BeL0WaB0Ve made online poker history on Wednesday, becoming the fifth ever number 1 ranked player on PocketFives.com, as well as just the second number 1 under the new automated system. It really comes as no surprise to many who have followed him over the years---he has consistently stood out as one of the very best online MTT players for well over a year, and while many other players have come and gone, BeL0W has never fallen off the radar. When discussing the consistency of Bel0W's excellence, we can't fail to mention that he's been ranked in the top 5 on our site for 8 months straight. He moved up to the 5th spot on April 24th and has never once looked back. He was number 2 when we first moved to the automated rankings.
BeL0W has had a nice December so far, including three 5 figure cashes on PokerStars---wins in the $10 rebuy and $100 rebuy and a 2nd place finish in the nightly $150---and another on UB, where he finished 5th in the $250k Guaranteed for $14k. He had another 5 figure cash right before the new month, when he took 2nd in another Stars $100 rebuy---the same day he won the Full Tilt $150. Overall, he's just killing it right now, his past performance shows that it's highly likely he'll continue to show us more of the same.
The past number ones on this site have been brsavage, JohnnyBax, Ari, and Tmay420. It's undoubtably an elite group that BeL0WaB0Ve joins this week, and most would agree that he's well deserving of the distinction.
Other action in the rankings this week included a big jump into the top 20 by ChuckSty, a recent triple crown winner who is definitely one of the hottest players out there right now. His week included 2nd and 4th place finishes in the Full Tilt $150 daily tournaments. JohnnyBax and Rizen also jumped back into the top 20.
Two-time triple crown winner gator93 moved up 11 spots to number 30, having pulled off five 4-figure scores and a $19k win in the UB $500 in the past week.
Another well known top player, scarface_79, moved up 15 spots to number 36. His week included a win in the UB $200 and a 3rd place finish in a $100 rebuy on Stars.
Other noteable risers in the top 50 this week include Martine23 (up 6 spots to 41), Hoodini10 (moved up 22 spots to 42 after his incredible run in the $100 rebuys on Stars), Deuce2High (Triple Crown winner, up 9 spots to 45), mr. menlo (up 11 spots to 46), and arbianight (up 17 spots to 49).
A few new players cracked the top 100 this week as well, including isuck123, who's been ranked plenty in the past. Moorman1 (91st) is the highest in ranking of the new entries, and in order, 96-100 were MavFish, Andy McLEOD, YoungSupremacy, Squirrely1, and KUSH. Squirrely1 has also been ranked in the past, and has been a force for quite some time in the biggest tournaments on Stars.
Atimos wins November PLB; Continues rise in rankings
Atimos was the highest ranked player to move up more than a couple spots this week. He moved up all the way from 20th to 14th, due in part to the fact that his pro poll score has greatly improved since his win in the Sunday Million. He was also the first monthly PLB winner on PocketFives.com, and he'll be playing the December PLB winner in a heads up match for $1k in January.
The former Cascadia College student told me that he didn't think he had much of a chance at winning the PLB, given that it was the lowest volume he'd played in a month since he started playing MTTs full time in September. His win in the Sunday Million accounted for more than 1/3 of the points he accumulated in the month, though he still had to pull off some other strong results to win the race, including a $14k win in the $20 rebuy on Stars and a whopping $54k cash for 5th place in the Full Tilt $500 event.
Atimos got started his poker career in a modest way, similar to the way many of the top young players have worked their way up. He was playing freerolls and play money games on UB in January 05, and he eventually won 200 Ultimate Points in freerolls and built it up in Ultimate Points ring games until he could start buying into micro tournaments.
By January 2006, he had a substantial bankroll, and he was playing LHE cash games as high as 50/100. "I played it very seriously," he told me. "I grinded within my bankroll and all the while padded that bankroll."
In the spring, he took the plunge into tournament poker, finding it more fun than the cash games, and almost right away, he went on a big run on Paradise Poker, which included a $25k 3rd place finish in his first ever $200 rebuy tournament. He followed that up the next day with another $200 rebuy final table, and his MTT career was off and running.
Atimos admits his game was less than solid at that time, and that he was lacking experience in a lot of the common situations that come up in MTTs---a story that many successful MTT players will tell about their first taste of success.
It looks like he's fixed up most of the leaks that were there, though, as he's now found his place among the best on the net.
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