Top 10 Threats for the 2009 WSOP Player of the Year award

With the 2009 World Series of Poker coming up next week, I decided to make a preview that will show some of the players that will be wanting and going for the player of year honors this year. Since this honor is given out to the player who performs the best over the whole WSOP, it is most likely going to be someone with the bankroll to play in as many events as possible and has the skills to go deep in a lot of tournaments. With so many good players out there that do indeed have that bankroll, a lot of times it comes down to who is running the best at the right moment. There will always be someone unexpected that makes the run, yet these players are the ones that I feel will be there in the end and will be a major threat in every single tournament that they enter in this year's WSOP.

Erik Seidel

Erik, I feel does not get the sort of glory that he actually deserves. One of the main things that he is known for is getting second to Johnny Chan in the '88 Main Event, yet Seidel has gone on to live a remarkable poker career. Seidel usually creeps up the POY leaderboard and can be seen near the top most of the time. Could this be the year he makes the jump to the very top and takes down the title?

Mike Matusow

"The Mouth" came last year with a different view on things with his power of positive thinking. This thinking got him a bracelet and a very late run in the Main Event. The question is will this "new" Mike have the ability to make another strong performance in this Main Event and maybe even step it up even more to POY honors.

Chris Ferguson

Ferguson is known as the mathematical guy of the poker world and uses this to get himself in the money in a lot of events. As a result Ferguson is always going to be in the running for the WSOP POY award by cashing in several events and if he can get lucky and win an event or two will be able to take down the title this year.

Erick Lindgren

The 2008 WSOP POY, has a shot at repeating. After getting the monkey off of his back and winning his first bracelet he made a late run to third in the Championship HORSE event. Erick is good at several games and has the skills to be able to keep his crown and repeat.

Allen Cunningham

Cunningham won the POY title in 2005 and has proven himself as a dominant force in the WSOP. He makes his presence known in every event that he is in and every year is a threat to take down this title.

Daniel Negreanu

Negreanu won the WSOP POY in 2004 and was in the running last year for the title. Daniel is usually near the top in the POY and has shown amazing reading abilities which will allow him to be a major threat in every tournament that he enters. Negreanu has the skills to dominate basically anyone and has a very good chance at reclaiming the POY title for his own.

Barry Greenstein

Barry Greenstein is always a huge threat for Player of the Year. With his skills spreading to all the games Barry is able to play at the top level in any tournament that he is in, which of course allows him the better chance at going deep in more tournaments compared to other players.

Vanessa Selbst

Why not Vanessa Selbst? May not be as known as the other poker players on this list, but Vanessa won a bracelet and cashed in three events last year. Could this be a breakout year for her and allow her to be the first woman to take down the POY title. Nah probably not.

Steve Gross

Yeah I don't know if you have heard of him, but he makes a living donking on people on online poker tournaments. He cashed three times in last year's world series of poker and right now is on top of Cardplayer's Online Poker player of the year. Can he prove that online players have the skills at the real game table or will he just be another online donkey that throws all his money into the middle afraid of the looks that the "real" people give him?

Phil Hellmuth

Now onto a more serious note: The "Poker Brat" is a threat in anything that involves poker. The "Best" in the world will of course being trying to win this honor of Player of the Year and definitely has the ability to play in any tournament that he pleases. After a late run in the Main Event last year and several good tournaments last year, I wonder if this year Phil's luck slides and he doesn't perform at the level he knows he can, or this may be the Phil does as he says and wins them all.