What happened to Siegfried and Roy??? Umm.....
Lance Burton is an incredible performer, don't get me wrong. He is a superior magician in every respect. The difference is (and it's the only difference, in my opinion), he doesn't have a tv show.
You can't judge the popularity of a magician solely on how known and respected they are by the magic community. Dai Vernon is an excellent example of this. He is a god amongst magicians, and largely unknown by everyone else. I've heard countless names labelled as "the best card magician ever" by the general public - almost none have mentioned his name.
Criss Angel has the most public exposure of acts in Vegas (with the exception of Penn & Teller), so yes - it can be said he's the biggest magician in Vegas. Best magician in the world can be argued (he did win a few championships), but that's more for hype than substance. It's a selling point. Would people go to a show if the marquee said "One of the top 600 magicians in the world"?? Probably not. Also, travel to Vegas. EVERY show is touted as the greatest show in Vegas!
Amongst magician's he's not the best, by far. However, going from public recognition, he's up there.
It should be noted that on his show, and in numerous interviews, I have heard Criss Angel speak highly of many of the top performers (he has stated numerous times that he has the utmost respect for Seigfried and Roy and Lance Burton).
Cyril Takayama is touted as a street magician, noodlesoup - and quite a few of his effects require preparation and controlled environments. I'm getting tired of this argument over what is street magic. Broken down to it's barest essentials, street magic is simply that: magic performed on the streets. What you do and how you do it is inconsequential. Saying that it needs to be impromptu and requires no props or preparation is ridiculous.