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Breaking Down the Poker Rankings: February 2012

Phil Ivey returns to one major poker player ranking, while Erik Seidel and Jason Mercier hold steady in top spots. Read on as we round up the Global Poker Index, ESPN’s The Nuts and more.

Global Poker Index

About the rankings: A ranking of the top live poker players in the world based on their performance over the past 36 months.
The latest rankings (top 10):
1. Erik Seidel
2. Jason Mercier
3. Bertrand Grospellier
4. Eugene Katchalov
5. Shawn Buchanan
6. Sam Trickett
7. Emanuel Failla
8. Matt Waxman
9. Vanessa Selbst
10. Mike McDonald

The skinny: Mercier ended 2011 on top, but Erik Seidel has been holding steady at No. 1 of late. The top four have been playing musical chairs in recent months as old tournaments drop out of the rankings and new ones are included, but those four have been at the top in some combination for some time now. Interestingly, Jonathan Duhamel, who has been on a tear to start 2012 after a strong performance at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, actually dropped out of the top 10 to No. 16.
Check out the rankings: GPI website.

The Nuts: ESPN’s Power Rankings

About the rankings: A subjective ranking of the top poker players in the world, usually done each month.
The latest rankings:
1. Jason Mercier
2. Erik Seidel
3. Eugene Katchalov
4. Phil Ivey
5. Sam Trickett
6. Chris Moorman
7. Shawn Buchanan
8. Jonathan Duhamel
9. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
10. Jake Cody

The skinny:Jason Mercier continues his reign atop ESPN’s rankings, while there are two new members of the top 10. Phil Ivey, who had dropped out of the list entirely after not playing almost anywhere in the second half of 2011, returned to the rankings at No. 4 with his appearance at the Aussie Millions. In his time Down Under he finished 12th in the main event and won a $250K high-roller event. Duhamel comes in at No. 8.
Check out the rankings: At ESPN.com.

BLUFF Magazine

About the rankings: BLUFF Magazine’s power rankings, based on live tournament play over the past two years.
The latest rankings (top 10):
1. Shawn Buchanan
2. Jonathan Duhamel
3. Jason Mercier
4. Bertrand Grospellier
5. Marvin Rettenmaier
6. Matthew Waxman
7. Eugene Katchalov
8. Ben Lamb
9. Vanessa Selbst
10. Sam Trickett

The skinny: Buchanan took over from Duhamel as the top player in the world according to BLUFF’s rankings, while Mercier checks in at No. 3 for the best average ranking among the three major long-term (i.e. not just 2012) rankings (he averages No. 2 for GPI, Bluff and the Nuts). Seidel is all the way down in 30th in these rankings, which probably don’t factor in some of his high-roller event finishes over the past couple of years because of short fields.
Check out the rankings: At BLUFF’s website.

Card Player

About the rankings: Card Player Magazine’s rankings for its player of the year award.
The latest rankings (top 10):
1. John Dibella
2. Oliver Speidel
3. Faraz Jaka
4. Kyle Julius
5. Jonathan Duhamel
6. Ken Wong
7. Mile Krstanoski
8. Xuan Liu
9. Mohamad Mowssarie
10. Leonid Bilokur

The skinny: The rankings are still pretty volatile early on, and mostly account for who has played well at the year’s biggest tournaments. Dibella won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event, while Speidel took down the Aussie Millions.
Check out the story: At Card Player’s web site.

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