As I sat back on New Year's Eve, toasting the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008, I reflected on the biggest poker players of the year that had just ended.

Without a doubt, there were many names that came to mind.

One of the biggest stories of the past 12 months was the number of newcomers who may well be at the forefront of the game for years (perhaps decades?) to come. Not surprisingly, most of them were raised on the Internet game and made significant inroads into the live game in the course of the year.

It really makes a person wonder, as 2008 is in its infancy, how many more online poker players will shatter the wall between the online game and the live game in the coming year?

Both Jonathan Little and Scott Clements were among those players who battled for one of the multitude of Player of the Year awards out there. They not only won major live tournaments (Little the WPT's Mirage Poker Showdown, Clements the WPT North American Poker Championships); they also continued to be forces online. The biggest story, however, came from across the pond - the Scandinavian nation of Norway.

Online phenom Annette_15 takes on the European poker world.

After terrorizing the online world with her skills, Annette Obrestad stepped into the live poker world and demonstrated she wasn't just an online wunderkind. When she captured the World Series of Poker - Europe's Championship Event in September, she set records across the board (youngest winner, leading money-winner among women, etc.).

What was truly astounding was she backed it up; soon after her WSOPE victory, she nearly captured a European Poker Tour event in Dublin. Those two achievements brand her as the best of these newcomers. It's unfortunate that it will be another two years before she can come to America to play, but she'll no doubt amaze us in the near future in other events in Europe and Asia until she's able to play here in the States.

While this might make it sound like it was all about the youth movement in poker, the veterans had their moments during 2007 as well. First and foremost would have to be Phil Hellmuth, who might be able to angle for having the WSOP called "The Phil Hellmuth Invitational." After tying up with Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan in 2006, Hellmuth surpassed them with another bracelet win in 2007.

Hellmuth made sure it wasn't just the Internet kids making poker headlines this year.

Tack on his election to the Poker Hall of Fame and it is obvious that "The Poker Brat" will continue to ply his skills (and his persona) well beyond just 2007.

Other veterans demonstrated that poker isn't just a game for the younger set. Former World Champion Dan Harrington deservedly won a WPT event at the Legends of Poker and showed that, even as time rolls by, age and experience can sometimes outlast youth and enthusiasm!

Bill Edler, while not as grizzled as Harrington, had one of the best years of his poker life during 2007, and a previously unknown cash game player named Tom Schneider followed an exact plan to take the WSOP Player of the Year title (and two bracelets) and was a prominent part of many POY races throughout the year.

At the end of 2007, it did come down to two longtime veterans who fought it out for some of the top honors. J.C. Tran couldn't sustain a superb start to 2007 and was passed by another of poker's elder class in David "The Dragon" Pham. Both of these players were remarkable to watch as the year played out and should be a focal point for 2008 as well.

Poker loses a legend.

As the noisemakers began to quiet down, I also remembered the passing of the legendary Chip Reese. I raised my glass to the greatest cash game player ever and wished that 2008 will bring us more players like him, who had the style and grace to handle all outcomes, whether in his favor or not. There is a void in the poker world without him, and he might just be irreplaceable.

With the beginning of a new year, bankrolls are reset and the players are ready to go once again, battling in cash games and tournaments around the world. Who, and what, will make 2008 a year to remember? This poker player, for one, eagerly anticipates finding out.