With Andy Bloch scratching his name off of the “Best player to never win a bracelet” list at the 2012 WSOP, and with several big names like Gus Hansen, Gavin Smith, ElkY and Phil Laak also crossing their names off last year, I figured it was time to revisit the Top 10 most surprising players without a WSOP bracelet list, and see who is still seeking their first gold bracelet.

This list takes into account not only a players skill level, but also how long they have been in the game, and how often they play at the World Series of Poker.

Here are the second five players on the list:

* Patrik Antonius

Antonius is no longer a young gun in the poker world, considering he has been making the annual trek to Las Vegas for the WSOP since 2005. Yet one of the men considered by many as the best all around player in the game hasn’t been able to cash-in at the WSOP.

Antonius has 14 career WSOP cashes, including four final tables, but his best finish to date is a 3rd place showing in the $10k PLO event in 2007.

* Marcel Luske

For all of his years in the tournament world, not to mention that he is a Stud Poker specialist, you would have thought Marcel Luske would have won a World Series of Poker bracelet. But alas, the European Poker Hall of Famer hasn’t been able to win a gold bracelet so far.

Luske has over $4 million in career tournament earnings, 21 WSOP cashes, 7 WSOP final tables, and 5 Top 4 finishes, but ZERO WSOP bracelets.

* Jonathan Little

One of the game’s great tournament players through the early part of the poker boom, and still racking up scores today, Little has struggled at the WSOP over the years. With just 13 cashes and a lone final table in his now seven years of playing the WSOP, likely has Little feeling cursed at the WSOP –not dissimilar to how Mike Mizrachi struggled until his monster year in 2010.

* Matt Glantz

Matt Glantz is the consummate tournament grinder, playing in events all over the world, and racking up a very impressive poker resume in the process. One place where success has eluded Glantz is the WSOP, poker’s biggest stage. Glantz has been going to the WSOP since at least 2000 (when he made his first cash) and now has 21 career cashes at the WSOP without a win.

Glantz has an impressive eight Top 10 finishes, including a 7th place showing in an event at the 2012 WSOP, but hasn’t been able to break through with a win at the WSOP.

* Phil Gordon

Gordon doesn’t play as many tournaments as he used to in the early and mid 2000’s, but considering the sheer number of events he has entered it’s hard to fathom how he hasn’t won at least a single gold bracelet at the WSOP.

With 21 career WSOP cashes and 6 final tables Gordon has been awfully close to winning a WSOP tournament, but considering his last cash came in 2010, he may have moved beyond a WSOP bracelet as a life goal.

Read Part 1

Tags: Andy Bloch, Best Player, ElkY, gavin smith, Gold Bracelet, Grinder, Gus, Gus Hansen, Marcel Luske, matt glantz, Mike Mizrachi, Plo, Poker Hall, Poker World, Skill Level, Stud Poker, world series, World Series of Poker, WSOP, Young Gun

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 at 9:55 am and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.