Ah, the wonders of artificial intelligence. One of the internet’s latest viral crazes has been the public’s awareness of AI language models such as ChatGPT. These tools promise to revolutionize online communication and create content that you, as a reader, can find everywhere.
When framed properly, such tools can be incredibly informative and useful, though they do have limitations. With the ability to deep-search virtually the entire internet and synthesize optimum results, AI tools like ChatGPT are becoming a part of everyday life. However, as many are discovering, sometimes AI outputs can be rather fanciful, inventing facts that don’t exist.
For example, when I recently asked ChatGPT who I was, it gave me a three-paragraph response that correctly described me as a veteran poker writer but mistakenly credited me with authoring an Omaha strategy book that I’ve never read, let alone written. Sorry, Jeff Hwang!
But this whole AI phenomenon raises another question: How authoritative is ChatGPT or other AI tools? The answer depends—sometimes these tools are impressively accurate, other times, they miss the mark.
As AI tools like ChatGPT intersect with SEO (Search Engine Optimization), the way content is presented online also comes into play. SEO focuses on presenting content in a way that best satisfies general search queries, making it easier for readers to find. If you’ve ever seen something like “Here’s Phil Ivey’s net worth,” you’ve encountered such SEO-focused content, which is often designed to capture traffic but doesn’t necessarily provide the most reliable information. These types of clickbait pieces may not be worth reading.
In a recent conversation about SEO and clickbait, I joked about asking ChatGPT to list the net worth of the most famous poker players, just to see what it would generate. It got a chuckle, but then I realized it might be fun to turn this into a small experiment. So, dear reader, you get to be part of it!
ChatGPT’s Take on the World’s Most Famous Poker Players (And Their Net Worth)
I logged into ChatGPT and asked, “Please list and detail the net worth of the world’s ten most famous poker players.” Here’s the response I received:
Dan Bilzerian: Dan Bilzerian is a professional poker player, social media influencer, and entrepreneur. His net worth is estimated to be around $200 million. However, it’s worth noting that his wealth stems not just from poker, but from successful business ventures and trust funds.
Phil Ivey: Phil Ivey, often considered the best poker player of all time, has won ten World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets. His net worth is estimated at approximately $100 million.
Daniel Negreanu: A Canadian professional poker player with six WSOP bracelets, Daniel Negreanu is estimated to have a net worth of around $50 million.
Antonio Esfandiari: Antonio Esfandiari, a former magician and professional poker player, has three WSOP bracelets and an estimated net worth of $30 million.
Bryn Kenney: Bryn Kenney has won more than $56 million in career earnings, and his net worth is estimated at $30 million.
Vanessa Selbst: Retired poker player Vanessa Selbst, a three-time WSOP bracelet winner, is estimated to have a net worth of around $10 million.
Chris Ferguson: With six WSOP bracelets, Chris Ferguson’s estimated net worth is around $8 million.
Erik Seidel: Erik Seidel, who has won eight WSOP bracelets, is estimated to have a net worth of around $7 million.
Scotty Nguyen: Known for five WSOP bracelets, Scotty Nguyen’s net worth is estimated at $6 million.
Phil Hellmuth: The poker player with the most WSOP bracelets (15), Phil Hellmuth’s net worth is estimated at $5 million.
A Mixed Bag of Results
Note the 2021 knowledge cutoff for online content included in ChatGPT’s search. As such, the list could look quite different based on recent results. For instance, Robbi Jade Lew could potentially be among the top 10 poker players based on recent online rankings.
Also, the list is ranked by net worth, as ChatGPT deduced that was the core of the query, even though I didn’t ask directly. The presence of Dan Bilzerian at the top is thought-provoking. ChatGPT doesn’t really separate his fame from the poker world, even though Bilzerian is more known for his Instagram lifestyle than for poker tournaments. He is, in essence, the Kim Kardashian of poker—famous for being famous.
There are other strange inclusions too, such as Chris Ferguson and Vanessa Selbst, whose fame may not have been as widespread by 2021 as ChatGPT’s list suggests. Yet, Doyle Brunson or Chris Moneymaker, key figures in poker history, are absent.
As for the net worths, they should definitely be taken with a grain of salt. While Bilzerian is undoubtedly wealthy, poker players are notoriously protective of their financial information. In fact, some old-school poker players used to boast about their wives’ net worth but never disclosed their own.
For instance, it’s hard to believe that Phil Ivey’s net worth could be 20 times greater than Phil Hellmuth’s, despite both being involved in online poker ownership and numerous sponsorships.
The Bigger Lesson
The moral of the story here is to approach “net worth” estimates with caution, even when they come from AI tools. They’re often based on incomplete data. Just like the classic computer acronym GIGO (“Garbage In, Garbage Out”), AI engines can cast wide nets, but if the information they pull in is inaccurate, their output is bound to be unreliable too.
