NOTE: this poll is semi-scientific at best, and like my first fake ID, “for entertainment purposes only.”
Phil Ivey recently dropped off ESPN’s admittedly subjective player rankings, The Nuts. ESPN’s was the last of such lists to still include the self-exiled Full Tilt Pro in their Top 10. (Homers.)
I found this out via PartTime Poker, which seems to be doing a pretty cool monthly bit over there — breaking down player standings across four different ranking systems, each with their own calculation biases and level of subjectivity in determining the best poker players in the world.
Perhaps surprisingly, I still recognize most at least half of the 21 names comprising the four different Top 10s … but I’ll bet the rest of the world surely doesn’t. There’s a reason, after all, Jason Mercier doesn’t even have a Q-score.
So with subjectivity in mind … best player, winningest player, field strength, skill measurement, tournament luck, run-good ratios, late position likability, backer’s credit score …
Josh E (right) went from Southern circuit grinder to playing heads-up “live minus five” in Las Vegas for more than $600k and a magic bracelet on my iPhone.
The WSOP-Circuit has been good to many a Pokeratier and Pokeratizen alike. It’s a place where minor-league heroes are born … and some build the bankroll to live life as a real pro. With the Global poker year coming to a close this week, for so many serious players it’s time to think about starting all over and hitting the grind again.
(Only this go-round will be completely without Sunday Millions or Rush Poker bankroll supplements.)
Players get a month-and-a-half break … and then it’s off to Bossier City — “Shreveport,” we used to call it — for the beginning of the 8th incarnation of the WSOP-Circuit season. (Texas politicians take note: the Dallas market alone is so juicy that the WSOP added a second stop to serve it.)
| TOURNAMENT DATES |
LOCATION |
| Sep 8-19, 2011 |
Horseshoe Bossier City (Louisiana) |
| Sep 29 – Oct 10, 2011 |
Horseshoe Southern Indiana |
| Oct 13-24, 2011 |
Horseshoe Hammond (Chicago) |
| Oct 27 – Nov 7, 2011 |
IP Casino Resort & Spa (Biloxi, MS) |
| Nov 10-21, 2011 |
Harveys Lake Tahoe |
| Dece 1-12, 2011 |
Harrah’s Atlantic City |
| Jan 12-23, 2012 |
Choctaw Durant (Dallas/Oklahoma) |
| Jan 19-30, 2012 |
Caesars Palace (Las Vegas) |
| Feb 2-13, 2012 |
Harrah’s Tunica (Mississippi) |
| Feb 16-27, 2012 |
Palm Beach Kennel Club (Florida) |
| Mar 1-12, 2012 |
Caesars Atlantic City |
| Mar 15-26, 2012 |
Harrah’s Rincon (San Diego area) |
| Mar 29 – Apr 9, 2012 |
Horseshoe Council Bluffs (Iowa) |
| Apr 12-23, 2012 |
Harrah’s St. Louis |
| Apr 26 – May 7, 2012 |
Harrah’s Chester (Philadelphia) |
| May 10 – May 21, 2012 |
Harrah’s New Orleans |
Below the jump for the details on what’s different this year. New point system, adios $10ks, “12 rings in 12 days.” New stop, obv. It’s Rounders & Road Gamblers — hey, that sounds like “social gaming” — brought to you by the World Series of Poker!
[Beow-neow-neow beow-neow neow … ]
The WPT has its own version of a lower-stakes Circuit tour, of course — in similar locations — and now Epic/Heartland seems to be stepping in to make something more of the recreational-to-semi-pro players who swarm from up to 250 miles away to compete in mini-poker festivals wrapped around a $1,500-ish main event.
It’s arguably the most competitive part of the live poker landscape in the US these days. Wonder if all WSOP Circuit events will offer free Wi-Fi.
More…
