Five of Poker’s Hottest Young Talents

Poker is a smashing way to pass the time, but more and more players are choosing to go beyond that and earn their living by playing pro. Some play in televised tournaments. Others at internet casinos such as Golden Nugget Online Casino or others. Some will do both. Turning professional is no easy way to make a living, but plenty of players have made a successful go of it, and recent years have seen a fresh new patch of poker-playing talent arrive on the professional circuit. Below is a look at some of the next generation players making waves in the poker world.

Frank Cucchiara

Frank Cucchiara, or “NextGen Frankie” as many refer to him playfully, hails from Kansas, Missouri, and made his first appearance in Asian poker at APT Taipei. There he placed 10th in the High Roller 8 Max Event #101 and walked away with $13,499. Today, the 23-year-old has bagged more than $100,000 at the tables, with his most notable success being a win of $50,900, in 2023, at the 54th World Series of Poker in the WSOP Main Event.

“NextGen Frankie” is all about the poker and is a brand ambassador with a well-known poker company. He’s big in the content creation world, thanks to the YouTube community NextGen Poker, which he’s a founding member of, represents a new generation of poker players and provides tips and insight for new poker players.

Ethan Yau

Ethan Yau, aka “Rampage,” is another poker vlogger making a name for himselfas a player and as a YouTuber. He has 311,000 subscribers on his “Rampage” poker channel and 25,000 on the accompanying personal channel. His ability to understand the game and make it accessible to others, and the chronicles of his adventures as a professional poker player, is winning him a legion of fans online.

The poker world has witnessed this ability at the tables. Yau is a regular at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), is a two-time World Poker Tour (WPT) champion and a WSOP bracelet winner.He’s been successful on the WSOP Circuit, has five WSOPC rings and has won more than $2 million from poker.

Ali Imsirovic

Bosnian American Ali Imsirovic has become a major poker star. The young player started winning small by taking a $10,015 event for $160,050 at the Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), in 2018, and followed it up with a win at the $2,700 Borgata Spring Poker Open for $246,066.
One of his most notable successes were his two wins at September 2018’s Poker Masters, in Las Vegas, for $1.26 million. Since then, Imsirovic has amassed wins and final table appearances on some of poker’s hugest stages including US Poker Open, WSOP Circuit, Aria High Rollers, WPT, WSOP and Super High Roller Bowl.

Originally, Imsirovic had been a keen basketball player when he was at high school. However, an ankle injury forced him off the court, which is when, looking for other ways to pass the time, he found poker.

Lynne Ji

California Lynne Ji has become a well-known name in poker and is renowned for her aggressive playing style, a style which has made her thrilling to watch but has also taught her some harsh lessons in her early days. She makes her living playing cash games around Los Angeles, and although she has no tournament wins, she still earns plenty at the tables. She’s appeared on cash game shows such as “High Stakes Poker,” where she has played against Tom Dwan, Nick Petrangelo and other top names, and “Live at the Bike”.

Lynne Ji has been playing poker since 2017 and is thought to have a net worth of between $100,000 and 1 million. As well as playing poker, she likes to travel, sometimes combining the two. She also has her own app, ClubGG, and use it to invite people to play against her, and her own YouTube channel (HelloitsLynne).

Charlie Carrell

When it comes to poker genius, Charlie Carrell is as close as you can get. Carrell claims to have started with a £10 deposit and run this up to £3 million ($3,929,827.50) by 2017. The Englishman has earned £9.6 million ($12,544,920) in career winnings and took his first major title for $170,950. His first big live score took place in 2014 at the £2,125 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour event Grand Final, when he was 21 years old.

Carrell has also had major scores at the European Poker Tour (EPT), Triton and at high rollers, including the WPT Online Super High Roller for $600,250 (which he has won).Carrell has made so much from poker he’s taken early retirement from the game, despite his passion for poker. Now he follows his other passions for business, philanthropy and raising funds for charity.

The poker world has witnessed a terrific new generation of players thrive at its tables. Other players to keep an eye on include Brock Wilson, Sean Perry, Kyna England and Landon Tice.