1. David Pham won his second Player of the Year honor and $1.8M in earnings this year.

2. J.C. Tran was second in POY standings and earned $2.9M this year.

3. Jonathan Little earned $2.5M in tournament winnings including a WPT win in May.

4. Tom Schneider earned $733,589 including 2 WSOP bracelets in 2007.

5. Scott “BigRisky” Clements won over $2.2M and finished fourth in the POY standings.

6. Scotty Nguyen won over $800,000 and had seven final tables this year.

7. William “Bill” Edler won over $2.7M including a WSOP bracelet and a WPT championship.

8. David Fox won almost $700,000 including a WPT Finals event in November.

9. David “Devilfish” Ulliott has won over $1.2M this year including two WPT wins.

10. Jerry Yang won the WSOP main event and over $8M, he makes the list because he becomes the second-largest tournament prize winner in history.

1. Erik Seidel has to be the man. He has eight bracelets, four of them in the last six years. He has won over $7M in tournament play, plus his cash table earnings.

2. Allan Cunningham has five WSOP bracelets in the last six years, including three in a row. He has earned over $8.7M in tournament winnings.

3. Scotty Nguyen consistently cashes wherever he is. He cashed six times at the WSOP 2007, including an 11th-place finish in the main event.

4. Phil Ivey is one of the top players today. He has five WSOP bracelets in the last seven years, and two big wins in Monte Carlo in 2007.

5. Tom Schneider won two WSOP bracelets last year, one in Seven Card Stud Hi/Low 8 or Better, and also in Omaha/Seven Stud Hi/Low 8 or Better. He also made the final table of the $2500 HORSE event.

The main event is underway at the Rio in Las Vegas as we speak, but the next Poker World Championship is still a long way and many hours at the tables from being crowned. The main event kicked off with Day 1A last Friday, but the final table won’t be played until Tuesday, July 17.

The first two days of the main event drew a combined 2,832 players, and with approximately 1,600 players expected to come out for Days 1C and 1D, the organizers are estimating a field of around 6,000 players, give or take a few. For those keeping score at home, that total would be down from 8,773 last year.

Before the hordes gathered for the main event, there were at least a few noteworthy bracelet winners over the last month at the Rio. One of the first bracelet winners at this year’s WSOP was Tom Schneider, who won Event 5, the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha/7 Card Stud Hi/Lo tourney during the opening week. Schneider became the lone double-bracelet winner at this year’s 2007 WSOP three weeks later, when he was the last man standing in Event 46 , the $1,000 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. Schneider also made another final table this year and pocketed a combined $416,829 in prize money, and won the 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Award.

The richest winner at the 2007 WSOP heading into the main event was Bill Edler. The poker pro won his first WSOP bracelet and $904,672 after winning Event 45, the $5,000 No Limit Short Handed. Edler barely topped Burt Boutin by just over $3,000. Boutin won Event 7, the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha, and cashed in two other events to pocket $901,456.

The win that had everyone talking was Phil Hellmuth’s record-setting 11th WSOP bracelet. Hellmuth passed Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan after achieving his 11th WSOP victory in Event 15, $1,500 No Limit Hold’em. Hellmuth has been his usual consistent self at this year’s WSOP, having made two final tables and cashing six times.