As the final major tournaments of 2011 concluded just before the Christmas holiday Ben Lamb’s 2011 tournament credentials received yet another boost, as his historic year was capped off with his entrance into a very exclusive club. Lamb, who won the World Series of Poker Player of the Year Award, has now become the second player to win the WSOP POY Award as well as the Card Player Magazine Player of the year award in the same year!

While we all know what Lamb managed to accomplish at the 2011 WSOP, it was hard to put his 2011 WSOP in perspective until now. Historically, winning the Card Player Magazine Player of the year award requires far more than a solid WSOP performance since it measures the entire calendar year’s results. This is why it usually requires a player to play at an ultra-high level throughout the year. Of course this is for the typical player, not Benba!

Remarkably, every tournament cash Lamb had for the entire year came in a three week span at the 2011 WSOP, and these results were enough to give him the Card Player Magazine POY award!

42nd World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2011

* June 17, 2011: $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha, 2nd place for $259,918

* June 24, 2011: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship, 1st place for $814,436

* June 27, 2011: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em – Six Handed Championship, 12th place for $56,140

* July 2, 2011: $50,000 The Poker Players Championship – 8 Game Mix, 8th place for $201,338

* July 7, 2011: $10,000 World Championship – No Limit Hold’em, 3rd place for $4,021,138

With just five results on his 2011 tournament poker resume, Ben Lamb surpassed other players who travelled the world for 12 months, taking part in event after event, posting multiple cashes, who also won millions.

While the formula is far from exact (BLUFF Magazine puts Lamb in 3rd place on its Player of the Year leader-board) the amazing accomplishment should be viewed more as a testament to just how strong a WSOP Lamb had, as opposed to who the best tournament player was in 2011.

Lamb joins former Card Player Magazine Player of the Year Award winners Men Nguyen (1997, 2001, 2003, and 2005), T. J. Cloutier (1998 and 2002), Tony Ma (1999), David Pham (2000 and 2007), Daniel Negreanu (2004), Michael Mizrachi (2006), John Phan (2008), Eric Baldwin (2009),and Tom Marchese (2010). Negreanu is the only player to win both the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year Award and the World Series of Poker Player of the Year Award; Kid Poker the Card Player POY Award and the WSOP POY Award in 2004.

Here is a look at the Top 10 on the Card Player magazine Player of the Year Leader-Board for 2011:

1. Ben Lamb — 6,036 points

2. Chris Moorman — 5,875 points

3. Oleksii Kovalchuk — 5,494 points

4. Marvin Rettenmaier — 5,056 points

5. Sam Stein — 4,505 points

6. Jason Mercier — 4,396 points

7. Elio Fox — 4,320 points

8. Galen Hall — 4,284 points

9. Eugene Katchalov — 4,258 points

10. Steve O’Dwyer — 4,174 points

Tags: Accomplishment, Bluff Magazine, Calendar Year, Card Player Magazine, Cashes, Christmas Holiday, Club Lamb, June 24, June 27, Leader Board, Players Championship, Poker Player, poker players, Pot Limit Omaha, Tournament Poker, Who Won The World Series Of Poker, world series, World Series of Poker, World Series Of Poker Player Of The Year, WSOP

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