Simon "C Darwin2" Mattsson Once Again is the Top Dog in the PocketFives Rankings
For the second time this year, Sweden's Simon "C Darwin2" Mattsson climbed into the No. 1 ranked online poker player in the world, according to the PocketFives Worldwide Online Poker Rankings.
The Swede previously held the top spot for seven weeks this year from Feb. 10 to March 30 prior to fellow countrymate Niklas "lena900" Åstedt becoming the top dog for four straight weeks before Mattsson now took over once again.
Mattsson, who is closing in on an impressive $4 million in online tournament cashes according to PocketFives, climbed into the top spot with the help of strong performances in three tournaments. First the online poker phenom shipped the Fight Night: High Roller - $100,000 Gtd on partypoker for $24,057 on April 20 before recording two final-table performances in big tournaments on April 24, including taking third place in The $120,000 Mega Deep on 888poker for $15,971 and snagging fifth place in the Super High Roller: $100,000 Gtd on partypoker for $19,338.
Two other players also passed Åstedt, who now dropped to fourth place in the rankings. Brazil's Joao "joaosimaobh" Simao climbed to second place, his highest ranked position in his online poker career in no small part due to a victory in the $215 Sunday 2nd Chance, $175K Gtd on PokerStars for $37,620 on April 24.
Meanwhile, Sweden's "Ariados" jumped into third place helping the country secure three of the top four spots in the rankings. "Ariados" impressively shipped two big tournaments on PokerStars under the screenname "Sasuke234" last week including taking down the $215+R NL Hold'em, $35K Gtd for $12,728 on April 24 before finishing on top of the $109+R NLHE [Turbo], $12K Gtd for $5,303 on April 26.
American poker refugee Chris "Big Huni" Hunichen, who was the top ranked player for five weeks early last year, rounded out the top five spots in the rankings with the help of winning the Fight Night: High Roller - $100,000 Gtd on partypoker for $20,863 on April 26. Hunichen, who plays online poker from Costa Rica, is now approaching on $10 million in combined live and online tournament cashes with almost $8.5 million in online cashes according to PocketFives and over $1.2 million in live cashes according to The Hendon Mob.
Russia's Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov who has been consistently been in the top ten spots of the PocketFives Worldwide Online Poker Rankings all year long, including being ranked in the top spot for three weeks from Jan. 20 to Feb. 10, resides in sixth place just a few points behind Hunichen.
Not too far behind Vezhenkov is Greece's Damianos "damourinio" Aslanidis in seventh place, followed by Spain's Oscar "MendaLerenda" Serradell who now lives in the United Kingdom in eighth place, Russia's "hellohellohello" in ninth place, and American Joel "jbrown8777" Brown who now lives in Canada in tenth place.
Here is a complete look at the top 10 in the PocketFives Worldwide Online Poker Rankings:
| Place | Player | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon "C Darwin2" Mattsson | Sweden | 7,236 |
| 2 | Joao "joaosimaobh" Simao | Brazil | 7,176 |
| 3 | Ariados | Sweden | 7,029 |
| 4 | Niklas "lena900" Åstedt | Sweden | 7,027 |
| 5 | Chris "Big Huni" Hunichen | Costa Rica | 6,910 |
| 6 | Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov | Russia | 6,688 |
| 7 | Damianos "damourinio" Aslanidis | Greece | 6,667 |
| 8 | Oscar "MendaLerenda" Serradell | United Kingdom | 6,547 |
| 9 | hellohellohello | Russia | 6,520 |
| 10 | Joel "jbrown8777" Brown | Canada | 6,504 |
*Special thanks to PocketFives.com for information used in this article.
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