The Nuts is a monthly feature that takes a look at the best poker players in the world. This feature aims to produce a list of the best players at the moment. Our panel of 10 is comprised of ESPN.com's trio of poker contributors (Gary Wise, Bernard Lee and myself), ESPNdeportes.com poker editor Nahuel Ponce, Bluff magazine editor-in-chief Lance Bradley and managing editor Jessica Welman, PokerNews editor-in-chief Elaine Chaivarlis and tournament reporter Don Peters, Pocketfives' Dan Cypra, and Poker Road's Court Harrington.

January has been a unique month on the poker calendar. While the bigger events, namely the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and Aussie Millions, have dominated the headlines, a multitude of smaller events around the world have been drawing big crowds. Of course, the biggest champions came in the biggest events and that leads us right into the return to the top 10 of the former No. 1 player in the world, Phil Ivey.

After essentially disappearing from the tournament poker world since Black Friday, Ivey made his return well known during the 2012 Aussie Millions. He played in three events, and only failed to make the money once (in the 100,000 Challenge). In the main event he finished 12th out of 674 players for 100,000 AU$ and, immediately after his elimination, he bought in to the 16-player 250,000 Challenge. Ivey won the event for 2.1 million AU$ and many of you reacted negatively as a result of his previous association with Full Tilt Poker.

With his impressive results, a challenge to the panel appeared: Where does Ivey belong? To nobody's surprise, Ivey was ranked on every ballot, but in a variety of spots. He did manage to earn two No. 1 votes, but the hesitance of others prevailed and Ivey returned to The Nuts ranked No. 4. If he continues to play a full schedule, there's a strong possibility that he returns to the top of this list in the very near future.

Oliver Speidel -- no, not Erik Seidel -- won the Aussie Millions main event and perhaps the honor of being the unofficial Aussie Millions player of the series. In addition to his 1.6 million AU$ victory, Speidel also made two other final tables. Other notable Aussie Millions champions included Dan Smith, who won the 100,000 Challenge, David Bach (2,250 AU$ HORSE) and Tom Koral (10,000 AU$ 8-game).

At the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Jonathan Duhamel put on a show. The 2010 WSOP main event champion made four final tables with four top-five finishes and one victory ($5,000 no-limit hold 'em). Since the 2011 WSOP, Duhamel has made seven final tables with earnings of more than $1.3 million and made his debut on the list at No. 8. Shawn Buchanan dropped one spot to No. 7 despite winning the $10,000 six-max event and cashing in the main event as well. Other PCA champions included John Dibella (main event champion), Viktor Blom ($100,000 Super High Roller), Joe Cada ($2,000 no-limit ), Scott Seiver ($5,250 heads-up), Leonid Bilokur ($25,000 High Roller) and Noah Schwartz ($5,000 pot-limit Omaha).

Away from the those two festivals and the legendary Macau cash games that reportedly made Gus Hansen quite a bit of money, other familiar faces captured titles of their own. Freddy Deeb won the first WSOPC main event at the Bicycle Casino, Brock Parker, Chris Reslock, Will Failla and Kevin Saul won preliminary events at the Borgata's Winter Poker Open, and John Dolan, Joe Tehan and Jonathan Little were some of the big winners from the Beau's Million Dollar Heater.

Online, PokerStars' TCOOP (Turbo Championship of Online Poker) was the highlight of the month as thousands tried to turn their small buy-ins into some big money in a short amount of time. The 50 events offered up more than $18 million in prize money with "betudontbet" taking home the top prize of $382,855 as he eliminated Chris Oliver to win the main event. EPT Vilamoura champion Toby Lewis won Event 16 for $68,676.

