Top 10 standout poker players of 2025

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Tadas Peckaitis

Tadas Peckaitis has been a professional poker player, coach and author for almost a decade. He is a manager and head coach at mypokercoaching.com where he shares his experience, and poker strategy tips. Tadas plays poker, mostly online, but also manages to play live events while travelling through Europe and the U.S. He is a big fan of personal effectiveness and always trying to do more. Tadas regularly shares his knowledge about both of these topics with his students, and deeply enjoys it. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, or visit www.mypokercoaching.com

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Top 10 standout poker players of 2025

1 December 2025
By Tadas Peckaitis

Another exciting year of poker is nearly behind us, and it was one packed with insane action and historic moments, both on the tournament circuit and in the high-stakes cash games.

2025 brought us one of the most memorable World Series of Poker editions since the Moneymaker Boom, with new players emerging and well-known legends cementing their places in poker history.

It was an epic year for cash game players as well, as we saw seven-figure pots played time and time again on live streams, shattering records, creating rivalries, and most importantly, keeping millions of poker fans incredibly entertained.

With just weeks to go in 2025, we looked back at the months behind us in search of the top 10 players who marked 2025 with their achievements and their charisma on and off the tables.

10. Sam “Senor Tilt” Kiki
Sam Kiki, also known as “Senor Tilt,” has probably been playing poker for many years, but he only really made a name for himself in 2025.

A newcomer to the Huslter Casino Live show, Kiki brought a loose and unpredictable style to the tables and immediately proceeded to go on a seven-figure downswing.

Yet, despite the losses, it was clear that Sam was not a bad poker player, and he redeemed himself on the latest edition of High Stakes Poker, where he won it all back and then some.

Whether “Senor Tilt” is here to stay remains to be seen, but we can say with certainty that he’s been one of the most entertaining players to watch in recent months.

9. Seth Davies
Another regular on the super high-stakes tournament circuit, Seth Davies has had quite a year in 2025, accumulating more than $12,000,000 in tournament winnings.

At the WSOP, he won close to $5 million in a single $250k buyin event, playing against the best players in the world, and that was far from his only accomplishment of the year.

Davies dominated the Triton Poker Tour and showed up when it mattered the most, playing almost exclusively in the toughest tournament fields you could imagine.

While Davies’ name may have flown under the radar for many poker fans, his continued accomplishments in elite poker fields ensured his place on our list of the top 10 poker players of 2025.

8. Martin Kabrhel
Martin Kabrhel was another name we kept hearing throughout the 2025 WSOP, and it wasn’t always for the best reasons.

Kabrhel showed up in Las Vegas, berated his opponents, wasted everyone’s time, split the poker fans down the middle, but ultimately came away a big winner.

The Czech sensation won a WSOP bracelet in Vegas, another one in Rozvadov in September, and made the headlines more than most players do in their entire careers.

Love him or hate him, there is no denying that Martin Kabrhel is one of the best poker players today, and also one of the best entertainers in the game.

Doug Polk (photo by WSOP)

7. Doug Polk
Doug Polk, long known as one of poker’s sharpest minds and most influential personalities, had a significant year in 2025 both on and off the felt.

Polk returned to playing more regularly, showing up in streamed high-stakes cash games where he demonstrated his skills, and his strong winning year continued to make him one of the most recognizable names in the game.

However, his biggest victories came outside the actual tables.

He became a ClubWPT Gold Ambassador, joining one of the best online poker sites in a more official role and expanding his reach by emerging in promotional streams, challenges, and special events.

On top of that, he also sold his long-running poker training site, Upswing Poker, which he co-founded in 2016. Polk publicly stated that the sale would allow him to focus more on media work, business ventures, and selective high-stakes play.

Despite spending much of the past few years balancing business and poker, 2025 proved that Polk still has the skills to remain one of the most compelling figures in modern poker.

6. Daniel “Jungleman” Cates
Daniel Cates is another name known to most in the poker circles. Cates has been a big winner in every form of poker imaginable, from cash games to tournaments to online poker, and 2025 was a big year for him.

