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 managing editor Jessica Welman, PokerNews editor-in-chief Matthew Parvis (replaced this month by managing editor Elaine Chaivarlis) and tournament reporter Don Peters, Pocketfives' Dan Cypra and Poker Road's Court Harrington.

For the past two months, the best players from around the world made their annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas. Whether they were there for the 58 bracelet events or the cash games, there was little debate that for these moments in June and July, Las Vegas was indeed the place to be if you wanted to make a mark on the industry. In this month's rankings, the panelists looked at the WSOP as a whole, the Bellagio Cup and the Venetian Deep Stack series among many other events. The cash games at the Aria were also popular destinations for not only the players, but for some media members hoping to get an inside look. The past month has been all about Vegas, and as players return to their homes across the world, the international side of the poker industry will steal the spotlight once again with numerous European Poker Tour stops as well as the return of the big online games.

In June and July, one man truly stole the spotlight: Ben Lamb. The 26-year-old professional poker player from Oklahoma left Las Vegas as not only the leader in the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year race but also as a member of the main event final table. Lamb's run included his first bracelet victory, a runner-up finish, an eighth-place showing in the $50,000 Players Championship and a 12th-place result in the $10,000 six-handed no-limit championship. He'll enter the final table of the main event fifth in chips, and was more than happy to improve on his 14th-place showing in 2009. Adding all this recent success in to his dominating live-cash-game abilities, the panelists awarded Lamb with a fourth-place debut in these rankings.

The top three players (Jason Mercier, Erik Seidel and John Juanda) all held their own this month to retain their spots. After Lamb, there were two players who have been commonly found in these rankings that can now be found on the bubble. Tom Dwan, who has been on this list since its inception in 2009, failed to make it despite having three strong WSOP cashes. Vanessa Selbst suffered the same fate with only one WSOP cash. Was the panel a little too harsh in regards to these two? Weigh in your thoughts below.

Moving up this month was Phil Hellmuth and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier. Hellmuth's three runner-up finishes at the WSOP ($50,000 Players Championship, 2-7 lowball championship and seven-card stud high-low split championship) has sent a wake-up call to all the doubters who believed Hellmuth couldn't cut it anymore. Grospellier's first bracelet was a result of his strong reading ability, and he continues to prove that he can handle himself in any game around the world.

The issue then returns to Phil Ivey, who didn't appear on the Vegas felt at all when everyone would typically expect him to be there. We heard your comments, and it seems like many are as torn as we are in relation to where Ivey belongs in these rankings. In any case, he falls one spot to seventh this month.

Finally, there was one last addition in the form of Jake Cody. He's 22 and a triple-crown winner, and will make his debut on ESPN on Tuesday, Aug, 2. Life has been incredible for the Rochdale, England, native for the past two years, and his debut in the top 10 is well deserved.

Here's a look at July's top 10, and of course, feel free to leave your feedback and reactions in the comments section below. We're sure you have some thoughts on Ivey's sixth-place ranking as well.

