ESPN.com recently released the latest edition of its “The Nuts,” its monthly poker player rankings. Player rankings produced by other websites typically take into account only poker tournaments; some use live tournaments, some use online. ESPN.com uses all the information available to sort things out in an attempt to rank the best players of the moment, who the best are right now.
Instead of just looking at tournaments, ESPN considers all forms of poker in its evaluation. Cash games and tournaments are weighed, online and live both count. Certainly, live poker tournaments get the most attention and have the best records available, so those often grab the most attention, but nothing is discounted.
Ten members of the poker media determine ESPN’s poker player rankings. The panel consists of ESPN’s threesome of Gary Wise, Bernard Lee and Andrew Feldman, ESPNdeportes.com poker editor Nahuel Ponce, Bluff magazine editor-in-chief Lance Bradley along with managing editor Jessica Welman, PokerNews editor-in-chief Elaine Chaivarlis and tournament reporter Don Peters, Pocketfives’ Dan Cypra, and Poker Road’s Court Harrington.
The players in the rankings remained exactly the same as last month with just a bit of shuffling around to make things interesting. Remaining atop “The Nuts” for the umpteenth straight week is Jason Mercier, who kept his live tournament success going with a 27th place finish at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Bay 101 Main Event. The biggest mover was 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner Jonathan Duhamel, who jumped from 5th to 2nd. He placed 13th at the WPT Bay 101, but it likely wasn’t so much that excellent finish that allowed him to move up as it was his consistently strong play over the last several months. ESPN’s Andrew Feldman put it well in the “The Nuts” article, saying, “His victory in the WSOP main event wasn’t a fluke and neither is his rapid ascension to the top of this list.” Duhamel has become one of the few Main Event winners of the past decade to continue to play at a high level after their win.
Phil Ivey and Eugene Katchalov stayed where they were in 3rd and 4th place, respectively, while Erik Seidel finally fell from his 2nd spot down to 5th. Seidel had a huge 2011, but he has not recorded much in the way of results in several months, so his standing in the rankings is finally reflecting that.
Chris Moorman moved up one spot to 6th, Vanessa Selbst moved up two spots to 7th, and Shawn Buchanan slid two rungs to 8th. Rounding out the list are Bertrand Grospellier, up one to 9th, and Sam Trickett, down two to 10th.
Those who just missed the cut were Daniel Negreanu, Steve O’Dwyer, and Will “The Thrill” Failla.
ESPN “The Nuts” March 2012 Poker Player Rankings (previous ranking in parentheses)
1. Jason Mercier (1)
2. Jonathan Duhamel (5)
3. Phil Ivey (3)
4. Eugene Katchalov (4)
5. Erik Seidel (2)
6. Chris Moorman (7)
7. Vanessa Selbst (9)
8. Shawn Buchanan (6)
9. Bertrand Grospellier (10)
10. Sam Trickett (8)
