Sat, 01/22/2011 – 02:52 – PokerPages Staff

#5 – Viktor ‘Isuldur1′ Blom
The mystery man from Scandinavia, whose meteoric rise last year became a poker sensation, was finally “outed” in January as none other than young Swedish high-stakes pro, Viktor Blom.  He started 2011 by winning a tidy $44,280 from Tony G at the Superstar Showdown and we think there is a lot more to come.

#4 – Jonathan Duhamel
Not many people get to be multi-millionaires by the age of 22 but Jonathan Duhamel is now one of this rare species.  He may not replicate his stunning $9 million WSOP victory of 2010 this year, but no one can deny that this guy has been born with some seriously superior poker genes.

#3 – Tom ‘durrr’ Dwan
Famously issuing a $1 million dollar challenge in January 2009 to play anyone online (except Phil Galfond), Tom Dwan is widely tipped to break through in live poker in 2011 and win his first big title.  Incidentally, that challenge (Dwan will give his opponent $1.5 million dollars if, after 50,000 hands, the latter is ahead) has still not been completed.

#2 – Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi
After a spectacularly successful early start, Michael’s career went through the doldrums for a couple of years before 2010.  However, it proved to be his comeback year, when he played with sheer brilliance at the World Series of Poker.  He won $1.5 million at the Poker Player’s Championship and made final table on three further occasions, including the Main Event.  We think he has his Mojo back.

#1 – Phil Ivey
2010 was the year when this unstoppable poker meister became the youngest person in history to win 8 WSOP bracelets.  The “Tiger Woods of Poker” is still going strong and looks set to continue on his glitteringly successful trajectory in 2011.