The young guns are out in full force every year at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas. They are the foil to players like Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Hellmuth. Many are online poker players who have hit it big in the live casino world, becoming the envy of every up-and-comer grinding away on the virtual felts of sites like PokerStars and Ultimate Bet.

Justin Bonomo – Known as “ZeeJustin” in the online poker world, Bonomo is probably as old as it gets to still be considered part of the “new breed” of players. Along with Evelyn Ng, Jean-Robert Bellande, and David Williams, Bonomo is a card-carrying member of Team Bodog. You can catch the youngster at nearly every major live tournament on the planet and he’s been incredibly successful on the felts of the WSOP. His shining moment inside the Amazon Room at the Rio came in 2009, when Bonomo turned in a fifth place performance in the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP. The finish earned him over $400,000. The closest he’s ever come to a bracelet was finishing as the runner-up in a $5,000 buy-in Mixed Hold’em event during the 2008 WSOP for $230,000.

Tom Dwan – Known as “Durrrr” in the online poker world, the youngster cashed twice during the 2008 tournament series, his first, for a combined $112,000 and turned in final tables in 2-7 Lowball and Mixed Games. He’s similar to Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey in breadth of poker knowledge and has won millions of dollars online in high-stakes Omaha and Hold’em cash games. He’s already ruffled the feathers of established players like Hellmuth, whom he drew out against in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2008, and Patrik Antonius, whom he battled against in the Million Dollar Challenge. He scooped a $900,000 pot on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” against Barry Greenstein and has won several high six-figure hands on the virtual felts of Full Tilt.

Isaac Baron – Known as “westmenloAA” on PokerStars, Baron is truly the next big thing in poker. The 2009 WSOP marked the first that Baron was able to play due to U.S. laws mandating that gamblers be at least 21 years of age. His breakthrough came in April, 2008, when Baron finished fourth in the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) end of season Monte Carlo Grand Final, pocketing €589,000. A few weeks earlier, he took 11th at the EPT’s San Remo stop for €28,750. If you ask any online poker player whose game they respect the most, many would answer Baron. That sentiment comes on the strength of wins in the inaugural PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), the Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Guaranteed, and the Sunday Million.

Steve Gross – You can call him “gboro780” when you see him online. Gross has been ranked number one on the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and has been a top tournament player since 2005. He’s won a Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) event and the Absolute Poker $150,000 Guaranteed. He has yet to shine in live play, but turned in a $96,000 effort in a preliminary event held during the Foxwoods World Poker Finals in late 2007. In addition to being an ace on the poker felts, Gross is also one of the true good guys of the game.

Shaun Deeb – He’s one of the few online players whose screen name is the same as his real name. If you name nearly any tournament held online, then chances are Deeb has won it. He’s taken down the PokerStars $100 rebuy, Super Tuesday, Nightly Hundred Grand, Sunday Warm-Up, and an event held as part of the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). On Full Tilt, he took down an FTOPS Heads-Up event in 2008 as well as the $1K Monday. Like Gross, Deeb is searching for a breakthrough win live, but expect an accolade soon.