There are many online poker stars who dominate the scene, including poker professionals like Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Ivey. These poker stars frequently top lists as the most successful poker players in the world. But if you look beyond the spotlight, you’ll find equally talented players who are on their way to stardom.

Who knows why they haven’t received the fame and adulation they deserve? It could be because they mostly play online poker. Maybe it’s because they are yet to win their first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. Maybe these players’ different poker styles aren’t the most exciting to watch. Regardless of the reason, we believe they have more than earned your respect and attention. 

Here are some of the most talented poker players hiding in plain sight. 

Ali Imsirovic

If the world was fair, anybody tuned in to poker would know Ali Imsirovic’s name. At the beginning of 2021, it was no secret that the 27-year-old was a talented professional player. But he stunned the poker world when he set the record for the most poker tournament titles won in a calendar year. Dispelling any doubt that he was one of the greats, Imsirovic dominated the High Roller poker scene with 14 tournament wins. This is eight more than any of his more experienced opponents. In the same year, Imsirovic was crowned the winner of the inaugural PokerGo Tour, and Card Player awarded him the title of Player of the Year.

In 2022’s PokerGo Cup, he beat 43 players to win event number 7. He took home $365,000 as the $25,000 buy-in tournament winner. He’s not yet 30, and his career earnings are estimated to be more than $18.7 million — that’s seriously impressive. 

However, his career hasn’t been squeaky clean, as the rising poker star was accused of cheating in 2022. In mid-2023, he released a YouTube video in which he admitted to multi-accounting in MTT poker games for a few months in 2020. He also addressed other issues in the games at the time, including the use of poker charts, but denied some of the other accusations made against him by other professional poker players. He pushed back by saying that some of the individuals looking to tear him down had less than stellar poker careers.

After dealing with the scandal, he stopped playing online tournaments to show other poker players that he could compete at the highest level in person. At the time of writing, he had only participated in one tournament in 2023.

Sean Perry

Perhaps the real reason poker pro Sean Perry is so underrated is because he’s being clouded by the shadow of a family of poker greats. He’s the son of Ralph Perry, a professional poker player with more than $3 million in tournament earnings. Having two parents involved in poker tournaments and games was the perfect poker school. He would always watch his dad play poker online on his computer. 

Perry won his first tournament while still underage, beating his own mother to take the number one spot. But Perry is more than a protégé now. In fact, recent years have been career-defining for him. He won six high rollers on the PokerGo Tour, including the Venetian $25,000 High Roller for an impressive $365,500. He also took home an additional $206,400 in the $10,000 Masters event. He has since increased his career earnings to $6,847,297. 

Christoph Vogelsang

German professional poker player Christoph Vogelsang is one of the most successful players of the German ‘golden generation’ of poker players. He’s performed well in poker games online and offline, whether you are taking into account online poker tournaments or cash games. The face of online poker success, Vogelsang has won hundreds of thousands in multi-table tournaments and has earned a World Championship of Online Poker Title. 

Maybe you’re thinking Vogelsang isn’t well-known because he loves playing poker online. But the 36-year-old has made big moves in live games, too. His live tournament earnings exceed $25 million. Vogelsang’s achievements include a 2017 Aria Super High Roller Bowl victory for $6 million, a third-place finish at the 2014 $1 million WSOP One Drop High Roller, and a runner-up finish at the $100,000 European Poker Tour (EPT) High Roller in Monte Carlo. 

With such a successful career, this underrated German player deserves a higher ranking than some famed American players. His fans excitedly await his first tournament bracelet. 

Isaac Haxton

Thanks to the incredible rise in popularity of poker sites and apps, many poker professionals are now playing live poker online. Isaac Haxton is one of them. 

Haxton has thrived in live and online games in the last few years. The 36-year-old player has made many major cash finishes in his career, and he’s been a regular at WSOP tournaments for almost a decade. His latest career-defining finish was at the 2018 $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl, where he won $3,672,000.

Haxton’s analytical strategy and deep understanding of the game means he can always surprise players no matter what Texas Hold’em poker hand is thrown at him. His tournament winnings exceed $25 million, even though he is yet to win his first tournament bracelet. 

If you’re interested in recreating Haxton’s success, you might want to learn how to prepare for an online poker tournament.

Steve O’Dwyer

A close friend of Haxton, Steve O’Dwyer has amassed incredible total live earnings of over $38.8 million. O’Dwyer is known for winning ultra-competitive tournaments all over the world. He’s won more than $1 million at the 2014 APPT Macau Super High Roller, the European Poker Tour, The Monte Carlo Grand Final Main Event, and LIVE MILLIONS Europe Main Event in Barcelona, Spain. O’Dwyer’s love of travel and love of poker has collided in one of the most exciting tournament careers. His career-best tournament finish was at the 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Roller, where he took home $1,872,500. 

O’Dwyer has appeared at the final tables of many competitive WPT tournaments. Surprisingly, he still hasn’t earned his first bracelet. Even without a bracelet, he is one of the biggest live tournament crushers in poker history and regularly plays high buy-in poker events. If you want to follow a consistent, disciplined, and productive poker career, O’Dwyer is one to watch. 

Jake Schindler

Who has a total live earnings of almost $37 million but doesn’t often make the headlines? Jake Schindler. Despite playing poker professionally since 2009 and winning six poker prizes worth more than $1 million from playing at various tournaments, he’s not a player who has exploded into the spotlight. Instead, he has quietly put in the time to become one of the highest-earning poker players in the U.S.

Unfortunately for Schindler, despite keeping a relatively low profile, he made the headlines in 2022 for all the wrong reasons. Along with Ali Imsirovic, he was accused of cheating and had to deal with the fallout from the scandal. Judging from his Hendon Mob results history, he took a break not long after the accusations arose but returned to play at the end of May 2023. Unlike Imsirovic, Schindler has not made any public comments about the accusations.

Possible Reasons Why These Players Aren’t in the Spotlight

Despite the occasional scandal, all of these players have impressive careers that sometimes match the famous top-ranking poker players who are always in the spotlight. So why are these poker players underrated? Maybe poker fame is all about securing WSOP bracelets. Or maybe playing online doesn’t receive as much media coverage. Whatever the reason, it’s exciting that the game of poker has many successful stars thriving in the background. It means there’s always room for more.

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