Phil Hellmuth and Ben Lamb fell out of the top 10 this month, replaced by Duhamel and Ivey. Who do you think should be in the top 10 next month? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Here's a look at January's top 10:

The Nuts: Poker's best in January 2012

PLAYER (NO. 1 VOTES)		RANK (LAST)	RECENT SUCCESS	COMMENT
	Jason Mercier (7)	1 (1)	Won $709,767 in the $100,000 High Roller Bellagio Event, finished third in the $5,000 event at PCA for $80,460 and was a big winner in Aussie Millions cash game.	Mercier has won at least $1 million at the felt in each of the past four years. He's $919,540 away from No. 5. (Feldman).
	Erik Seidel (1)	2 (2)	He played in a lot of big buy-in events, but failed to cash in January.	Although Seidel hasn't cashed in any tournaments in 2012 just yet, he's still one of the best players out there, hands down. You can brick a bunch of tournaments in a row, but that doesn't mean your game is bad. These things happen and he'll be right back in the winner's circle soon enough. (Peters)
	Eugene Katchalov	3 (3)	Seventh in the $10,000 six-max at PCA for $25,320 and was named 2011 Bluff's Player of the Year.	Katchalov broke the $7 million mark in tournament earnings in 2011. Not bad for a guy who played part-time up until 2009. (Feldman)
	Phil Ivey (2)	4 (NR)	Won the 250,000 Challenge and finished 12th at the Aussie Millions main event.	He's the best in the world. Since coming back to tournament poker he's played in four tournaments and cashed twice. (Bradley)
	Sam Trickett	5 (5)	Named 2011 European Player of the Year.	His tournament results are sick and the rumors of his cash game success more so. Even with the struggle against North American bias, he has to be recognized as one of the best in the world. (Wise)
	Chris Moorman	6 (7)	Two small cashes at the Aussie Millions and another five figures online.	It's only a matter of time until the online icon is in the top five. (Feldman)
	Shawn Buchanan	7 (6)	Won PCA's $10,000 six-max for $202,360 and finished 130th in the main event for $17,500.	He is currently on top of the BLUFF Power Rankings after yet another under-the-radar score at PCA worth more than $200,000. This guy is the stealthiest millionaire I've ever met. (Welman)
	Jonathan Duhamel	8 (NR)	Four final tables in nine days at PCA worth $1.2 million.	Monster PCA for the 2010 champion. Any questions regarding whether he can play with the big boys were put to rest by two high-roller scores. (Wise)
	Bertrand Grospellier	9 (6)	A quiet January after $2.2 million in tournament winnings in 2011.	Grospellier was named the Poker Personality of 2011. I hope he can find room for it in his trophy case next to his WSOP bracelet, EPT title and a whole lot of cash. (Feldman)
	Jake Cody	10 (9)	Cody had two cashes in December for $230,000, pushing him to more than $3 million in live earnings in two years. And he's 23.	I wonder what he's going to do for an encore in 2012. (Feldman)

On the bubble

The bubble was relatively tight this month for the first time in a while with many players hoping to capture the final spot. Ben Lamb's lack of tournament results has affected him dramatically on this list as he became the month's bubble boy. Lamb was named the CardPlayer Player of the Year and he continues to play in the highest cash games around, but a slight tournament bias from the panel may have budged him from the list this month. Right behind Lamb was Daniel Negreanu. Negreanu started off 2012 with a fifth-place finish at the PCA Super High Roller ($250,900), but he finished fourth (as the bubble boy) in the 250,000 Challenge. Negreanu is always one solid month away from making his way back into the top 10. … Viktor Blom's first live tournament victory earned him a lot of support, but a $350,000 downswing online this month didn't help his cause. … Gus Hansen's efforts at the Aussie Millions and in Macau also earned him some consideration. He earned $823,579 in January on the tournament felt. … Others receiving substantial consideration include Will Failla, Scott Seiver, Isaac Haxton, Patrik Antonius, Faraz Jaka, Vanessa Selbst, Pius Heinz and Sam Stein.

Final thoughts

Bradley: Phil Ivey making his reappearance at No. 4 seems to make sense to me. Given that he hasn't been on most people's ballots for six months, it just makes sense. He's now headed back to Macau and I wonder what we're going to be able to do from here if he's not active on the tournament scene. Will he stay in the top five?

Jonathan Duhamel seems like the player du jour. He had a great month, but will he stay on the list? He has proven he can play with the best and now he'll need to find a way to get results against tough fields or someone else will take his place next month.

Feldman: The fact that Ivey is in fourth is the biggest topic, regardless of how pleased or disappointed you may be with Mercier at No. 1 after a difficult first month of the year. Ranking Ivey was not an easy task. Where do you put the player who really was -- and probably is -- the best player in the world after all this time? Sure, he came back and beat a 16-player field, but is that enough to put him at No. 1? I think, like many of the panelists say either publicly or not, that he needs to earn his place once again. Fourth is a good starting point for him and if he does basically anything in the coming months, I'd imagine he'll be in the top two.

