January 5, 2007

Top Players of 2006

Another year, another set of tournaments passed. Clearly it was a big year in poker, with prize pools growing ever higher, and the poker craze really going strong.

But what would poker be, without its players? Not much we say! And who were the folks to watch in 2006? According to Poker News.com, the best of the best was Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi :

Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi - After his outstanding poker play in 2005, many people might have wondered how "The Grinder" could top it. He did it by putting together a year that surpassed his 2005 efforts and led to his crowning as Poker Player of the Year.
In 2006, Mizrachi started January with a second place finish at the World Poker Tour Gold Strike World Poker Open in Tunica, MS, then went on a mere eight days later to capture the WPT's first ever Borgata Winter Poker Open in Atlantic City. This gave him a huge leg up on the year long POY chase, but he didn't stop there. He won preliminary events at the Mandalay Bay Poker Championships and the Winnin' O' The Green and also had a runner up finish during an L. A. Poker Classic tournament. By capping his year off with a 29th place finish at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Michael finished off a sterling 2006 and has laid claim to the arguable title of "best young player" in the game today.

Read on to find out PokerNews's whole top nine list.