Top Hands: The Best Poker Pros

Amateur Ken Adams On Who He's Looking Out For In Vegas

(CBS) 
Phil Ivey: "The Tiger Woods of poker", which means he is young, black, good looking, educated and talented. He has been killing the high stakes cash games in recent years, as well as the tournament circuit. He's another one of the nice guys (away from the felt tables).

Scotty Nguyen: What a great life story! He and his brother were "boat" people from Vietnam. He has used poker to realize the American dream, support other family members (those he brought over and those who stayed in Vietnam), never forgets where he came from, helps other younger players, and is one of the most talented and feared no limit players on the circuit. He won the championship in 1998.

Jennifer Harmon: She's the other top female player on the circuit. Harmon was a cash game specialist until recently and killed the high limit games for years. She looks sort of like Goldie Hawn, and uses her kittenish "little girl" looks to take brutal advantage of male players. Unlike Annie Duke who dresses down, Jennifer exploits her sexy femininity mercilessly at the table. In addition to everything else, she was dying from kidney disease last year until she received a transplant. Through it all, she played and won in the cash games and on the tournament circuit. You'd never guess to look at her, but she has incredible grit.

Gus Hanson: A Dane, he has destroyed the field in the World Poker Tour events televised on the Travel Channel every Wednesday night with his unorthodox counter-strategy of play that so many young internet players try (unsuccessfully) to emulate. He is young, good looking, and successful. He was a world-class backgammon player before he took up competitive poker.

Let's make it a baker's dozen, I can't resist:

Eric Seidel: He's a supremely talented, successful tournament pro. He lost to Johnny Chan in the 1987 championship event, and has made the final table other times as well. He has numerous WSOP bracelets and other tournament victories. I respect and admire him more than almost any other tournament pro. He is self-aware and self-effacing, kind and thoughtful. Complete integrity. He used to be a world-class backgammon player while living in NY working as a bond trader. He is painfully shy.

Finally, I should at least mention Stu Ungar, generally regarded as the most brilliant talent of all time. Unfortunately his bad habits (cocaine being the worst) destroyed his talent and ultimately his life. After winning the championship twice in a row in 1980 and 1981 in his mid-20s, Ungar disappeared into drugs and sports betting disasters. He made a stunning comeback in 1996, destroying the field and leading wire to wire. It was clear that even after 15 years of abuse, his talent was extraordinary. The next year he failed to show up to defend his title, and died of an overdose a few months later in a sleazy motel room in Las Vegas. Very sad.