I think that this month offered a lot more than many of us expected in terms of results. There were so many players who consistently do well that separating the best in the world was a little tougher. In my eyes, I think Grospellier was the only player who I would remove from the list in favor of someone else. I think Buchanan should be higher and players such as Galen Hall, Will Failla, Faraz Jaka, Nicolas Fierro and Pius Heinz should have their names on a lot of ballots moving forward.

For most players, finishing 12th for 100,000 AU$ in an event in which first place is 1.6 million AU$ could be a little frustrating. By going so deep yet coming up short, a player must be in the mindset that their chance to hit a massive score just vanished. It's not easy to go deep in large-field events, regardless of who you are. Your "one time" just ended and it must be devastating. All that said, after a major cash like this, most players would be content with the payout and spend at least the next day enjoying the victory for their bankroll.

Phil Ivey does not fall into the category of "most players."

After becoming the first casualty on the penultimate day of the 2012 Aussie Millions main event, Ivey didn't collect his winnings and head home, dejected after the close call. Instead, he took that 12th-place 100,000 AU$ and immediately sent it back to the cage, with an additional 150,000 AU$ to complete his buy-in for the second most expensive tournament that will be held this year -- the Aussie Millions 250,000 Challenge. Ivey was one of 16 individuals who participated in the event, the majority of them household names for all poker fans. The four that aren't were potentially the reasons for many of these players to enter; they're simply businessmen looking to play in the biggest games. Daniel Negreanu, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Jason Mercier, Tom Dwan, Erik Seidel, etc., decided that a quarter million dollars would be best spent in an event that Negreanu likened to "flipping coins" based on the lucrative turbo structure.

One by one the icons of the game fell until it was Ivey, sporting a rare smile, sitting behind a stack of chips, holding the winning hand, a plaque, bottle of champagne. In addition to the 100,000 AU$ he earned for his main event finish earlier in the day, Ivey pocketed 2 million AU$, the biggest single pay day of his career. The cash moved Ivey into third on the all-time tournament money list.

For most of the lengthy one-day tournament, Negreanu was in control, but given the high blinds, it was simply a goal to get the chips in good and hope that the hands held. Unfortunately for Negreanu, the big pot didn't fall his way, and he would ultimately be the bubble boy of the event, going all-in with A-8 and unable to overcome the J-J of Antonius.

"Slightly disgusted 4th on an 800k bubble," Negreanu wrote in a Twitter post.

Ivey eliminated Hansen in third after flopping two pair with J-4 against Hansen's top pair (holding K-8). Hansen was the bubble boy in the 100,000 AU$ buy-in last week and was pleased that this time around he'd be taking home something for his effort.

"After all is said and done I am happy to cash in a big buy-in event as I felt I was going through a minor dry spell in those events," Hansen said on his blog.

Heads-up play began with Ivey holding a small chip lead over Antonius. That small lead quickly became a big one and with Ivey holding nearly a 7-to-1 edge, he'd call Antonius' all-in with A-Q and in a strong position over his opponent's K-3. Antonius did hit a three on the flop, but a queen on the turn gave Ivey the win. Antonius earned 1.2 million AU$.

Welcome back Mr. Ivey.

Oliver Speidel wins Aussie Millions main event

It's rare that any other tournament could steal the headlines from someone who wins 1.6 million AU$, but unfortunately for Oliver Speidel, that really is the case. Speidel won the 10,000 AU$ buy-in Aussie Millions main event, defeating a field of 674 players to win one of the most prestigious events of the year. Turnout was down from 721 players a year ago, but to achieve this number given the current poker economy should be viewed as a victory for the Crown Casino.

The victory for Speidel came after two previous final tables during the 2012 Millions. The Melbourne native finished second in the 1,000 AU$ shootout and sixth in the 1,500 AU$ bounty event before his second career Aussie Millions victory. This one, worth the 1.6 million, far exceeds the $99,491 he earned from his victory a year ago in a 1,000 AU$ event.

