Poker columnist Gary Trask has drawn up his Top 10 list of most fascinating poker people in 2009. This is not so much about what they did at the tables but their worth in media.


10. Vanessa Rousso (pictured)

A good-looking young woman who knows how to play poker; what more does the marketing department need? Rousso appeared in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue (in a piece paid for by PokerStars), she signed as the new Go Daddy girl, and she will be writing her own column for the Hustler magazine. She played poker, too, winning the High Roller event at the EPT Grand Final and finishing second at the NBC National HU Championship, earning more than $1.3 million in tournament cashes in 2009.

9. Darvin Moon

"Almost too good to be true," says Trask. The logger from Maryland who hasn't paid a single hand of online poker in his life came from total obscurity and almost won the WSOP Main Event. Embodiment of the WSOP slogan "Anyone can enter, anyone can win" and a true inspiration for the masses. And poker needs the masses to survive.

8. Jeffrey Pollack

The ever popular WSOP commissionaire surprised everyone when he announced he was stepping down from his post. His explanation of accomplishing everything he set out to do seemed reasonable enough, but Harrah's was curiously taciturn about it, not even thanking Pollack for his efforts in their press release. What ever was going on behind the scenes, the poker world will miss Pollack.

7. Jeff Lisandro

One hell of a WSOP for one man; Lisandro won the Player of the Year race, and winning three bracelets at the modern day WSOP is almost unbelievable. Lisandro may not be the sexiest man in poker, but his accomplishments at the tables made a great story.

6. Phil Ivey

The best player in the world makes the WSOP Main Event final table - was the poker world having a collective dream? The respect everyone has for the man was apparent at the Penn & Teller Theatre on the final day: he was the only player who got a standing ovation from everyone at the audience (even from the other players' friends and fans). Oh, and he won some money too playing poker.

5. Annie Duke

Quiet year at the tables, but she stole the show on Celebrity Apprentice and roused the interest of a lot of people who previously knew nothing about poker players. With her charity endeavors she's an excellent spokeswoman for poker.

4. Tom Dwan

Semi-god for a lot of online players and easily one of the most marketable young players. Has quickly become a staple at tv poker and stole the show on High Stakes Poker Season 5. His very public heads up challenges also created a lot of interest.

3. Mike Sexton

For many younger viewers he's just "the old dude who's commentating the WPT", but the old dude has the respect of his peers and the poker media. Everyone knew that the Poker Hall of Fame vote would be just a formality. "Fame and success have never changed him," his brother Tom said at the induction ceremony.

2. Joe Cada

The youngest ever Main Event winner looks like the right man for the job. Cada's already appeared in numerous talk shows and other tv programs and made an excellent impression every time.

1. Isildur1

The mystery man came from nowhere and set the poker world alight faster than he wins or loses a buy-in at the nosebleed tables. "So, is Isildur1 really gone? Will we ever unmask him, or will he simply disappear? That's the real fascination with Isildur1. We have no idea who he (or she?) is," Trask says. Most people seem to think he's the Swedish player Viktor Blom, but no one knows for sure. "This is the type of story you would only see in poker, which makes Isildur1 the clear cut choice as the most fascinating poker personality of 2009," Trask concludes.