It is an undeniable fact that 2014 brought some thrilling moments to both poker players and fans of the game. We all had the opportunity to witness surprising turns, excellent performances, millions of dollars cashed, etc. Following a decade-long tradition, the popular American magazine BLUFF announced the 500 best poker players of 2014.
Three main criteria are taken into account by the compilers of the BLUFF ranking. The players’ finishing position is considered to be of an utmost importance and more particularly, their ten best finishes throughout the year. Another thing that also matters is the size of the buy-in fees they pay in order to be able to enter poker tournaments. Last but not least, the number of entrants they compete against is also taken into consideration.
It would be quite difficult to pay all 500 players the attention they deserve, but here are BLUFF’s top 5 poker pros for 2014 and a short account on how they performed.
5. Ole Schemion (927.56 points)
Last year was relatively profitable for the German player. He took part in several final table plays and captured several considerable sums. The player finished first at the 2014 Aria Poker Classic Super High Roller event where he was awarded the amount of $1,062,785. His most recent cash was at the EPT Prague High Roller Single Re-Entry event where he finished sixth and added $176,361 to his bank account.
Generally speaking, Schemion has a total of 51 cashes and has earned the amount of $6,642,979 since he started playing poker.
4. Ami Barer (930.79 points)
Back in 2013, the Vancouver-born player finished 300th in BLUFF’s ranking. As it seems, he has performed quite well in 2014 and scored fourth place. In February, he scored his largest tournament cash for finishing first at the Aussie Millions Main Event. There, the poker pro was awarded $1,432,545. He also captured $365,541 at the EPT Barcelona High Roller Single Re-Entry in August and $261,210 at the Asia Championship of Poker Main Event in November.
Overall, the Canadian player has won a total of $2,835,344 from tournaments since the beginning of his poker career.
3. Dan Smith (949.35 points)
The Las Vegas-based poker pro had quite a year. In August, he emerged victorious at the Bellagio Super High Roller where he captured the impressive amount of $2,044,000. It was in August again when he won the 2014 PokerStars EPT Barcelona No Limit Hold’em event.
He has cashed 58 times since he entered the world of poker and his winnings amount to $8,563,475.
2. Mike Leah (1,149.64 points)
Leah won his largest prize back in August at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship $10,000,000 Guaranteed event where he finished second and took $1,047,638. In October, he won a WSOP Asia Pacific High Roller event. There, he was awarded $527,500. The player had a few more final tables throughout the year.
Leah has a total of 121 cashes, 12 first places, and $3,835,213 in his record.
1. Daniel Colman (1,447.70 points)
Currently, everyone is talking about Colman. Back in 2013, he was not even listed in BLUFF’s ranking and only a year later, he took its first place. In June 2014, he won the Big One for One Drop event part of the 45th Annual World Series of Poker tournament and was awarded the substantial sum of $15,306,668. The player had several more first finishes and participations at final tables.
Now, Colman’s earnings from live tournaments add up to $22,873,483.