According to PokerNews, Speidel entered the final table second in chips behind Bjorn Li and would take the chip lead after his elimination of Yann Dion in seventh place. Mohamad Kowssarie eliminated Li in sixth, then handed most of his stack to Speidel a short time later. From that point on, Speidel had the tournament within his grasp and ran over each of his competitors in very quick fashion. Patrick Healy (fifth), Kowssarie (fourth), Mile Krstanoski (third) and finally Kenneth Wong (second) fell to Speidel in short time and one of the biggest events of the year ended with a local at the top offering a huge smile as he sat behind the bricks of cash.

Here's a look at the final table results from the 2012 Aussie Millions:

1. Oliver Speidel (1.6 million AU$)
2. Kenneth Wong (1.0 million AU$)
3. Mile Krstanoski (610,000 AU$)
4. Mohamad Kowssarie (405,000 AU$)
5. Patrick Healy (300,000 AU$)
6. Bjorn Li (230,000 AU$)
7. Yann Dion (170,000 AU$)

Small blinds: The WSOP Circuit main event is underway at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. A strong turnout of 662 entries created a prize pool of $963,210. First place in this event is worth $197,451. … The $3,500 Borgata Poker Open main event began on Sunday. The event offers two starting days. Day 1A featured a field of 243 players. … More from the Borgata: Brock Parker won the $2,150 Bounty event for $76K, Chris Reslock won the HORSE event for $14,045 and Kevin Saul won the $400 bounty event for $25,473. … The Isle Casino Pompano main event began on Saturday with 173 players entering the $2,500 event. … John Dolan, Joe Tehan and Jonathan Little were some of the big winners from the Beau's Million Dollar Heater. This tournament series was previously a WPT-sponsored stop. Dolan won $336,105 as champion of the $5,000 main event. … The next edition of "The Nuts," ESPN.com's poker rankings, comes out this week. Where should we rank Ivey? Weigh in below with your thoughts.

For the last six months or so, the only time Phil Ivey's name has been spoken around the poker tournament scene was usually part of a simple question: Will Phil Ivey show up to play? Since making a statement regarding his decision to pass on the 2011 World Series of Poker, Ivey has made only a few choice poker-related appearances. He's participated in the Macau cash games and played in the APPT Macau main event, but speaking very generally, he hasn't been part of the poker circuit since Black Friday.

As the year kicked off with PCA and the Aussie Millions, there were a few events that, if this were a 2012 without a 2011 Black Friday, we'd assume Ivey would've been the first to register. The biggest buy-in events always brought out Ivey, with many holding onto the idea that he really only wanted to play for the highest stakes. PCA's $100,000 Super High Roller came and went without Ivey, but the $100,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions tempted the player many believe to be the best in the world. Ivey was part of the 22-player field, but bubbled the final table and watched as Dan Smith captured 1.1 million AU$. Regardless of his finish, Ivey's appearance spoke volumes.

The 10,000 AU$ main event offered three starting days and on the third day, Ivey began his chase for the 1.6 million AU$ top prize. Robert Lam may have ended Day 1C with the chip lead, but the buzz was simply about Ivey's third-place finish. Needless to say, the spotlight for the next few days has stayed on Ivey, who was looking for his first cash in an open event since December 2010. His last win? His eighth WSOP bracelet earned in June 2010.

Day 2 ended with Ivey in second and the money bubble about to burst. On Day 3, the field of 75 became 26 after only three levels and Ivey, in sixth, was one of seven players to bag than one million in chips at the end of play. According to Lance Bradley of Bluff magazine, a win in this event would be Ivey's largest single tournament cash of his career.

Matthew Turk will bring in the chip lead when Day 4 action begins late Thursday night on the east coast. His previous best live cash is for $3,742 for a third-place finish in a 200 pound event in 2010. His minimum cash at this point is 35,000 AU$.

While Ivey's run steals headlines, there are a number of other established pros still in contention. Lee Nelson, the 2006 champion of this event, begins the day in 10th; WSOP bracelet winner Dan Idema is in seventh, and both Grant Levy and David Steicke will have to work their way back from short stacks to continue their bid for Aussie Millions victory.

