Established in January 2005, the PocketFives Online Poker Rankingsoffer a look at the top online tournament players in the world right now using a sliding scoring scale that weighs recent results the most heavily. Of the almost 25,000 players tracked in the Rankings today, only an elite few have elevated themselves to the top spot. Today, we take a look at a few of these online poker stars. Check out our former #1 players page to see a complete list.

Steve gboro780 Gross

In 2009 and 2010, Gross (pictured) was a mainstay at the very top of the PocketFives Rankings, spending 55 weeks in the #1 spot. Those weeks were split into four different stretches, but looking down on everyone for the equivalent of more than a year is pretty telling as to how dominant a player Gross is.

His largest online score was for $275,600 when he won FTOPS XI Event #10 ($322 No Limit Hold’em) in 2009. Gross’ online play has slowed a bit lately, although he did win a PokerStars SCOOP event ($2,100 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Turbo Super Knockout) in May, good for over $145,000.

While Gross’ online success isn’t what it once was, he has been picking up the pace on the live tournament circuit. This year, he earned his first World Series of Poker bracelet, winning a $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Handed event, and placed 24th in the $111,111 One Drop High Roller, bringing in combined winnings of over $660,000.

Chris moorman1 Moorman

It was in late August 2008 that Moorman (pictured) made his first appearance in the #1 slot of the PocketFives Rankings. Through October 2011, he made eight more trips to the top position, spending a total of 17 weeks as the alpha dog. And while 17 weeks is not as robust a figure as, say, the 55 that Gross has accumulated, Moorman has maintained his standing among the best for years while others have fallen. Five years after he hit #1 for the first time, Moorman still ranks #21 in the world.

Also factoring into his all-time greatness is this number: $9,624,941.17. That is how much he has won in online tournament play, making him by far the most prolific tournament player in internet history. His total is nearly $3 million more than the next closest player in PocketFives’ database.

Assuming he keeps playing online, Moorman is a virtual lock to become the first player in PocketFives history to earn a $10 million cash badge. His largest cash is $235,592, earned courtesy of a third place finish in Full Tilt’s $1,000 Monday $2 Million Guaranteed in March 2011. Moorman has also won the PocketFives Triple Crown award 14 times, three more than anyone else.

In live tournament action, Moorman has earned just shy of $3 million in his career, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the 2011 WSOP Europe Main Event, where he won $1,068,690. He had a fantastic overall WSOP that year, also claiming a second place finish in the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event in Las Vegas ($716,282), a third place finish in the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event ($271,800), and an 11th place finish in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Handed event ($30,024). His success in 2011 earned him the third spot in the WSOP Player of the Year standings, just two points behind Phil Hellmuth. In all, Moorman has 20 WSOP cashes.

Annette Annette_15 Obrestad

Obrestad (pictured) got her start playing online when she was just 15 years old and, by the time she was 18, she was already one of the most feared online tournament players in the world. She reached #1 in the PocketFives Rankings in January 2007, eight months before her 19th birthday, and stayed there for 11 weeks.

As soon as she could hit the live felt, she made her mark, winning the inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event in 2007, just a day before she turned 19.

See who else was once ranked #1 on PocketFives.

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