Mercier, Seidel Keep Top Spots in ESPN’s “The Nuts” Rankings

ESPN.com released its monthly “The Nuts” poker rankings, rankings which largely reflected the typically slow August. There was just one change to the list’s membership with little movement amongst those already in the rankings. It wasn’t complete lull after the World Series of Poker (WSOP), however, as the Epic Poker League started up and the new seasons of both the World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour (EPT) commenced.

“The Nuts” attempts to rank the top poker players in the world at the moment. It takes into consideration both tournament and cash game success, though it is obviously easier to track tournament results, so those seem to be the focus. Online games are also a part of the evaluation process, but with the current state of the internet game in the United States, there isn’t much talk of it factoring in at all.

The voting panel includes ESPN.com’s poker triumvirate of Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee, Bluff magazine editor-in-chief Lance Bradley and managing editor Jessica Welman, ESPNdeportes.com poker editor Nahuel Ponce, Poker Road’s Court Harrington, PokerNews.com editor-in-chief Matthew Parvis (managing editor Elaine Chaivarlis is subbing in this month) and the site’s tournament reporter Don Peters, and PocketFives.com’s Dan Cypra.

Jason Mercier and Erik Seidel remained in the top two spots after placing third and second in the inaugural Epic Poker League Main Event, respectively. Ben Lamb and Phil Hellmuth remained in their fourth and fifth spots after their tremendous runs at the World Series of Poker, but no doubt they are getting geared up for WSOP Europe, which gets going in October (Lamb still has some unfinished business in November, as well).

The month’s biggest mover is Eugene Katchalov, who jumped three spots to third, flip-flopping with John Juanda. Katchalov had a great month, placing eighth in the Epic Poker League Main Event and third in the EPT Barcelona Main Event.

Vanessa Selbst is the lone newcomer to “The Nuts” rankings. She was on the list as recently as two months ago and has been in the top five, but for whatever reason, Selbst dropped out of the top ten last month. The ESPN.com editors largely saw her absence from the rankings as a mistake, though it was perfectly fair based on the voting. Despite a lack of spectacular results in August, Selbst is back on the list and all is well in “The Nuts” world.

Dropping from rankings is Jake Cody, though that “honor” probably should have gone to Phil Ivey, who, despite not having played this year, is still hanging onto the ninth spot. It appears that even though the rankings are supposed to show who is the best at this moment, Ivey’s past triumphs still hold weight.

The complete “The Nuts” rankings are as follows (last month’s ranking in parentheses):

1.   Jason Mercier (1)
2.   Erik Seidel (2)
3.   Eugene Katchalov (6)
4.   Ben Lamb (4)
5.   Phil Hellmuth (5)
6.   John Juanda (3)
7.   Bertrand Grospellier (8)
8.   Vanessa Selbst (NR)
9.   Phil Ivey (7)
10.   Daniel Negreanu (10)

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Poker argot:

SIXTH STREET - The sixth card dealt in 7-card stud.
SMALL BLIND - In games with two blinds the first blind is the SMALL BLIND because it is usually one-half (or less) the second or large blind.
DEALER'S CHOICE - In home games, a rule that permits the dealer to name which poker game to be played that hand. Often limited to selecting from a list provided.
SET - In Hold'em, three of a kind where two of the cards are hole cards.
SHARK - A good/crafty player often posing as a fish early in the game.
FULL HOUSE - A hand consisting of 3-of-a-kind and a (different) pair.

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