German Players Moving up the Poker Ranks

You see a lot of big names get trotted out when hearing about professional poker players, many of them localized in the Americas. But Germany has a stockpile of professional grade superstars of their own right, and some of these pros are just beginning to make their mark in the poker world.

The biggest name for most people playing on German PokerSeiten should be Sebastian Ruthenberg, the 27 year old phenom from Hamburg, Germany. He had his coming out party in 2008, capturing a WSOP bracelet in Stud 8 or better, then immediately following it up with a win at EPT Barcelona for an impressive $1,931,321 payday. Ruthenberg lay dormant for a few years, until this year, when he went deep in the EPT Berlin 8-Max for a 2nd place payday of $164,969, then went to the WSOP and made an impressive back to back run in the Poker Players Championship (16th, $108,503) and the Main Event (55th, $130,997) to re-solidify his status as one of the games best young guns.

Another German poker player of note may be familiar to those of you who have been keeping track on the WSOP this year; Pius Heinz, the German who happens to be sitting in 7th place out of the nine remaining hopefuls in this years Main Event. The 22 year old is no pokre slouch, posting wins in the FTP Sunday Mulligan and the PokerStars $150,000 Guarantee, but with a payday of at least $782,115 waiting for him at the completion of the Main Event, poker immortality is just 8 players away from him.

With other names like Katja Thater and Florian Langmann in the wings, Germany is a well represented nation when it comes to their poker pros. But with players like Heinz and Ruthenberg in the spotlight, hopefully Germany will make an impact and jump closer to being at the forefront of professional poker.