It’s not easy to crack into online poker’s worldwide top-100 rankings. But for Americans who play inside U.S. borders on regulated sites, it’s even tougher.

United States-based players don’t have access to the massive player pools and huge guarantees that some of the top players grind in order to rack up leaderboard points. For these pros, it takes a doubling-down of volume and effort in order to earn their spot and recognition among online poker’s best. And this week, four of America’s best have succeeded in doing just that.

Frank ‘thewholefunk’ Funaro Jr. (#52)

New Jersey’s Frank Funaro is the current #1-ranked player in the United States and currently sits at #52 in the world. Funaro is in the midst of a career run, sitting just one spot off his career-high ranking and speed toward $1 million in total online poker earnings.

Funaro has been stockpiling PLB points all summer including 19 PLB-qualifying scores in August. However, he really heated up after he took down the September 14 edition of the WSOP.com $100,000 Player Appreciation tournament for $19,741 and 325.69 PLB points. Just two weeks later, Funaro grabbed gold again by winning the WSOP.com $2,000 buy-in $150,000 guaranteed NLH High Roller for another $44,489 and 446.65 points. For the entire month, Funaro pulled in 38 cashes for a total of just over $102,000 in earnings.

After a solid two-month grind, Funaro has been taking it easy. With just 11 cashes in October and, as of yet, no major recorded scores in November, he’ll find himself slipping down the rankings soon. But after all his hard work, he’s still likely to have a spot in the top-100 for a little while longer.

David ‘dehhhhh’ Coleman (#62)

David Coleman has just added to his long list of accomplishments, which includes a win in the New Jersey WPT Online Poker Open earlier this year, by reaching a career-high worldwide ranking of #62.

Coleman, who is perpetually in the conversation when one talks about the best U.S. online poker players, has been steadily picking up PLB points throughout September and October. However, on October 28 he really received a boost with a pair of five-figure scores. Coleman just narrowly missed out on picking up a WSOP Circuit ring with a third-place finish in the WSOP Circuit Event #13 ($100,000 NLH High Roller, 6-Max) for $25,183 and 273.63 PLB points. The same day, he took down the WSOP Tuesday Showdown for another $17,302 and 246.39 PLB points.

Coleman has continued his grind into November, already picking up some key PLB points including a win in the PokerStars NJ $250 Super Tuesday for $5,318. As more results come in, Coleman has a clear shot at cracking the top 50.

Yong ‘ykwon17’ Kwon (#90)

World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Yong Kwon currently sits at #90 in the world having been ranked as high as #47 just last year.

Known for his dedication to grinding, Kwon has spent years being known as one of the most dominant players from the Garden State racking up accolades and often times holding the #1 U.S. ranking for months at a time.

After taking the first two weeks off in October, Kwon racked up 47 in-the-money finishes with 15 scores of four-figures or higher. His heavy PLB point push came as the month was coming to a close with back-to-back victories on WSOP.com. First, he took down the $20,000 Weekly Thursday for $7,162 and 157.16 PLB points. Then he added a win in the $10,000 Weekly Friday for another $2,800 plus 100.00 PLB points. His spotlight score took place in the WSOP.com PLO Mania Event #13 ($25,000 PLO) for $9,770 and 193.29 points.

Kwon kicked November off with a fast start taking third place in the PokerStars NJ Sunday Special for another $4,721 adding to his more than $3.75 million in lifetime online earnings.

Angel ‘ChromeKing’ Lopez (#92)

Angel Lopez broke through into the top 100 this week for the first time, rising 16 spots to a career-high ranking of #92.

Lopez used a flurry of PLB-qualifying cashes in recent weeks to propel himself up the rankings. It got started with a third-place finish in the October 21 edition of the WSOP.com Tuesday Showdown for $6,398. He followed that up with a run in the WSOP Circuit Event #11 ($250,000 NLH Main Event) for $1,319.

Then, he went on a three-tournament tear in earl November picking up points in bulk. First, a deep run in the November 2 WSOP.com $100,000 GTD Sunday brought him $2,707. He followed that up two days later with a third-place finish in the PokerStars NJ $250 Super Tuesday for $2,707. Finally, he capped it all off with a victory in the BorgataPoker.com Mega $535 Tuesday and taking home the $5,759 first-place prize.

Players qualify for the online poker worldwide rankings by adding their screen names to their PocketFives profile.