Bluff Magazine's Poker Player of the Year is considered by many to be the most prestigious award a poker player could possibly receive. The player who gets top honors is deemed by many to be the best poker player in the world. And with the 2006 poker season coming near to a close, the race for who will be voted Number One is looking quite contested. As of now, there are ten, well-known professional poker players in the running, which include point leaders Barry Greenstein and Chad Power as well as ESPN-Bluff Power Ranking players, Phil Ivey, Kathy Liebert, Barry Greenstein and Men Nguyen.

Gavin Smith, who currently has a #3 Bluff Power Ranking and is #4 on the Player of the Year Charts says that being #1 is certainly something he hopes to achieve. His sentiments of this award being a tremendous honor - one which truly measure's a poker players true performance - reflect those of the remaining competitors. Rating players on a point system that takes into consideration their final standings at all the major professional poker tournaments in the current year, the final point totals can be very close, often only separated by one point or less.

At this stage in the game it really is anyone's title to win. Phil Ivey, who is last year's reigning champion (2005), is currently ranked in the twenty-sixth slot, yet still has just as much chance as the next player to make it to the top (although Bluff Magazine publisher, Eric Morris, says that it will come down to the current Top 10 players. There are still several major casino poker events to take place in the next four months, meaning there are millions of dollars and top bragging rights for the taking. The winner of this year's Bluff Magazine Poker Player of the Year will grace the front page of Bluff's February '06 issue.