[rausak]

As far as the poker community is concerned, the current belief is that Phil Ivey is the top dog, and until he's beaten it'll remain that way.
However, although he's seen as the best all rounder as far as understanding of various style of poker goes, by my criteria, this by no means makes him the best poker player.
For one, Phil Ivey has good and bad days, (as any player does), but most of his bad days occur because he doesn't have his head in the game, whether this be due to golf, or a prop bet, or whatever, he still doesn't have the ability to "try" and bring his A*game whenever he sits down.
Another thing is his respect for other players. It's well known that he and Doyle Brunson will almost never say how many chips they have in front of them, (which they're not obliged to do), but whenever Ivey has been seen saying something like "Nice hand", it always comes with an aire of discust whether the player got lucky, or simply out played him on that given hand.
I'm not comparing this to the antics one Phil Helmuth has been seen getting up to, but it raises the question if the best player, should at least have the respect of his or her piers, not just for his or her game, but also for the person themselves.
My personal opinion is that the "Best" player was Chip Reese, an man who no-one had a bad word to say against. Currently I find the poker world is lacking such a player, but maybe I'm wrong.
At the moment, my vote is for Barry Greenstein, a winner in the Big Game for many years, and even against the top players in the world, never outmatched.