymaker

> born 21/11/1975 in Atlanta, Georgia (USA)

> lives now in Nashville, Tennessee.

> married and has one daughter Ashley.

> Nickname : ‘ Money ‘

> was the 2003 WSOP Main Event winner after beating Sam Farha heads-up.

> plays online at PokerStars as a member of TeamPokerStars.

> has Live Tournament Earnings of almost $ 3,000,000 (until 2009)

There was a massive change in the poker world after Chris’ win in the WSOP Main Event in 2003. The Moneymaker Effect was born. A poker boom in the whole world appeared after his win because an amateur had won the biggest tournament alive playing his first live tourney and of course, now everybody believed they could achieve the same. But Chris played very well and he proved later that he wasn’t just a one hit wonder when he became second in the 2004 Shooting Stars event of the WPT. Later he wrote an autobiography about his great WSOP victory. Chris holds a master degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee. Many people think that his last name ‘Moneymaker’ is just an imaginary nickname but it’s his real last name given by his ancestors.

So people, we’ve just started the second half of my list. I hope you still enjoy it and can’t wait for more. Please don’t bother at all to shout your opinion. I’m glad to hear from you.

See you soon,

J.M.

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