Wherever Ivey may end up in this event, his future attendance remains unclear. Many don't expect him to return to the felt full time until there's some decisive action regarding Full Tilt, and that seems unlikely to happen anytime soon. Regardless of how you personally feel about Ivey given his relationship with FTP, seeing Ivey at the felt is a good first step for the industry to get going once again. Every "sport" needs their best player to be present and in the spotlight. The public knows about Ivey and whether or not he's your favorite player at the moment, having him stand out for a good reason could be seen as a very big positive for an industry that is constantly searching for anything to shed the negative stigma.

Small blinds: The 250,000 AU$ challenge, originally scheduled for Jan. 27, may be pushed back until Jan. 29. Bluff is reporting that there may be 18 participants in the event. … David Bach won the $2,500 HORSE side event at the Aussie Millions. … The World Poker Tour Season X will return to television (FSN) on Feb. 12. … The next hearing regarding online poker will take place in the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Feb. 9. … The European Poker Awards have been handed out. The winners included Sam Trickett (Player of the year), Andrey Pateychuk (Rookie of the year), Bertrand Grospellier (Poker Personality of 2011), Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies (Online player of the year) and the WSOP Cannes (Event of the year). … Will Failla and Kevin Saul have won two of the preliminary events at the Borgata's Winter Poker Open. Failla has three cashes so far this series. The $3,500 re-entry main event begins on Jan. 29. … The $65 Event 1 of the LA Poker Classic attracted a field of 3,333. Van Rowin Manlambus earned the victory, but not the biggest payday after a six-way chop. Manlambus earned $14,365 while Brian Columbia turned his $65 into $18,220. … The NASCAR Foundation is holding a charity poker tournament in February. The event will feature at least 22 "celebrities or professional poker players," with one placed at each table. … Joseph Hachem announced that he has joined a partnership with AsianLogic and has become an ambassador for the Asian Poker Tour.

A field of 1,072 gathered in the Bahamas to compete for their share of the one of the largest prize pools of the year. The majority of the field consisted of professionals -- both live and online -- who spent their tenure in paradise not at the pools or beach, but inside at one of the many poker tables that filled one of the convention halls. The players at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure are some of the most dedicated individuals you'll find in their craft, spending hours on end perfecting strategies and game play. Youth dominates the PCA and walking the halls of the Atlantis Resort is similar to hanging out in one massive dorm room. This is the festival for those ready to begin their ascent to greatness in poker, and that stereotype made the fact that a 43-year-old amateur won the biggest title of all even more surprising.

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Neil Stoddart/PokerStars PCA main event champion John Dibella is an amateur poker player from New York.

John Dibella, 43, didn't even come to the PCA to play in the main event. The stock trader from Westchester, NY attended PCA in the past and earned some small cashes, but in 2012, a $1,000 satellite into the main event would change everything. After earning his seat, Dibella worked his way through a tough field and final table to take home the $1.7 million top prize.

"I make more money at poker than as a day trader, but I'm not going to call myself a professional just yet," he said after the win. "I'm a recreational player, but maybe I'll take it a bit more seriously from now on. It's definitely much safer than my day job!"

Instead of the $2 million top prize as initially announced based on the number of entries, Dibella chopped during heads-up play with Kyle Julius to award the champion the $1.7 million. Julius, who cashed in the main event a year ago, earned a career-best $1.5 million for second. Dibella eliminated Julius when he rivered a flush and enticed a bluff all-in.

Perhaps the most well-known player at the table, Faraz Jaka, entered the final table with the chip lead and finished in third for $755,000. It was the second-largest tournament cash of his career.

Xuan Liu (fourth) and Anthony Gregg (sixth) also made history at the final table. Liu became the first woman to make the PCA main event final table while Gregg became the first player to make a second appearance at the final table of this event. In 2009, Gregg finished in second.

Here are the results from the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event final table:

1. John Dibella ($1,775,000)
2. Kyle Julius ($1,500,000)
3. Faraz Jaka ( $755,000)
4. Xuan Liu ($600,000)
5. Mark Drover ($468,000)
6. Anthony Gregg ($364,000)
7. David Bernstein ($260,000)
8. Ruben Visser ($156,400)

$25,000 PCA High Roller

Fresh off Viktor Blom's $100,000 buy-in victory, PCA offered its final trademark event, a $25,000 buy-in high roller. In 2011, a surprisingly large field of 151 participated and the 150 eliminated watched as Will Molson earned the elusive high roller victory after two years of runner-up fame. After the actions of Black Friday, many doubted the turnout this year would even come close to that of 2011. Backers have dried up or closed up shop, endorsement deals are limited and worth less to the players and finding others to buy pieces in a high-risk event is tougher than ever. Steadily the number of entries began to rise and despite the doubts, 141 players managed to find the scratch and produce seven rebuys to create a top prize worth $1.1 million.

