With only two weeks left, there’s still a lot of mystery as to who will take home the Global Poker Index Player of the Year awards.
Will Bin Weng stay a top the list for Player of the Year in the overall category? Will Cherish Andrews hold on to win her second Female Player of the Year, or will one of the recent winners that are right on her tail overtake her during the last tournaments of the year, just as she had done in 2022?
Let’s take a look.
Last year, Andrews rocked a December to remember that vaulted her to the number one spot on the GPI index’s list for top woman players. She secured the Female Player of the Year award during a magical week when she first finished sixth in the $2,500 event for $78K and 311.27 points, then was the runner-up in the $10K high-roller event for another $259K and 328.17 points. The very next day, she won the $1K event for $132K and 325.97 points
The clock is ticking, but there are several ladies who in it who have earned Player of the Year trophies themselves. Kristen Foxen (2017 GPI Female POY) and Nadya Magnus (2021 GPI Female POY) are right in the race, along with Angela Jordison, who came very close to taking the trophy last year. They’re all within 100 points of taking the lead.
Bin Weng in drivers seat
A fantastic May that saw Bin Weng make three World Poker Tour final tables put him at the top of the general GPI leaderboard since then, and it’s there he still sits, just 429.05 points in front of Jose “Nacho” Ignacio Barbero with 4,302.48 points.
(GPI takes the task and keeps tracks of the results of poker tournaments around the world using a point system that weighs the tournaments and finishing spots).
Oh, Weng wishes Barbero was the only player who can overtake him with a good showing at the WPT World Championship series that closes the year with a $40 million guaranteed tourney that would put most of the players who now sit in the top 10 on the list over the top with a victory.
Those players are Chris Brewer with 3,760.83 points, Stephen Chidwick with 3,744.50 points, Jesse Lonis with 3,729.28 points, and a bunch of others who are right on their derrieres.
Mid-Majors tight, too
Less than 500 points separate Nick Pupillo (2,819.77 pts) and Stephen Song who sits in 12th with 2,360.48 pts. Song is the 2022 GPI Player of the Year in both the general and Mid-Major categories, and could repeat in both categories if he does well at the WPT World Championship.
He gave himself a chance to repeat after he won three World Series of Poker Circuit rings last month, doubling his WSOP booty.
Weng is also in contention, currently sitting in ninth with 2,374.80 pts.
The mid-majors only count the results of tourneys with buy-ins of $2,500 or less.
