Thanks to the glamorizing affect of television, many people assume poker players are all much richer than they actually are. As many players know, two of the questions you’ll get the most often when you tell people you play for a living is “What’s the most you’ve ever won?” and “What’s the most you’ve ever lost?” When you answer the question about how much you’ve lost you’ll often get the same response from a non-gambler no matter the quantity you just gave, be it $500 or $100,000: “I could never lose that much gambling! Why with that kind of money, I could buy XYZ…”

The distorting affect a career of poker has on money is clear. Over time, you begin to treat it much more like a tool to be used towards the accumulation of more money, and only sometimes a currency to be used for the purchase of goods and services. But the bulk of your time spent thinking about money is either in the game or shooting the shit with fellow players, and that continually reinforces the idea that money is simply that ‘thing you use to play poker’. For many, it becomes more video game score than indication of net worth.

The social consequence is that you have to be mindful of how you speak about money when in the company of non-industry friends. If you start bluntly discussing swings and the way you allocate your money using figures, many may believe you’re trying to show off or being rude when you’re simply speaking in a way that’s become habit. I try to tread the line between honesty and discretion by saying little but allowing people to ask anything they want about playing for a living, though often leading in with “Do you mind if I speak in fairly exact figures? It’s how we talk about it in the industry.” It manages to communicate that we’re just a little desensitized, not money-obsessed jackasses.

Tony Dunst is a professional poker player and Host of WPT’s Raw Deal.

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.

England’s Trickett had a huge year, highlighted by his win in the Partouche Poker Tour main event. He also won a $100K high roller event at the Aussie Millions last year, and he piled up more than $4 million in cashes.

The other nominees in the event included Jake Cody, Bertrand “Elky”Grospellier, Pius Heinz, Eugene Katchalov and Andrey Pateychuk.

Grospellier took down the personality of the year award, while Heinz won tournament performance of the year for his World Series of Poker main event championship.

The awards were given out at the Aviation Club de France; the winners and nominees appear below.

Best Tournament performance
Winner: Pius Heinz
Nominees:
Jake Cody
Fabrice Soulier
Benny Spindler
Sam Trickett

Rookie of the year
Winner: Andrey Pateychuk
Nominees:
Adrien Allain
Pius Heinz
Sam Holden
Oleksii Kovalchuk

Europe’s Leading Lady
Winner: Natalia Nikitina
Nominees:
Liv Boeree
Victoria Coren
Nesrine Kourdourli
Barbara Martinez
Cecilia Pescaglini

Poker Staff Person of the year
Winner: Warren Lush
Nominees:
Nicolas Fraïoli
Edgar Stuchly
Kirsty Thompson
Simon Trumper

Rob Gardner Memorial Award for the poker personality of the year
Winner: Bertrand “Elky”Grospellier
Nominees:
Barny Boatman
Neil Channing
Jesse May
Tony Guoga

Internet Player of the year
Winner: Ilari Sahamies
Other Nominees:
Jude Ainsworth
Viktor Blom
Rui Cao
Chris Moorman

Best European Event of the year
Winner: WSOPE Cannes
Nominees:
EPT Londres
International Poker Open Dublin
Finale du Partouche Poker Tour
WPT Grand Prix de Paris

Seven years later and live poker has a different atmosphere. In Vegas, it’s lost much of the naive enthusiasm, but replacing it is more of a professional and casual routine. The best rooms are often constructed anticipating people will be grinding long, slow hours, and as a result offer things like rows of televisions, a selection of food options, massages, and tables with automatic shufflers to keep things moving as briskly as possible–which casinos also love for rake purposes. There are less onlookers and rail birds unless a major tournament is in play, and it’s rare that you see someone become intensely excited about something that just happened in-game.

Which is not to say every room is a bee-hive of unbeatable professionals and seasoned card-sharps. There’s still dead money in cash games, but certainly not as many guys senselessly spewing it off as there used to be. Much of your edge these days comes from beating on somewhat experienced but still technically sloppy players. People who don’t pay attention to stack size conditions, or are still too concerned with their own holdings instead of giving deep consideration to what their opponent is representing. And then there’s the edge you can gain if you’re more disciplined; plenty of people can even play decent technical poker until something unfortunate happens, and then they unravel. The more competitive becomes, the more important your emotional control and ability to stay composed becomes. If the game gets substantially worse, or you can losing some large pots is messing with your head, you must be willing to walk and wait for a different day.

In a strange way, I’m enjoying the immensely slowed down pace of the live grind. No more 10-20 tables at 75-100 hands an hour. Just one table, about 30 hands an hour. People to chat to. Sports on the TV. Food brought to the table, and plenty enough time between hands to eat instead of inhale it. And I figure chip-shuffling carpal tunnel has got to be less severe than mouse-clicking carpal tunnel.

Tony Dunst is a professional poker player and Host of WPT’s Raw Deal.

The most coveted prize is the player of the year award, which will go to one of six players. Here is the list:

–Jake Cody (England): Won the $25K heads-up event at the World Series of Poker, completing the live poker Triple Crown of winning WSOP, World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour events.
–Bertrand “Elky”Grospellier (France): Won a WSOP bracelet and two high-roller events on the EPT.
–Pius Heinz (Germany): Won the WSOP main event.
–Eugene Katchalov (Ukraine): Was the BLUFF player of the year, and won the super high-roller event at last year’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
–Andrey Pateychuk (Russia): Won both a WPT and an EPT event in 2011.
–Sam Trickett (England): Won a $100K high roller event at the Aussie Millions and the Partouche Poker Tour main event, racking up more than $4 million in cashes along the way.

The awards will be given out on January 25th, at the Aviation Club de France.

Here are the other categories and nominees; a lifetime achievement award winner will also be announced at the proceedings:

Best Tournament performance
Jake Cody
Pius Heinz
Fabrice Soulier
Benny Spindler
Sam Trickett

Rookie of the year
Adrien Allain
Pius Heinz
Sam Holden
Oleksii Kovalchuk
Andrey Pateychuk

Europe’s Leading Lady
Liv Boeree
Victoria Coren
Nesrine Kourdourli
Barbara Martinez
Natalia Nikitina
Cecilia Pescaglini

Poker Staff Person of the year
Nicolas Fraïoli
Warren Lush
Edgar Stuchly
Kirsty Thompson
Simon Trumper

Rob Gardner Memorial Award for the poker personality of the year
Barny Boatman
Neil Channing
Bertrand “Elky”Grospellier
Tony Guoga
Jesse May

Internet Player of the year
Jude Ainsworth
Viktor Blom
Rui Cao
Chris Moorman
Ilari Sahamies

Best European Event of the year
EPT Londres
International Poker Open Dublin
Finale du Partouche Poker Tour
WPT Grand Prix de Paris
WSOPE Cannes

Lew set the mark with 23,493 hands played online at PokerStars, although he had to finish in profit for the record to be official. He barely accomplished the feat, with a profit of just $7.65 over the eight-hour period.

Lew, better known by his online handle Nanonoko, had talked about his desire to set a world record related to poker leading up to this year’s PCA. He settled upon the idea of setting a record for most hands played, with the caveat that he had to be profitable while doing so (otherwise it would be east to just fold every hand and set a record).

Lew took no breaks during his record attempt, either to use the restroom or to eat or drink. He was down about $1,200 at one point before grinding his way back into profit.

According to PokerStars’ blog, Lew had this to say about his climb back from negative numbers:

I was like, ugh, I’ve got to chase those losses! I really was running horrible. But I was trying to stay focused like “You can’t let this get to you.” But I still played well and tried to play my best, and eventually it worked out. Twelve hundred was rough, though. It could’ve been game over, to be honest.

He played 25 to 30 tables simultaneously during much of the attempt, and at some points he played more than 30 tables.

According to PokerStars’ official stats from the attempt, Lew averaged 2,936.63 hands per hour, and 48.94 hands per minute. He earned 22,784 frequent player points.

Lew is best known for his epic online poker playing, in which he routinely multitables to great success. He regularly reaches Supernova Elite standing at PokerStars, the highest VIP level attainable. In November of last year, Lew won the main event of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour’s Macau stop, earning nearly half a million dollars in the process.

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. Jason Mercier
2. Bertrand Grospellier
3. Erik Seidel
4. Eugene Katchalov
5. Sam Trickett
6. Shawn Buchanan
7. Sorel Mizzi
8. Emanuel Failla
9. Samuel Stein

The skinny:The first year of the GPI proved that the rankings can be fairly volatile, as it was difficult for any one player to get on top and stay there. The top four on the list were constantly swapping positions throughout 2011, but in the end, the GPI seems to have locked on to the best player on the planet for the past three years. Jason Mercier is generally considered the best tournament player in the world right now, and that was backed up with his results. This year he won a World Series of Poker bracelet, a World Poker Tour high-roller event, the European Poker Tour Tournament of Champions, a North American Poker Tour tournament, and he made the final table a bunch of other tournaments. Grospellier, Katchalov and Seidel all have cases to be made as the top dog in live tournament poker as well, but for now Mercier is the man.
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. Ben Lamb
5. Sam Trickett
T6. Shawn Buchanan
T6. Bertrand Grospellier
8. Chris Moorman
9. Jake Cody
10. Phil Hellmuth

The skinny:There hasn’t be a new version of this ranking since the end of November, but nothing happened at the end of 2011 that would change the pecking order here. Lamb rode his big World Series of Poker, including a third place finish in the main event, to stay in the rankings. Trickett, Buchanan, Moorman and Cody all used big years to get their names on the list, as well. Trickett won the Partouche Poker Tour for $1.3 million and cashed for nearly $2.9 million in a pair of high-roller events at the Aussie Millions. Buchanan had final table appearances at two WSOP Europe events and another in the Vegas WSOP. Moorman was second in the WSOPE main event. Cody won the heads-up event at this year’s WSOP.
Check out the rankings: At ESPN.com.

Card Player

About the rankings: Card Player Magazine’s rankings for its player of the year award.
The final rankings (top 10):
1, Ben Lamb
2, Chris Moorman
3, Oleksii Kovalchuk
4, Marvin Rettenmaier
5, Sam Stein
6, Jason Mercier
7, Elio Fox
8, Galen Hall
9, Eugene Katchalov
10, Steve O’Dwyer

The skinny: Lamb won more than $5 million at this year’s WSOP, and it lifted him to the top spot in the Card Player rankings for the year. The player with the most amount of money in the rankings, Hall ($3 million) finished in eighth place. But the the system uses a points system, not cashes.
Check out the story: At Card Player’s web site.

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, Eugene Katchalov
2, Marvin Rettenmaier
3, Bertrand Grospellier
4, Matthew Waxman
5, Jason Mercier
6, Sam Trickett
7, Sam Stein
8, Sorel Mizzi
9, Vanessa Selbst
10, Ben Lamb

The skinny: Katchalov finished the year on top in the power rankings, and also picked up BLUFF’s 2011 player of the year award. Katchalov won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure high-roller event for $1.5M, and he banked another $450K at a European Poker Tour final table. Mercier is the only player to pick up top-10 finishes in all four rankings.
Check out the rankings: At BLUFF’s website.

The whole situation has made many question why they began playing: Was it simply for the money? So you didn’t have to have a job? Because you wanted to be the best at the game? Because it all seemed so glamorous? Since it was ostensibly fun to play a game for a living?

No matter their motivation, what I’ve found amazingly consistent in the personalities of poker players is that they hate being told what to do. Almost everyone lists that as one of the chief reasons they first entertained the idea of playing for a living: “No more fuckers telling me what to do”. It was most certainly one of the principal factors that led to my decision to try and be a professional, and it’s one I still appreciate on a daily level nearly a decade after I’ve started.

So throughout my career, the mentality I’ve always kept about the game is rather simply “There’s always a 2-5 game somewhere”. If you can beat 2-5 no limit at a live casino (which for most professionals versed in online play is a mostly straight forward enterprise) you can always have enough money that nobody gets to tell you what to do. You sure as hell won’t be ballin’ and it’s not the best route for someone with family or major life obligations, but if you’re fairly independent and can put in the hours, your free of the working world for the rest of your life. And that’s a freedom very few people have, so for all the shit going on right now try to occasionally sit back and enjoy it.

Of course, this assumes you don’t find playing poker to be life-draining work, in which case, perhaps the job or school is the move.

