As the tournament poker world prepares to head into the home stretch of the major Player of the Year races, “Big One For One Drop” champion Dan Colman has solidified his lead in two of the three rankings. He has a bit of work to do, however, if he will make it a clean sweep of the 2014 awards.
On the Bluff Magazine Player of the Year race, Colman has the field pretty much covered. A couple of month ago Colman’s lead over Ole Schemion was only about 50 points but, after taking down the title at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open’s $10 million guaranteed Main Event, Colman has built a lead that might be untouchable with 1377.7 points. Although new challengers have emerged, Colman is the only player with more than 1000 points at this time.
Dan Smith has moved up the Bluff POY board significantly, benefitted by three strong finishes at the European Poker Tour’s stop in Barcelona. Even with those three finishes (including a win), Smith is still way behind Colman with his 949.35 points. The runner up to Colman at the Hard Rock, Mike Leah, is nipping at Smith’s heels with his 944.64 points, while Schemion (816.59) and George Danzer (797.15) round out the Top Five.
The remainder of the Top Ten on the Bluff rankings might not have a shot at catching Colman, but they do have a shot at the other members of the Top Five. Jake Schindler (794.85), Mustapha Kanit (790.48), Joseph McKeehen (768.22), Doug Polk (757.75) and Mike McDonald (750.78) are in sixth through tenth places, respectively, but they are going to have to fight if they are to hold onto their Top Ten status against the likes of Ami Barer, Joe Kuether, Dominik Panka and Keven Stammen.
The CardPlayer Magazine Player of the Year race tells a similar story, but it is a much closer competition. Colman once again reigns supreme there with his 4770 points, but the lead is only 256 points over second place Kanit (4514). If Colman were to shut down for the remainder of the year Kanit, with a single strong showing in a tournament, would surpass the “One Drop” champion to take over the lead. The job would be a bit more difficult for Leah (4174), Schindler (3700) or Barer (3580) in third through fifth places, but it could be done.
Dylan Wilkerson is a name that didn’t appear on the Bluff Magazine list but, after a deep run at the World Poker Tour’s Legends of Poker (14th place), Wilkerson keeps his name in the mix on the CardPlayer rankings. Two months ago, however, Wilkerson was in second; now with 3316 points, he holds onto the sixth place slot. Panka (3315), McDonald (3312), Stammen (3262) and Smith (3110) are in seventh through tenth places, setting up a great stretch run battle as they attempt to catch Colman.
The stunner in the rankings is the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race. It is the only ranking that DOESN’T have Colman as a far-and-away leader, instead ensconcing Smith at the top of the heap with his 1249.44 points. Kanit is within shouting distance of Smith with his 1158.69 points and Scott Seiver makes his one and only appearance in any of the POY Top Ten rankings (third, 1137.09 points). Colman (who earned more points from his Hard Rock win than his “Big One” win in the GPI POY due to the GPI’s weighting system) is in fourth with 1119.55 points and another newcomer, Jason Mercier, takes the last slot of the Top Five with his 1099.02 points.
The remainder of the Top Ten also closes out all the players who have more than 1000 points on the GPI POY rankings. Stammen (1092.79), Alex Bilokur (1071.07), Schindler (1056.67), Schemion (1009.57) and Barer (1003.51) are mathematically still in the hunt for the GPI POY, making the next three months a pretty interesting ride.
Smaller tournaments will take the stage for the rest of September, but October will be the big month to watch as the players drive to the end of the calendar year. The World Series of Poker – Asia Pacific (WSOP-APAC) kicks off action on October 2 (and its WSOP Circuit has several tournaments on the roster), while the EPT comes back to action in London on October 8 with the next stop on their Season 11 schedule. The WPT will open play on the Borgata Poker Open this Sunday as a part of their Season XIII schedule and have several National and non-televised events leading up to a strong finish in November and December for the tour. Add in the “High Roller” events that have become popular on the major tour schedules and the next three months will be action-packed as the players drive to reach the goal of Player of the Year.
