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 at the moment. Our panel of 10 is comprised of ESPN.com's trio of poker contributors (Gary Wise, Bernard Lee and myself), 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, PokerNewsDaily's Dan Cypra, and Poker Road's Court Harrington.

It's been another great year in the poker world, filled with amazing tournaments, incredible cash games and the development of new stars who are poised to shine brightly for years to come. The final month of 2010 didn't include too many tournaments, which meant that the majors were highly attended by the best in the game.

The highlight of the month was the Doyle Brunson North American Five Diamond Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The World Poker Tour event attracted 438 players, and Antonio Esfandiari wrapped up the action with his second WPT win. The final table was one of the most impressive we've seen in a while and included 2010 WSOP main event runner-up John Racener.

On the other side of the U.S., the WSOP Circuit stopped in Atlantic City, N.J., and offered not only its standard main event but also the second regional championship of the tour's season. Chris Bell added to his already impressive year with a victory in that event, while rising superstar Andrew Frankenberger finished sixth.

In Australia, Daniel Negreanu was doing his best to return to The Nuts and fell just short. He finished ninth at APPT Sydney and watched as Jonathan Karamalikis took down the $454,304 top prize.

Other than these events, it was a quiet month in the industry as players spent time with their families throughout the holiday season. Everything will change come January, when the biggest destination event of the year, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, kicks off 2011 with a huge, 48-event poker festival.

As for the rankings, it was status quo at the top as expected. Phil Ivey and Jason Mercier aren't going anywhere anytime soon, but in the third spot we find Tom Marchese, the 2010 CardPlayer Player of the Year. Marchese has gradually moved up the rankings in 2010 after making his debut in the industry in February with a final table at the Borgata. Marchese joined these rankings in October and continues to impress the panel with his breakthrough year.

Vanessa Selbst moves up three spots this month, and she deserves it. Selbst began the year as a part-time player in law school, but after winning the NAPT Mohegan main event, her grind continued and produced a second major victory in November. In total, her $2.8 million has her sixth on the 2010 money list and a well-earned fifth on our list.

The only addition to the list this month is Sorel Mizzi, who was the bubble boy in last month's rankings. Mizzi, the 2010 Bluff Player of the Year, made another deep run in a WPT event, which was enough to bring him back into the rankings for the first time in three months.

It has been a great year, and all of us who contribute to the rankings appreciate all your feedback and thoughts each month. Here's a look at December's Top 10, and of course, feel free to leave your feedback and reactions in the comments section below.

