Global Poker Index: Stephen Chidwick Back on Top Both Overall, 2018 POY
Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes into account a player's results over six half-year periods. For a look at the entire list, visit the official GPI website. Below we look at the 2018 Player of the Year and overall GPI rankings as of August 1.
2018 GPI Player of the Year
| Rank | Player | 2018 GPI POY Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Chidwick | 3691.67 |
| 2 | Justin Bonomo | 3660.28 |
| 3 | Jake Schindler | 3297.45 |
| 4 | Adrian Mateos | 3096.99 |
| 5 | Joe McKeehen | 3086.82 |
| 6 | Anthony Zinno | 2936.63 |
| 7 | David Peters | 2936.16 |
| 8 | Ben Yu | 2934.50 |
| 9 | Rainer Kempe | 2923.53 |
| 10 | Shaun Deeb | 2886.93 |
When we last looked in to see how the 2018 Global Poker Index Player of the Year was shaping up, Justin Bonomo had surged into the top spot thanks to his huge year thus far.
Since then Bonomo took down another big event — and a second World Series of Poker bracelet this summer — by winning the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop that concluded the 2018 WSOP. Bonomo earned a huge $10 million first prize for topping the 27-entry field, catapulting him to the top spot in the All-Time Money List with more than $42.9 million in tournament earnings.
The only thing Bonomo has not won lately was more POY points for his Big One for One Drop victory, since the $1 million buy-in was well over the $20K cap for qualifying events. Meanwhile Stephen Chidwick, the player from whom Bonomo grabbed the lead earlier in the summer, nudged back in front two weeks ago after final tabling a $5K event during the DeepStack Championship Poker Series at the Venetian.
Chidwick earned more points last week by finishing third in the HK$500,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max event won by David Peters at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju in South Korea. (By the way, that buy-in was roughly equivalent to a little under $6,400 USD.)
Aside from small moves up and down the list, the current GPI POY Top 10 features many of the same names from a month ago. Jake Schindler (No. 3) inched up a spot while 2017 GPI Player of the Year Adrian Mateos (No. 4) moved up a couple, knocking Joe McKeehen (No. 5) down two spots from early July.
Anthony Zinno only joined the Top 10 a couple of weeks ago, jumping from No. 18 to No. 6 after winning that aforementioned $5K event at the Venetian in which Chidwick took fourth. Zinno topped a 547-entry field to win a $466,670 first prize in that one.
David Peters (No. 7) has moved up a couple of spots, partly on the strength of that win in Jeju, while Ben Yu’s big finish to his 2018 WSOP helped him join the Top 10 three weeks ago where he currently sits at No. 8. Yu cashed 15 times during the series, making four final tables and winning Event #77: $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller.
Rainer Kempe (No. 9) slipped a few spots over the last month, while Shaun Deeb moved up to No. 10 after his stellar WSOP that included 17 cashes, three final tables, and two victories.
Deeb currently leads the WSOP Player of the Year race with the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe events in Rozvadov, Czech Republic still to come, with Ben Yu sitting in second position at present.
Incidentally, John Hennigan (currently third in the 2018 WSOP POY race) is down at No. 72 in the 2018 GPI POY race, while Joe Cada (currently fourth in the 2018 WSOP POY race) is at No. 102.
Overall GPI Top 10
| Rank | Player | Overall GPI Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Chidwick | 3818.19 |
| 2 | Justin Bonomo | 3555.69 |
| 3 | Adrian Mateos | 3552.71 |
| 4 | David Peters | 3551.51 |
| 5 | Alex Foxen | 3530.23 |
| 6 | Joe McKeehen | 3553.82 |
| 7 | Jason Koon | 3340.26 |
| 8 | Sam Greenwood | 3307.14 |
| 9 | Nick Petrangelo | 3292.86 |
| 10 | Rainer Kempe | 3274.56 |
Stephen Chidwick was leading the overall GPI rankings a month ago, and he’s still comfortably on top. Make it 16 weeks in a row for Chidwick at No. 1. Just behind Chidwick, Justin Bonomo has moved up from No. 6 to No. 2 since the start of July.
Bonomo first cracked the overall GPI Top 10 in November 2016, and has remained inside the Top 10 all but 13 weeks over the last 20-plus months. He got as high as No. 2 for a single week in June 2017, was back at No. 2 for one-week stays a couple of times earlier this year, then got back to No. 2 two weeks ago. Bonomo has never quite made it to No. 1 on the overall list, however.
All but one of these 10 players were in the top 10 a month ago, with only Nick Petrangelo having moved up to No. 9, pushing Bryn Kenney off the current list.
To view the GPI overall rankings in their entirety, visit the official GPI website. While you're at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.
