Action Heats Up in Online Player of the Year Race
By Shawn Patrick Green
Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi may still be first in the Online Player of the Year (OPOY) standings, but quite a few of the top-10 contenders are outpacing him in a rush to clinch that top spot. Not only that, but a new face has entered the top 10 with a knack for consistently snagging OPOY-qualified finishes.
And now with the
World Series of Poker coming to a close and more than a month of summer still left (read: "school-free time"), many of these Internet poker pros have even more time to devote to the digital felts and have almost six months left to unseat Mizzi.
But I'm sure Mizzi's not worried.
Why Mizzi Should Be Worried
"Andy McLEOD" is just one of the many reasons Mizzi should be breaking a sweat. Andy McLEOD, currently in third place, has racked up 400 more points since the OPOY standings were printed in the last issue, compared to Mizzi's 60 additional points. And that kind of pace is anything but unusual for Andy McLEOD, whose screen names (including TheFatFISH on Full Tilt) have been ubiquitous in the top 20 of major online tournaments for some time.
Andy McLEOD recently took first place in the
Nightly Hundred Grand tournament on PokerStars on June 2 (for $24,000) and fifth in the Bodog $100,000-guaranteed tournament on June 10 (for $5,400, under the screen name Mike HUSSEY). Those two cashes, along with one other final table, took him up to 3,872 OPOY points, which is 1,038 behind Mizzi, the points leader. If he continues to outpace Mizzi at this rate, he could take over the top spot in less than two months.
Newcomer Blazes Into Town
The OPOY top 10 is full of players with huge finishes and consistent cashes. "Puffinmypurp" already had consistent cashes, and the points that went with them, and simply was waiting for a huge finish to vault him into one of those 10 illustrious spots. He finally made it on the list when he bested 2,764 other entrants in the Full Tilt $400,000-guaranteed tournament on June 10, under the screen name "GimmeDa1time," to earn $101,199 and 1,200 OPOY points.
Puffinmypurp now sits with 2,540 points, and given his current success, he easily could lay waste to the OPOY leader board and rise to the top.
Out of the Shadows
Fame in online poker can be a blessing or a curse. That's why Internet legends like "JohnnyBax" took so long to finally divulge their secret identities (it's Cliff Josephy, in case you've been living under a rock for the past few years).
A few of the OPOY contenders' real names were not publicly known for some time, even though their screen names were widely recognized in the online poker community, and they asked
Card Player to keep their identities private. Their reasons for secrecy run the gamut, but two of the players have since changed their minds and given
Card Player the go-ahead to make them Internet poker superstars.
Both Matt "MattSuspect" Molinari and Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko have come out of hiding and are ready to fully accept their accomplishments in the public sphere (also, they're both taking their game live, and know that being "outed" is inevitable).
Now we're just waiting for newcomer puffinmypurp and top-10 mainstay Andy McLEOD (whose name we know, but we're not tellin') to come out of the shadows and into the limelight.
Tournament Results, May 28-June 10
PokerStars Sunday Million
June 3
Winner: pokerjoel1
Winnings: $113,416*
Prize pool: $2,412,000
Entrants: 7,060
June 10
Winner: dangdokodang
Winnings: $132,030*
Prize pool: $1,381,000
Entrants: 6,905
* Payout reflects a deal made at the final table.
Full Tilt Poker $400,000 Guarantee
June 3
Winner: CMcAboy
Winnings: $99,515
Prize pool: $543,800
Entrants: 2,719
June 10
Winner: GimmeDa1time
Winnings: $101,199
Prize pool: $553,000
Entrants: 2,765
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
June 3
Winner: ostrichman
Winnings: $45,000
Prize pool: $200,000
Entrants: 934
June 10
Winner: bgizzel
Winnings: $45,000
Prize pool: $200,000
Entrants: 865
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
June 3
Winner: Daka77
Winnings: $25,000
Prize pool: $100,000
Entrants: 882
June 10
Winner: MMZentner
Winnings: $25,000
Prize pool: $100,000
Entrants: 819
