For this edition of PocketFives Closer Look, we will be traveling to Nova Scotia, located on the southeastern coast of Canada not too far from the U.S. state of Maine. As is the case with just about any province in Canada, hockey tends to be the most popular topic of conversation. However, poker has become an area of great interest as well. With a respectable ring of homegames erupting and the Casino Nova Scotia in Halifax, it seems to make sense that some great players are emerging from this special maritime province. I think it's time to get to know some of these top competitors. Here are the top six players from Nova Scotia:

1. Owen "ocrowe" Crowe (pictured top) from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He had a superb Summer in 2006, defined by two wins in the PokerStars $215 Rebuy and a win in the Sunday Million. In 2007, he put together seven 5-figure scores online that added up to over $145k. In addition, he has had over $122k in live cashes since 2005, proving he has the ability to adapt his game to the varying conditions of live play. As of the writing of this article, ocrowe has 3,138 PLB points and a cushion of almost 1,000 points between himself and the next man, who happens to be his own favorite player.

2. Cory "UGOTPZD" Carroll (pictured left), also from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is known as a very strong and feared player. He has had several deep finishes in the Sunday Million and can be seen playing in the biggest tournaments online. In 2007, he had eight 5-figure scores online, earning him just shy of $150k. A nice number of course, but it's only a fraction of what he made via the live circuit during the same time period. He won the WSOP $5,000 NLHE Championship Event at Caesars Palace last April for more than $515,000. Less than one month later in May, Cory took 2nd in the WPT $9,700 NLHE Championships at the Mirage Poker Showdown for another $561,369. In order to finish where he did, he had to beat out the likes of Darrel "Gigabet" Dicken and Phil Ivey, both of whom were present at the final table. Finally, he made a run last July in the WSOP Main Event, finishing 91st for $67,535. So now you know why he's ocrowe's favorite player and the 2nd ranked player in his province.

3. SaltyFog, also from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The top woman in Nova Scotia, she had four wins last year including one in the FullTilt $55,000 Guaranteed for $18,975. She also won the FullTilt $24,000 Guaranteed twice. The other sites SaltyFog plays on include PokerStars and UltimateBet. If she is able to rally and pick up a few more sizeable scores, it's not inconceivable that she could pass UGOTPZD for 2nd. She trails by 460 points.

4. IronRing08 from Halifax, Nova Scotia. At only 22 years old, IronRing has made poker into quite the profitable hobby for a full-time Chemical Engineering Student. His biggest win was last July when he took 2nd in the Stars $20,000 Guaranteed, eventually chopping it for $8,200. In addition he has come close to final tabling some big Sunday tournaments. All in all, IronRing has cashed for close to $50k on PokerStars. He now has 1,120 PLB points.

5. Ben "benjamin118" Spencer from Halifax. Ben's best finish from a monetary perspective was achieved late in 2007 when he got 3rd in the FullTilt $30,000 Guaranteed for a bankroll booster worth $3,360. In December, he finished 3rd in the FullTilt $16,000 (rebuy) for $2,629 and 2nd in the FullTilt $5,500 KO Guaranteed for $1,951. Similar to IronRing, Ben is also a 22-year-old University student. In his profile, he says that he has goals of one day becoming a very accomplished poker player. With 1,022 PLB points, he is on his way and ranked 5th in all of Nova Scotia.

6. Jordan "Leafs4ever21" Gray (pictured left), also from Halifax, Nova Scotia (see a common theme?). Jordan plays a wide-range of buy-ins anywhere from $3 to $150, although he is mainly a mid-to-low stakes player. He plays the majority of his poker on Stars but has had significant wins on FullTilt as well. His most rewarding performance came last July when he won the Stars $55 NLHE for a payday of $7,263. In his short career, he has also finished 2nd in the FullTilt $14,500 Guaranteed for $4,695, 2nd in the Stars 10B Celebration [$5,000 added 6-max] for $3,976, and 3rd in the FullTilt $24,000 Guaranteed for $2,857. As a result, he has 983 PLB points and rounds out the top players in one of the most interesting provinces of Canada.

Until next time, check out how you rank amongst your city, state and more at P5s Sortable Rankings.