BY TOM SOMACH

Who is the greatest World Series of Poker (WSOP) player of all time?

The answer depends on what criteria you use to define “greatness.”

If you’re looking for the all-time biggest money-winner in WSOP history, it’s Jamie Gold, who has won $12 million from WSOP play.

However, all that loot came from one win, albeit a big one–the main event of last year’s WSOP.

Other than that, Gold hasn’t won a penny in any other WSOP event, so consistency is not one of his virtues.

Then maybe the best player is the one who’s won the most WSOP events?

Three players share that honor: Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, Johhny Chan and Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth Jr., each having won 10 WSOP titles (Brunson and Chan have won the WSOP main event twice while Hellmuth has won it once).

But, some would say, there’s more to winning poker than just winning at poker.

Place and show and everything else in the money counts too.

If you tally up what poker players have most often finished in the money–that is, won something, anything, at a WSOP event–the all-time leader is Hellmuth, who has cashed in by cashing out in a whopping 57 different WSOP tournaments over a lifetime.

Of course, that stat would include any and all finishes, even a 700th-place finish in an event with 8,000 people, a finish that might just earn a few bucks.

So what then is the best criteria to determine the top player?

Someone who wins and also wins consistently, and when he doesn’t win, he comes awfully close.

The person who has made the final table at a WSOP event the most times would appear to fit that bill.

So who is it?

According to statistics released by WSOP owner Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. in conjuction with the start of the 2007 WSOP,=A0T.J. Cloutier has made the final table at a WSOP event 39 times.

The runner-up is Hellmuth, who has made a WSOP final table 37 times.

Rounding out the Top 10 in most WSOP final table appearances lifetime are Berry Johnston with 29; Chan, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Erik Seidel, each with 26; John Cernuto with 25; Dewey Tomko and An “The Boss” Tran, each with 24 and Jay Heimowitz with 23.

Nos. 11 through 20 on the list are: Brunson, Mickey Appleman and Johnny Moss, each with 22; Huck Seed with 21; Mike Sexton and Humberto Brenes, each with 20; Tom McEvoy, Jack Keller and Howard “The Professor”=9D Lederer, each with 19 and John Bonetti with 18.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)