by Pokerati Promo, Feb 16, 2018 | 2:45 am

For most of us, playing poker is more of a hobby than a career. Sure, you can make some solid cash playing online against fish or, if lucky enough, in the odd live tournament. We should always be looking to improve our game of course, but even at our best we are not likely to be taking home seven-figure sums from a big tournament any time soon.

But, what of those that have mastered the art of poker? What is the current state of play at the top of the rankings? Below are the current top 5 in the Global Poker Index rankings, with a brief snapshot of each player:

Adrián Mateos

The majority of us still aren’t even able to tie our shoelaces by the time we are 23-years-old, whereas Mateos has earned in excess of $13,000,000 from live poker tournaments. He has three Word Series of Poker bracelets, two Finals tables on the World Poker Tour and one win on the European Poker Tour. If he stays at the top of his game, it is scary to think how much he could eventually earn.

Justin Bonomo

A relative veteran in comparison to Mateos, Bonomo has earned in excess of £20,000,000. That puts him in 14^th place in the all-time rankings of poker earnings. Not bad for a 32-year-old. He came to prominence back in 2005, when coming fourth in the EPT French Open. He is also noted for winning at EPT Monte Carlo in 2012, with the final table reading like a who’s who of poker greats, including Daniel Negranu and Johnathan Duhamel.

Ari Engel

The Canada-based player has a long way to go to catch fellow Canuck Daniel Negranu on the all-time money list, but he is making a good fist of it. His total live earnings sit at over $5,000,000 and he was at one point ranked as the number one online poker player. Engel did not start playing poker until he was in his twenties. Within a couple of weeks of playing online for the first time, he quit his job in order to make a living out of playing the game. It’s fair to say he has been rewarded for his brave decision.

Stephen Chidwick

The British player has made over $5,000,000 from online play. If you want to catch up with him, check out the latest poker bonus offers for UK players. His total live earnings top $11,000,000 and  he has cashed 46 times at the WSOP. If ever there was a sign that someone should become a poker player, just note that Chidwick was born in the town of Deal, Kent.

David Peters

Peters has plenty of success on his resume. He has one bracelet at the WSOP and cashed at the event an impressive 47 times. His total live earnings are estimated to be in excess of $15,000,000. He was Player of the Year in 2016, but failed to chart inside the top 10 in 2017. Just for good measure, he leads Byron Kaverman in this list of all-time poker earners from Ohio.