Throughout the decades-long history of the modern game of poker, Jewish poker players have experienced notable success. As per Al Alvarez‘ legendary poker book The Biggest Game in Town, back in the early 1980s, Doyle Brunson once bet Hollywood star Gabe Kaplan at the World Series of Poker “Texans versus Jews”, meaning that there were plenty member of both “tribes” competing in the WSOP Main Event even in its formative years. Jewish poker players remain a force on the felt to this very day, with notable names popping up as bracelet winners, massive cash game winners, and Poker Hall of Famers.
Below, we’ll feature five of the most famous Jewish poker players, their accomplishments, and their notable achievements over their playing careers. Below that, we’ll have an “honorable mentioned” section, listing another dozen or so Jewish poker players and personalities who’ve accomplished plenty and gained notoriety both at the felt and in the broader poker industry.
Michael Mizrachi
In 2026, it would be hard to argue that any other person besides Michael Mizrachi ought to feature atop a list of the world’s most famous Jewish poker players. Perhaps most notably, Mizrachi had a magical run last year to win the WSOP Main Event. That superseded a previous run to the WSOP Main Event final table 15 years prior. In the interim, Mizrachi won the Poker Players Championship a record four times. Immediately upon clinching the 2025 WSOP Main Event title, the Grinder was “snap-inducted” into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Photo Credit: WSOP
Mike Matusow
A four-time WSOP bracelet winner, Mike Matusow‘s greatest poker triumph was likely his win in the 2013 $25K NBC National Head’s Up Poker Championship. Known for having made multiple deep runs at the World Series Main Event, despite vastly increasing field sizes, Matusow was the first player to have two separate million-dollar cashes during the same World Series. “The Mouth” is often recognized as much for his televised vocal outbursts as for his successes on the felt, and he’s recently gotten into the content game, hosting his podcast The Mouthpiece.
Photo: Poker.org
Ari Engel
Ari Engel recently surpassed “Miami John” Cernuto as the all-time leader in poker tournament cashes. That statistic alone is testament to Engel’s consistency at the felt over his two decades in the game. With close to $10 million in all-time tournament earnings, Engel is a four-time WSOP bracelet winner, winner of the 2016 Aussie Millions Main Event, and always at or near the top of the all-time WSOP Circuit ring leaderboard.
Eli Elezra
Hailing from Israel, the former IDF Golani Brigade officer has won five WSOP bracelets since turning pro in the 1990s. Also a past WPT champion, Eli Elezra is specifically best known as a cash game player, with mixed games being his forte. He was a staple on television during poker’s “Golden Era” on shows like High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark, and to this day still features on numerous popular live stream poker broadcasts. Inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2021, Elezra’s autobiography Pulling The Trigger was published in 2019.
Photo credit: PokerGO
Erik Seidel
The winningest Jewish poker player of all-time, Erik Seidel boasts a whopping 10 WSOP bracelets (and an iconic WSOP Main Event runner-up finish, immortalized in Rounders). That’s alongside a WPT title, an EPT title, and nearly $50 million in career tournament earnings. While he started playing poker professionally in the 1980s, incredibly the bulk of Seidel’s career winnings came after he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2010!
Photo: Mathew Berglund for PokerNews
Famous Jewish Poker Players – Honorable Mentions
The fact of the matter is that there are a plethora of Jewish poker players who’ve made big names for themselves at the felt over the years. We don’t have space to list them all, but here are some of the most notable, including a few people who’ve had a very significant impact in the poker industry away from the felt.
Stu Ungar – 3x WSOP Main Event Champion, 5x overall WSOP bracelet winner, Poker Hall of Famer
Barry Greenstein – 3x WSOP bracelet winner, 2x WPT champion, Poker Hall of Famer
Yuval Bronshtein – 2x WSOP bracelet winner
Jeff Platt – WSOP commentator, sideline reporter and producer, MSPT champion
Barry Shulman – World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Champion, former publisher of Card Player Magazine
Lyle Berman – Founder of the World Poker Tour, 3x WSOP Bracelet winner, Poker Hall of Famer
Robert Mizrachi – 5x WSOP bracelet winner
Phil Gordon – Poker author and commentator, WPT champion
Cary Katz – Founder of PokerGO/PGT, WSOP bracelet winner, top 20 all-time money list
Isai Scheinberg – Founder of PokerStars, WPT Honors recipient
Gabe Kaplan – WSOP and High Stakes Poker commentator, high-stakes cash game player
Perry Green – 3x WSOP bracelet winner
Jay Heimowitz – 6x WSOP bracelet winner
Mickey Appelman – 4x WSOP bracelet winner
Howard Lederer – 2x WSOP bracelet winner, 2x WPT champion, (disgraced) founder of Full Tilt Poker
