Joao Simao (left), Calvin Anderson (center), and Steven van Zadelhoff (right) all made deep runs in the record-breaking Millionaire Maker at the WSOP.

In the illustrious history of the PocketFives Rankings, 55 different players have managed to hold down the #1 spot. This edition of the RANK & FILE focuses on how those players perform during the 2019 World Series of Poker.

Three Former #1’s Make Top 20 In The Milly Maker

After the massive, record-setting Millionaire Maker field of 8,809 played down to the top 20 there were still three former #1-ranked players in the field.

Calvin Anderson, Joao Simao, and Steven van Zadelhoff all had hopes of taking home the over $1.3 million first-place prize however, this time it wasn’t meant to be.

All three players did end up walking away with healthy five-figure scores. Anderson finished his run in 20th place for $47,820 while Simao laddered up from there, eventually falling in 16th place and banking $59,833.

van Zadelhoff just barely missed out on making the final table, when he four-bet shoved  his crippled stack with pocket sixes and lost a race against two overs. The one-time PokerStars WCOOP Main Event champion picked up $95,720 for 11th place bringing his lifetime live career earnings just shy of $1.9 million.

Paul Volpe Goes Deep In No Limit 2-7…Again

Paul ‘paulgees81’ Volpe’s nickname may be ‘The Main Event’ but the poker world may want to give him another moniker, something to do with the $10,000 No Limit 2-7 event. For the fifth time in seven years, Volpe found himself once again making money in the $10,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Championship.

Volpe has made a habit out of going deep in the pro-heavy WSOP event. Not only did he take down the whole thing in 2014 for over $253,000, but he also finished in the top 15 in 2018 and have now made the final table in 2013, 2017, and again here in 2019 – finishing in seventh place for $31,556.

Volpe has made $346,668 in the $10K No Limit 2-7 since 2013, giving him a remarkable 495% ROI in this event alone.

Shaun Deeb Is Keeping His Promise

Shaun Deeb is doing exactly what he said he’d do at the 2019 World Series of Poker – playing absolutely everything. Deeb has been firing in every event he can in his pursuit of back-to-back WSOP Player of the Year awards and he’s the first former #1-ranked PocketFiver to five cashes for the 2019 series.

His largest cash of the series thus far has come in Event #18 ($10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship) where he just missed out on the final table, falling in ninth place for $34,467. Deeb also found success in Event #13 ($1,500 No Limit 2-7) finishing in 16th place for $3,862.

It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to know that Deeb also made a deep run in the second online bracelet event of the year, Event #24 ($600 Pot Limit Omaha 6-Handed) where he ended his run in 13th place for $5,647.

Despite picking up a number of results, he has yet to lock down the larger scores it is going to take to propel him up the POY leaderboard. He currently sits ranked #35 on that list.

EVENT POSITION WINNINGS
The Big 50 – $500 No Limit Hold’em 3597th $797.00
$1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball 16th $3,862.00
$10,000 Omaha H/L 8 Championship 9th $34,467.00
$600 Pot Limit Omaha – Online 13th $5,647.00
$1,500 8 Game Mix Six Handed 82nd $2,257.00

‘Lena900’ Wont Million

The current king of the worldwide online poker rankings, ’lena900’ took a break from his online grind to make his way to Las Vegas and hop into the 2019 Millionaire Maker. His 529th place finish was only the fourth WSOP cash of his career, good for $4,106.