BJ Nemeth's Blog

Recently, there have been quite a few end-of-year lists on various poker websites -- the best players of 2009, the biggest news stories of 2009, and so on. But I haven't seen any with a category for the best poker photography of 2009. 

I'm obviously biased on this, because I took the best photos of my career this past summer for the WSOP Photo Blog I did for PokerRoad.

Since nobody else has rated the year in poker photography, I am going to boldly declare that this photo of Phil Ivey's second bracelet ceremony is the Best Poker Photo of 2009: 

As arrogant as it is to self-declare my own photo as the Best Poker Photo of 2009, I don't think I'm alone. More people (players, peers, and fans) have praised this photo than any other I've taken. 

On a technical level, this photo isn't that great. On an artistic level, I've done better. But this photo works because it offers a compelling perspective for one of the most memorable moments of the year -- Phil Ivey winning his second bracelet of the WSOP. And there's no denying the fact that Phil Ivey was the big story of this year's WSOP. 

I'm a reasonable man, and if anyone would like to nominate a different photo (mine or somebody else's) as the Best Poker Photo of 2009, I'd love to hear about it in the comments. I'm willing to let a neutral third party arbitrate this contest with a vote, if a few other legitimate contenders are nominated. 

But until this photo is dethroned, I'm calling it the Best Poker Photo of 2009. 

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You can check out my entire WSOP Photo Blog by clicking here. Each photo on that page is a link that leads to a blog entry with 15-30 photos. To get to the earlier days of the WSOP, you need to click a hard-to-see green link at the bottom left of the page that says "Earlier Posts."

Here's the direct link to the photo blog (29 photos) for the memorable day that Ivey won this bracelet:

WSOP Day 18: Phil Ivey Wins His Second Bracelet of 2009