The 2023 Player of the Year in the Global Poker Index (GPI). race is Am WengThere’s something to lose when players are coming off a record year for live poker around the world.
Weng sits at the top of a crowded leaderboard of poker’s best, but his big wins and deep runs in 2023 may be too much to overcome in the final month of the year.
Nacho Barbero The gap is less than 300 points – an amount that can easily be offset by a win in the $40 million range WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas – and Ren Lin was at the top of the leaderboard by the end of the fourth day. Lin could take the lead with a win.
The $1,000,000 One Drop The tournament begins on Monday, December 18th, but it would require 35 players to qualify for GPI points and there may not be enough points available to catch Weng.
GPI Player of the Year Top Ten
| rank | player | GPI points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Am Weng | 4,658.99 |
| 2 | Nacho Barbero | 4,387.72 |
| 3 | Isaac Haxton | 4,168.62 |
| 4 | Danny Tang | 4,047.62 |
| 5 | Chris Brewer | 4,013.23 |
| 6 | Ren Lin | 3,978.52 |
| 7 | Jason Koon | 3,966.68 |
| 8th | Stephen Chidwick | 3,904.93 |
| 9 | Jesse Lonis | 3,695.39 |
| 10 | Daniel Dvoress | 3,633.63 |
The players still have a chance to catch Weng at the top – even if it will be difficult. The WPT Championship still offers a chance to win a share of $2,000,000 in guaranteed prize money in a $1,600 no-limit hold’em tournament that features three opening flights Mid-States Poker Tour will host its traditional end-of-season tournament Venetian Las Vegas from 28th to 30th December.
Last year’s MSPT finals saw Jeremy Ausmus And Adam Hendrix Play in Day 2 with a chance to catch Stephen Songbut none of them made it to the final table. Angela Jordison also had a shot at the Mid-Major POY title with a top-2 finish, but finished fifth.
Cherish Andrews wins GPI Female POY, Stephen Song wins both overall and mid-major POY
Medium showdown at the Venetian
This year’s Mid-Major Player of the Year title will have another close call, and several regulars are expected to have a shot at this final tournament, but they will all have to beat the current leader. Nick Pupillo.
Pupillo had four final tables at the 2023 WSOP, including two third-place finishes and his first WSOP bracelet in the $2,500 Mixed Limit Triple Draw Lowball event. In addition to his strong summer, Pupillo made multiple final tables at the Venetian and WSOP Circuit events across the country.
Mid-Major Player of the Year Top Ten
| rank | player | GPI points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Pupillo | 2,819.77 |
| 2 | William Kopp | 2,693.59 |
| 3 | Ankit Ahuja | 2,652.64 |
| 4 | Preston McEwen | 2,611.66 |
| 5 | Blake Bohn | 2,533.43 |
| 6 | Hyunsup Kim | 2,504.53 |
| 7 | Yiannis Liperis | 2,501.75 |
| 8th | Tobias Peters | 2,394.39 |
| 9 | Am Weng | 2,374.80 |
| 10 | Candido Cappiello | 2,370.28 |
Several players remain within striking distance of Pupillo with a win in this year’s finals, such as Ohio William Kopp. Kopp also won his first bracelet of the year this summer and won the WSOPC Main Event in Cherokee less than two months later.
Ankit Ahujawho was still alive and atop the leaderboard at the halfway point of Day 4 of the WPT World Championship, is close behind Kopp, thanks in part to his victory in the $1,100 Eureka Main Event EPT Cyprus.
Preston McEwen And Blake Bohn round out the top 5 of the month of the year. McEwen has a strong record in 2023 with top finishes throughout the Gulf Coast as well as a win in the WSOPC Main Event in Tunica and a RunGood Poker Series ringing from their stop in Joplin, Missouri. Bohn had another outstanding year with an MSPT win and a deep run at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January.
A win in the year’s final tournament could be enough to propel one of the top seven players into first place, but the exact points will be determined by the size of the field.
Foxen finished strong in the women’s POY race
Kristen Foxen maintains a strong lead in the women’s race for POY thanks to a stellar year that included several strong finishes at the WSOP and a $216,079 score as runner-up in the $10,000 Deep Stack at the WSOP Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in August.
Foxen’s closest competitor is Nadia Magnuswho achieved six-figure results PSPC Main Event and that SHRPO Championship in August. However, the gap will continue to grow as Foxen still needs to score points WPT World Championshipwhere she remains alive on the fifth day.
Women’s Player of the Year in the running for the top ten
| rank | player | GPI POY points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kristen Foxen | 2,797.68 |
| 2 | Nadia Magnus | 2,566.97 |
| 3 | Kitty Kuo | 2,222.79 |
| 4 | Victoria Livschitz | 2,159.86 |
| 5 | Appreciate Andrews | 2,080.51 |
| 6 | Angela Jordison | 2,075.64 |
| 7 | Cecile Ticherfatine | 2,014.19 |
| 8th | United Nations | 1,906.62 |
| 9 | Debbie Lee | 1,810.08 |
| 10 | Maria Ho | 1,787.16 |
Kitty Kuo, Victoria Livschitzand winner of 2022 Appreciate Andrews round out the top five but seem unable to catch Foxen at the top.
There are less than two weeks left in 2023 and at least one of the GPI races is almost upon us.
Matt Hansen
Live Reporting Manager
PokerNews Live Reporting Executive based in Las Vegas, originally from Chicago, IL
