Poker Articles

The new rankings have arrived, and with them we now have some new players to herald, new issues to discuss, new sources of controversy, and plenty of excitement all around.  Much of that excitement is focused on the new number 1 ranked player, Tmay420, whose results over the last three months have been unmatched.

Tmay420 (Tim West in the real world) has been a ranked player for several months at PocketFives.com, but just after the 2006 WSOP, he took his game to a new level.  Between August 10th and October 11th, he had twelve 5-figure scores, seven of which were first place finishes.  Included were two wins in the Paradise $100k Guaranteed and a win in the Stars $150, all of which worth were more than $20k.  For a complete list of Tmay420's cashes, go to http://www.pocketfives.com/?user=tmay420 and check out his recent scores.

PocketFives.com has for a long time been the leader in online tournament player rankings, and part of that has always been due to the factoring in of perceived skill among the top players.  Now we finally have a defined way of quantifying those perceptions.  Nearly 100 successful internet players took the time to vote in a pro poll that helps to shape the new ranking system.  Included in those who took the time to vote were 17 of the current top 20 players, many of whom ranked as many as 100 players (some ranked even more than that).  We're thrilled that so many of the best players out there have decided to be a part of the rankings process, and their involvement will undoubtably lead to a lot of interesting debate on the boards.  We'll soon have a way to display an updated list of exactly which players are participating in the pro poll.

A few issues have come up, one of which regards the pro pollers' potential to be biased toward players with a higher PLB (PocketFives Leaderboard) score.  One issue that concerns me more is whether or not pro pollers will continue to stay active over the months to come.  For this system to work, we need participation, and we will be busting our butts to make sure that we have a significant number of voters each week.

Another issue is that of the time period for the PLB.  Many people feel that 3 months is too short a period to track, and we're in the process of exploring solutions that will allow older scores to count but still place emphasis on more recent performance.  I believe, though, that the three-month PLB has done a standout job of identifying top players.  41 of the top 50 in the three-month PLB were ranked under the old system, which generally guaged longer-term results.  We will of course always be looking for ways to make it better, and I believe we'll continue to be successful in improving the system.

So there it is, and it's all laid out for anyone to see now.  The PocketFives.com rankings are now automated, and the future is wide open for online tournament players.  Win your way into the top 200 of the PLB, and soon you may see your own name on that list.

Good luck, everyone.