Las Vegas

Coming in at #15 on the list of the "20 Most Influential People in Poker" is the man most synonymous with the World Series of Poker. He is also the one poker player that everyone loves to hate. Yes, #15 on the list is none other than Phil Hellmuth. [assets/Uploads/Blog/Hellmuth-15.

After a bit of a hiatus, I am resuming my series of the Top 20 Most Influential People in Poker. So far the list has broken down as follows: 20.  Chris Moneymaker 19.  Brian Balsbaugh 18.

It appears that the latest player to cut online poker sponsorship ties is 2004 WSOP Main Event winner Greg "Fossilman" Raymer. While an official announcement has not been made as of yet, Raymer no longer appears on the site as a sponsored pro. Rumor has it that PokerStars officials were playing hardball at the recent PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and told sponsored pros that they had to take a cut in pay or no longer be sponsored. It appears that Raymer has taken the later.

Recently, Daniel Negreanu overtook Phil Ivey for the top spot on the all-time money list for poker. Erik Seidel also moved up to 3rd all-time off the strength of three performances this month in high roller events. The most recent being a $2. 5 million score from a Super High Roller's Event at the PCA with a $250,000 buy-in.

Doyle Brunson revealed in his blog Tuesday that he is considering leaving Las Vegas due to the lack of high limit action.   He stated that Vegas is not a very desirable place for a poker pro anymore. Doyle's consideration of moving to California is a good one in my opinion.   Personally, if I were to move someone just for the sake of playing poker, California would be one of the first places that I would consider.