As expected, the summertime running of the 2012 World Series of Poker has shuffled up the various Player of the Year races compiled by many of the top outlets in the poker industry.
After leading the top three POY races for much of the first half of 2012, former World Champion Jonathan Duhamel has fallen on, for lack of a better word, difficult times during the 2012 WSOP. Although he has cashed in four events this summer (pushing his earnings for the year over $1.4 million), there is only one of the three lists that currently put him atop their rankings.
Back in May, Bluff Magazine had Duhamel at the helm of the pack and, while he has added some points to his total, others have done better with their WSOP summer. Dan Smith, after an outstanding performance in April that placed him behind Duhamel on Bluff’s POY, has been able to bump his point total up to 946.71 points, good enough to take over the lead at the halfway mark of the year. The big story on the Bluff POY board, however, is the resurgence of Phil Ivey back into the tournament poker world.
With his five final tables during the 2012 WSOP, Ivey has come from outside of the Top Ten to assume the second place slot on the Bluff countdown. With 904.17 points, Ivey has blown by Duhamel, who sits in a distant third now with his 795.80 points, and has reestablished himself as one of the preeminent tournament poker players on the planet.
Following Duhamel is reigning WPT World Championship winner Marvin Rettenmaier, who slips into the fourth slot with 792.52 points over 2012 Aussie Millions champion Oliver Speidel, in fifth place at 669.81. Rounding out the Bluff Top Ten are Kyle Julius, Joe Kuether, Vanessa Selbst, Michael Mizrachi and Daniel Negreanu; those that were unseated from their spots in the Top Ten include Andrew Chen, Will “The Thrill” Failla, Dan Kelly, John Dibella, John Dolan and Sean Jazayeri.
There is a similar reshuffling of the Top Ten on the CardPlayer Magazine Player of the Year race, which was the only one that didn’t have Duhamel as its leader prior to the start of the 2012 WSOP. Speidel was the leader of that POY back in May, but he hasn’t added any points to his total since that time. While he may sit down the Bluff board, Julius has been able to assume the top slot on the CardPlayer POY with 3752 points and Smith is nipping at his heels with 3488 points accumulated.
Speidel has fallen down to the third place slot with his 3046 points, while European Poker Tour champion Vadzim Kursevich used his third place finish in the $3000 Pot Limit Omaha event at the WSOP to push his way into the Top Ten in fourth at 2717. Rettenmaier’s WPT championship win also catapulted him into the CardPlayer race, sitting in fifth with 2552 points.
Looking down at the remainder of the CardPlayer POY Top Ten, Duhamel’s name doesn’t even appear after holding down fifth place back in May. Dibella, Kelly, Ivey, Davidi Kitai and Kuether round out the roster on the CardPlayer POY Top Ten, while Faraz Jaka, Mohsin Charania, David “Doc” Sands, Chen and Jazayeri join Duhamel in falling off the head of the class.
The only ranking that continues to have Duhamel as its leader is the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race. Duhamel has been able to add about 100 points to his total for the first half of 2012, pushing his leading point total to 668.79. That barely ekes out Smith (662.47) for the lead, while Rettenmaier makes his entry into the Top Ten (courtesy of the WPT Championship) with 642.97 points. Ivey (629.12) and Julius (585.33) round out the Top Five on the GPI POY.
After making his debut back in May, Samuel Chartier has been able to keep himself in the GPI POY race, currently sitting in sixth place with 583.37 points. From there, however, a new list of contenders emerges with Jason Koon, Andrew Lichtenberger, Negreanu and Jason Mercier rounding out the Top Ten. Leaving the GPI POY Top Ten were Andrew Badecker, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Noah Schwartz, Martin Jacobson, Vyacheslav Igin, Justin Bonomo and Leonid Bilokur.
There won’t be many changes to these lists in the immediate future, even with the Championship Event of the WSOP currently running. Although players who make it deep into the tournament will receive their appropriate POY points, the conclusion of the event in October will more than likely call for another reshuffle of the tables. The tournament poker world may take a break later this month, but the EPT, the WPT, the WSOP Europe and several other tournament circuits will crank back into action in late August and provide for an exciting stretch run to the end of the year and the eventual determination of these Player of the Year races.
