The PocketFives.com Sortable Rankings for the state of Florida have become extremely competitive over the last few months, featuring major scores by some of online poker's best tournament players. Although the top spot has long been occupied by the world's current #1 online tournament player Chad "M8kingmoves" Batista (right), who has close to 8,000 PLB Points, there has been quite a bit of maneuvering within the Top 10.
It goes without saying that "M8kingmoves" had one of the most impressive years in online poker history in 2007. With outright victories in the Full Tilt $1 Million Guaranteed, the PokerStars $1k Super Tuesday, the Full Tilt $1k Monday (twice), and a win in the Full Tilt New Year's Resolution, Chad has the results to justify his #1 ranking, along with his comfortable lead over the pack in Florida.
However, the Florida Sortable Rankings have seen a shake-up in the Top 10, led by Brian "SN8WMAN" Hawkins (left), who has been on a tear since winning the PokerStars Monthly Sunday Million ($500 buyin) in late January for $278,500. Brian also took down the PokerStars $100 rebuy tournament on March 9th for a cool $41k, and is currently ranked #2 in Florida with 5,632 PLB Points. Thayer "THAY3R" Rasmussen is in 3rd Place for the state of Florida, with wins in the Ultimate Bet $75k Guaranteed and PokerStars $25k Guaranteed so far this year. His online poker career got a huge boost back in June 2007, when he won the Full Tilt $1k Monday and placed 4th in the PokerStars Quarterly Million for a combined $150,000.
Cesar "makavelyces" Fuentes captured the Triple Crown in January, winning tournaments on UltimateBet, Full Tilt, and PokerStars within a week. He stormed onto the scene in late '07 with victories in the PokerStars Nightly Hundred Grand and $215 rebuy tournaments, along with a 3rd Place finish in the $1k Super Tuesday for a combined $117,000. He's currently ranked #4 in Florida with nearly 5,000 PLB Points. Right behind him is "TheFitGuy," whose incredible run towards the end of 2007 found him in the winner's circle in the FTOPS Event #10 for $214,000.
Stuart "THEDONATOR" Paterson (right) is a long-time PocketFiver who's been a top online tournament player for years. Stuart took down the Full Tilt $1k Monday and the PokerStars $100 rebuy in January, and is currently ranked #94 in the world in online play; and #6 in the state of Florida. Another long-time P5'er, Adam "Roothlus" Levy has come on strong so far in 2008, with wins in the Full Tilt $32k Guaranteed and PokerStars $50 rebuy. He also final-tabled the Full Tilt $1k Monday back in January. "Roothlus" is #7 in Florida with 4,605 PLB Points.
The final spots in Florida's Top 10 are occupied by extremely competitive online tournament players. "Imustcall" is currently #8 after final-tabling the Full Tilt $750k Guaranteed for nearly $60k in January. Corey "muchaka" Cheresnick (left) placed 3rd in the FTOPS Event #10 for $148k back in February, and Grayson "the_dean22" Nichols is currently ranked #10 in Florida after reaching more than 30 online tournament final tables so far in 2008.
The Sortable PLB for the state of Florida is as follows:
(as of 7:30pm CT on March 13th)
1. M8kingmoves: 7,974 PLB Points
2. SN8WMAN: 5,632
3. THAY3R: 5,133
4. makavelyces: 4,978
5. TheFitGuy: 4,854
6. THEDONATOR: 4,646
7. Roothlus: 4,605
8. Imustcall: 4,346
9. muchaka: 4,281
10. the_dean22: 4,267
