PokerTableRatings

PTR's 2011 Poker Players of the Year

Who was the best High Stakes Hold'em player in 2011? Which Omaha Mid Stakes reg had the highest earnings? We went through our entire database of hands last year and the results are in! Several familiar names top the lists, as well as some surprising new faces.

This time around we looked at earnings, because after all, the bottomline is what pays the bills. The winners are awarded an exclusive PTR Player of the Year badge to add to their trophy case. Here are the top online cash game winners of 2011:

	Hold'em			Omaha
Nosebleeds: takechip			Nosebleeds: Ilari FIN
High Stakes:Trueteller			High Stakes: PepperoniF
Mid Stakes: fish2013			Mid Stakes: RivalzZz
Low Stakes: gutter23			Low Stakes: alien slayer
Micro Stakes: fareed1234			Micro Stakes: tShGsT

To see the complete list of players in each category, visit the PTR Poker Player of the Year page. * Earnings were calculated by site for poker rooms operating for the entire year.

Hold'em Players of the Year

Nosebleeds ($100/$200 and up) takechip - A common fixture on PTR's Biggest Online Pots leaderboard, humble Canadian Phil D'Auteuil had a great 2011, ending the year with an incredible run to take home the most earnings at the highest of high stakes. Never one to take poker too seriously, Phil challenged the likes of Phil "MrSweets" Galfond, LiangYu and !P0krparty¡ to end the year with the distinction of PTR Hold'em Nosebleed Player of the Year, edging out unknown iPoker player GreeceP to take the crown. TakeChip also came in 8th in the Omaha Nosebleed rankings.

High Stakes ($10/20 - $50/$100) Trueteller - Little is known about this CAP NLH specialist from Russia except that he has one of the most beautiful graphs in all of poker. Trueteller had a slow start but hit his stride in March, ending the year with $1,054,503 in earnings from over 700k hands between $20NL and $100NL.

Mid Stakes ($2/$4 - $5 /$10) fish2013 - The epitome of an online grinder, this Belarusian took in $247,799 in midstakes games in 2011, with a BB/100 of 4.15.

Low Stakes ($0.50/$1.00 - $1/2 ) gutter23 - May UGL winner and 2p2 reg Richard Guttman is consistent as they come, winning $97,589 over an incredible 2M hands.

Micro Stakes ($0.01/$0.02 - $0.25-$0.50) fareed1234 - Another UGL regular and our only representative from Trinidad and Tobago, fareed1234 tops the Micro Stakes earners. Great work, but we side with the commenters. With a BB/100 of 4.81, we'd like to see a move up!

Omaha Players of the Year

Nosebleeds ($100/$200 and up) Ilari FIN - It seems like a week doesn't go by without Ilari Sahamies' name on railbird reports all over the poker sphere. The popular Fin came back from near busto in the summer to become the top online cash player of the year at $200PLO and up. Including the $421k biggest pot ever on Stars, Ilari Fin netted $928,104 at Omaha $200PLO+, and over $1.6M overall (yes, we missed a few hands vs Isildur1, we're not perfect!).

High Stakes ($10/20 - $50/$100) PepperoniF - Riu Cao had a breakout year in 2011, gaining prominence after taking on Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom in a SuperStar Showdown and going on a summer heater at the expense of big names such as Sauce123, le kork and gavz101. On PokerStars alone, the Heads Up PLO specialist made $1,280,217 in just 95,258 hands at stakes between $20 to $100. We expect to see a lot of Riu in 2012.

Mid Stakes ($2/$4 - $5 /$10) RivalzZz - The unknown German had a rollercoaster year as shown by his sporadic graph, crushing the $3/$6 and $5/$10PLO games, only to lose it all in a move up to $25/$50PLO. After hitting a career valley last week, RivalzZz has now returned to the Mid Stakes to find his game again.

Low Stakes ($0.50/$1.00 - $1/2 ) alien slayer - Another strong player from Germany, alien slayer took in nearly $100k in 610k hands last year to win the Low Stakes crown.

Micro Stakes ($0.01/$0.02 - $0.25-$0.50) tShGsT - This primarily PLO HU player from Canada has a stellar graph to go with an unpronounceable screen name.

See the full list here: PTR Poker Player of the Year

Why no nanonoko, you're wondering? The 2009 PTR Medium and High Stakes Player of the Year actually made the top ten on both lists for the second year in a row, and was one of only five players to make it onto two top ten lists (the others being l0ve2playu, alexeimartov, mTw-Davin and takechip). But despite another consistent year, new players have emerged at the very top. Such is the changing nature of the game, and we can't wait to which players put their mark on 2012.

Any players you think should've made the cut? Surprised to see some players? Comment about it in this forum post.