Greenstein, 56, is considered one of the best tournament players in the world, with $7.5 million in live tournament winnings. He has won three World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour titles. He has given about $3 million of his winnings to charity over the years. His book, Ace on the River, is acclaimed as one of the best books on poker available.

“I’m happy to be inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside my friend Linda Johnson who has been the most fervent ambassador for poker for as long as I can remember,” Greenstein said in a press release on his induction.

Johnson, 58, won a WSOP bracelet in 1997 in a seven-card razz event, making her one of only 15 women with a WSOP victory in an open event. She has made seven WSOP final tables. She is better known as “The First Lady of Poker,” first as the owner and publisher of Card Player magazine starting in 1993. From there, she helped start several poker projects, such as the World Poker Industry Conference, the World Poker Players Conference, and the Tournament Directors Association. She was also the studio announcer for the first six seasons of the World Poker Tour.

The two members were among 10 nominated by the general public; a 35-person panel made up of existing hall of fame members and members of the poker media selected Greenstein and Johnson from the final 10. The eight finalists who were not inducted included Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, John Juanda, Marcel Luske, Jack McClelland, Tom McEvoy, Scotty Nguyen and Huck Seed.

Both will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame on Tuesday, November 8, at the Rio in Las Vegas right before the final table of the World Series of Poker main event resumes with three-handed play.

The Hall of Fame now has 42 members; Johnson is just the second woman to be inducted.

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 2586.96
2. Eugene Katchalov 2495.42
3. Bertrand Grospellier 2477.27
4. Jason Mercier 2390.62
5. Sorel Mizzi 2344.31
6. Fabrice Soulier 2257.90
7. Thomas Marchese 2058.11
8. Juha Helppi 2031.39
9. Shawn Buchanan 2006.75
10. Scott Seiver 2003.33
The skinny: Erik Seidel assumes the No. 1 spot — he had a 12th-place finish at a WSOP Europe event, but he benefited more from other players losing points in the GPI. Jason Mercier, who was No. 1 here a month ago, dropped down to No. 4 despite a fourth-place and a ninth-place finish at events at the World Series of Poker Europe. Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, who has been No. 1 earlier this year, continues to hang around the top of the rankings and notched a fifth-place finish in the WSOPE.
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. Ben Lamb
5. Phil Hellmuth
6. Daniel Negreanu
7. Bertrand Grospellier
8. John Juanda
9. Vanessa Selbst
10. Jake Cody
The skinny: Mercier continues to hold down the top spot in The Nuts, and there’s little argument in the poker world about the fact that Mercier belongs on top. The biggest change was Phil Ivey leaving the rankings — he hasn’t played live or online in months, so the man many think is the best in the game had to drop out almost by default. Negreanu moved up four spots to No. 6 on the back of his strong performance in the World Championship of Poker. But Negreanu hasn’t done much in the past month, so he may be set to drop the next time the rankings come out. Cody made the rankings for the first time, and he is likely to move up after a final table appearance at the WSOPE main event.
Check out the rankings: At ESPN.com.

Card Player

About the rankings: Card Player Magazine’s rankings for its player of the year award.
The latest rankings (top 10):
1. Chris Moorman
2. Sam Stein
3. Marvin Rettenmaier
4. Elio Fox
5. Galen Hall
6. Eugene Katchalov
7. Matthew Waxman
8. Erik Seidel
9. Maxim Lykov
10. Alessio Isaia
The skinny: There were big changes in this one after the WSOP Europe, with the top two players in the main event benefitting the most. The event’s runner-up, Chris Moorman, moved up to No. 1 in the rankings from No. 5. And the ME champ, Elio Fox, is No. 4. Mercier and November Niner Ben Lamb are among those who dropped out of the top 10.
Check out the rankings: At Card Player’s web site.

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. Jason Mercier
2. Eugene Katchalov
3. Matthew Waxman
4. Sorel Mizzi
5. Marvin Rettenmaier
6. Sam Stein
7. Bertrand Grospellier
8. Will Failla
9. Shawn Buchanan
10. Maxim Lykov
The skinny: Mercier’s strong WSOP Europe allowed him to move into No. 1 in these rankings, moving ahead of previous leader Katchalov. ElkY checks in at No. 7 after not being in the top 20 the last time these rankings were released.
Check out the rankings: At BLUFF’s website.