The Twenty Players Most Likely To Win The Main Event

As I noted last year, this exercise becomes more and more pointless every year. There are hundreds of elite no limit hold em players today, thousands of competent tournament players. Some excellent player you and I have never heard of will probably win the Main Event. This is merely a finger on the pulse of the apex of tournament poker at this moment.

20. Scotty Nguyen
Seems too nitty to succeed in today's environment, but his results - particularly in the Main Event - are unassailable.

19. Daniel Negreanu
Due to make some noise in the Main Event.

18. Michael Mizrachi
Still can't believe I left him off last year's list after including him every other year.

17. Erick Lindgren
Nothing to add here; I'll be playing day 1d (Sunday).

16. Jason Somerville
A multi-dimensional game tailored for the Main Event.

15. Hoyt Corkins
Patient yet punishing.

14. Bertrand Grospellier
I used to say I was "good at games." Elky is good at games.

13. John Juanda
Always seems to win one the moment you started to forget about him.

12. Vivek Rajkumar
The rare young guy with a big-pot-poker style.

11. J.C. Tran
Not quite as sharp as he once was, but still might be the most well-rounded NLHE tournament player in the game.

10. Sam Stein
Sam Stein is like a villain from a horror movie franchise. You just can't get rid of him. He just keeps coming around. He never dies.

9. Jason Mercier
At least thirteen six-figure scores in the last 40 months.

8. Shawn Buchanan
The kind of guy who could make the final table without ever being all-in.

7. Eugene Katchalov
Good to see his yeoman's work pay off over the last couple years.

6. Thomas Marchese
Flawless.

5. Carlos Mortensen
Brutally effective over the last decade.

4. Vanessa Selbst
The most terrifying player in the game today.

3. Phil Hellmuth
Always a streaky player, it's clear Hellmuth - the likely WSOP Player of the Year - has gotten into his zone.

2. Gus Hansen
Three top-150 finishes since '04, including multiple chipleads.

1. Erik Seidel
This video says it all.