Daniel Colman Climbs to Fifth in WSOP Player of the Year Race; Danzer Still in Front
With only a handful events remaining in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, the Player of the Year race has become a two-man sprint to the finish line. Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer holds a slight edge over rising superstar Brandon Shack-Harris, with the latter gaining serious ground following a runner-up finish in the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship last week.
Danzer takes 745.2 POY points into the final weeks of the summer series, leading Shack-Harris by only nine points. Here's a look at the incredible numbers accrued by the two pros in the first five weeks:
| Player | Points | Cashes | Final Tables | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Danzer | 745.2 | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| Brandon Shack-Harris | 736 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Despite going toe-to-toe for much of the way, Danzer and Shack-Harris have developed a mutual respect for one another throughout. Danzer was even on the rail while Shack-Harris battled John Hennigan for the PPC crown, and applauded his friendly foe after the match ended in Hennigan's favor.
Congrats and well played @Oscillator_WSOP i am proud to be in your corner. Congrats to Mr. Hennigan too, a well deserved Players Champion.
— George Danzer (@trickyscarfy)
While those two players sit comfortably atop the leaderboard, plenty of contenders are in the mix with the WSOP Main Event and WSOP-Asia Pacific still to come. The aforementioned Hennigan is now third after his career-defining victory in the PPC with 557.88 points through Wednesday evening.
Daniel Colman made it clear that doesn't care about accolades following his victory in the $1 million Big One for One Drop on Tuesday, but he still put himself into POY contention. Colman earned 300 points by winning the One Drop, moving into fifth in the standings. We don't expect to see much of Colman outside of the Main Event, but there are plenty of points up for grabs in poker's grandest tournament of the year should he make a deep run.
Daniel Negreanu jumped to No. 4 in the POY race following his runner-up result in the One Drop — his second runner-up finish of the series. In addition to becoming poker's all-time money winner, Negreanu is now tied with Dylan Linde and Humbero Brenes for the lead with nine cashes at the 2014 WSOP.
Rounding out the top 10 of the 2014 WSOP POY race are Justin Bonomo (6th), Brock Parker (7th), Richard Ashby (8th), Calvin Anderson (9th) and Will Givens (10th).
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