Poker Articles

By MattW | Published Oct 23 2007, 03:24 PM
Ask anyone from Ohio if they would prefer to be #1 in the PocketFives Sortable Rankings or have their beloved Buckeyes be  the #1 football team in the nation this year, and I'm sure they would choose the latter.  Fortunately for one player, he can have both.  In this week's Closer Look, we will be taking a trip to the Mid-West and the Buckeye State to check out the top ten ranked players in Ohio.

The top ten are an impressive and consistent bunch of hard workers.  Coming in at #1 with an 800 point lead is Keven "Stamdogg" Stammen (pictured top) from Coldwater, Ohio.  He is also ranked 56th in the PocketFives World Wide Rankings.  Keven has had multiple wins on FullTilt and PokerStars, as well as success in the live-arena.  His biggest win so far came recently when he won $24,721 in the Tilt $65k Guaranteed. This guy is no stranger to big scores, having racked up three already in October.  Although he doesn't play a large amount of tournaments, he has cashed for over $65k since last November.  When asked about the Sortable Rankings and being #1, Stam had this to say:  "It's cool and all being number one, but I just wish I had some competition.  HAHAHA!  Soggydogg was making fun of me a few weeks back because he is first in Minnesota, so I had to crush his PLB and now Soggy isn't even #1 anymore.  Go Asiandude7, and go Bucks!"  Stamdogg's results have been on steroids lately, so look for him to continue winning tournaments.  

The #2 ranked player in Ohio is David "Davidp18" Peters (pictured left, and dpeters17 on PokerStars) from Toledo.  He recently made his way back into the top 100 players ranked world-wide and is now 97th overall on PocketFives.  It seems like whenever he goes deep in a big tournament, he is able to pull off a win.  Currently he has 8 first place finishes totaling for over $208k, and he hasn't shown any sign of slowing his roll.

The next player is close on the heels of Davidp18 and trails by 248 points.  This third ranked Ohioan is Cmoney3 (pictured right) from Columbus.  Cmoney3 is a well-known poster here on PocketFives and has earned his respect through some serious wins.  His largest win was in August when he won the FullTilt $1k Monday for $79,500.  Another win like this and he will easily overtake the #2 spot and get one step closer to being at the very top of all of Ohio.  I talked to Cmoney3, and he told me this:  "I'm ok with being 3rd, dpeters and Stammdogg are two highly skilled players who put in the kind of volume it takes to be at the top.  I haven't played much recently and my score has slipped, but I expect to give Stam and dpeters competition in November and December."

Ranked #4 is Kevin "kice32" Iacofano (pictured left)  from Mentor (iacog4 on PokerStars).  He is also right in the running and is 276 points behind Cmoney3.  As 2007 comes to an end, kice32 will be remembered as having one of the largest wins by a p5'er during the year.  He won $100,636 in the FTOPS Event #3.  I talked with kice32, and he had this to say:  "I think the sortable rankings are awesome because everyone has pride in their hometown area.  With so many different people from all over the world playing, it's good to see where you break down locally.  When I look at my ranking, being number four kind of bothers me because I want to be the best in Ohio no doubt.  I know that the players ahead of me are all forces at the table, and Stamdogg is putting up beastly results lately, but I definitely hope to close that gap with some strong results in the FTOPS.  I'm still in shock from my $100k win, but it sets the bar higher and now I have goals for beating that win."

Coming in at #5 is Ross "zestfulyclean" Myers from Stow, who is a mere 185 points behind kice32.  Ross has had several big scores on PokerStars, FullTilt, and UltimateBet, including a 1st place finish in the Tilt $40k Guaranteed for $20,700.  Additionally, he has had three 2nd-place finishes in the Stars $109 Rebuy for over $45k.

The 6th ranked player is also from Stow.  Adam "A_Junglen" Junglen (pictured right) is the man with a $198,923 score.  His six-digit cash came via a win in the Stars Sunday Million in July.   The following month, he proved that he is indeed the real deal and capable of crossing over into the live arena, as he secured an even bigger score in the EPT Barcelona Open, taking 6th place and $268k.  I guess he is actually the man with a $268k score.  In addition, he has had seven 5-figure cashes online, inluding a $36,450 cash in the WCOOP-20, in which he took third.  Those scores account for another $142k to that near $200k score when calculating what he has won in the past year online.  He told me that he prefers to restrict his play online to when he feels like it and is able to enjoy it.  This has proved to be a highly profitable method and seems to have enhanced his level of concentration as he values quality over quantity.  When asked about the Sortable Rankings, he told me, "I think it's cool and it has allowed me to talk to others from around where I live."  A_Junglen is a fierce competitor, and I can only imagine the kind of results he would generate with more play.       

Lucky #7 in all of Ohio is  B_O_K_E (pictured left) from Lewis Center.  B_O_K_E is no stranger to PocketFives and can often be found posting in Poker Discussion as well as in Off Topic.  He has had first place finishes on PokerStars, FullTilt and UltimateBet.  His biggest win in the last year came on Stars when he earned $22,346 at the beginning of this year.  He has been putting in less volume lately but still competes in some of the biggest tournaments on the net.  Currently he is less than 45 points behind A_Junglen.

DumpingKGB (pictured right) from Perrysburg, Ohio is the #8 ranked player.  He has become a familiar face on PokerStars, and less than a month ago he took 4th place in the WCOOP-20, winning $27,338.  On top of this, he has also had a solid score in the FullTilt $1k Monday, finishing 2nd and pocketing $37,620.  I spoke with DumpingKGB, and he shared some of his thought about the Sortable Rankings with me:  "I think having the Sortable Rankings is a very good idea.  Sometimes people get overlooked who are very good players just because they are not highly ranked among the best of the best in the normal rankings.  Also, I like the fact that I know and have met a lot of the better players in Ohio so it's like a competition in itself to try and stay at the top.  Lastly, one of my good friends davidp18 and I were ranked 1st and 2nd earlier in the year for the Ohio Leaderboard.  We play online together a lot and discuss hands, so it was pretty cool to be the top 2 for a while."

#9 is GhettoFabolous from Westerville.  He is known as an up and coming young aggressive player.  Less than three months ago, he took down the PokerStars Super Tuesday for $80,750.  This month he came close to another big score but fell short when he finished 11th in the Tilt $750k Guaranteed.  GhettoFabolous is less than 100 points away from moving up into 8th.  I spoke with him, and he had this to say about the Sortable Rankings:  "I love the ranking system, it allows us to stack ourselves against all of the other players....my goal is to reach number one in Ohio, and I feel that I am highly capable of doing this."  

The last player to make the top ten is sandler1860 from Dayton.  He plays a variety of buy-ins and has had several wins.  His biggest score to date came to him as a truly bittersweet accomplishment.  At the end of September, he finished 51st in the WCOOP-Main Event for $18,738, but I'm sure he can't help but wonder what could have been.  

Well, there you have it.  The top ten players from the Buckeye State.  Next week it could be your turn, so have a picture ready.  For now, you can see where you stand in the P5s Sortable Rankings.  And remember, GOOOO BUCKS!