Your Top 25 Players from the last 5 Main Event Final Tables

1 Juan Carlos Mortensen
2 Dewey Tomko
3 Stan Schrier
4 Phil Gordon
5 Phil Hellmuth
6 Mike Matusow
7 Henry Nowakowski
8 Steve Reihle

2002
1 Robert Varkonyi
2 Julian Gardner
3 Robert Perry
4 Scott Gray
5 Harley Hall
6 Russell Rosenblum
7 John Shipley
8 Tony D
9 Minh Ly

2003
1. Chris Moneymaker
2 Sammy Farha
3 Dan Harrington
4 Jason Lester
5 Tomer Benvisitsi
6 Amir Vahedi
7 Young Pak
8 David Grey
9 David Singer

2004
1 Greg Raymer
2 David Williams
3 Josh Arieh
4 Dan Harrington
5 Glenn Hughes
6 Al Krux
7 Matt Dean
8 Mattias Andersson
9 Michael McClain

2005
Joe Hachem
2 Steven Dannenmann
3 John Barch
4 Aaron Kanter
5 Andrew Black
6 Scott Lazar
7 Daniel Bergsdorf
8 Brad Kondracki
9 Mike Matusow

[Quicksilvre]

It's hard to list 25 out of 45, since the players in the middle are so close in ability. My list of the best players from your bunch is (in no particular order):

Juan Carlos Mortensen
Dewey Tomko
Phil Gordon
Phil Hellmuth
Mike Matusow
Minh Ly
Sammy Farha
Dan Harrington
Amir Vahedi
David Grey
Greg Raymer
David Williams
Josh Arieh
Andrew Black

[BeatOnRiver]

mortensen
tomko
gordon
hellmuth
matusow
gardner
tony d
minh ly
farha
harrington
vahedi
grey
raymer
williams
arieh
krux
hachem
lester
young pak
hall
rosenblum
schrier
shipley
singer
Henry Nowakowski

not in that order

1. Phil Hellmuth
2. Dan Harrington
3. Mike Matusow
4. Amir Vahedi
5. David Grey
6. Greg Raymer
7. Carlos Mortensen
8. Dewey Tomko
9. Sammy Farha
10. Josh Arieh
11. Phil Gordon
12. Minh Ly
13. Tony D
14. Julian Gardner
15. Al Krux
16. Ralph Perry
17. David Singer
18. David Williams
19. Joseph Hachem
20. Chris Moneymaker
21. Henry Nowakowski
22. Andrew Black
23. Jason Lester
24. Tex Barch
25. Yong Pak

I attempted to put mine in order. To me with nine bracelets Hellmuth has to be the top guy. 3 Main Event final tables and years of great, consistent play has to give Harrington the second nod. To make three final main event final tables and have two bracelets and years of solid cash game play Matusow gets the nod.

Vahedi is very tough with his style tournament in, tournament out.

David Grey's consistenty and solid play edge him over Raymer, from experience.

Back to back deep treks makes Raymer show he is here to stay.

Tomko burst on to the scene a little later and his best play may be behind him with the deeper fields. I haven't seen enough from Mortensen for him to be considered a top five player on this list, but top 10 is good for him.

Farha and Arieh are very good all around players that could make a case for top 7.

Outside of the top 10 it becomes tough. Julian Gardner has had some deep runs in some big tournaments. Tony D is a fearless big game cash game player.

Minh Ly is very, very underrated. A top casher.

Krux has seen a lot of final tables in his career.

By the way my main criteria is years of WSOP tournament play, play in the main event, reputation as a cash game player,etc.

With more emphasis on top play in the last five to ten years at the WSOP.

[Dominic]

you guys have way too much time on your hands.

