This week the PocketFives.com Worldwide Rankings got stirred up to the brim with countless top players making efforts to improve their status. In the top ten alone, three players stepped up their game. The biggest story of all, though, is apestyles (pictured) who is now in the elite tier of the top five. Within the first six days of January, he accrued two more 5-figure scores, taking 1st place in a PokerStars $109 Rebuy for $30,030 and 5th in the Full Tilt $750,000 Guaranteed for $35,494. Not a bad start in 2008 for our 5th-ranked player.

The other two players making an impact in the top ten are ch0ppy (pictured left) and THE__D__RY. ch0ppy slid into 7th as he took 4th in the PokerStars Sunday Second Chance for $14,694. THE__D__RY blasted his way into the top ten and is now ranked 9th. Precisely one week after he cashed for over $46k in the FullTilt $750,000 Guaranteed, he won a Stars $109 Rebuy for another $37,400. He too is off to an impressive start in 2008.

In the top 20, rdcrsn and Tmay420 (pictured right) are on the rise again. Rdcrsn moved into 13th (previously 15th) after taking 6th in a Stars $109 Rebuy. Tmay, the original #1 player in the PocketFives automated rankings, climbed four spots closer to his original ranking and is now 16th. He won his first tournament of 2008 before most realized the New Year had even begun, winning the Stars $50,000 Guaranteed for $14,946.

In the top 50, a flurry of players are on the move, including dabadestchic (pictured left), phatcat, and goodvibe. Dabadestchic improved his standing by five and overtook 31st in the rankings. He won a Stars $109 Rebuy for $17,280 and also placed 6th in the Stars Super Tuesday for $12,500. Phatcat also improved by five and is currently 36th. On January 3rd, he won a Stars $109 Rebuy for $22,380. Goodvibe moved into 41st.

Also making noise in the top 50 are Rizen, intervention, and All In At 420 (pictured right). Rizen made his way into 44th, five better than before, after placing 4th in the UltimateBet $75,000 Guaranteed. Intervention has had several impressive scores including three final tables. He finished 7th in a Stars $109 Rebuy, and 5th in the FT $1k Monday, and he won the Stars $25,000 Guaranteed. These three final tables earned him just shy of $35,000. All In At 420 has had seven cashes since the last update, and every single one of those cashes was also a final table. Most notably he placed 4th in the Stars Wednesday Hundred Fifty Grand for $14,954 and won the FullTilt $55,000 Guaranteed for $19,875. This gave him a huge surge in the rankings, and he is now 50th (previously 71st).

In the latter half of the rankings update, some big scores have enabled several players to skyrocket. Hoodini10 (pictured left) won a Stars $109 Rebuy on January 1st for $33,600, facilitating his move up 17 places into 55th. Fu_15 has been on an incredible tear lately and is showing no signs of letting up as he cashed for over $50k since the last update. He won the FullTilt Turbo Hundo and the FullTilt Fifty-Fifty, but his biggest score was in the Stars $215 Rebuy where he placed 3rd and won nearly $20k. As a result, he is up 23 spots on the leaderboard and is now in 58th.

Bakes and Mkind16 (pictured right) both ascended the rankings by 19 positions. Bakes won the Stars Super Tuesday for $74,360 and is now 65th. Mkind16 had an impressive run in the Sunday Million, finishing 5th for $42,624. He is now ranked 76th. Cmoney3 won the UltimateBet $200,000 Guaranteed for $46,772 and in doing so moved into 78th, a whole 20 spots better than before. Balla-B13 advanced 10 spots behind a win in the FullTilt $20,000 (rebuy) and a 5th place finish in the UB $75,000 Guaranteed. He is now 89th.

New to the rankings or re-entering the rankings are Mossified84, PURPLEPILS99, and sketchy1. Mossified84 took 2nd in the FullTilt Sunday Brawl for $40,432, effectively making him the new 87th ranked player in the world. PURPLEPILS99 won the FullTilt $1k Monday for $41,850, catapulting him back into the rankings at 95th.

That does it for this weeks update, but be sure to check back next week for all the latest news on the PocketFives.com Online Tournament Player Rankings.