Daniel Negreanu Tops GPI Player of the Decade Project; Erik Seidel Claims No. 2 Spot

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Jan 03, 2014 3 min read

For the past week, the Global Poker Index’s Eric Danis has been revealing the top nine poker players of the past decade in what has been deemed the GPI Player of the Decade Project. The GPI team looks to determine which player was the best on the live tournament circuit during the era of the poker boom, an idea that came about with this past summer being the 10th anniversary of Chris Moneymaker's famed World Series of Poker Main Event victory.

On Friday, the last two names on the list were revealed and included the “Player of the Decade.” To determine the top players, the exclusive GPI scoring system was used, minus the aging factor. A maximum of 12 results per year will be used to help determine a player's overall score, making each player viable to earn points from a maximum of 120 events.

No. 2 — Erik Seidel

Given his storied career, it’s no surprise to see the Poker Hall of Fame member claim a spot high up on the list. Seidel has 27 career wins on his résumé, but surprisingly only 12 of them came from 2004-2013. Event so, $16,028,879 of his $19,274,783 career earnings came from that same period.

That’s because the 54-year-old eight-time bracelet winner, who is only one of five players to hold the No. 1 spot on the GPI 300, has strung together some impressive scores; in fact, all of Seidel’s top 10 biggest scores have come from the measured period. Have a look:

Date	Event	Place	Prize
Jan. 27, 2011	Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller	1st	$2,472,555
May 18, 2011	Five Star World Poker Classic 4100,000 SHR	1st	$1,092,780
April 4, 2008	World Poker Tour Foxwoods Poker Classic	1st	$982,890
Jan. 14, 2008	Aussie Millions Main Event	2nd	$879,028
Mar. 3, 2011	NBC National Heads-Up Championship	1st	$750,000
Aug. 30, 2013	EPT Barcelona €50,000 High Roller	2nd	$745,224
Dec. 8, 2013	WPT Five Diamond $100,000 High Roller	2nd	$650,100
Jan. 22, 2011	Aussie Millions $100,000 High Roller	3rd	$618,139
Jun. 10, 2005	World Series of Poker $2,000 NLHE	1st	$611,795
Aug. 9, 2011	Epic Poker League $20,000 NLHE Six Handed	2nd	$604,330

Seidel shows no signs of slowing down — he had $3,913,029 in 2011 tournament earnings and $2,117,842 in 2013 — and will likely continue to dominate in years to come.

To read Seidel's full GPI Player of the Decade Project article, please click here.

No. 1 — Daniel Negreanu

Is there anything that “Kid Poker” hasn't won in the last year?

He captured two WSOP bracelets to bring his total to six; became the first two-time WSOP Player of the Year; won Bluff Magazine Poker Player of the Year and Card Player Poker Player of the Year; and finished 2013 as the No. 1 ranked player on the current GPI rankings.

Negreanu currently sits third on the all-time money list with $19,549,209, of which $17,440,753 came from the 2004-2013 period. The first year in that period remains Negreanu’s best with 14 cashes, $4,465,907 in winnings, 11 top-10 finishes, and four wins; however, the last year was nearly just as good with 14 cashes, $3,208,630 in winnings, seven top-10 finishes, and two wins.

“I’m very honored by this award. I’ve worked hard on my game throughout the decade, so that I could find ways to consistently win year in, year out against tougher and tougher competition each year,” said Negreanu. “I’ve never wanted to rest on my name alone and winning has always been important to me. The game has changed a lot over the past 10 years, but the key ingredient for success hasn’t: confidence. I enter the next decade more confident than ever before.”

To read Negreanu's full GPI Player of the Decade Project article, please click here.

Place	Player	Points
1	Daniel Negreanu	7,377
2	Erik Seidel	6,953
3	Michael Mizrachi	6,553
4	Barry Greenstein	6,457
5	John Juanda	6,261
6	Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier	5,778
7	Shannon Shorr	5,578
8	JC Tran	5,569
9	Phil Ivey	5,422