Global Poker Index: Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier Reclaims Top Spot
Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes a player's results over six half-year periods. We knew it was going to happen and this week it is official — Bertrand "ElkY" Grospeller is No. 1. For a look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website.
The Top 10 as of April 30, 2012
| Rank | Player | Total Score | Change in Rank from Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier | 2,982.42 | +1 |
| 2 | Jason Mercier | 2,898.03 | -1 |
| 3 | Sorel Mizzi | 2,553.66 | -- |
| 4 | Eugene Katchalov | 2,551.10 | -- |
| 5 | David "Doc" Sands | 2,475.35 | +2 |
| 6 | Shawn Buchanan | 2,366.95 | -- |
| 7 | Steve O'Dwyer | 2,363.78 | -2 |
| 8 | Juha Helppi | 2,328.50 | +1 |
| 9 | Martin Jacobson | 2,298.84 | +9 |
| 10 | Jonathan Duhamel | 2,288.28 | -- |
Grospellier returned to the top spot for the first time since mid-December 2011. Between his win in the EPT Berlin €10,000 No-Limit Hold'em for €231,000, and his third-place finish in the €100,000 Super High Roller at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final for €621,000, Grospellier knocked down Jason Mercier from the top of GPI heap.
Welcome to the GPI
Justin Bonomo had an excellent PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final. He took down the €100,000 Super High Roller for €1,640,000 and followed that up by cashing in the Main Event. He final tabled the €25,000 High Roller as well, but that wont take effect until next week's rankings. Meanwhile, John Dolan took runner-up at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown for $459,360 to enter the GPI.
New Additions
| Player | Total GPI Score | GPI Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Justin Bonomo | 1,612.20 | 74th |
| John Dolan | 1,382.08 | 141st |
| John Andress | 1,350.24 | 151st |
| Dominykas Karmazinas | 1,276.15 | 178th |
| Ben Vinson | 1,246.37 | 192nd |
| Mikhail Petrov | 1,232.96 | 198th |
| Ignat Liviu | 1,192.59 | 210th |
| Johnny Lodden | 1,189.54 | 214th |
| Matthias De Meulder | 1,181.20 | 217th |
| Basil Yaiche | 1,158.36 | 231st |
| Jesse Martin | 1,148.45 | 235th |
| Anatoly Gurtovy | 1,132.21 | 242nd |
| Yury Gulyy | 1,105.61 | 262nd |
| Dimitar Danchev | 1,095.15 | 270th |
| Giuseppe Pantaleo | 1,084.48 | 276th |
| Kyle Bowker | 1,074.67 | 281st |
| Maria Ho | 1,074.48 | 282nd |
| Mark Rose | 1,067.57 | 284th |
| Pratyush Buddiga | 1,055.73 | 288th |
| Nacho Barbero | 1,049.72 | 291st |
| Richard Toth | 1,046.62 | 293rd |
Falling from the GPI this week were Andreas Wiese, Andrew Teng, Bernard Lee, Christopher Lastiwka, Dobromir Nikov, Ivo Donev, Jake Bazeley, Josh Bergman, Justin Smith, Khiem Nguyen, Lucien Cohen, Mads Wissing, Massimo Mosele, Mickey Petersen, Mike Leah, Russell Carson, Sami Kelopuro, Taylor von Kriegenbergh, Tom Middleton, and Xuan Liu.
Ups and Downs
The biggest rise of the week belonged to Mohsin Charania following his win in the Main Event at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final for €1,350,000. Vadzim Kursevich, Jason Wheeler, and Sergio Castelluccio also went deep.
Tommy Vedes took down the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown for $779,520 and rose 99 places as a result. Fellow final tablists Joe Serock and David Paredes also enjoyed a rise up the ranks.
Biggest Gains
| Rank | Player | Total Score | Change in Rank From Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 46th | Mohsin Charania | 1,780.86 | +140 |
| 47th | Tommy Vedes | 1,778.26 | +99 |
| 63rd | Joe Serock | 1,685.28 | +111 |
| 80th | Vadzim Kursevich | 1,581.23 | +104 |
| 106th | Jason Wheeler | 1,497.84 | +94 |
| 109th | Sergio Castelluccio | 1,490.80 | +122 |
| 124th | Zach Clark | 1,439.84 | +125 |
| 155th | Andrea Benelli | 1,336.45 | +108 |
| 186th | David Paredes | 1,259.66 | +100 |
| 199th | Torsten Brinkmann | 1,230.43 | +80 |
Hoyt Corkins took a big tumble down the GPI this week as his 10th-place finish at the 2011 WPT World Poker Finals aged into Period 2, leaving him with a blank slate in Period 1.
Biggest Drops
| Rank | Player | Total Score | Change in Rank From Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 121st | Rupert Elder | 1,447.09 | -54 |
| 140th | Keven Stammen | 1,383.48 | -51 |
| 160th | Matt Stout | 1,318.21 | -47 |
| 189th | Stefan Huber | 1,254.04 | -51 |
| 196th | Rob Akery | 1,237.82 | -48 |
| 206th | Hoyt Corkins | 1,201.36 | -74 |
| 248th | Mike Beasley | 1,119.96 | -49 |
| 250th | Dan Kelly | 1,119.43 | -50 |
| 263rd | Alain Roy | 1,104.80 | -78 |
| 268th | Vitaly Lunkin | 1,097.37 | -64 |
What's In Store?
As we mentioned earlier, the results of the €25,000 High Roller Event at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final will be applied to next week's rankings. What can we expect to see? Noah Schwartz, currently No. 15 on the GPI, finished in sixth place for €166,000. A return to the GPI top 10 is likely. Daniel Negreanu took second for €598,600 and will improve his current No. 43 position. Justin Bonomo will also shoot up the ranks. He capped his excellent week in Monaco with a fourth-place finish for €266,000 and in a span of two weeks and will go from off the GPI completely to in the top 60.
To look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website. While you're at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.
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