Global Poker Index: Daniel Colman Ends 2014 POY Race on Top; Schemion Overall Leader
Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes into account a player’s results over six half-year periods. The GPI also ranks the top performers of the year over two six-month periods as calculated by the USA Today Global Poker Index point system.
2014 GPI Player of the Year
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change (from 12/17/14) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Colman | 4141.91 | - |
| 2 | Ole Schemion | 4125.39 | 1 |
| 3 | Davidi Kitai | 4096.10 | -1 |
| 4 | Ami Barer | 3873.15 | - |
| 5 | Dan Smith | 3839.04 | - |
| 6 | Mustapha Kanit | 3656.31 | - |
| 7 | Jacob Schindler | 3604.15 | +4 |
| 8 | Keven Stammen | 3591.38 | +7 |
| 9 | Jason Mercier | 3545.77 | -2 |
| 10 | Scott Seiver | 3480.86 | -2 |
Daniel Colman capped a remarkable year full of tournament triumphs to finish atop the rankings for the 2014 Global Poker Index Player of the Year. Colman took over the top spot in the POY race in early November, moving ahead of Dan Smith who had led for the previous nine weeks, then the Massachusetts native remained in first position despite several late challenges from others in December.
Three cashes in Prague including a final-table finish of sixth at the EPT Prague High Roller enabled 2013 GPI Player of the Year Ole Schemion to edge within just a few points of Colman on the final POY list of the year, with the German barely missing picking up a second-straight POY title. Schemion was the only player from the top 10 of the 2013 GPI POY race to make it back to the top 10 in 2014.
That late run was enough to help Schemion edge ahead of the Belgian Davidi Kitai to earn the honors as the 2014 GPI European Poker Player of the Year. Kitai also had gained points in Prague, including just missing the final table in the Main Event where he finished 10th. Meanwhile Jacob Schindler and Keven Stammen managed late-December upward moves to claim spots inside the top 10 in the 2014 POY race.
Here's an overview of the many deep finishes and victories that gave Colman the points needed to be ranked first in the last GPI POY chart of 2014:
| Event | Buy-In | Entries | Finish | Prize (USD) | GPI POY pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCA High Roller (Jan.) | $25,500 | 198 | 27th | $59,300 | 265.34 |
| EPT Grand Final Super High Roller (Apr.) | €100,000 | 50 | 1st | $2,127,398 | 494.73 |
| EPT Grand Final, Turbo 6-Max. (May) | €10,300 | 63 | 5th | $68,526 | 278.16 |
| WSOP NLHE Heads-Up (June) | $10,000 | 136 | 3rd | $111,942 | 377.89 |
| WSOP NLHE (June) | $5,000 | 696 | 19th | $22,309 | 281.89 |
| WSOP $1 Million Big One for One Drop (June) | $1,000,000 | 42 | 1st | $15,306,668 | 448.04 |
| Aria Super High Roller (July) | $100,000 | 30 | 3rd | $796,821 | 276.02 |
| EPT Barcelona Super High Roller (Aug.) | €50,000 | 77 | 2nd | $1,118,479 | 437.61 |
| $10 Million Guarantee Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (Aug.) | $5,300 | 1,499 | 1st | $1,446,710 | 585.23 |
| WPT Alpha8 London (Oct.) | £60,000 | 23 | 1st | $957,396 | 375.86 |
| ACOP Super High Roller (Nov.) | HK$500,000 | 52 | 7th | $373,932 | 321.14 |
| Total | $22,389,481 | 4,141.91 |
GPI 300 Top 10
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change (from 12/17/14) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ole Schemion | 4130.47 | +1 |
| 2 | Dan Smith | 3755.56 | -1 |
| 3 | Davidi Kitai | 3571.77 | - |
| 4 | Ami Barer | 3490.07 | - |
| 5 | Daniel Colman | 3435.80 | +13 |
| 6 | Pratyush Buddiga | 3371.01 | +2 |
| 7 | Jacob Schindler | 3310.40 | +2 |
| 8 | Bryn Kenney | 3288.10 | +8 |
| 9 | Martin Jacobson | 3193.94 | +10 |
| 10 | Joseph Cheong | 3192.85 | +18 |
While Schemion came up shy of grabbing the 2014 POY lead before the year ended, he did manage to oust Dan Smith from the top spot of the overall GPI rankings on 12/24/14, thereby ending Smith's 17-week run as the overall leader to begin 2015 as the top-ranked tournament player in the world. Schmion is no stranger to the position, having led the overall GPI for a total of 21 weeks during 2014.
Colman ends 2014 having edged up into the overall top 10 as well, moving up to No. 5 to start the new year. Bryn Kenney, Martin Jacobson, and Joseph Cheong also all managed to find spots in the overall top 10 to begin 2015.
Welcome to the GPI Top 300
| Rank | Player | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 256 | Jonas Mackoff | 1670.63 |
| 273 | Michael Linster | 1629.06 |
| 275 | Stuart Rutter | 1627.64 |
| 283 | Oleksii Khoroshenin | 1612.73 |
| 284 | Greg Merson | 1609.39 |
| 285 | Lasse Frost | 1606.14 |
| 287 | Onur Unsal | 1602.67 |
| 289 | Ben Vinson | 1599.77 |
| 291 | Igor Yaroshevsky | 1597.27 |
| 292 | Andrey Konopelko | 1594.09 |
| 294 | Eric Baldwin | 1588.79 |
| 295 | Paul Nunes | 1588.67 |
| 297 | Eric Blair | 1588.45 |
| 298 | Dean Blatt | 1587.01 |
| 299 | Ronit Chamani | 1584.60 |
Looking down at the other end of the rankings, there were 15 players who moved up into the list during the final week of the year to start 2015 among the overall GPI Top 300. That follows a week which saw 19 newcomers joining the top 300 (on 12/24/14), including dramatic moves by Brett Shaffer (from No. 643 to No. 260) and Stephen Graner (from No. 596 to No. 206).
Shaffer slipped back to No. 296 this week, but the two-time WSOP bracelet winner enjoyed his big move the week before following a third-place finish in the World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Meanwhile Graner (who sits in No. 193 this week), catapulted upwards following his big win in the EPT Prague Main Event where he topped a 1,107-entry field to win €969,000 (worth about $1.2 million USD).
Biggest Gains
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change (from 12/24/14) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 275 | Stuart Rutter | 1627.64 | +83 |
| 273 | Michael Linster | 1629.06 | +49 |
| 256 | Jonas Mackoff | 1670.63 | +47 |
| 292 | Andrey Konopelko | 1594.09 | +46 |
| 213 | Timothy Miles | 1776.74 | +42 |
While Shaffer and Graner were the biggest gainers the week before, the final week of 2014 saw less dramatic moves with Stuart Rutter’s move from No. 358 to No. 275 representing the most significant advance of the week.
Biggest Drops
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change (from 12/24/14) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 265 | Michael Tureniec | 1647.36 | -73 |
| 143 | Ismael Bojang | 2025.72 | -64 |
| 146 | Dylan Linde | 1992.63 | -60 |
| 130 | Jason Koon | 2074.38 | -55 |
| 250 | Maria Ho | 1680.44 | -50 |
Finally, Michael Tureniec endured the biggest final-week slide of the year among those retaining spots inside the GPI Top 300, slipping from No. 192 to No. 265.
To view the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website. While you’re at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.
