An online poker site has become the first casino to launch Internet Player of the Year Rankings.

InternetTexasHoldem.com (ITH) said that the new rankings will track and rank online poker players from the current crop of online poker tournaments, with the announcement of the first ever Player of the Year Award at the end of the year.

The tracked tournaments include top buy-in and prize pool events from sites including Party Poker, Poker Stars, and Bodog Poker, among others.

Player ranking are currently listed by username only, although players will have the opportunity to post their real name to ensure all their friends and family can see it.

However, this raises the problem of players often using different names for different sites. To counter this, ITH had developed a new registration system allowing players to link their individual site usernames to an individual ranking/display name.

Matthew Hilger, owner of InternetTexasHoldem.com, said: "As the poker industry has exploded, so has internet poker.

"Many of the best poker players in the world are internet poker players. With two of the last three reigning WSOP Main Event Champions coming from the internet, we recognised a gap in the current Player of the Year rankings".

Freshfish952, identified as a Party Poker player is currently leading the rankings, with thirteen cashes and two wins. In addition, 30 players have won over $100,000 in just over two months.