Beyond a doubt millions and millions of players strive to be the next "big-time thing" in poker, but here is a short rundown on four of the more noteworthy "great pros" of poker. Granted "nice" is associated with their names when you are playing them it is "no more Mr. Nice guy" until they have put you out of the competition!
Daniel Negreanu
In 2004, his tournament earnings amounted to in excess of four and a half million dollars and he captured two highly admired awards in the WSOP Player of the Year and Cardplayer Magazine’s Tournament Player of the Year. In February Two Thousand and Six he was named Card Player’s Favourite Poker Player. Daniel even still has the decency to talk with his admirers about how they might advance their own game.
Howard Lederer
Referred to as "The Professor" and sibling of fellow poker professional Annie Duke. His accomplishments have lead to him making an instructional poker video named "Secrets of No Limit Hold’em" and co hosting a tournament poker show for Fox TV. As of 2005, his complete life time winnings exceed $2.7 million.
Scotty Nguyen
Scott is 1 of the most active players in professional poker and between Two Thousand and 2004 he finished in the money in more than one hundred tournaments. He is noted for saying "yeah baby" throughout poker games and also credited with the phrase "that’s poker baby" when alluding to a particularly bad beat. As of Two Thousand and Six, his career earnings are just about six million dollars.
Chris Ferguson
Chris has captured 5 WSOP titles with two of his successes happening in Two Thousand and Three. Chris has the nickname "Jesus" due to his trademark long hair and beard, along with his ability to toss cards fast enough to cut through pickles and bananas. As of Two Thousand and Five his total live poker tourney earnings exceeded 5 million dollars.