[sketchy1]

i don't think it's possible to rank these players. if it's overall poker ability, then hellmuth and ly are probably at the top. if it's just NL tourneys, then i'd say hellmuth and mortenson are at the top of the list. ly is one of the most underrated players in the world.

just comments about various players who will be overlooked or overvalued in lists.

tex barch was very impressive this year, as well as andrew black and joe hachem. kondracki we didn't see much of at the final table, but seemed solid. matusow is probably going to be underrated by most readers, too.

phil gordon isn't nearly as good as most players will probably put him on their lists. he wouldn't crack the top 25 on my list.

david grey is probably one of the top five overall players on this list.

[Daliman]

[ QUOTE ]
Back to back deep treks makes Raymer show he is here to stay.

[/ QUOTE ]

Much as I respect Raymer and his game, as far as I know, he has played a fair amount of $1k+ buyin tournaments and has only one other final table appearance, whereas Mortenson has many, albeit i'm sure he has played more, experience should count too. Fossilman would likely agree.

Raymer:

07-Jul-05 United States $ 10,000 No Limit Texas Hold'em - World Championship Event
36th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2005, Las Vegas 25th $ 304,680
22-Jun-05 United States $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em
36th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2005, Las Vegas 6th $ 119,450
03-Jun-05 United States $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em
36th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2005, Las Vegas 86th $ 3,975
18-Apr-05 United States $ 25,000 Main Event (WPT) - No Limit Hold'em Championship
Third Annual Five-Star World Poker Classic, Las Vegas 33rd $ 47,180
05-Jan-05 Bahamas $ 7,800 WPT Main Event - No Limit Hold'em
2005 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Paradise Island 32nd $ 13,000
01-Sep-04 United States No Limit Hold'em - Tournament of Champions
World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, Las Vegas 5th
06-Aug-04 Ireland € 5,710 Episode 1
The Gaming Club World Poker Championship (Pot Limit Hold'em), Dublin 4th
22-May-04 United States $ 10,000 World Championship Event
35th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2004, Las Vegas 1st $ 5,000,000
13-Apr-03 United States $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em Championship
2003 New England Poker Classic, Mashantucket 13th $ 3,250
09-Apr-03 United States $ 300 No Limit Hold'em
2003 New England Poker Classic, Mashantucket 14th $ 680
09-Nov-02 United States $ 2,000 No Limit Hold'em
2002 World Poker Finals, Mashantucket 9th $ 3,700
27-Oct-02 United States $ 300 No Limit Hold'em
2002 World Poker Finals, Mashantucket 3rd $ 12,654
22-Apr-01 United States $ 1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight or Better
32nd World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2001, Las Vegas 12th $ 5,345
31-Mar-01 United States $ 100 Seven Card Stud
2001 New England Poker Classic, Mashantucket 1st $ 25,560

