The World Series of Poker is finally here, so let's take a quick look at players who won the most WSOP bracelets before the start of the 2025 WSOP. Phil Hellmuth leads everyone with 17 bracelets followed by Phil Ivey who won this 11th bracelet last summer. Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Erik Seidel are tied for third with 10 each.
The 2024 World Series of Poker last summer saw a lot of movement in the all-time list of WSOP bracelet winners, especially in the Top 25. Phil Hellmuth was shut out last summer after he notched #17 in 2023. However, Phil Ivey moved into sole possession of second place when Ivey won bracelet #11 for his first piece of hardware in a decade. Ivey has yet to turn 50 and he's only six bracelets behind Hellmuth who is 12 years older and plays significantly more WSOP events than Ivey.
Hellmuth, who turns 61 in July, and leads everyone with 17. He won bracelets in five decades (80s, 90s, 00s, 10s, 20s). He won #11 in 2007 but it took five years before he added two more in 2012. Hellmuth won only four bracelets since 2015, yet added #16 in 2021 and #17 in 2023.
Ivey entered the 2024 WSOP in the "WSOP 10 Timers Club" and he was tied with Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Erik Seidel. Seidel had been the last member to join the exclusive group of double-digit bracelet winners with his tenth bracelet at the 2023 WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas. Ivey won his tenth in 2014 at the WSOP Asia Pacific. Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan reached 10 bracelets at the 2005 WSOP, before they were tied by Hellmuth in 2006 and overtaken by the Poker Brat in 2007.
Johnny Moss secured bracelet #9 in 1988 and held the record (or tied for the record) for most WSOP bracelets until the summer of 2005 when Brunson and Chan reached #10. Moss won his first bracelet at the inaugural WSOP in 1970. He added two more in 1971, and then one each between 1974-76. He became the first player to win seven bracelets in 1979, became the first pro to win #8 in 1981, and was the first to win #9 in 1988. It took 15 years before anyone else joined him.
Billy Baxter joined the Six Timers Club in 1993 and he was only the third member including Brunson and Moss. Baxter added #7 in 2002. When he joined the Seven Timers Club, the only other members at the time were Brunson, Moss, Chan, and Hellmuth.
Men the Master won his last bracelet in 2010 when he joined the Seven Timers Club. At that time, the only other players who won at least even bracelets were Brunson, Moss, Chan, Hellmuth, Seidel, and Ivey.
Three more players reached the "lucky seven" milestone and joined the Seven Timers Club in 2024 including Daniel Negreanu, Johnny 'World' Hennigan, and Scott Seiver. Negreanu had to wait more than a decade to finally reach #7 after he was stuck on six after winning two bracelets in 2013. Johnny World ended a five-year quest to snag #7 last summer. Seiver won the 2024 WSOP Player of the Year because, and the super hot pro won three bracelets last summer. He hit three major milestones in2024 with bracelet #5 in $10K Omaha 8, #6 with $1,500 Razz, and #7 with $10K NL Deuce-to-Seven Lowball.
There's no one currently occupying the Ocho Club (I just made up that name), but Negreanu, Hennigan, and Seiver will attempt to become only the seventh player in history to win eight bracelets.
WSOP All-Time Bracelet Winners - Top 25 List
17: Phil Hellmuth
11: Phil Ivey
10: Doyle Brunson
10: Johnny Chan
10: Erik Siedel
9: Johnny Moss
7: Billy Baxter
7: Men the Master Nguyen
7: Johnny 'World' Hennigan
7: Daniel Negreanu
7: Scott Seiver
6: Jay Heimowitz
6: TJ Cloutier
6: Layne Flack
6: Jeff Lisandro
6: Ted Forrest
6: Jesus Ferguson
6: Brian Hastings
6: Shaun Deeb
6: Josh Arieh
6: Jeremy Ausmus
6: Jason Mercier
6: Brian Rast
6: Michael Mizrachi
6: Nick Schulman
The Top 25 bracelet winners have at least six pieces of bling. At the start of the 2025 WSOP, the Six Timers Club currently has 14 members and a total of 25 players won at least six bracelets since the inception of the WSOP in 1970.
Jay Heimowitz, who won bracelets in four different decades, has been stuck on six the longest after reaching this special club in 2001. It's been 20 years since T.J. Cloutier reached five in 2005. He won his sixth and last bracelet in 2006.
The late Layne Flack won his first bracelet in 1999 and then won two bracelets in back-to-back years in 2002 and 2003 to reach #5. He finally joined the Six Timers Club in 2008. Flack passed away in 2021.
In 2014, Ted Forrest and Jeff Lisandro reached #6 but have been shut out over the last decade. Jesus Ferguson won five bracelets, including the Main Event, between 2000 and 2003, but he waited 14 years before adding #6.
Over the last two summers, the Six Timers Club added Shaun Deeb, Josh Arieh, Jeremy Ausmus, Jason Mercier, Brian Rast, Michael Mizrachi, and Nick Schulman.
The Grinder had been stuck on five for five years before winning #6 last year in the WSOP Online. Schulman won three bracelets in the last two years. He reached #5 with a $25K High Roller victory and joined the Six-Timers Club with a bracelet at the 2024 WSOP Paradise.
Jeremy Ausmus is someone to keep an eye on as someone who could reach the Seven Timers Club this year. The 45-year-old pro won his first bracelet in 2013, but won five this decade including two in 2022 and his sixth in 2023.
Five bracelets is an impressive feat. There are 18 players currently in the Fiver Club and 25 others who won six or more.
Some of the legends with five bracelets include: Stu Ungar, Scotty Nguyen, Gary 'Bones' Berland, Berry Johnston, David Chiu, and Eli Elezra.
Kristen Bicknell Foxen leads all women with five bracelets, and she earned her fifth with a victory at the 2024 WSOP Online.
Among the pros who have been stuck on #5 for more than a decade include Allen Cunningham, Daniel Alaei, John Juanda, and Scotty Nguyen.
The last batch of players to join the Fiver Club with brackets last summer include Bicknell, Anthony Zinno, Robert Mizrachi, Yuri Dzivielevski, and Cal Anderson.
Rounding out the list of five-time winners are Adam Friedman, Benny Glasser, John Monnette, and Brian Yoon. They could all be gunning for #6 this year.
Several other legendary players won four bracelets including Bobby Baldwin, Puggy Pearson, Amarillo Slim, Bill Boyd, Mickey Applebaum, Mike 'Harthcock' Hart, Mike Matusow, Tom McEvoy, Huck Seed, Lakewood Louie, Tom 'DonkeyBomber' Schneider, Artie Cobb, and Farzad Bonyadi.
Among the pros who won four bracelets and hoping to reach the Fiver Club this year include Ben Yu, Dominik Nitsche, David Peers, Georgios Sotiropoulos, Brad Ruben, Max Pescatori, Asi Moshe, Adrian Mateos, Julien Martini, Ari Engel, Chance Kornuth, Phil Hui, Joe Cada, Mike Gorodinsky, Kevin Gerhart, Michael Addamo, Loren Klein, Michael Gathy, Jeff Madsen, and Guy Dunlop.
