By Sean Chaffin, Editor/Senior Writer

Last Updated: October 26, 2009; 9:15 pm CT

It was late-July when we featured an article on poker pro Alexander Gomes. You might say we had a good “read” on this poker face, because the Brazilian poker phenomenon now finds himself among the top 10 of Cardplayer magazine’s Player of the Year rankings.

On July 20 in Las Vegas, Gomes was the first Brazilian to win on the World Poker Tour, taking down the prestigious $15,000 buy-in Bellagio Cup V title and $1.18 million prize. He also won a World Series of Poker event in 2008.

Gomes now finds himself among poker’s elite, ranking 10^th in Cardplayer’s 2009 Player of the Year standings with over $1.9 million in tournament winnings. Since July, Gomes has also scored well in several online tournaments and has quickly established himself as Brazil’s most decorated player on the felt. For more on Gomes’s success, visit his page on Cardplayer.