Accomplished ITHer Toronexti became the first ITH member to crack the Internet Player of the Year Top 25 rankings, when he debuted at No. 25 following a huge run in the Poker Stars Sunday $1 Million on March 4. In finishing in fifth place for over $44,000 in winnings last Sunday, Toronexti – who is registered as “Alcswab” on InternetPokerRankings.com (IPR) – catapulted up the rankings and landed at No. 25 when the latest standings were tabulated earlier this week. Toro’s Sunday effort came just seven days after finishing 33rd in the Stars Sunday $1 Million on Feb. 25. So far on the year, Toro has accrued 683 IPOY points based on tournaments included in the 2007 IPOY criteria!

After winning the 2006 ITH Poker League Main Event Freeroll Championship last summer, ITHer toronexti was rewarded with a 2007 trip to the World Poker Tour’s Poker Stars Caribbean Adventure earlier in January. Ineligible to compete in the 2006 World Series of Poker due to age (the original Freeroll reward was a WSOP ME prize package), toronexti cashed in on the Caribbean Adventure opportunity by winning approximately $10,000 earlier this month! Following the trip, toronexti was gracious enough to share his experiences with the entire ITH community.

Recently, the ITH family suffered a loss when two long-standing members announced their departures from the community after years of loyal service and devotion. On Friday, Sept. 1, BernardDogs posted a lengthy farewell piece outlining his imminent departure from the world of poker and ITH.com. One day later on Saturday, Sept. 2, robrobrob authored a similar post announcing a leave of absence from the community.

Earlier this month, ITHer J Mega collected the largest single multi-table tournament score for an ITH player in the community’s history when he was part of a five-way chop in the Poker Stars Sunday Million. He took home 74K for his troubles...

On Thursday, Aug. 24, ITH's Tall Paul enjoyed a night to remember. With fellow ITHers virtually railing in IRC, Tall Paul won the Party Poker Super Thursday for 31K, but he did not stop there. He also reached the final table bubble of the Paradise Poker 90K Gauranteed, collecting $710 for his efforts.

Stay tuned to ITH.com for a full write-up on Tall Paul's big night late last week.

It has been a banner year for poker, with players storming Las Vegas, Nev. in record numbers to compete in this year’s World Series of Poker. But poker fever continues to permeate the online realm as well, and the Fifth Annual World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is preparing to set a standard of its own for internet poker.

On Sunday night, the internettexasholdem.com general board was abuzz with multi-table tournament discussion – not the least bit unusual on what has become the premier night for the MTT online poker scene. However, there was some personal ITH flavor emanating through the online air, as ITHer J Mega made an historic march towards ITH immortality in the Poker Stars Sunday Million.

In an epic head-to-head matchup containing all the drama and theatrics of a World Series Game 7, Albert "SANDSSTORM" Sands defeated friend/rival and ITH creator Matthew Hilger  heads-up in the No-Limit Main Event  last Saturday at the ITH Convention to conclude two exciting days of festivities at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas, Nev. Sands outlasted a field of 35 ITHers - including 2005 champion, Roy Zentz (third place) - to take home the grand prize at this year's convention.

niin and torch won Events 1 and 2 on Friday at the 2006 InternetTexasHoldem Convention at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas, Nev. niin outlast a a field of 43 (including a very colorful taz115) heads-up in the $30 Limit Event, which lasted for approximately five hours. torch and banditdad put on quite a show in the night cap, with torch taking down the $60 No-Limit Event. The two players met heads-up all-in (A5o vs. KJo), with torch's A high standing up to take down the victory pot. Unwittingly, both players possessed the exact same amount of chips prior to the final hand, which drew quite a buzz from the ITHers in attendance when the stacks were measured.

Congrats to both niin and torch for their well-earned victories! The 2006 ITH Convention will conclude tomorrow with yet another $30 Limit Event beginning at 11 a.m., followed by the $100 No-Limit Main Event at 7 p.m.

Though he came up short of his goal of attaining a World Series of Poker bracelet, Matthew Hilger concluded his 2006 WSOP play by reaching the final table of Event 44: $1,500 NL. Sitting card dead for the majority of the time at the FT, Matthew busted in 8th place after pushing all-in in the small blind with A9, when the big blind called with KJ and rivered a K to take down the pot. The 8th place finish marked Matthew's fourth cash of the 2006 WSOP.

Stay tuned to ITH.com for a full story on Matthew's 2006 WSOP experience. And congratulations to Matthew on a great run that was enjoyable for all ITHers to follow!

In his final event of the 2006 WSOP, ITH creator Matthew Hilger begins the day 15th in chips (24.7K) in Event 44: $1,500 No-Limit Holdem. The original field of 481 players has been trimmed to the final 26, and Matthew resumed his quest for a WSOP gold bracelet today at 2 p.m. PST. The winner of Event 44 will be determined later tonight.

Stay tuned to ITH for updates on Matthew's progress. You can join other ITHers in virtual railing by visiting the WSOP forum.

Though no bracelets had been claimed as of Tuesday, Aug. 8, the ITH team can be proud of the 2006 WSOP accomplishments of many of its esteemed players. Over the past several weeks, numerous players connected to ITH collected cash finishes in many of the 45 total events encompassing the WSOP.