Mortenson:
21-Jun-05 United States $ 2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo
36th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2005, Las Vegas 33rd $ 3,305
18-Jun-05 United States $ 2,500 Limit Hold'em
36th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2005, Las Vegas 19th $ 5,145
16-May-05 United States $ 2,000 No Limit Hold'em
2005 Mirage Poker Showdown, Las Vegas 2nd $ 72,844
05-Mar-05 United States Heads-Up No Limit Hold'em
2005 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, Las Vegas 9th $ 25,000
10-Nov-04 Monaco Consolation Tournament
2004 Monte Carlo Millions, Monte Carlo 50th $ 1,000
19-Oct-04 United States $ 10,000 The Doyle Brunson North American No Limit Hold'em Poker Championship
2004 Festa al Lago III Poker Tournament, Las Vegas 1st $ 1,000,000
09-Oct-04 United States $ 1,000 No Limit Hold'em Final Day
2004 Festa al Lago III Poker Tournament, Las Vegas 15th $ 3,305
08-Oct-04 United States $ 4,900 WPPA Championship of Poker No Limit Hold'em Championship - Final Day
WPPA Championship of Poker, Las Vegas 4th $ 32,125
08-Oct-04 Ireland Final
The Gaming Club World Poker Championship (Pot Limit Hold'em), Dublin 16th € 12,022 $ 14,545
06-Oct-04 United States $ 1,455 No Limit Hold'em Shootout
WPPA Championship of Poker, Las Vegas 1st $ 16,780
01-Oct-04 Ireland Semi-Final
The Gaming Club World Poker Championship (Pot Limit Hold'em), Dublin 8th € 12,022 $ 14,545
19-Sep-04 United States $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em Final Day
2004 Borgata Poker Open - WPT, Atlantic City 21st $ 18,120
14-Sep-04 United States $ 1,000 No Limit Hold'em
2004 Borgata Poker Open - WPT, Atlantic City 13th $ 3,480
28-Aug-04 United States $ 5,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship Final Day - WPT
2004 Legends of Poker, Los Angeles 55th $ 5,000
06-Aug-04 Ireland € 5,710 Episode 1
The Gaming Club World Poker Championship (Pot Limit Hold'em), Dublin 2nd
13-Jun-04 Spain € 2,000 World Heads Up Poker Championships - No Limit Hold'em
4th Annual World Heads Up Poker Championships, Barcelona 3rd € 20,000 $ 24,222
24-Feb-04 United States Main Event - No Limit Hold'em
2004 - WPT Invitational, Los Angeles 9th $ 2,000
19-Feb-04 United States $ 1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em
2004 L.A. Poker Classic, Los Angeles 1st $ 117,650
03-Dec-03 United States $ 1,500 Limit Hold'em
2003 Bellagio Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, Las Vegas 16th $ 3,623
01-Oct-03 United States $ 200 Tag Team - Half Hold'em/Half Omaha Hi
2003 Four Queens Poker Classic, Las Vegas 7th $ 142
20-Sep-03 United States $ 5,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship Final Table
2003 Borgata Poker Open - WPT, Atlantic City 4th $ 70,500
23-Jun-03 United States $ 1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Festa al Lago, Las Vegas 17th $ 1,716
09-Jun-03 Austria € 1,000 World Heads Up Poker Championships 2003
Austrian Masters 2003, Vienna 33rd
09-Jun-03 Austria € 1,000 World Heads Up Poker Championships 2003
Austrian Masters 2003, Vienna 65th
17-May-03 United States $ 5,000 Limit Hold'em
34th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2003, Las Vegas 1st $ 251,680
26-Apr-03 United States $ 2,500 Limit Hold'em
34th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2003, Las Vegas 12th $ 7,220
23-Apr-03 United States $ 2,000 H.O.R.S.E.
34th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2003, Las Vegas 11th $ 3,160
12-Apr-03 United States $ 2,500 No Limit Hold'em
2003 Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic WPT Championship, Las Vegas 9th $ 7,820
21-Feb-03 United States $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship - WPT
2003 L.A. Poker Classic, Los Angeles 10th $ 21,355
19-Feb-03 United States $ 1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em
2003 L.A. Poker Classic, Los Angeles 7th $ 4,950
11-Dec-02 United States $ 3,000 No Limit Hold'em - Main Event
Bellagio Five Diamond Poker Classic - 2002, Las Vegas 8th $ 10,145
09-Nov-02 United States $ 2,000 No Limit Hold'em
2002 World Poker Finals, Mashantucket 1st $ 53,280
06-Nov-02 United States $ 1,000 No Limit Hold'em
2002 World Poker Finals, Mashantucket 17th $ 1,050
06-May-02 United States $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em
33rd World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2002, Las Vegas 4th $ 40,940
14-May-01 United States $ 10,000 Championship Event
32nd World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2001, Las Vegas 1st $ 1,500,000
25-Mar-01 United States $ 1,000 No Limit Hold'em
2001 Shooting Stars, San Jose 1st $ 44,550
23-Feb-01 United States $ 300 Limit Hold'em
2001 L.A. Poker Classic, Los Angeles 1st $ 116,722
11-May-00 United States $ 3,000 No Limit Hold'em
31st World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2000, Las Vegas 7th $ 22,575

[capone0]

Carlos is in operation kill in the Poker Superstars 2 Challenge. His play has been impressive so far in the pre-lims. I don't really like the guy, but his play has warranted my envy.