Coming from a close family in the Garden of England, our latest subject in the Poker Idols series is often called ‘Stevie’, and has one of the most familiar poses in poker. Who is he? Well, the man in 6th place in the all-time money list for live tournament players and the most successful tournament poker player in British history.

Stephen Chidwick has become synonymous with success in this era of GTO play. In fact, he might be the GTO player. So how did this supremely talented and highly respected individual conquer the poker world? Let’s take a look.

No Big Deal

Born and bred in Deal, Kent, the young Chidwick didn’t play his first live poker tournament until he was 19 years old, but when he did, he got off to a globetrotting start. Chidwick’s first-ever cash in a ranking event was an outright win as he took down the PCA $1,000 side event in January 2008 for $88,760. Over the next couple of years, Chidwick would only cash a handful of times live but he booked five flags from five different countries in those early results in The Bahamas, Barcelona, Paris, Punta Del Este and Las Vegas, with his first World Series of Poker cash coming courtesy of a 40th-place finish in a $1,500 bracelet event.