Ukrainian Leonid Bilokur last tasted European Poker Tour success in 2010 with a victory in a 2,000 euro side event in Berlin. Since that time, he's traveled the world and earned a few small cashes in smaller buy-in events. Based on his past, the $25,000 price tag in this event seemed out of his reach, but sure enough, Bilokur was the one holding the championship trophy as he earned the largest cash of his life.

According to PokerStars, Bilokur, 37, entered the final table fourth in chips, but by the first break, he was well-positioned in second. After the eliminations of Randy Lew (eighth) and Michael Telker (seventh), Bilokur doubled through Jason Koon holding J-J to Koon's A-K to become the chip leader. He would extend his lead even further when only five remained after the elimination of Govert Metaal.

The short stack of the final five was 2010 WSOP main event champion Jonathan Duhamel. Already securing three previous final tables and a victory at PCA, Duhamel was looking for another win and doubled through Isaac Haxton to move into second. Haxton bounced back up in the chip counts after his elimination of Nicolas Fierro in fifth.

Koon, the one-time overwhelming chip leader, was eliminated in fourth after making an ill-timed five-bet all-in with A-4 against Duhamel's K-K. Duhamel eliminated Haxton in third (A-J over K-Q) and had more than a 2:1 chip lead over Bilokur to begin heads-up play. Bilokur completely turned the tables in less than two hours and eliminated the former world champ after making a brilliant call on Duhamel's four-bet all-in with A-7. Up against K-4, the board ran out A-J-9-J-A and holding the full house, Bilokur claimed the top spot.

Duhamel earned $634,550 for second and his four final tables during the nine day tournament series were worth a total of $1.1 million.

1. Leonid Bilokur ($1,134,930)
2. Jonathan Duhamel ($634,550)
3. Isaac Haxton ($380,730)
4. Jason Koon ($271,950)
5. Nicolas Fierro ($217,560)
6. Govert Metaal ($181,300)
7. Michael Telker ($145,040)
8. Randy Lew ($108,780)

Small blinds: Scott Seiver, Shawn Buchanan, Kathy Saraf and Mike Gorodinsky also won side events at PCA. Gorodinsky won the $5,000 8-game championship for the second time. He won in 2010, finished second in 2011 and won again in 2012. … Brendon Rubie won the first event at the 2012 Aussie Millions. He earned 200,000 AU$. Dan Kelly won the second event (1,100 AU$ pot-limit Omaha). The biggest event on the Aussie Millions schedule is the 250,000 AU$ buy-in that takes place on January 27. … Sponsorship opportunities are not very common these days, but Melanie Weisner managed to score a nice one. The poker pro has joined Team LockPRO ELITE. … Congrats to all the winners of the Bluff Readers Choice Awards. … PokerStars releases a statement that Gabi Campos is stepping down as CEO effective Feb. 1 to "pursue other opportunities." … For those of you anxiously awaiting "Rounders 2", the movie now has a release date of 2012 according to IMDB. … A number of professional poker players have filed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act lawsuit against Excapsa Software, Inc.

For the past 26 years, Freddy Deeb has left his mark on the tournament poker world. He won his second WSOP bracelet at the $50,000 HORSE event, he earned a WPT title in 2005, and in 2010 took down a high roller event in Paris. He may have become memorable thanks to his "lucky shirt" (as mentioned on ESPN's WSOP broadcasts), but Deeb's talents extend far beyond his ability to pick the right shirt for the occasion. In total, Deeb has earned more than $7.7 million on the tournament felt, but until Thursday night, he had never cashed on the World Series of Poker Circuit. That first cash turned out to be the sixth-largest of his career, worth $171,810, as he defeated the field of 549 in the tour's first appearance at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles.

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Courtesy of WSOP CircuitFreddy Deeb won the first ever WSOP Circuit main event held at the Bicycle Casino.

