This past week began with a spark and ended with a bang in regards to the 2006 ITH Internet Player of the Year chase. Four esteemed players collected final tables from last Tuesday to Monday, Nov. 6, highlighted by two first-place finishes on Sunday and Monday nights.

First things first, a familiar player made his online presence felt last Wednesday night, as ITH creator Matthew Hilger finished fifth in the Poker Stars $150 on Nov. 1. Hilger, who primarily plays in live events nowadays, proved he still has what it takes to make a difference with his Internet play. For his efforts, Hilger raked in $5,560 last Wednesday, playing under the Stars username of “IonlyplayAA”.

Two nights later, JohnnyBax – IPOY No. 23 – helped his cause by finishing seventh in the Stars $150 on Friday night for $2,898. For the year, JohnnyBax now has eight final tables and 64 cashes in the most premier online multi-table tournaments on the Internet.

But the big fireworks began Sunday night and concluded Monday night. Both horryclutch – IPOY No. 63 – and BodogAri – IPOY No. 5 – claimed first place honors in the Poker Stars $200 second chance tourney and the Poker Stars $150, respectively. horryclutch collected the biggest score, winning $47,735 late Sunday night for his second big MTT crown on Poker Stars this year. Earlier in 2006, he won the Stars $150 for over 30K. All told, he has collected five final tables and 19 cashes – all on Poker Stars – in online MTTs factoring into the 2006 ITH IPOY race.

BodogAri received a huge boon in his quest for 2006 IPOY by taking first in the Stars $150 Monday night and winning $30,525. He now boasts 68 online cashes this year, and has won over 215K in Internet MTTs that are a part of ITH’s IPOY criteria. He closed the gap to 46 points on IPOY No. 4, Eric “Rizen” Lynch, who leads all IPOY hopefuls with over 324K in IPOY criteria tournament winnings.

Congrats to all the outstanding players who were responsible for a memorable week in the 2006 IPOY race!