The 2018 World Series of Poker is almost here with the first bracelet events set to kick off on May 30. There is a lot of exciting things to look forward to including the chance to see our favorite poker players in action. Fortunately, the Pennsylvania all-time money list includes plenty of poker players that are well known by fans of the game. But, like any other competition, there has to be a rank and that is exactly what we have here.
However, we will not rely on only the all-time earnings to create the list of players to watch out for at this year’s World Series of Poker. We have gone further to consider some other equally important factors that include their performance at the 2017 World Series of Poker, recent results as well as the typical buy-in range. So, here they are:
Jake Schindler
This poker star is an obvious first pick since he is the all-time money leader for Pennsylvania with $18,224,852 in live earnings, 3 million of which came from his runner-up finish in the Aria Supper High Roller Bowl last year. Known for spending most of his time in no-limit high roller events, it is very likely that we will see him in any of the bigger buy-ins at the 2018 WSOP.
Matt Berkey
Berkey recently received an American Poker Award and his documentary “Dead Money: A Super High Roller Bowl Story” also bagged Best Poker Media Content award. If the documentary is anything to go by, the star poker player deserves a spot on this list simply because of the way he thinks and how he prepares for tournaments.
In addition to that, he has nearly $4 million in live tournament earnings and doubles as Solve for Why Academy coach. At last year’s WSOP, Berkey had seven cashes and made two final tables which brought him to a total of 32 cashes and about $1.5 million in earning.
Matt Glantz
Despite not having a WSOP bracelet or a WPT title, Matt Glantz, a member of the Poker Night in America team, is considered to be one of the best poker players. Glantz has over $6 million in live tournament earnings – about $3 million of that total was earned at the WSOP. He also has 56 crashes under his belt and this could be an indication of how he will fair at the 2018 WSOP field.
Joe McKeehen
This 2015 WSOP Main Event Champion is certainly not a one-hit wonder – his Main Event win accounts for only about 50 percent of his $14.5 million in live tournament earnings. In addition to this, he won his second bracelet last year in Event #38: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. Since the beginning of the year, he has had four final tables, 10 cashes, and one win. This is pretty good, so expect him to put up a pretty epic fight at the 2018 WSOP.
Jenniffer Shahade
The super poker player mom has been traveling to New Jersey regularly to play poker online and this all the preparation she needs. She has also been sharpening her skills further while she waits for Pennsylvania to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement later this year.
Shahade is a Chess Grandmaster, which perhaps explains her creative gameplay. In addition to this, she had a deep run in the 2016 WSOP Main Event and won the first TonyBet Open Face Chinese Poker Live World Championship High Roller.