The Nuts: Poker's best in July 2011

PLAYER (NO. 1 VOTES)		RANK (LAST)	RECENT SUCCESS	COMMENT
	Jason Mercier (9)	1 (1)	Five cashes, three final tables and $696,168 in earnings. Just another two months in the life of the talented 24-year-old.	Another summer, another bracelet. #whenwillitend (Welman)
	Erik Seidel (1)	2 (2)	Five WSOP cashes added another $66,572 to his 2011 run. He has $5.65 million in earnings on the year.	It's funny that five cashes during the WSOP highlights his least-profitable two months on the year. (Feldman)
	John Juanda	3 (3)	Two WSOP cashes, two final tables and one win.	It's startling to realize that Juanda only has five WSOP bracelets to his credit, but betting against him winning one this year would have been a terrible idea. He had one win and one eighth place finish in 2011, and continues to be a model of consistency in the poker world. (Bradley)
	Ben Lamb	4 (NR)	Lamb makes his debut on the list after winning his first bracelet, and finishing second, eighth and 12th in other events. Oh, he also made the November Nine.	Regarded as one of the best Omaha cash game players around, Lamb's WSOP run is no fluke. He's modest, well-spoken and simply a star that will shine leading up to the final table in November. (Feldman)
	Phil Hellmuth	5 (8)	Three runner-up finishes during the 2011 WSOP. All in non-hold 'em games.	What a comeback! So many thought Hellmuth was dead. So many people were so, so wrong. (Wise)
	Eugene Katchalov	6 (4)	A three-cash, one-bracelet WSOP for Katchalov.	Won his first bracelet at this year's WSOP and still widely considered one of the best all-around players in the game amongst top-notch peers. (Peters)
	Phil Ivey	7 (6)	Ummm, dropped his law suit against Tiltware? Crickets.	Ivey hasn't played a tournament - and possibly any poker at all - since at least May, but he's still considered by most pros to be the best player on the planet. Once he returns to action he could find himself climbing back up to the top half of this list. (Bradley)
	Bertrand Grospellier	8 (10)	After four WSOP cashes (and one bracelet), "ElkY" finished 23rd in the $10,000 Bellagio Cup.	Grospellier has a triple crown, millions in cash and now, a book about his playing style. From Vegas he heads to Thailand so that he can play WCOOP and try for his third title. (Feldman)
	Jake Cody	9 (NR)	Became the youngest player to win poker's triple crown with his victory in the $25,000 heads-up and cashed two other times at the 2011 WSOP.	This British young gun kicked off the WSOP with a bang, winning the triple crown in record time. Kid deserves some attention. (Welman)
	Daniel Negreanu	10 (8)	211th in the WSOP main event for $47,107.	It was hardly the WSOP he was looking for, but Negreanu's tournament record speaks for only half the story. Negreanu also plans to relocate during WCOOP to get back to the online felt. (Feldman)

On the bubble:

The bubble this month was owned by the previously fifth-ranked Vanessa Selbst. One cash in over 20 events was not what she intended this summer as it was her return to a full WSOP schedule for the first time in years. That said, her year has included another major win, and she'll be back in the above section of these rankings soon. … Sam Stein was another player who many could argue deserves a spot. During the 2011 WSOP, he had four cashes, two final tables and his first WSOP victory. Add that to his fourth-place finish at PCA and his dominating online play (when it was allowed), and he's had an incredible run. … Chris Moorman finished the WSOP stint in Las Vegas fourth in their player of the year standings. Five cashes (including a second- and third-place finish) and tons of attention, but not enough this month. Now, he'll head back home to play online where the No. 1-ranked online player in the world will go back to work. … Two other surprises this month are Tom Dwan and Brian Rast. Dwan played everything he could this series and notched three cashes. Despite more than $200,000 in earnings, it wasn't enough to keep him in the rankings. Rast's double-bracelet victories will stand out above all 2011 WSOP accomplishments (well, except for Ben Lamb's run) and even though it didn't get him onto the list in July, it raised his profile enough that all eyes will be on him in the near future. … Others who earned substantial consideration include Shawn Buchanan, Scot Seiver, Tom Marchese, Ali Eslami, Andy Frankenberger, Nick Schulman, Matt Matros and Max Lykov.

Final thoughts: Bradley: It's almost shocking to me to not see Vanessa Selbst on this list. It's tough to argue that she had a rough WSOP, but so did Negreanu who still found his way into the top 10. With Hellmuth at No. 5, you have to wonder what happens if he wins a WPT or WSOPE title in the coming months. Given the way the WSOP wrapped up, this list is bound to include more international flavor over the course of 2011.

Feldman: I think this is my favorite time of the year for these rankings. Gone is the small sample size of a typical month where only a few majors are played around the world. The WSOP offers a deeper, enhanced look at the best in the game and this month, I think we did fairly well in looking at the big picture.

My biggest miss is the same as Lance's - the lack of Vanessa Selbst. How she falls to the bubble is extremely confusing after a fifth-place showing a month ago. Also falling in the surprise-region is Chris Moorman. He's done it all and eventually will get enough love from the panel to make it on this list. Brian Rast's omission is also pretty glaring as I believe anyone who wins the $50,000 event should get the nod. Especially as it was his second win of the series.

There was no doubt that Jake Cody and Ben Lamb would make the list this month. The only real question was where they would fall. Lamb didn't just appear out of thin air, but he wasn't on the radar with his cash game dominance alone. I think fourth might be a little high, but it seems like a good spot for the November Niner. Cody's appearance is a month too late in my mind and at the same time, I feel he'll need to produce in the coming months to stay in that spot.

With WCOOP (PokerStars' World Championship of Online Poker) just around the corner, we're going to see a more diverse and international group coming up in future months. With Americans unable to play online (unless they relocate), there will be a major difference in online field composition. I look forward to seeing who will emerge from the masses this year.