Global Poker Index: Zinno and Kaverman Still on Top; Affleck Back in Top 300
Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes into account a player’s results over six half-year periods. For a look at the entire list, visit the official GPI website. Here’s a look at the rankings as of October 7, 2015.
2015 GPI Player of the Year
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Zinno | 4461.20 | - |
| 2 | Byron Kaverman | 4346.18 | - |
| 3 | Nicholas Petrangelo | 4076.11 | - |
| 4 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | 3955.62 | - |
| 5 | Connor Drinan | 3771.11 | - |
| 6 | Scott Seiver | 3762.46 | - |
| 7 | Jason Mercier | 3751.99 | - |
| 8 | Barry Hutter | 3681.94 | +10 |
| 9 | Paul Volpe | 3651.76 | -1 |
| 10 | Tom Marchese | 3634.75 | +6 |
It was another quiet week at the top of the 2015 Global Poker Index Player of the Year leaderboard where Anthony Zinno enjoyed a 14th-straight week in first position and Byron Kaverman still just one small cash away from passing him.
Two players leaped up into the POY top 10 this week, including Barry Hutter who jumped from No. 18 to No. 8 after finishing runner-up in the $25,000 buy-in ARIA High Roller XV event last Thursday, then winning the $25K ARIA High Roller XVI the next day. Hutter earned nearly $420K between those two cashes while picking up about 700 GPI points as well to help him move upward on the list.
Tom Marchese also appears in this week’s top 10 after his fourth-place finish in the latter of those high rollers at the ARIA Resort & Casino.
GPI 300 Top 10
| Rank | Player | GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Byron Kaverman | 4257.36 | - |
| 2 | Jason Mercier | 4176.43 | - |
| 3 | Anthony Zinno | 4006.18 | - |
| 4 | Scott Seiver | 3920.19 | - |
| 5 | Stephen Chidwick | 3733.29 | - |
| 6 | Nicholas Petrangelo | 3710.07 | - |
| 7 | Paul Volpe | 3699.56 | - |
| 8 | Dominik Nitsche | 3620.49 | - |
| 9 | Bryn Kenney | 3590.78 | +1 |
| 10 | Mustapha Kanit | 3580.03 | +1 |
Not a lot of movement to report at the top of the overall GPI rankings this week, either, where Kaverman enjoys a second week at the top after having taken over the top spot from Jason Mercier a week ago. Both Bryn Kenney and Mustapha Kanit moved up a single spot as Martin Finger slipped from No. 9 to No. 11.
Welcome to the GPI Top 300
| Rank | Player | Total Score |
|---|---|---|
| 220 | Matt Affleck | 1903.39 |
| 277 | Chance Kornuth | 1744.91 |
| 299 | Filippo Lazzaretto | 1707.46 |
In what has to be one of the most stable weeks ever on the GPI, 297 of last week’s top 300 remained in the top 300 again this week, with just three newcomers making their way onto the list.
The highest-ranked of the trio is Matt Affleck who moved up from No. 384 all of the way to No. 220 after winning the $2,500 2015 Coco Poker Open this week at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek in Florida. Affleck topped a 410-entry field to win a handsome $264,000 first prize and move back up to his highest GPI ranking since July 2011.
Chance Kornuth finished 12th in that same tournament in Coconut Creek, helping him move from No. 394 to No. 277. And Filippo Lazzaretto’s third-place in the World Series of Poker Circuit Campione Main Event in Italy was enough to nudge him up from No. 312 to No. 299 to join the GPI top 300 for the first time in his career.
Biggest Gains
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 220 | Matt Affleck | 1903.39 | +164 |
| 277 | Chance Kornuth | 1744.91 | +117 |
| 168 | Jean Gaspard | 2046.59 | +103 |
| 131 | Paul Tedeschi | 2202.44 | +55 |
| 226 | Eric Blair | 1888.28 | +32 |
That 2015 Coco Poker Open had the biggest impact on the “Biggest Gains” list this week with Affleck and Kornuth having made the largest leaps among those in the top 300 and Jean Gaspard — who finished runner-up to Affleck — third on the list. This marks the second week in a row Gaspard has appeared on this list as he also moved up considerably last time after final-tabling the World Poker Tour Borgata Main Event where he took ninth.
Biggest Drops
| Rank | Player | Total GPI Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 286 | Timur Margolin | 1725.12 | -69 |
| 142 | Daniel Colman | 2143.12 | -41 |
| 198 | Richard Dubini | 1938.65 | -28 |
| 203 | Ludovic Geilich | 1932.87 | -28 |
| 235 | Ryan Van Sanford | 1870.02 | -22 |
Meanwhile among those falling the most while staying in the top 300, Timur Margolin suffered the biggest drop after going from No. 217 to No. 286, although no one fell that far after a not-too-busy seven days on the tournament poker circuit.
What to Expect Next Week
Things won’t be quiet this week, however, as the 2015 World Series of Poker Europe kicks off today at the Spielbank Casino in Berlin, Germany. The WSOPE schedule runs through October 24th and includes 10 gold bracelet events. Here’s the full schedule:
| Date | Time | Event | Buy-In |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Oct. 8 | 2 p.m. | Event #1: Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em | €2,200 |
| Friday, Oct. 9 | 10 a.m. | Event #2: "The Oktoberfest" No-Limit Hold'em 1a | €550 |
| Friday, Oct. 9 | 7 p.m. | Event #2: "The Oktoberfest" No-Limit Hold'em 1b | €550 |
| Saturday, Oct. 10 | 10 a.m. | Event #2: "The Oktoberfest" No-Limit Hold'em 1c | €550 |
| Saturday, Oct. 10 | 7 p.m. | Event #2: "The Oktoberfest" No-Limit Hold'em 1d | €550 |
| Sunday, Oct. 11 | 4 p.m. | Event #3: Eight-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha | €3,250 |
| Monday, Oct. 12 | 4 p.m. | Event #4: "Monster Stack" No-Limit Hold'em | €1,650 |
| Tuesday, Oct. 13 | 4 p.m. | Event #5: Mixed Event | €2,200 |
| Wednesday, Oct. 14 | 4 p.m. | Event #6: No-Limit Hold’em | €3,250 |
| Thursday, Oct. 15 | 4 p.m. | Event #7: Pot-Limit Omaha | €550 |
| Friday, Oct. 16 | 4 p.m. | Event #8: Turbo No-Limit Hold'em w/ Reentry 1a | €1,100 |
| Saturday, Oct. 17 | 12 p.m. | Event #8: Turbo No-Limit Hold'em w/ Reentry 1b | €1,100 |
| Sunday, Oct. 18 | 12 p.m. | Event #9: WSOP Europe Main Event 1a | €10,450 |
| Monday, Oct. 19 | 12 p.m. | Event #9: WSOP Europe Main Event 1b | €10,450 |
| Wednesday, Oct. 21 | 4 p.m. | Event #10: High Roller | €25,600 |
| Thursday, Oct. 22 | 12 p.m. | WSOP Europe Main Event Day 4 (play to final table) | -- |
| Friday, Oct. 23 | 12 p.m. | High Roller Final Table | -- |
| Saturday, Oct. 24 | 12 p.m. | WSOP Europe Main Event Final Table | -- |
With the help from our friends at 888Poker, PokerNews will be providing daily recaps, features, interviews, podcasts, and more throughout the 2015 WSOPE, all of which can be found on our WSOP mini site.
To view both the 2015 Player of the Year and GPI overall rankings in their entirety, visit the official GPI website. While you’re at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.
