PokerTableRatings

It’s been over a week since the Poker Player of the Year ‘09 voting opened up to all our members here at Poker Table Ratings, and we’ve seen great races unfold for the nosebleed stakes contestants. Let’s break down the top 5 for both Hold’em and Omaha and see who just might end up with the award.

Hold’em Leaders

1. Isildur1 – 1,378 votes

It’s hard to imagine a man that lost $2.65 million being the lead vote getting for Nosebleed Stakes Hold’em player of the year. But digging deeper you see that our readers are more savvy than just voting for their favorite “degen” poker player. Consider this about Isildur1 – when he played $500-$1000 stakes he netted $1.37 million which is more than any other player at that stake level. At the $200-$400 stake level, Isildur1 ranks 4th this year in income at approximately $492,000 and at $100-$200 he ranks 2nd with $456,029. Combine that together and you have a net of over $2.25 million in 2009.

2. durrrr – 1,338 votes

Tom “durrrr” Dwan might be the most feared poker player on the internet (if he isn’t, see #3 on this list). His $3.84 million total winnings in 2009 ranks as one the best for cash game players in the industry. He’s taken on any comers while working himself through some of the sickest swings we’ve ever seen. Certainly his TV exposure and positive public image will help him wile Isildur1 remains away from the tables for the rest of the year.

3. Phil Ivey – 720 votes

What’s there to say outside of the fact this is Phil freaking Ivey we’re talking about and a man who’s taken down $4.86 million in 2009 at cash game tables. You can toss aside that whole 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table thing. Ivey has been one of the best playing $500-$1000 stakes between heads-up No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha. Although he hasn’t recorded a session in December, he had a November to remember to say the least including a +$798,608 982-hand session playing NLHE on November 17th against Isildur1.

4. jama-dharma – 339 votes

Most likely a sentimental favorite among voters, this player currently ranks 4th and leads the 5th place voter by over a hundred votes. His total winnings in 2009 are modest by Nosebleed Stakes standards at $273,049 playing on PokerStars. He’s been playing the $100-$200 and $200-$400 games for Limit Hold’em which makes him a bit unique in our top 5 among Hold’em players.

5. OMGClayAiken – 217 votes

Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond has been regarded as one of the internet’s best certainly well beyond just 2009. He has had a banner year in 2009 though with $4.97 million in total winnings. Although his good friend “durrrr” might lead him by more than 1,000 votes, let’s not discount a late rally that might propel him into the top four.

Omaha Leaders

1. Isildur1 – 434 votes

Again we see perhaps the biggest story of online poker in 2009 play out in the standings with Isildur1 leading the way for Nosebleed Stakes POY voting. Although his PLO matchup against Brian Hastings is now under serious investigation, his loss of over $4.79 million playing the highest stakes Pot Limit Omaha games ranks as the most of anyone. Although it’s generally considered that he ran bad (and might be the target of illegal collusion on the part of Hastings), he still has a great edge on the rest of the list for this title.

2. durrrr – 404 votes

Just like the Hold’em Nosebleed voting, durrrr trails Isildur1 by a very thin margin with an outside chance of getting enough votes in the end to win the award. The shocking thing about Dwan’s 2009 playing Pot Limit Omaha is that between all stakes he actually lost $2.4 million that ranks second on the losers list. Despite his lead in the “durrrr challenge” his losses mounted overall in PLO, yet he somehow managed to come out a big winner this year overall.

3. Patrik Antonius – 249 votes

Although Antonius has suffered massive swings playing against durrrr in the challenge and trails by about three-quarters of a million dollars, he’s won over $2.3 million playing in Omaha games since we started tracking him originally. He’s regarded as one of the world’s best and that public regard has him nestled in 3rd in our voting.

4. Brian Townsend – 116 votes

What catapulted him in the standing has to be his epic session played on December 6th at the $200-$400 Heads Up Pot Limit Omaha tables. Over the course of more than 7,000 hands, Townsend brought in more than $1.4 million. One of the more visible online pros, Towsend looks like a lock to finish in the top five when voting ends.

5. Ziigmund – 50 votes

To stay in the top five, Ziigmund has to stay ahead of “Urindanger” (21 votes), “Cole South” (12 votes) and “harrington25” (10 votes). That seems very likely given his name recognition and nosebleed stakes swings on Full Tilt Poker. He’s played every few days in December to wrap up the year with micro-sessions of under 60 hands for the last four. His overall game is so respected that many players are putting in their votes for this PLO specialist.

Tags: durrrr, High Stakes, Hold'em, Isildur1, jama-dharma, Omaha, OMGClayAiken, Phil Ivey, poker player of the year

This entry was posted on Friday, December 25th, 2009 at 1:04 am and is filed under Featured Articles, PTR News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.