2015 GPI WSOP Player of the Year Update: Gorodinsky Leads, But Deeb and Others Closing
Heading into the 2015 World Series of Poker Europe festival, American Mike Gorodinsky led the way in the Global Poker Index WSOP Player of the Year race with 2,157.19 points. Gorodinsky's points stemmed from seven WSOP cashes in Las Vegas during the summer. Most prominently, Gorodinsky won the $50,000 Poker Players' Championship for $1,270,086 and 531.13 GPI WSOP Player of the Year points.
Through Day 8 of the series — just about the halfway point — Gorodinsky's lead stands, but there has been plenty of movement below him. Whether or not Gorodinsky will be able to fend off his competitors is left to be seen, but there are several players closing the gap more and more each day.
Current GPI WSOP POY Top 10 After Oct. 15
| Rank | Player | Country | POY Points | To 1st |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Gorodinsky | USA | 2,157.19 | -- |
| 2 | Shaun Deeb | USA | 2,056.40 | 100.79 |
| 3 | Brian Hastings | USA | 1,961.82 | 195.37 |
| 4 | Anthony Zinno | USA | 1,942.72 | 214.47 |
| 5 | Paul Volpe | USA | 1,889.46 | 267.73 |
| 6 | Ismael Bojang | Germany | 1,808.40 | 348.79 |
| 7 | Stephen Chidwick | UK | 1,764.68 | 392.51 |
| 8 | Max Pescatori | Italy | 1,701.37 | 455.82 |
| 9 | Jonathan Duhamel | Canada | 1,676.11 | 481.08 |
| 10 | Mike Leah | Canada | 1,597.20 | 559.99 |
Other than American Paul Volpe, all of the players currently in the top 10 made the trek to Berlin, Germany, to chase bracelets and Player of the Year glory. At time of writing, Shaun Deeb moved the closest to Gorodinsky, climbing to 2,056.40 points thanks to two cashes worth a total of 252.42 points. Due to Deeb's movement, Brian Hastings slipped back to third as he has yet to record a cash at WSOP Europe. Similar to Hastings, Anthony Zinno has yet to finish in the money in an event in Berlin, too.
The other five players in the top 10 that we haven't mentioned have each recorded at least one cash at WSOP Europe, with Ismael Bojang, Max Pescatori, and Jonathan Duhamel each notching two cash finishes. Pescatori has seen the biggest jump after earning a combined 400.15 points from his two results — eighth in Event #1: €2,200 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em and seventh in Event #3: €3,250 Eight-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha.
In the top 10, Volpe, Bojang, Chidwick, and Leah have not won a bracelet as part of their 2015 WSOP results, but both Hastings and Pescatori have already won two this year.
Sitting just outside the top 10 are Phil Hellmuth and Igor Yaroshevsky; At time of writing, Hellmuth ranked 11th and Yaroshevsky ranked 12th. Hellmuth was leapfrogged by a few players who are now in the top 10 despite recording a cash in Event #2: €550 "Oktoberfest" No-Limit Hold'em. Yaroshevsky has recorded four cashes at WSOP Europe, which is extremely impressive given only seven events have seen registration close. From his four cashes, Yaroshevsky has added 461.46 GPI WSOP Player of the Year points.
Although there are others who have made the trip to Germany for events at WSOP Europe, it's going to be extremely hard for those ranked lower than Yaroshevsky to catch Gorodinsky. There are only three events left on the schedule, but two of them provide the biggest buy-ins of the series — Event #9: €10,450 Main Event and Event #10: €25,600 High Roller.
Click here for complete GPI WSOP Player of the Year information.
As the 2015 WSOP Europe rolls on, be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage of the 2015 GPI WSOP Player of the Year race.
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