While each of the four “regional” brackets in the #1 Number One contest is comprised of online poker’s all-time greats, the Diamonds bracket could easily be dubbed the “group of death”. Not only does it feature some of the most successful players to have ever reached #1 on PocketFives, but it also features some of the most popular players in online poker history.

Nicolas ‘PokerKaiser’ Fierro holds the #1 seed in the Diamonds bracket, but his path to victory isn’t an easy one. The 16 players have a combined $111 million in lifetime online earnings, the most of any of the four brackets, and six of the 16 players have cracked the $10 Million earnings mark. Fierro will need to navigate through the likes of Griffin ‘Flush_Entity’ Benger, Calvin ‘cal4268’Anderson, and Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen – each of whom could run into one another as the contest advances through the subsequent round.

The bracket also features three of the best players that Brazil has ever produced: Yuri Martins Dzivielevski, the current #1 player, Joao ‘joaomathias’ Mathias Baumgarten, and Caio Pessagno. Shaun Deeb, thanks to his PocketFives Legacy Award at the 2020 Global Poker Awards, earned a first-round bye.

Enter the #1 Number One Contest Now!

PokerKaiser (#1) vs P0KERPR033 (#16)

Nicolas ‘PokerKaiser’ Fierro has been ranked #1 six different times, one of just six players to have done that, and his 24 combined weeks in the top spot is the tenth best. He has earned $12.6 Million online and with 21 Triple Crowns, is the only player within striking distance of the all-time leader in that category, Chris Moorman (30). His first-round opponent, Jim ‘P0KERPR033’ Campbell could be a bit of a sleeper pick. He was #1 for just one week in July 2007, but with $5.7 Million in lifetime earnings, most of it earned before Black Friday, he has the OG status that could earn him an upset victory.

Flush_Entity (#2) vs mindgamer (#15)

Griffin ‘Flush_Entity’ Benger could be one of the most popular players to ever hold down the top spot on PocketFives. He did it five different times and has spent 32 weeks at #1 and has earned six Triple Crowns. He last held the #1 spot in May 2014. Since then he’s gone on to have great success on the live felt, including his seventh-place finish at the 2016 WSOP Main Event. Stefan ‘mindgamer’ Jedlicka comes in as a #15 seed, but only because he stopped tracking his results on PocketFives. Jedlicka was #1 for two weeks in December 2013. Since then he’s won the PokerStars Sunday Million, WCOOP, and SCOOP titles.

Yuri Martins (#3) vs 1bigacehole (#14)

Yuri Martins Dzivielevski enters the #1 Number One as a #3 seed and with a ton of momentum after taking hold of the #1 spot for a third time on March 23. Dzivielevski has more than $11 Million in lifetime earnings and has enjoyed some time in the poker spotlight the past few years thanks to his bracelet wins in 2019 and 2020 and his deep run in the 2019 WSOP Main Event. Meanwhile, TJ ‘1bigacehole’ Ulmer is another player to have held the #1 spot for a single week. Ulmer grabbed the brass ring in August 2012. He’s since cracked the $10 Million in lifetime earnings mark and continues to pile up cashes even though he’s no longer tracking on PocketFives.

cal42688 (#4) vs telks (#13)

Any fan of March Madness will tell you that #4 seeds make it to the Final Four all time. In fact, it’s happened 13 times with one of those turning into a National Championship. If you had to pick a #4 seed to follow that path, it’s probably Calvin ‘cal42688’ Anderson. His eight different turns at #1 have him third all-time and he’s spent a combine 40 weeks on top. He’s dominated poker’s biggest stages with 10 PokerStars SCOOP titles and another pair of WCOOP titles. His first-round opponent, Michael ‘telks’ Telker, was #1 for just two weeks in December 2011 but has more than $11 Million in earnings and a Triple Crown to his credit.

Big Huni (#5) vs joaomathias (#12)

Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen took hold of the #1 ranking in January 2015 and held on to it for five weeks in his only reign. He’s earned seven Triple Crowns in his career and has nearly $13 Million in lifetime earnings. He’s also successfully transitioned to playing live High Rollers against some of the other best players in the world while continuing to grind online. Joao Mathias Baumgarten isn’t a cupcake opponent though. Two different times he was ranked #1 and he’s won five Triple Crowns and has amassed more than $10 Million in lifetime earnings.

Romeopro (#6) vs Annette_15 (#11)

Seven Triple Crowns, three Monthly Leaderboard wins, $12.5 Million in earnings, and five weeks at #1 make Roman ‘Romeopro’ Romanovsky a legitimate threat to advance against any of his potential opponents. To do that though he’s going to have to get through the only female player in the field, Annette ‘Annette_15’ Obrestad. As far as online poker legends go, Obrestad is firmly entrenched as one of the most admired. Her ascent to #1 in January 2007, followed by her 13 weeks on top, her 180-person SNG win where she didn’t look at her hole cards, were all amplified by her 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event win.

pessagno (#8) vs veeea (#9)

For many years over the last decade, the PocketFives Rankings have been a battlefield for Russian and Brazilian grinders and this first-round match-up puts two of those players head-to-head. Brazilian Caio Pessagno took over the #1 spot for the first time in July 2013 and held onto it for three weeks. He grabbed it back from Calvin Anderson two weeks later and spent eight weeks at #1. Artem ‘veeea’ Vezhenkov is the most highly decorated Russian in PocketFives history. Vezhenkov has more than $10 Million in earnings, four Triple Crowns, and is the only Russian to be ranked #1.

Make your picks in the PocketFives #1 Number One Contest – entries due by Midnight ET on April 2. Then make sure to follow @PocketFives on Twitter to get your votes in!”