Despite Black Friday laying waste to the online poker community in the United States, as well as its backlash causing worldwide drama for poker players, it was still a good year for a number of poker players, but few had the amount of success of Eugene Katchalov, who is now the official BLUFF Magazine Player of the Year for 2011.

BLUFF Magazine began presenting their Player of the Year Award back in 2005, making Katchalov the seventh player to receive the honor. Katchalov joins former BLUFF Player of the Year winners like Sorel Mizzi, Phil Ivey, and Jason Mercier.

* 2005 – Phil Ivey

* 2006 – Chad Brown

* 2007 – Bill Edler

* 2008 – John Phan

* 2009 – Jason Mercier

* 2010 – Sorel Mizzi

Here is a look at how Katchalov worked his way to the top of the 2011 BLUFF Magazine Player of the Year Leader-Board:

* 1st place in the $100k Super-High-Roller tournament at the 2011 PCA

* 2nd place in the 6-Max $10k High-Roller tournament at the 2011 PCA

* 2nd place in the $10k Bounty Shootout at the 2011 PokerStars NAPT Mohegan Sun

* 1st place in the $1,500 Seven-Card-Stud tournament at the 2011 WSOP

* 4th place in the $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout at the 2011 WSOP

* 8th place in the inaugural Epic Poker League Main Event

* 3rd place at the 2011 EPT Barcelona Main Event

* Over $2.5 million in tournament earnings during 2011

* Lifetime tournament earnings just over $7 million

Katchalov had a lot of competition for the Award, with Katchalov’s fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier finishing less than 18 points behind for the award, not to mention late charges by Ben Lamb (the 2011 Card Player Magazine Player of the Year), Matt Waxman, and Stephen O’Dwyer.

Here is a look at the top 10 players in the Bluff Player of the Year race at the end of 2011:

1. Eugene Katchalov – 1,089.28

2. Bertrand Grospellier – 1,071.67

3. Ben Lamb – 988.10

4. Matt Waxman – 968.20

5. Steve O’Dwyer – 964.77

6. Sam Trickett – 938.32

7. Marvin Rettenmaier – 935.14

8. Chris Moorman – 925.88

9. Elio Fox – 920.45

10. Pius Heinz – 892.75

If you are wondering why the Card Player Magazine and BLUFF Magazine Player of the Year Awards go to different players it’s because of the formulas each outlet uses. Unlike Card Player Magazine, BLUFF Magazine factors in only a players top scores and also considers how they performed in the previous year as well (giving far more weight to the current tournament year than the previous year).

In fact only John Phan has been able to win both Magazines’ Player of the Year Awards in the same year, a feat he accomplished in 2008.

Tags: 988, Bill Edler, Black Friday, Bluff Magazine, Card Player Magazine, Card Stud, Chad Brown, ElkY, Fellow Team, High Roller, John Phan, Leader Board, Online Poker, Phil Ivey, poker players, PokerStars, Sorel Mizzi, Steve O, Stud Tournament, Trickett

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