The Nuts: Poker's best in December 2010

PLAYER (NO. 1 VOTES)		RANK (LAST)	RECENT SUCCESS	COMMENT
	Phil Ivey (8)	1 (1)	At the Doyle Brunson North American Five Diamond Poker Classic, Ivey finished 80th for $12,669.	The bottom line is, until someone proves he or she can beat Ivey, you can't knock him out of the top spot. (Peters)
	Jason Mercier (2)	2 (2)	Finished close behind Ivey in 83rd at one of the only majors in the month, the Doyle Brunson North American Five Diamond Poker Classic.	Quite a year for Mercier, who, for the second year in a row, notched $1 million in live cashes. Apparently his half a million in online winnings is simply a sweetener. (Feldman)
	Tom Marchese	3 (6)	The 2010 CardPlayer Player of the Year won a preliminary at the Bellagio for $45,958.	Marchese earned $2.1 million in 2010, but it wasn't just one big score that brought him that number; it was a total of 16 cashes during his breakthrough year. (Feldman)
	Tom Dwan	4 (5)	Durrrr's online action, including his battle with Jungleman, left him in the green in December by more than half a million dollars.	Dwan returned from Macau with suitcases full of cash and then went to work online. For December, he is up around $600,000, and in 2010, he finishes $3.6 million to the good. He's still one of the two most feared high-stakes players on the planet. (Bradley)
	Vanessa Selbst	5 (8)	Wicked Chops Poker named Selbst its player of the year. Can you really argue with $2.8 million and two major titles?	Selbst isn't just one of the best women playing poker; she's one of the best players period. (Peters)
	John Juanda	6 (4)	Cashed in 92nd place for $12,669 at the Doyle Brunson North American Five Diamond Poker Classic.	He won the cash games in Macau. When he feels like it, he'll make the final table in tournaments. He plays every game under the sun, and if he wanted to be, he would be higher on this list. (Wise)
	Michael Mizrachi	7 (3)	Mizrachi has been grinding it out online and notching some very successful cash game sessions.	It doesn't matter whether Grinder notches anything big in 2011, as this year has been one to remember. Can the Mizrachi family keep it up next year? We'll be watching. (Feldman)
	Eric Baldwin	8 (7)	Want to see what it takes to beat a final table full of stars? Baldwin put on a show during his latest victory on the NAPT, which recently aired on ESPN2.	The 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year didn't disappoint anyone in 2010. Baldwin continues to build his star and his brand with a year that included $1.5 million and a dugout dedication at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. (Feldman)
	Sorel Mizzi	9 (6)	Bluff Magazine's 2010 Player of the Year made the final table at the WPT Five Diamond (ninth), then headed to Prague to notch his 26th cash of the year.	Mizzi performs. Forget all the issues he's had with online poker. The guy can flat-out play the game, and proves that every time he shows up to a live event and winds up behind a large stack of chips. At the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Mizzi scored a ninth-place finish for just less than $60,000. Just another deep run for him -- no big deal. (Peters)
	Patrik Antonius	10 (10)	Stuck half a million online last month, but he still ended 2010 up more than most of us could imagine.	Antonius dropped this month, and looking at the data, it's understandable. He's down $250,000 for December and shows a profit of around only $1 million for the year. That's not chump change, but it's a huge drop from 2009, when he won nearly $9 million. (Bradley)

On the bubble:

December's bubble boy is Daniel "jungleman12" Cates. Cates hit the poker radar with his high-stakes dominance in 2010, earning $4.9 million on the online felt. His success over Tom Dwan built his image as the next big thing, and he definitely will be in these rankings in the future. … Daniel Negreanu came oh-so-close to returning to The Nuts with his ninth-place finish. It was his second final table in two months. "Kid Poker's" 2010 didn't include anything major but did provide him with $683,825 in earnings. … John Racener landed just outside the rankings, as well, but people are starting to believe "RCNR" can be a face of the future. The only problem is that in addition to his final table, Racener also landed himself under arrest thanks to a DUI charge. Not so smart. … Andy Frankenberger also received some solid consideration this month with his final table at the WSOPC Regional Championships coming shortly after his WPT title and second WPT final table of the year. Not bad for just starting to really focus on the game a year ago. … Others earning some love from the panel include Antonio Esfandiari, Harrison Gimbel, David Peters, Phil Galfond and Alexander Kostritsyn.

Final thoughts: Bradley: The list has five new players from the start of 2010, and it's a reflection of how quickly things can change in poker. That being said, the two constants continue to be Ivey and Mercier, who are simply dominating. Maybe Mercier can continue his strong play and push Ivey off the top spot in 2011.

Feldman: These rankings are a great collaborative effort, and it seems that this month we are really on point. The voting between third and seventh was extremely close, and even though Mizrachi dropped four spots, it shouldn't really raise any red flags. While I think Marchese has been one of the best in the game this year, I'm not sure third is the right spot for him. You can't knock his performance, but wow, jumping from "we've never heard of you" to the third-best player in the world in 10 months seems a little extreme. I think Mizzi deserves his spot back on the rankings more than anyone, and Kostritsyn has been awfully quiet of late, so seeing him off the rankings isn't a huge loss. Maybe he's playing less or maybe he's not winning. In any case, I do think this edition of The Nuts represents the best of what the poker world offers today. Well, maybe if we add an 11th spot for Phil Galfond …