"The Nuts" is a monthly feature that takes a look at the best poker players in the world. This feature aims to produce a list of the best players of the moment. Our panel includes ESPN.com's trio of poker contributors (myself, Gary Wise and Bernard Lee), ESPNDeportes.com Poker Editor Nahuel Ponce, Bluff magazine editor in chief Lance Bradley and senior writer Jessica Welman, PokerNews editor in chief Matthew Parvis and tournament reporter Don Peters, Poker News Daily's Dan Cypra, and Poker Road's Court Harrington.

The 2010 WSOP is almost here, but before the masses head to Vegas to play in the 57-event series, they've had the opportunity to travel the globe and play in some of the biggest events around the world. The biggest notable champs from the last month include Liv Boeree, who took down the EPT San Remo main event; David Williams, who returned to poker glory by winning the World Poker Tour Championship; Andrew "LuckyChewy" Lichtenberger, who won his first major title at the WSOP Circuit event in Las Vegas; and Nicolas Chouity, the EPT Grand Final champion.

None of the four players above are found on this month's list, but we do have a new first-time addition in Faraz Jaka. Many players regard "The-Toilet 0" as one of the best players who doesn't get the recognition, and we believe that's about to change. Jaka has dominated both live and online and was named the World Poker Tour player of the year after his 14th place in the WPT Championship. Finishing second in that event was Eric Baldwin, who jumped back into the rankings in a big way. Baldwin placed just off the list in April, but the finish brought him back to the fourth spot and earned a nod of confidence from the group.

Heading in the opposite direction is Daniel Negreanu. Many panelists even noted that Negreanu will need to put up something this month in order to keep his spot, but while the fan favorite has been busy with televised events and improving his online game, he hasn't been able to bring in the cash on the tournament scene. Negreanu is always one who brings his best (and his cash) to the WSOP, and we're expecting him to retain a top spot in June.

Two others who had incredible months were Patrik Antonius and Sorel Mizzi. Despite not being able to solve Tom Dwan during the "durrrr challenge", Antonius had a nice multimillion dollar uptick in the nosebleed games online and has secured himself a profitable 2010 … at this point. Mizzi has been unstoppable and seems to be able to accumulate chips at will. The Toronto native added a couple hundred thousand to his bankroll last month and seems to be ready to do anything to earn the unanimous player of the year titles in 2010.

Finally this month we have to mention an addition to the panel. My counterpart at ESPNDeportes.com, Nahuel Ponce, joined the panel with hopes of giving some love to players who aren't as known because of a lack of domestic exposure. He'll definitely be an asset to this process as we continue to find the best players in the poker world each month.

Oh, did we mention that Phil Ivey remained in first place?

"The Nuts": Poker's best in May 2010

PLAYER (NO. 1 VOTES)		RANK (LAST)	RECENT SUCCESS	COMMENT
	Phil Ivey (8)	1 (1)	Up nearly $1.4 million online over the last month	Yawn. (Welman)
	Jason Mercier (1)	2 (2)	After his high-roller win, Mercier cashed at EPT San Remo and has had some small SCOOP success	Another month, another major victory. He's making it look easy and has to be regarded as far and away the best tournament player in the world at the moment. (Wise)
	Tom Dwan	3 (3)	Spreading his wings and having some success in the biggest live action in Las Vegas	He's back in the swing of things in all the crazy nose-bleed games online and is up well over $1 million this year in the virtual realm. (Peters)
	Eric Baldwin	4 (NR)	Runner-up in the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship for $1 million.	Basebaldy may have had some control issues when throwing out the first pitch when visiting his alma mater, but on the felt, he's in control at all times. (Feldman)
	Patrik Antonius	5 (8)	$2.5 million in online profit last month came at the perfect time for one of the best players without a bracelet.	A few extremely profitable sessions have given Antonius a nice bump in the bankroll, but he's still trailing Dwan by $1.8 million in the "durrrr challenge" (Feldman)
	Daniel Negreanu	6 (T-3)	Enjoyed taping the "PokerStars Big Game" … yes, we're struggling here	Not sure if the times are catching up with him or what, but he might be pretty low on this list (or off) if he can't put something together soon. (Peters)
	Scott Seiver (1)	7 (6)	Only one final table in April for Seiver. Tough life.	This list is about who's hot now and no one is hotter on the tournament circuit. He has $834,462 in live tournament earnings in 2010 (Cypra).
	Carlos Mortensen	8 (5)	Mortensen has had a five-figure score in each of the seven WPT seasons.	When Baldwin eliminated Mortensen at the WPT Championship in a set over set situation, Eric quipped, "That's about what it takes to knock that guy out of a tournament." (Welman)
	Sorel Mizzi	9 (10)	Sixth place in the EPT Grand Final high-roller event for $190,905	Mizzi's having himself an amazing year and with a half-decent WSOP might just become the first player to lead the BLUFF Player of the Year race heading into the Series and actually win POY. (Bradley)
	Faraz Jaka	10 (NR)	The WPT Player of the Year finished 14th in the WPT championship and a final table at the NAPT Mohegan bounty shootout.	Jaka employs a reckless, fearless style of play, but he plays it so well that it drives a lot of opponents crazy and gets him the chips. Maniac or not, with the WSOP around the corner he's on the "To Watch" list. (Peters)

On the bubble:

A few players just barely missed the list in May. Tom Marchese, who has simply been crushing everything in 2010, finished 11th. He's looking for his first WSOP score this year and will be playing a full schedule to accomplish that goal. … Dwyte Pilgrim made another final table this month and quite simply owns the WSOP circuit. It's only a matter of time until Pilgrim finds his way into the top 10. … Let's talk a little Hellmuth. For the first time since December, Phil Hellmuth made some ballots after he put up another final table showing at the World Poker Tour championship. With Hellmuth's biggest party coming up, a 12th bracelet would most definitely lock up a spot for the "Poker Brat." … Others who were strongly considered: Ilari Sahamies, Daniel Alaei and Steve Gross.

Final thoughts:

Bradley: It seems after six months of doing this that the panel is starting to get a real feel for their rankings. This list has a good cross-section of the top tournament and cash game players. It's interesting to me that as poker more and more becomes a young person's game that four of these players are over 30.

Feldman: I believe there will be a major shakeup on this list after the next two months. With the WSOP offering a great chance to watch all of the world's best players, those on the panel will get a close-up view at how each of them fares on a day-to-day basis. As far as this list, I really like it and agree with Lance that everyone is looking at the bigger picture when putting their lists together. On a final note this month, I believe Marchese should be in the top 10 after all he's accomplished since February, but I don't think I can argue that anyone doesn't deserve a spot. Negreanu is going to solidify his spot in a few weeks, and I'm confident Hellmuth will be making his debut soon.