Phil Ivey Places Fourth on The Nuts in January 2012
The Nuts, a feature that ESPN brings out every month on the top poker players around the world, has returned Phil Ivey to the fourth spot. Since the Black Friday incident, Ivey had not played in many tournaments, which previously cost him a place on The Nuts. Now, however, his performance at the tables in some of the biggest poker tournaments has brought him back to the ESPN feature.
Performance at Aussie Millions 2012 Helped Secure the Place
One of the events in which he participated recently was Aussie Millions 2012. He entered three events by qualifying through Americas Card Room and had an in-the-money finish in two. The only one in which he did not make the money was the 100,000 Challenge. The main event saw him place twelfth after playing in a field of 774. Soon after he was eliminated, he entered the 250,000 Challenge in which there were 16 players. Ivey bagged the challenge and took home 2.1 million AUD.
Ivey gets Credit for Wins
After this win, many in the industry were torn between giving Ivey credit for his performance at the felt and his association with the poker site indicted during the Black Friday incident. Most opted to recognize his recent wins. He featured on almost all lists that rank players based on their performance at the felt. Ivey came first on two lists. The Nuts ranked him fourth. If he consistently performs on a full schedule, it is likely that Ivey will be at the top of the list.
Mercier Leads The Nuts in January
Some of the other players who made it to The Nuts in January wer Jake Cody, Bertrand Grospellier, Chris Moorman, Sam Trickett, Jonathan Duhamel, Eugene Katchalov and Erik Seidel. Jason Mercier is at the top of the list, a position he held even on last month’s list. Recent accomplishments that earned him the position were a $709,767 win in the High-Roller $100,000 Bellagio Event, his performance in the cash game in Aussie Millions and a $80,460 third place finish at the PCA. Seidel too retains his second spot on The Nuts, but this is despite not winning in cash games in January.
A few other players too landed wins at cash games this month but did not make it to The Nuts. Oliver Speidel took home the title for the main event in the Aussie Millions. He also won $1.6 (AUD) in the event and made it to the final tables of two others. Dan Smith, Tom Koral and David Bach too were champions in the 100,000 Challenge, AUD 10,000 8 and $2,250 HORSE events respectively.