Best NL Tournament player under 30 years old?

[baggins]

I was just thinking about all the younger guys (like myself) that have been making names for themselves in the poker world.

just curious at who the top names in this category are, according to you guys...

the following names come to mind, but i'm not very knowledgable on this subject, (and i might include guys who are young but technically not in the 'under 30' category)

layne flack
huck seed
phil ivey
allen cunningham
daniel negreanu
carlos mortensen

i'm sure there are many more that i'm forgetting or don't know about. your thoughts are appreciated and encouraged.

[Josh W]

There is a fella who has posted on here a couple times. I won't mention his 2+2 name, but his real life name is Ed Moncada (may have a spelling error in his last name).

I met him last year at the final table of a NL tourny at the Hustler. He put a beat on me (JJ vs KQ...I had the JJ, oh well). We became friends, and have hung out quite a bit over the last year. We spent a lot of time at the WSOP together this year. He is still pretty new to NL tournies, though gaining experience left and right.

At the main event (10K buyin) at Commerce in February, he was the chip leader at the end of day 1, then took a bad beat to Eric Seidel, doubling up Eric.

In september, at Commerce's Heavenly Hold'em tourny, I won one of the NL events. Ed took 3rd. In fact, Ed cashed in all 4 NL tournies at that event, finishing 4th in overall points, while only playing the NL events (no pot limit or limit events).

Ed called me last night. He just won the $1000 buyin NL tourny at the Sands in AC.

I'm not saying he's the best, but he's damn good. Of course, in case he's reading, I'm not sure he's even better than me /images/graemlins/smile.gif...

My guess is you'll see him on TV in the next year.

Josh

[Ulysses]

I've played a fair amount of limit hold'em with this guy. He used to play mid-limits around here (NorCal) and then stepped down to 6-12 and seemed to be doing pretty well there. I was told he hit a really bad streak and was building back there. Super nice, polite guy who played a very solid limit game. Hadn't seen him around in a long time. Glad to hear he's doing so well in NL tourneys.

[Duke]

I think Ivey is probably the best all-around player under 30. As far as posters here go, a couple are pretty damn good, but I can't put them in the same league with $1M+ bankroll players. All in due time. Though I could name several over-30 pros that Josh W is a better card player than.

~D

[Oblivious]

Whos the 24~25 yr old from Manchester UK who took 2nd against Robert Varkony the year before last in the WSOP?

[The Gift Of Gab]

[Diplomat]

Before I read your list, two names jumped into my head, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey.

Phil has an incredibly well-developed game. I think it scares the crap out of many top pros.

I've got to vote for Daniel, he's a Canadian kid who built his bankroll playing against the same players I'm building mine against. They still talk about how he took their money, day after day. And he's pretty deadly with a big stack.

-Diplomat

[wayabvpar]

Doesn't this discussion begin and end with Phil Ivey?