Poker Articles

For a long time now, we at PocketFives.com have wanted to give the top players a way to voice their opinions on who the best players are among their peers.  The idea we came up with was to conduct a periodic poll in which several top players from a specific site would be able to give their input.

In the first poll, JOEYTHEB, Mr. Lobo, iloveparis, and DelaReine answered questions about the top players on Paradise.  I will be outlining their answers to those questions below:


Which players do you think win the most money on Paradise in tournaments?

This question was written with the intention of having the respondants disregard how "good" someone is.  It is just about volume. 

We had a wide range of answers on this question, but the concensus picks (3 of the 4 agreed) were Soupie, JOEYTHEB, and leggggggggggy.  brsavage, schnorkus (JohnnyBax), BamaEd, Mr. Lobo, spencerman, and SamENole each got mention from 2 of the 4 respondants, and divingduck, NSXT2, Wachovia, Paushtero, Weapon X, DelaReine, scgolfer, Kill-Bill, foshio, and JJProdigy were also mentioned.

DelaReine commented that BamaEd and Mr. Lobo have been the most consistent winners, day in and day out, over the last two years on Paradise.


Which players do you think are the best closers on the site—that is they come in first frequently if they go deep?

The respondants seemed to mostly gear their answers towards which players typically get to the top 5 once they're in the money.

JOEYTHEB was once again humble in not answering his own name, but all 3 of the others picked him as a top closer.  Spencerman also got 3 picks for this one, while soupie and leggggggggggy were each picked by 2 of the 4 pros.  Others mentioned were scgolfer, brsavage, mattg1983, BamaEd, HATJR, Schnorkus, iloveparis, and Wachovia. 

DelaReine added that mattg1983 has been the best closer on the site over the last 4-5 weeks.


Which players do you least like to see at your table?

JOEYTHEB and iloveparis had the same answer for this one--Schnorkus.  Iloveparis also mentioned BARFINE, AQUARIUS7, and ORKIDS as unpredictable players who often put him to the test.  DelaReine mentioned a few players for this one, including fellow respondants JOEYTHEB and iloveparis.  His other picks were cory!, steveeffc, and CoieMarie.


Name any players you think are really good but under a lot of people’s radar.

Divingduck was the top pick for this question, with 3 of the 4 respondants giving him mention.  Players who got 2 votes were BigGunX, Stroh80, BigHog1, and the following other players also were mentioned: Kidsheleen, Spaggy May, Scorpion, smd10431, mx4ever, Coolman2K, Crawfdad, mhoddi, VAMAN14, ontilt3, scrites1, gboro780, KAJeremy, haligon, shaktoor2, muchaka, Aquarius7, Hotelman, bottsky, jrroscoe72, MRSHARX, and The Chef.

Iloveparis said that bottsky was his number one answer by far for this question.


If everyone played the same amount of tournaments per week, who would be the biggest winner over time?

Nobody got 3 votes for this one, but Soupie and Spencerman were both picked by 2 of the respondants.  Some other picks for this one were divingduck, BamaEd, iMsoLucky0, majic, brsavage, JOEYTHEB, iloveparis, AawwNutz, and Mr. Lobo.  JOEYTHEB answered just one player, sheetsworld, noting his standout ability to stay focused throughout a long tournament.


Who’s the hottest tournament player (or players) right now?

When I asked the question, I requested that the respondants try to stick to mentioning players who have been winning a lot in the last month or two. 

Everyone who responded (Joey didn't answer this question) agreed that JOEYTHEB should be a part of this list.  2 of the 3 also mentioned iMsoLucky0 and brsavage as players who have been unstoppable as of late.  mattg1983, feldliss, JJProdigy, BodogAri, trackcitylad, scgolfer, and leggggggggggy were the others who were given as answers.


What’s the greatest accomplishment a tournament player has had on Paradise?

This question was a little different, as it was more focused on individual accomplishments rather than who the best players are.

Mr. Lobo and DelaReine both thought JOEYTHEB winning 5 Foxwoods seats was among the most impressive accomplishments.  DelaReine also mentioned a few others, including DJDaveCee winning the $20k (now the $40k) 3 times in a week, brsavage winning $100k guaranteed tournaments 3 times in 12 weeks, and spencerman winning the $100k and the $50k within a 20 hour period.  Joey was particularly happy for the player won the free million tourney, putting up nothing of his own but picking up a 7-figure prize.


Which of the top players will still be winning in another year or two?

This was the question that really cut to the chase--who among these players are legit?  Who are the ones who will not just flame out like so many seemingly great players do?

Mr. Lobo and JOEYTHEB stuck out to me in this question, as all four of the respondants made it clear that they expect their winning ways to continue.  BamaEd, Soupie, Wachovia, Schnorkus, and leggggggggggy were all near concensus picks as well, each getting mentioned 3 times.  The others that received mention were brsavage, spencerman, scgolfer, Stroh80, SamENole, HATJR, AawwNutz, iloveparis, bottsky, and feldliss.

DelaReine picks brsavage to have a monster year on Paradise in 2006.  We'll see if he's right!