ESPN.com recently unveiled its October poker player rankings, affectionately dubbed “The Nuts.” The top ten list attempts to determine who the best players in the world are at the moment, based on recent accomplishments. This materially differs from other lists people might make because of the “what have you done for me lately” aspect of it, which is the reason why Phil Ivey is nowhere to be found (though it took a long time for voters to boot him from the list, despite his not having played poker this year). “The Nuts” uses any and all results possible: live games, online games, tournaments, cash games, what have you. Of course, live tournaments are the easiest to track, so those typically receive the most weight, but really, anything goes.
The ten member voting panel consists of ESPN.com poker contributors Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee, Poker Road’s Court Harrington, Bluff magazine editor-in-chief Lance Bradley and managing editor Jessica Welman, ESPNdeportes.com poker editor Nahuel Ponce, PokerNews.com editor-in-chief Elaine Chaivarlis and the site’s tournament reporter Don Peters, and PocketFives.com’s Dan Cypra.
On the live tournament front, there was a lot of activity in October. There were two European Poker Tour (EPT) stops, the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), and a World Series of Poker Circuit stop. The World Poker Tour’s World Poker Finals likely just missed the cut, as it ended on November 1st, even though it began in October.
The top four in the rankings – Jason Mercier, Erik Seidel, Eugene Katchalov, and Ben Lamb – stayed the same. Mercier and Seidel kept rolling, with three and two cashes at the WSOPE, respectively. Neither Katchalov nor Lamb made any money in live tournaments during the month, but the voters don’t typically punish players for a slow month or two if they’ve been so hot prior to the drought (plus, Lamb had the November Nine to worry about).
The biggest riser was Shawn Buchanan, who debuted in the fifth spot of “The Nuts” rankings. He cashed four times at the WSOPE, including a second place finish. Don Peters commented on ESPN.com, “Seriously, if Buchanan doesn’t start getting the love and respect he deserves in poker, then I honestly will lose my mind. The kid has been crushing tournaments for years and 2011 is much of the same.”
Bertrand Grospellier moved up one spot to sixth on the back of a fifth place finish in the €3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout at the WSOPE and a fifth place finish in the £10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max High Roller event at EPT London.
Jake Cody, who debuted in the rankings in the tenth spot last week, moved up to seventh after a seventh place finish in the WSOPE Main Event. Phil Hellmuth, who almost made a final table at the WSOPE, fell from fifth to eighth, probably more because of the success of Grospellier, Cody, and Buchanan than because of anything he himself didn’t do.
The final two players in the rankings are making their debuts. Chris Moorman is ninth after finishing as the runner-up at the WSOPE Main Event. As Dan Cypra wrote, “$7.4 million in tracked online earnings on PocketFives, a WSOPE main event runner-up finish, and two final tables at the 2011 WSOP in Vegas. It’s about time Moorman received some recognition from this panel.”
Sam Trickett, who rounds out the list, made a final table at both the WSOPE and EPT London, banking over $200,000 in total.
Dropping out of the rankings this month are Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, and Vanessa Selbst.
ESPN.com “The Nuts” Poker Rankings – October 2011
1. Jason Mercier (1)
2. Erik Seidel (2)
3. Eugene Katchalov (3)
4. Ben Lamb (4)
5. Shawn Buchanan (NR)
6. Bertrand Grospellier (7)
7. Jake Cody (10)
8. Phil Hellmuth (5)
9. Chris Moorman (NR)
10. Sam Trickett (NR)
