GPI Player of the Year: Paul Volpe Maintains Slim Lead Over Mike Watson
Paul Volpe maintained the No. 1 spot in the 2013 Global Poker Index Player of the Year race for the second consecutive week, keeping a razor-thin margin over Mike Watson. Neither Volpe nor Watson cashed in a tournament last week, meaning Volpe's edge in the race is still by less than one point.
All of the top 10 remained the same this week with the exception of Stephen Bokor, who barely made the cut. Bokor climbed 35 spots to No. 10 after winning the 2013 Battle at the Beach $3,300 Main Event for $155,496. He also has final tables at the 2013 Card Player Poker Tour in Las Vegas and the 2013 L.A. Poker Classic.
Ben Palmer also climbed in the rankings, jumping 148 spots to No. 51. Palmer was ranked No. 199 last week, but a couple final table appearances at the 2013 Card Player Poker Tour Wynn Classic in Las Vegas added points to his POY total. He logged a runner-up finish in a preliminary event followed by a fifth-place finish in the championship event, collecting $71,000 combined between the two.
The biggest mover of the week, Ray Dehkharghani, climbed 608 spots to No. 88 after winning the 2013 Card Player Poker Tour Wynn Classic Main Event. The inaugural $5,180 buy-in event attracted 207 entrants to generate a prize pool of $1,003,950. Dehkharghani got the best of it, earning the $235,931 top prize, which was also the largest score of his career. As a result, his live tournament earnings eclipsed $1 million.
Sam Stein made a huge jump thanks to a runner-up finish to Dehkharghani in the Card Player Poker Tour Main Event for $170,672. Stein sprang 267 spots to No. 72 for the week. The cash was only Stein's second of the year; his first was in early January at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure where he took 10th place in the $25,000 High Roller event. Between the two events, he has earned more than $270,000 for the year.
Here’s a look at the top 10 of the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race:
| Place | Player | Score | Change in Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Volpe | 501.53 | -- |
| 2 | Michael Watson | 501.20 | -- |
| 3 | Daniel Shak | 429.59 | -- |
| 4 | Christian harder | 410.03 | -- |
| 5 | Ana Laura Marquez Esteban | 390.92 | -- |
| 6 | Scott Seiver | 386.90 | -- |
| 7 | Yury Gulyy | 355.16 | -- |
| 8 | Steven Silverman | 349.89 | -- |
| 9 | Micah Raskin | 344.90 | -- |
| 10 | Stephen Bokor | 341.54 | +35 |
The Global Poker Index Player of the Year, presented by PokerNews, honors the player who has a strong performance as calculated by the USA Today Global Poker Index point system.
For the full GPI Player of the Year standings, check out GlobalPokerIndex.com.
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