The popular “Jungleman” appeared in more televised games in 2025 than he had in previous years, but made a big stir when he played Ossi “Monarch” Ketolla for millions of dollars on a live-stream on Onyx Live.

Jungleman won more than $15,000,000 from the young Finn in a matter of a few days, and reminded the poker world why he’s still one of the best to play the game.

5. Benny Glaser
It’s not often that a mixed games specialist makes his way to any list of the best poker players, simply because such players don’t make the spotlight too often.

In fact, the WSOP is the only place where a mixed games player can really make a name for himself, and that’s exactly what Benny Glaser did in 2025.

The Brit opened the WSOP by winning three mixed game events, final tabling several others, and completely dominating his opponents across multiple forms of poker.

Of course, this was not the only time Glaser showed his mixed-game prowess, as he has been a legendary presence in this field of poker for years.

Benny eventually fell short of the POY title by the slightest of margins, but easily made a case to be considered as one of the best poker players of the year.

4. Mariano Grandoli
Mariano Grandoli is one of the most representative players of the new generation and one of the most influential players of the new poker era.

The Argentine YouTube sensation truly established himself in the high-stakes poker circles last year, having played in some of the biggest games around and doing well against the toughest opponents out there.

In 2025, Mariano showed that he’s much more than a poker YouTuber, spending countless hours playing on live TV and winning well over $1,000,000.

Mariano didn’t win big in 2025 by getting lucky in some super high-stakes game, but rather by truly grinding it out, session after session, week after week.

Of all the big names in poker live streams, Mariano showed he has what it takes to stay relevant in the game for years, if not decades to come.

3. Shaun Deeb
If you have been a poker fan over the last two decades, Shaun Deeb’s name is one you will recognize in an instant.

Deeb is a legendary gambler who approaches every gamble with methodical precision and looks to outwork his opponents, even when the odds are in their favor.

In 2025, Shaun won the WSOP Player of the Year (POY) title, one of the most prestigious accolades in tournament poker, even beating Michael Mizrachi to it, despite his wins in the Main Event and the Poker Players Championship.

Shaun won two new WSOP bracelets in 2025, added multiple final table appearances, and won more than $4,000,000 without playing any of the biggest buyin events on tours like Triton Poker.

His work ethic and his incredible ability to adapt and overcome all obstacles made him another worthy addition to our list.

2. Jesse Lonis
While Michael Mizrachi may have been the biggest poker sensation of 2025, Jesse Lonis was not far behind either.

Only a few years into his professional poker career, Lonis moved to the very top of the tournament poker world over the last couple of years.

To date, he’s won more than $12,000,000 in tournaments in 2025, and sits at the very top of the money leaderboard for the year, ahead of the likes of “The Grinder,” Seth Favies, and Ben Tollerane.

Lonis didn’t just win a lot of money playing tournaments, but he did so in style. He played a form of “street poker” that many believe no longer works in high-stakes games, and he walked away the biggest winner.

Jesse made his mark on every major poker tour in 2025, won multiple major trophies, and deservedly made his way to our list of the top 10 poker players in 2025.

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. (photo by WSOP)

1. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi
After decades of playing professional poker, Michael Mizrachi finally proved to the poker world that he belongs in the most elite echelons of poker royalty.

Mizrachi entered 2025 quietly and, despite his legendary portfolio of poker achievements, wasn’t even nominated for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame this summer.

For “The Grinder,” this snub seemed to have a positive effect, as it pushed him to work harder than ever, play better than ever, and show his peers he was a force to be reckoned with.

Mizrachi won the 2025 WSOP Poker Players Championship, his fourth title in the prestigious event, before going on and taking down the WSOP Main Event, the biggest poker tournament of them all.

Mizrachi won over $11,000,000 in the process, added two more WSOP bracelets to his name, and forced the HOF members to add his name to their ranks despite previously choosing Scott Seiver as this year’s entry.

“The Grinder” won 2025 in more ways than one, as he reminded all his old fans he’s still got it, and gave thousands of younger fans a chance to see him shine on the game’s biggest stage.

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