Throughout the course of the summer, the moves to the online poker’s rankings were subtle. Players took longer breaks, went on vacation or spent time grinding the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

All of that changed when the PokerStars 2018 World Championship of Online Poker began. The players flocked to the online tournament scene, generating a total prize pool of nearly $100 million, and got busy earning life-changing amounts of money.

When the tournament swings can be big, so can the shifts in the PocketFives rankings. Some of the performances of top PocketFivers during WCOOP resulted in a lot of movement in the rankings.

Back Into The Top 100

There were 16 players who, over the course of WCOOP’s two weeks, worked their way from outside the top 100 to sitting inside of it.

Steve ‘MrTimCaum’ O’ Dwyer (+262, #33)

Steve ‘MrTimCaum’ O’Dwyer, the regular high-roller with live earnings approaching $24 million, absolutely crushed the online scene during September. Playing out of his adopted home of Ireland, O’ Dwyer picked up his first WCOOP title in Event-57-H ($2,100 No Limit Hold’em Eight Max) for a massive $227,101 score and 1,154.99 PLB points. He also broke a career-high cash with his $896,610 victory during partypoker’s POWERFEST. O’Dwyer’s rankings shot up 262 places to #33 in the world, which is, surprisingly, a career-best for one of the most consistent crushers in the world.

Sergio ‘zcedrick’ Aido (#30)

Another easily recognizable name making major moves in the rankings was Sergio ‘zcedrick’ Aido. Originally from Spain, but playing out of the UK, Aido flew past $4 million in lifetime earnings with his September online play. Coming off a four-month online poker hiatus, Aido continually racked up the PLB points with 16 qualifying tournaments. He picked up two six-figure scores in September with his standout being his final table finish in WCOOP Event-62-H ($25,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller) for $156,224. Aldo returned to his online account ranked number #209 and by rising 179 spots, made it the furthest into the top 100, landing at #30, a career-best.

‘simon1471’ (+697, #76)

Hailing from the UK, ‘simon1471’ made the largest leap from outside the top 100 to earning a spot inside of it. Since the start of September, ‘simon1471’ has accumulated 20 PLB qualifying cashes highlighted by a WCOOP victory in Event-37-H ($1,050 No Limit Hold’em Turbo) for $98,678 and 747.66 PLB points. In total, he rocketed 697 spots from #776 to a career-high ranking of #76. His stellar series makes him the #10-ranked grinder in the UK and he has now accumulated over $1.785 million in career earnings.

Major Movers

There were a number of players who made massive jumps in the rankings during WCOOP either due to a major score or simply due to increased online activity.

Chance ‘Chances Cards’ Kornuth (+9,285)

U.S. based Chance ‘Chances Cards’ Kornuth, is a well-known live tournament beast with over $5.9 million in live earnings. This WCOOP, he once again proved he can make moves both live and online. His string of WCOOP cashes is nothing less than impressive. He registered 31 PLB qualifying cashes in a row on PokerStars in September raising his ranking from #9752 to #476. How was Kornuth ranked close to 10,000? He essentially took an entire year off from the worldwide player pool between WCOOP’s. That’s not to say he wasn’t playing online as he did win the WSOP.com $3,200 High Roller Online Bracelet event. The question is will Kornuth disappear from the world online scene for another year now that WCOOP is over?

Shaun ’shaundeeb’ Deeb (+1766)

Another American superstar, Shaun ‘shaundeeb’ Deeb found success grinding WCOOP outside of his home country. Deeb booked two wins during the series. The first was in WCOOP Event-22-H ($1,050 PLO8 Eight Max) for over $38,000. Then he backed that up with his second victory in Event-59-H ($2,100 PLO8 Six Max) for another $69,011. In total, the former #1-ranked player earned over $176,000 for the series and shot up 1,766 places to his current rank of #284. Deeb now has over $6.7 million in career online earnings to go with his $6 million in live earnings.

Big Names On The Rise

Some of the biggest names in poker found themselves on the list of top rankings risers.

Joseph ‘subiime’ Cheong (+903)

Former WSOP final table participant and guy with zero interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Joseph ‘subiime’ Cheong put together 25 PLB qualifying cashes to rise 903 spots, back into the top 500 at #436. A former top-20 ranked player, Cheong, like many Americans, hadn’t played in the worldwide player pool since last May’s SCOOP.

Sami ‘LarsLuzak’ Kelopuro

One of Finland’s most well-known online nosebleed grinders, Sami ‘LarsLuzak’ Kelopuro, may not be mixing it up with Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey in ‘Rail Heaven’ anymore but he did have himself a profitable WCOOP. He finished runner-up in Event-54-H ($10,300 8-Game High Roller) for $150,000. He also made a final table appearance in Event-16-H ($25,000 PLO Six Max) for $135,274. Kelopuro cashed for five-figures of better 8-times during the series and shot up 149 spots to his current ranking of #36 in the world, another career-high.