Online Poker — OPOY Update, Feb. 13, 2009

Another week has passed and once again the 2009 Card Player Online Player of the Year race has been completely shaken up. There is a new leader atop the rankings and four completely new players in the top ten thanks to a widely successful Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS).

You can click on the links to read about this week’s Sunday Majors and the $1K Roundup.

Steve "gboro780" Gross (pictured right) can finally stop wondering when his first major victory will come. Last Sunday, Gross topped the entire field in FTOPS event no. 10, a $300 no-limit hold’em tournament, for the top prize of $275,601. Gross also finished second earlier this year in the Full Tilt $1 Million guarantee for another $126,506. Last year, Gross finished strong in second place in our rankings, but so far this year he’s at the top of the leaderboard with 2,724 points.

Former leader Scott "stpauli111" Hall picked up some points this week with a third place finish in the Absolute Poker $150,000 guarantee and another third place finish in one of PokerStars $100 rebuys, but that 480 points weren’t enough to keep him in first. He is, however, just 298 points behind Gross.

Thanks to a big helping of FTOPS success there is currently a three-way tie for third place. Steve "Zugwat" Silverman (pictured above left) has earned the most cash, courtesy of a victory in the FTOPS event no. 12. The win was huge for both points and cash, as Silverman took home $350,450 for taking it down. Silverman also has a final table appearance earier this year in the UltimateBet Online Championship (UBOC) main event.

Joining him in third is Chris "Universe112" Leveroni, who has absolutely torn apart the FTOPS. Leveroni won event no. 7 for $140,358. Later in the week, Leveroni took fourth in event no. 12, adding another $130,400 to his total.

Unknowns BigDennys and LosChief take up the next two spots thanks to smaller victories and final table appearances this week.

Seventh place belongs to Mike "Sowerss" Sowers (pictured right), who finished second in event no. 12 for $221,680. Sowers also has a win in a $100 rebuy and two other final tables.

Dropping from second place to eighth place was Tommy "ship hamilton" Nguyen. Nguyen remained stagnant this week, failing to pick up any OPOY qualifying cashes. The same goes for ninth and tenth place residents Matt "cwp394" Ross and Mohsin "chicagocards1" Charania, who also had down weeks.

Just outside the top ten is Ben "NeverScaredB" Wilinofsky, who won a $100 rebuy to bring his year-to-date winnings to $158,835.

Here is a look at the full leader board: