Please suggest people that you think are the most powerful people in poker.

Here are some of the guidelines from Bluff:

Please submit a list of the individuals (not companies or organizations) that you believe have the most influence on the poker industry, ranked 1-20. How you interpret “influence” is entirely up to you. (This is a change from previous years which asked you to rank based on positive impact. We’ve made this change based on feedback from voters.)

Your ballot should look like a snapshot of how you see the Power 20 on the day you vote. It's not meant to be reflective of just the past year.

gogogogogo!

My top 10 In no particular order - May have been a little too North American centric.

1. Daniel Negreanu - Whether you like him or hate him, he has a seat at the table as the most visible player in the world.

2. Sheldon Adleson - Public Enemy #1 - Unfortunately, the power of the few still holds over the rights of the many

3. Jason Sommerville - Showing how players need to brand and market themselves in the digital age

4. Joe Ingram - Taking the Joe Rogan model and having a podcast with one guest with in-depth conversations about a multitude of subjects.

5. (Politicians) THE GOOD - Isidore Hall and Adam Greay THE BAD Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Sen Lindsey Graham And the - UGLY - Chris Christie Pokerstars should already be in NJ

6. (Regulators) -NJ/Nevada - Again, will poker’s growth be hindered by the inefficiency of government bureaucracy?

7. Ty Stewart and Jack Effle - Making the WSOP not only about the Main Event and NL Hold’em - but introducing events such as - Dealer’s Choice

8.David Baazov, CEO of Amaya, He has to be on the list. Not a fan of Amaya offering to buy back shares to increase shareholder value. I want them to eliminate the debt from the purchase of pokerstars before anything else. A financially strong pokerstars is vital for the health of poker globally.

9. Chris Grove, Online Poker Report - This guy has his pulse on what’s happening with online poker in the US

10. Alex Dreyfus, Global Poker Index - Adding sorely needed continuity to the game

Pretty good list above. Is Negreanu the only one pretty much on there as a player? (Yeah, yeah... I know who Somerville is, but his inclusion is borne more out of his Twitch presence rather than his pure reputation as a player. BTW I love that inclusion.)

I notice ChicagoJoey gets a few thousand YouTube views for a typical show. How does that compare to, say, the 2+2PokerCast, the PokerNews podcast, and other such feeds? (Note: it's considerably more than most PokerNews videos on YouTube.) Also love this inclusion if his Q-score is that much larger than other podcasters.

Other suggestions for Adam: Mori Eskandani/Dan Gati, Mason Malmuth, Adam Pliska, Matt Savage, Edgar Stuchly, Kevmath (yes!), and whoever the ringleaders are in the Macau high-stakes scene.

In no particular order:

- David Baazov
- Jeffrey Haas
- Ty Stewart
- Adam Pliska
- Alex Dreyfus
- Mason Malmuth
- Edgar Stuchly
- Daniel Negreanu
- Jason Somerville
- Sheldon Adelson
- Winfred Yu
- Danny McDonagh
- Matt Savage
- Someone political in California
- Head of DGSE, NJ
- Head of PokerStrategy
- Kevmath
- Whoever owns/operates 888

Can't decide for the last two. All American Dave?

Dan Bilzerian. Sure, he has no political power or anything like that, but he is putting poker in the news (which is kinda rare nowadays).

I guess power can be negative influence as well....

Isn't how it should be voted now? (I'm referring to the OP from Adam.)

Thanks for the input people, here is my ballot:


1. Sheldon Adelson -
2. David Baazov - Amaya CEO
3. Michael Hazel - CEO Stars
4. Adam Pliska - Pres WPT
5. Edgar Stuchly - Pres EPT
6. Ty Stewart - WSOP executive director
7. Mitch Garber - CEO of Caesars Interactive
8. John Pappas - PPA
9. Daniel Negreanu
10. Matt Savage -
11. Mason Malmuth
12. Jason Chaffetz - Congressman from Utah
13. Lance Bradley - Editor in chief Bluff media
14. Chris Grove - Onlinepokerreport
15. Norbert Teufelberger - CEO Bwin/Party
16. Chris Christie
17. Jason Somerville
18. Alex Dreyfus
19. Jack Effel
20. Mark Macarro

Decent list. What's your rationale for having Adelson above Baazov? Adelson is only influential in one market (albeit, the largest), and Baazov is by far the most influential in the rest of the world.

I also think Malmuth should be higher than Savage.

Would have to have Tony G in mine. I have the Poker News app next to the 2+2 app.