Deeb's victory in the three-day event offered an interesting twist. As part of the adjustments to the 2011-12 WSOP Circuit schedule and structure, players could re-enter the event, normally during the first two opening days. However, Deeb didn't play on Day 1A or Day 1B. Registration was open until the start of play on Day 2 and Deeb elected to spend the $1,500 at that point to begin his tournament with a paltry 20 big blinds, less than half the average stack. By five levels into the day, Deeb was among the chip leaders and was one of the final 17 players moving on to the final day of the tournament.

According to the WSOP, on the second hand of Day 3 action, Deeb was involved in a three-way pot where he and Cy Williams were all-in against Chris Summers. Deeb's J-J held against Summers' A-K and Williams' 9-9 to become one of the chip leaders in the event. When nine remained, Deeb was the chip leader, but quickly lost his grasp on that position after losing a big pot to David Singontiko.

Deeb chipped up into the top spot once again with his eliminations of Julie Franks (eighth), Tsung Lu (seventh) and Brandon Crawford (sixth), but his lead wouldn't hold after dinner as he dropped into last after a substantial all-in preflop pot with 5-5 to Alex Masek's 3-3. Masek moved into the chip lead a short time later, and Deeb would hang on to enter the final three in last place (Tong Le was eliminated in fifth, Singontiko in fourth).

After Deeb doubled through Leroy Spires, he'd knock him out a short time after with a devastating river card. Spires was all-in and ahead with a turned flush holding Jh-9h on a board of Jc-8h-3h-Qh against Deeb's set of eights. Deeb needed the board to pair and it did, with a three falling on the river, eliminating Spires in third. With nearly three quarters of the chips in play, Deeb turned up the aggression and whittled Masek down to the point where two double-ups for Masek didn't really dent his stack. On the third all-in and call, Deeb's pocket queens held against Masek's A-K, and the 56-year-old pro had earned another title.

In addition to the prize money, Deeb also secured his spot in the 2011-12 WSOP Circuit National Championship where he'll be playing for at least a $1 million prize pool.

Here are the final table results from the 2012 WSOP Circuit stop at the Bicycle Casino:

1. Freddy Deeb ($171,810)
2. Alex Masek ($106,185)
3. Leroy Spires ($77,570)
4. David Singontiko ($57,505)
5. Tong Le ($43,245)
6. Brandon Crawford ($32,900)
7. Tsung Lu ($25,520)
8. Julie Franks ($20,025)
9. Vince Cardella ($15,935)

The next WSOP Circuit stop is already underway in Choctaw, Okla., where there first event attracted a field of 1,219 entries, up more than 30 percent from a year ago. The series will run for another nine days when another main event champion will be crowned on Jan. 22.

PCA Update:

Two players made history at the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure final table. Anthony Gregg became the first player to make a second appearance at the PCA final table. In 2009, Gregg finished in second to Poorya Nazari to earn $1.7 million. He entered this year's final table as the short stack, but battled his way into a sixth-place finish worth $364,000.

The other player to change PCA forever was Xuan Liu who became the first woman to make a PCA final table. Liu is no stranger to the final table scene, as he had a third-place finish at EPT San Remo last April.

Faraz Jaka held the chip lead to enter the final table, which was shown on Friday with hole cards on PokerStars.tv on a 40-minute delay.

On Day 2 of the $25,000 High Roller event, Jonathan Duhamel held the chip lead with two tables remaining. The final 16 players will earn at least $58,020, with the champion taking home $1.1 million. The final table of that event will be broadcast Saturday on PokerStars.tv at 2 p.m. ET.

Small blinds: 2009 WSOP main event champion Joe Cada won the $2,000 side event at PCA for $175,550. This was Cada's largest cash since his main event victory. … The first event of the 2012 Aussie Millions, 1,000 AU$ no-limit hold 'em, featured a field of 525 players. Only 66 players survived to Day 2, including bracelet winner Andrew Hinrichsen, Grant Levy and Mel Judah. … Golfer Sergio Garcia finished in 51st place in the 2012 PCA main event. He earned $35,000. … Epic Poker will now air on Europe's The Poker Channel. … If you had any questions about what the recent Department of Justice memo regarding the Wire Act meant, Gambling Compliance's Chris Krafcik explains it all.