Brazil’s Bruno ‘brunovolks’ Volkmann is on the verge of a breakthrough.

Volkmann is a key member of the trio of Brazilians who have been occupying the upper echelons of the Online Poker Rankings for weeks on end. Of course, there’s 2020 Rising Star of the Year, Brunno ‘bbotteon’ Botteon who, this week, continued his reign as the #1-ranked player in the world for the fifth week running. Then there’s Yuri ‘Yuri Martins’ Dzivieleski, the superstar MTT professional who sits at #5, looking to make another run at the top spot which he last held in 2015.

Volkmann, currently ranked at #6, has been grinding relentlessly and reaping the rewards of major scores. Throughout the last half of 2020 and right into the New Year, his results have put him in a position to rise back into the worldwide top-5.

In recent months, some of Volkmann’s biggest scores in his career have taken place while battling in the weekly $10K buy-in Super MILLION$ tournament on the GGPoker network. In September 2020, Volkmann locked up one of the biggest scores of his career when he outlasted a tough final table that included Jans Arends, Daniel Dvoress, and Matthias Eibinger to capture the $564,947 first-place prize.

He was back at a Super MILLION$ final table in November where he finished in fourth place, good for another $179,542 and 592.04 PLB points. Since the start of the Super MILLION$ weekly tournament, Volkmann has finished in the money six times, reached four final tables, and earned over $965,000.

While his MILLION$ scores have helped see his career online earnings soar north of $7.8 million, it’s his regular grind that has helped him rack up the PLB points necessary to sit in contention for a top-5 spot. December 27, Volkmann wrapped up 2020 a win in the PokerStars High Roller Club $530 Bounty Builder High Roller for $44,297 and 574.89 PLB points. At the very same time, he finished in fourth place in the PokerStars Blowout Series $5,200 NLHE High Roller for $93,799 and 574.89 PLB points.

As good as December was for Volkmann, things have only gotten better in January. He kicked off the year by besting the 194-player field in the Blowout Series Event #28 ($2,100 NLHE, PKO) for $34,173 and 440.45 PLB points and then went on a deep run in the January 10 edition of the PokerStars High Roller Club $1,050 Sunday HR for $13,456 plus 186.93 PLB points.

The recently completed Blowout Series continued to be a source of impressive results for Volkmann as he picked up back-to-back five-figure scores in some of the series final events. He went on a deep run in Event #68 ($1,050 NLHE Thursday Thrill) and eventually finished in fourth place for $20,166. At the same time, he was heads-up in Event #71 ($530 NLHE 8-Max, HRC Daily Supersonic). He ended up as the runner-up which added another $26,308 to his bankroll.

With over a week left in the month, Volkmann’s start to 2021 includes 24 in-the-money results and more than $133,000 in earnings. His six PLB-qualified cashes resulted in 1,405.20 points added to his running total.

In order to make a push for the #1 spot, Volkmann is going to need another really big result or two. Sitting this week with 9,925 PLB points, Volkmann has plenty to keep him entrenched in the top 10, however, both Botteon and the #2-ranked Ivan ‘zufo16’ Zufic both have over 13,500 PLB points which is considerable ground to cover.

But Dzivieleski, who is right above Volkmann in the rankings is a mere 316 points ahead. Should Volkmann continue to record the same caliber of impressive results as he has already done in 2021, he may see a return to the elite section of the rankings and possibly break ground into a new career-high spot.

Worldwide Online Poker Rankings