Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey Surge to Top of All-Time Tournament Money List in 2009

Published on December 21st, 2009 5:03 pm EST

At the beginning of 2009, Jamie Gold still held the title as the poker player with the most lifetime tournament cashes. This came despite the fact that Gold had only cashed for about $100,000 since his World Series of Poker main event victory in the summer of 2006.

When Gold won the WSOP main event in 2006, he opened up a massive lead on the all time money list thanks to the $12 million dollar first place prize. Gold was able to leapfrog long-established players such as Phil Hellmuth Jr., Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu with just one victory.

After Gold basically dropped off the face of the earth, it became just a matter of time before someone would catch him on the all time money list. Would it be Negreanu? Ivey? Somebody else?

Thanks to his second place finish in the 2009 WSOPE main event, Daniel Negreanu was able to definitively surge past Jamie Gold and claim the spot at the top of the all time money list.

Phil Ivey, thanks to his final table appearance in the 2009 World Series of Poker main event, had the opportunity to pass both Gold and Negreanu, but ended up finishing in 7th place for $1.4 million dollars. Good enough to pass Gold, but not good enough to pass both Gold and Negreanu.

As it stands right now, here are the top three players on the all time money list:

1. Daniel Negreanu, $12,427,047
2. Phil Ivey, $12,236,714
3. Jamie Gold, $12,198,041

Scotty Nguyen, thanks to his 5th place, $250k finish in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic this past weekend, managed to pass both Phil Hellmuth Jr. ($10,941,556) and Joe Hachem ($10,856,216) on the all-time money list. Nguyen now has just under $11 million dollars in total lifetime tournament cashes.

Speaking of Hellmuth and Hachem, both players had disappointing years. Each player cashed for about $100k or so, and each player watched as Negreanu and Ivey surged ahead on the all time money list. I'm sure that both Hellmuth and Hachem are hoping for better years in 2010.

Peter Eastgate had a very strong year, surging into 7th place ($10,630,471) on the list due to a second place finish in the EPT London main event, as well as a victory in a PCA preliminary event.

Alan Cunningham (#8, $10,398,118) and T.J. Cloutier (#10, $9,776,099) both had extremely quiet years. Cunningham cashed for less than $50,000 in 2009, while Cloutier cashed for even less (just over $8,000).

Erik Seidel (#9, $9,814,424) managed to pass Cloutier to take the #9 spot on the list thanks to over $300k in cashes on the year.


Source: The Hendon Mob

Photo: GreasieWheels.com

--

Filed Under: Other Poker News