The newest Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year (POY) standings were released Wednesday and, as expected, there were no changes at the very top. Dan Smith is the leader for the eighth week in a row, with Kyle Julius still in 2nd place and losing time to catch up.
Smith has 1098.79 points in the POY standings, an increase of just over 54 points from last week’s total. The new points come from a 12th place finish in the 104-player European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo €2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max Turbo event, a tournament in which he won €4,500.
Dan Smith’s 2012 started off with a bang, as he won the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Challenge at the Aussie Millions in January, cashing in for $1,012,000. He then had an incredible EPT Grand Final in April, winning three events: €5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max Turbo, €5,000 No-Limit Hold’em, and €5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max. Again on the European Poker Tour, Smith won the EPT Barcelona $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller event for almost $1 million. All told, he has won over $3.6 million in 2012 and has ten top 10 finishes in live tournaments.
The next four players in the POY rankings have exactly the same number of points they had last week and remain in the exact same spots: Julius, Marvin Rettenmaier, Phil Hellmuth, and Andrew Lichtenberger.
New to the top ten is Justin Bonomo, who jumped from 11th to 6th, marking his highest-ever ranking in the GPI POY standings. Also making a five spot leap was Joseph Cheong, who moved from 15th to 10th. Aiding his boost was a 4th place finish in the €10,000 EPT San Remo No-Limit Hold’em Eight-Max event.
Bonomo’s rise meant that some players had to fall, and David Baker, Jason Mercier, and Bertrand Grospellier did just that, each dropping one spot in the top ten.
The Player of the Year rankings are different from the GPI 300 standings in that the GPI 300 based on the live tournament results of the past 36 months, rather than just the current calendar year. In the GPI 300 rankings, Jason Mercier is currently ranked 1st, with Grospellier close behind. Dan Smith is currently 10th.
The Global Poker Index also calculates rankings that include just women. The GPI 100 Ladies sees Vanessa Selbst holding a gigantic lead over Melanie Weisner, 2419.96 points to 1603.25 points. What this essentially means is that Selbst should be the number one ranked female poker player for a long time. Needless to say, she is also leading the Player of the Year race with 609.22 points. There is no way anyone will catch her, as the next closest player, Lucille Cailly has just 361.87.
Global Poker Index Player of the Year Standings – Top Ten
1. Dan Smith – 1098.79
2. Kyle Julius – 906.02
3. Marvin Rettenmaier – 891.34
4. Phil Hellmuth – 846.83
5. Andrew Lichtenberger – 819.75
6. Justin Bonomo – 798.33
7. David Baker – 790.71
8. Jason Mercier – 766.71
9. Bertrand Grospellier – 752.53
10. Joseph Cheong – 748.60
